AN: If you read this way back when I first published it, or recently for some reason and you haven't reread chapter 1, I recommend that you do so before this chapter. I went back and changed a number of details, so you're not getting the right experience if you haven't read it again. Either way though, I hope this chapter is decent enough. Thank you!

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Distortion

Book One: Water

Chapter Two: The Southern Water Tribe

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"Are you sure that's the Southern Water Tribe?" Aang asked.

"Of course I'm sure!" Sokka said exasperatedly. "...Though I suppose you could be thinking of one of the other ones. There're some smaller tribes scattered here and there, but this is definitely the main one."

This was all wrong. That couldn't be the Southern Water Tribe, could it? Had something happened during the war? Was the Fire Nation really able to attack the temples and the Water Tribe at the same time?

"You probably shouldn't bring your bison into the village. You'd probably scare them half to death if you did," Sokka said, "Just leaving him outside the wall should be fine for now. Once you get introduced to Gran-Gran and everyone else, then we can see about bringing him in."

There was a short distance between the shore and the so-called wall of the village. Appa could easily swim in arctic waters, so laying out in the snow for a few hours would actually be a bit more comfortable for him if anything. Aang nodded to Sokka, and urged Appa to pick up some speed with a whip of his reins.

The sun rose further as they approached the shore, and with the extra light it provided, Aang could spy a lone figure standing near the wall. Since his Water Tribe companion didn't call any attention to it, he chose to follow suit, though he kept an eye on them. As Appa finally lumbered onto the shore itself, the figure began to move closer.

Before the person could get too close though, Appa coincidentally let loose a loud groan and then shook himself violently. Aang was used to this kind of thing, so it was no trouble for him to stay expertly seated on Appa's head. Sokka however was flung about the saddle for a few seconds before he managed to grab hold of the saddle's edge.

"C'mon man you could've warned me about that! I could've broken my neck," Sokka cried.

Aang bowed his head in apology, "Sorry about that, I honestly forgot about that quirk of his." He chanced a laugh, "We don't swim very often."

"Hmph," Sokka grunted, regaining his bearings slightly, "Well still."

Before he could gripe any further the figure came close enough for Aang to see clearly. It was a girl just a bit younger than he was. She had the same dark skin and blue eyes Sokka did, and wore a thick fur parka similar to Sokka's, though this girl kept her hood up unlike the teenager next to him.

She trotted fairly close to Appa, but was far enough away that it was plain to tell she was nervous. Aang turned to Sokka to finally point her out, figuring that maybe he simply hadn't noticed, "There's a girl right over there," Aang said, pointing, "I think it'd be better if you talked to her instead of me."

Sokka craned his head over the side of the saddle. Recognition flitted across his face and he sighed, "Yeah, that's my sister. Just gimme a second." Sokka got up and popped his back with a groan before grabbing his club, which had been flung to the other side of the saddle by Appa's shaking. "Could you get him to kneel down or something? I could jump down from here but I'd really rather not. These Water Tribe legs aren't made for acrobatics."

Aang nodded in assent and urged Appa to the ground with a pat to the side of his head. His great size and weight shook the ground around them with a loud thump. This had the unintended consequence of scaring Sokka's sister, who jerked back at the noise.

Sokka made short work of dismounting Appa. Tossing his club to the ground below, he vaulted over the saddle and stuck the landing with a skillfulness Aang had not all expected.

When his sister caught sight of him, Aang could hear a gasp as she ran to her brother, seemingly no longer minding Appa's presence.

"Sokka!" She shouted, in a voice torn between annoyance and caring, "We were worried sick, you should've been back last night!" She quickly looked up to where Aang sat on Appa, and then at Appa himself, "What happened out there?" She asked, refocusing on her brother.

Sokka seemed used to this sort of behavior, and so was nonplussed to her questions. Instead of answering, he gestured to Aang with a wave of his hand, "Katara, this is Aang." And with his other hand to Katara, "Katara, Aang. Aang, Katara." He did a silly flourish with his hands, "I'll tell you the whole story when we get inside the village. We've been out on the water for a while, so I'd like to get somewhere safe and enclosed sooner rather than later thank you very much."

Aang offered a wave to Katara, who gave a strained smile in return. She was clearly puzzled and exasperated. Aang got up and briskly walked over Appa's neck and into his saddle to make sure his staff was where he'd left it. Luckily it hadn't been thrown around like Sokka's club had. He didn't need it right now though, so with an expert jump and easy landing, he was beside Sokka on the ground, once again unintentionally startling Sokka's sister.

Sokka scooped up his club and then quickly began to lead them to the village entrance, but before they could walk more than a few steps, Aang stopped them to pat Appa's head. "Stay here boy, I'll come get you in a little while," he said. Appa offered a short groan-moo in return. "This is Appa, by the way," he said, catching Katara's attention.

"Ooh, Appa's a nice name. What is he?"

"He's a sky bison," Aang said proudly, giving Appa another pat on the head.

Katara's eyes lit up and expanded in half a second. She seemed about ready to explode, but Sokka quickly cut her off, "Ah ah ah, not right now. We'll talk once we get inside. Gran-Gran needs to hear all this too. C'mon."

With that, Sokka again took the lead with Katara fast on his heels. Aang gave Appa one last pat, and then followed along behind the Water Tribe siblings. He assumed Sokka meant a grandmother when he said 'Gran-Gran', so Aang hoped she had some answers for him. This village looked almost smaller up close, especially in comparison to the vision of the city he'd had in his head beforehand. It was supposed to be a veritable fortress.

Aang took in his surroundings further as he followed Sokka's lead. Obviously there was a lot of snow. There really wasn't much else. Most confusingly, he saw absolutely no signs of warfare. No Fire Nation war machines, no broken walls, no warships in the far off distance. What could leave the Southern Water Tribe in this state if there was no sign of the Fire Nation?

He shook his head. For a little while at least, he wanted to rid himself of thoughts of them.

They quickly made it to the front entrance of the wall–Katara not-so-surreptitiously looking back at him every few steps– and from there, Aang got a much better look at the layout of the village. One large igloo lay off to the side, near the almost watchtower. A firepit sat still burning in the center of the village, and ten or so tents of varying sizes and shapes littered the inside edges of the circular wall.

Sokka took a deep breath, "Ah. There's no place like home."

Already faces of other Water Tribesmen were poking out of their tents, no doubt to see what the source of Appa's earlier commotion was. Paying them no mind, Sokka beckoned to Aang and again led them on their way.

Katara greeted many of the people as they passed, but few returned greetings of their own. Their blue eyes were focused almost solely on Aang, their apprehension obvious. As he tried his best to seem nonthreatening he noticed that the only people he saw were women, and many of them were middle aged or older. Had all the men gone out to hunt? Was that why Sokka found him?

They had quickly crossed the village and come to the front entrance of its sole igloo as Aang pondered this.

"Katara, go tell Gran-Gran and everyone else we have a visitor, then come get us," Sokka said authoritatively.

She looked ready to protest, but scrunched her face up and obeyed instead, ducking into the Igloo's primary entryway.

Sokka shifted his gaze to Aang, "Gran-Gran is the leader here, more or less. Don't do anything weird or suspicious," He said, wiggling his fingers, "I'll tell her how I found you, you tell your story, and then we'll find you some room to rest for a day or two. Gran-Gran's in there, but so are some kids and a few of the other older women. So I repeat, no weird or suspicious."

Aang nodded.

"I mean it," Sokka said, crossing his arms. "I'm th-"

"Alright come in!" Katara called from inside the igloo, interrupting Sokka.

Sokka gave him a strong look and then ducked down into the igloo, signaling Aang to follow as he did so.

Following Katara and Sokka's examples, Aang too crouched and entered the snow house. The first thing that struck Aang was how warm it was inside the igloo. Sure, it had to be warm, otherwise it wouldn't make any sense to waste so much effort building them, but still, it was incredibly surprising just how much more comfortable it was inside than it was only a few feet away. The second thing was what he saw. There were a number of kids, four or so at first glance, as well as three older looking women. All eyes were focused on him, uneasiness but also curiosity evident in their gazes.

Katara, hood now pulled down, stood beside a particularly old woman clad in blue dyed furs. They shared the same hairstyle: hair pulled back into a braid, with beads keeping two locks of hair as loops on either side of their faces, but the years were all too evident on the old woman's sour visage. She was especially wary of him, though her eyes did soften some when she looked back to Sokka.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay Sokka. When you didn't come back last night, we were worried that we might've lost you for good." She shifted her gaze to Aang. "But the presence of a stranger in the village demands an explanation. Who is this?"

Sokka kept to the plan he'd told Aang. "This is Aang, I found him." He scratched his chin thoughtfully, "So I was out spearfishing like I was supposed to be when all of a sudden, a current got me. It took me way off course then flung me and the canoe into an iceberg. –I lost my spear during all of this by the way.– So I took my club and bashed the iceberg to try and get my canoe out." This was all accompanied by very enthusiastic pantomiming of his past actions, including a swing that almost hit Aang. "Turns out I hit too hard, and then the whole damn iceberg broke."

Everyone else in the igloo was held in rapt attention by his storytelling, including Katara, and particularly the children. Their grandmother seemed to want him to get to the point, but didn't have the heart to interrupt him.

"So I run for cover, but my poor canoe doesn't make it out with me. Then I look back to where the iceberg and what do I see?" He paused for effect, "Another iceberg." There were some gasps, mostly from the kids. "Only this one was much smaller, and shaped kinda spherical, and it was practically glowing! So I get right next to it to try and take a closer look and I see something weird. I see him inside the ice." Everyone stared at Aang, confused and awed. "So I squish my face right up close to it to get even closer and all of a sudden his eyes snap open and start glowing, and then boom! The whole thing explodes!"

All of his tribesmen were obviously really into the story at this point. Even Aang was enjoying his theatrics.

"I'm blinded by the light, but I open my eyes the second it stops shining, and I see that the whole iceberg is gone. And he's just sitting on top of a pedestal." Sokka sat on the ground and pressed his fists together before springing back up, "But then he wakes up, and he's on his feet in an instant! He's confused, and I tell him where he is and all that, and then outta nowhere I hear a roar! And this guy runs off like the wind, and this giant animal with six legs comes out of nowhere! He tells me it's his, and since my canoe was destroyed by the first iceberg, I let him bring me back here on his animal friend. And then it swims here and here we are."

"And if you don't believe me, Aang's pet is outside the village. Katara saw it," Sokka added.

Katara nodded excitedly to everyone else in the igloo, "I did! And Aang said it was a Sky Bison."

Those last words earned more of a reaction out of their grandmother than anything Sokka had said. She quickly turned to Aang, eyes wide, "Is that true? Who are you? Why are you here?"

Sokka provided an answer before Aang could, "He says it's a sky bison, but it couldn't fly. It flopped straight into the water!"

"Quiet Sokka. I wasn't asking you."

All eyes were on Aang as he answered, "Yes. Appa's a sky bison," He said dismissively to Sokka, "I'm Aang, like they said. I'm an Air Nomad. I'd been flying down to the South Pole when I was caught in a storm," he faltered slightly, looking away from the old woman, "Everything from then on is a blur. The next thing I remember is Sokka waking me up."

Katara was ecstatic at his words, and her grandmother was visibly shocked. "An Air Nomad you say? Are you sure about that? No one's seen one of those or a sky bison in almost a hundred years."

What? Was the Southern Water Tribe really that cut off from the rest of the world? "No no no, of course not, I'm definitely an air nomad. See," Aang said, holding his hands in front of him at stomach level.

Sokka scoffed.

Unperturbed, Aang swirled his hands slowly in a circular motion, and then pushed one hand gently towards Katara, guiding the air with just enough force for the loops in her hair to visibly shake.

Katara gasped, holding her face, "I felt it! He's airbending!"

Her brother had the decency to be lost for words for a couple moments, but he quickly recovered, "He just got lucky. Smells like funny business to me."

"I could hit you with something harder if you want proof," Aang said to Sokka, slightly annoyed at his skepticism.

But 'Gran-Gran' answered instead, "No, I think that that's more than enough proof. If Katara believes you're bending, then I do too," She said, silencing any further interruptions from Sokka, "Still, it really is miraculous for you to be here, the airbenders have been extinct since before I was born. My parents never even had the chance to meet an airbender."

That didn't make any sense. It simply wasn't possible for these people to have not seen an airbender in that long. The Air Nomads traveled frequently before the war, and this woman was easily older than seventy!

"I don't understand," Aang explained, confused, "We've only been at war for three years. Surely an airbender has passed through here at some point right?"

Everyone older than six in the room gave him a perplexed look, but it was again Sokka's grandmother that answered. "You must be confused. This war has been raging for a hundred years. I saw the old Southern Water Tribe city fall with my own eyes, and almost everyone here lived through the Fire Nation raids."

What?

That couldn't be possible. It was only a couple days ago that he had left the Southern Air Temple for the South Pole. The world had been peaceful before the Fire Nation attacked on the day of the Comet! This– this wasn't right at all. He couldn't be here. The air inside the igloo was suddenly too heavy; it was stifling him. He needed fresher air.

Aang's eyes darted from the old woman, to her grandchildren and back, "I'm sorry," He said, "I need to go outside." He practically ran from the igloo, its low entrance barely an obstacle to him. Sokka called for him to stop, but he ignored him.

Outside, the other people in the tribe had begun their daily routines. There were some children, but all of the adults were women. Aang rushed past them, startling them as they moved about carrying food or laundry. He moved to the wall closest the ocean, which was opposite the entrance to the village, and with one wind empowered jump, lept over it completely.

Landing lightly on his feet as he always did, he looked around to find Appa, and did so in an instant. He was exactly where they'd left him, though he was currently asleep.

Aang walked to him, and sat down on the snow, leaning up against Appa's huge head and cupping his own with one hand.

Even when he had to go from one temple to another, to coordinate supplies, or get young monks to safety, or exchange plans, Appa was always with him. Gyatso usually stayed at the temple, but Aang was one of the few still allowed to fly. Gyatso always said that if there was one place Aang was safe, it was out in the skies where the Fire Nation couldn't find him.

So Appa was comforting, even when things were rough. Even as everything got worse and worse. He stroked Appa's neck softly, enjoying the feeling of his shaggy fur between his fingers. It was still slightly damp from their long swim through the South Pole waters, but Appa dried quickly.

The chaos of the war had dented their numbers and disrupted their breeding patterns sure, but there had still been plenty of Sky Bison at the three remaining temples. It couldn't be possible for people to believe they were extinct if it had been only the few days since he left the Southern Air Temple like he thought.

But if it really had been a hundred years, it explained everything. It explained how Sokka couldn't believe he was an airbender, and the state the Southern Water Tribe was in, and probably why all the men were gone. If the war had raged for nearly a century, then what men were left had gone away to keep fighting.

But could an entire people really be gone?

Aang looked up from his lap and saw that Sokka's sister was cautiously making her way towards him. He gave her a slight wave, attempting to put a cheery front on, "Katara, right?" He called.

She nodded as she neared him, but was seemingly having a hard time finding her words. "I– I'm sorry Sokka's such a jerk about everything," Katara said, "He doesn't mean it. It's just– he's the only man in the village right now, so he overcompensates. He's protective."

Aang could empathize with Sokka's plight, "It's no problem," He replied, "I get that." He got up to his feet. "Is that all you wanted to say?"

She was messing with a loop in her hair, so it was all too clear that it wasn't.

"Well… I had a couple questions," She said shakily, "Is that okay?"

Aang nodded.

"I guess I was wondering – with you being an airbender and all – if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar?"

Aang shook his head, "No. I never knew him. He was at the temple during the war, but I never met him. Sorry." Aang didn't enjoy lying.

Katara's momentary sadness at his answer was obvious, but her smile quickly returned and she changed the topic, "Ah, well, I'm a waterbender! If Sokka didn't already tell you."

This did brighten Aang's demeanor somewhat, "Really?" He said with a smile.

She faltered, "Well, sort of. Not yet," Katara said, trailing off.

"Could you show me some waterbending?" Aang asked, with what he hoped was an encouraging tone.

Katara perked up immediately, "Yes of course! But I need to get a bit closer to the water," She said, beckoning him.

He followed her a few yards closer to the water, and she took off her left glove. She took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. When they snapped opened, she began to undulate her left hand, imitating the ocean's rolling waves. A bit of water a few feet in front of them began to ripple oddly, and then she brought her right hand into the fray with a longer and more smooth movement. A glob of water slowly separated itself from the ocean, and as it did so, she coordinated her hands movements together, moving them back and forth in fluid motions. She brought the water closer to them with a wide smile.

"See!" She said excitedly. But that was all it took for her concentration to momentarily break, and the water splashed into the snow. "No!" She cried, "I was doing it!"

Aang laughed, "It's okay, I can tell you'll be great one day."

She looked down, frowning, "Not without a teacher I won't be. You're looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole," She said, shocking Aang, "That's why– I was kinda wondering if maybe you'd be able to teach me."

Aang scratched his chin, "While I'm sure a few of the underlying principles are similar, airbending is completely different from waterbending. I'm sorry, but I don't think I can teach you," he said solemnly. He wasn't familiar enough with the Water Tribes to know how many waterbenders there usually were, and perhaps she was simply misinformed. There couldn't be only one waterbender left in the South Pole could there? Either way, "What about the North Pole? There should be waterbenders there that could teach you right?"

"Maybe. "We haven't had contact with our sister tribe in ages. It's on the other side of the world, and with the Fire Nation in the way…" She crossed her arms, "I'd love to go there, I just can't."

Aang tilted his head up and stared at the sky. He had originally come to the South Pole to try and find a waterbender. He did, but Katara was in no way what he was looking for. He had to go back to the Southern Air Temple, to confirm or deny her grandmother's words. Then he could figure out what he had to do.

"Your grandmother mentioned that the Fire Nation had raided your tribe before. Is there any wreckage I could see by any chance?"

Her face twisted, "Well… There is one that I know of, but Gran-Gran and Dad have forbidden anyone from going near it." She tapped her foot, "But… I suppose I could take you to see it if we don't get too close. Is that good enough?"

"That would be great," he said, thanking her with a short bow.

She blushed a little bit, and then quickly excused herself, "I'll go tell Gran-Gran that we're going to go penguin sledding, so wait for me here!"

Penguin sledding was actually something he'd always wanted to do as a child. Aang wished that's what he'd come here to do.

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It was nearing noon by the time they made it to their destination. Katara had been roped into doing some chores, and so Aang had taken a short nap on Appa's head. He had woken up by the time she finished, and then they were off. Sokka had reportedly abstained because he 'had more important things to do'. Luckily, because Katara hadn't told him their true destination.

Besides treading fairly close to the massive otter-penguin colony, their journey had been an uneventful one.

"It's right out there," Katara said, pointing to the exit of the tunnel they were traversing, "You won't be able to miss it.

The tunnel was clearly artificial, having been dug through a veritable mountain of ice, but whether it had been carved by man or beast Aang didn't know. It was a fairly tight squeeze, though the myriad colors shining through the tunnel's walls made the squeeze slightly more bearable. He and Katara covered their eyes as they exited the tunnel, but upon adjusting to the light, Aang was met with a stark sight.

A massive ship was held aloft by a huge outcropping of ice. The ship was held in place diagonally, its tattered Fire Nation flag flapping in the wind. It's bow was long, and the front of it extended upward as if it were a horn. The sun shone behind its great masts, making it too difficult to make out any clearer details of the vessel.

"A Fire Navy ship, and a very bad memory for my people," Katara said solemnly.

Aang had to investigate closer. "I know you've already risked a lot to show me this, so I won't take you with me. But I need to get inside that ship." He quickly made for the ship, and despite Katara's hesitant reaction, she was very quickly on his heels.

"Are you sure? It could be boobytrapped!" She said, trepidation leaking from her voice.

"Absolutely. I'm confused about a lot of things, I need to get to the bottom of all this."

They were cast in the shadow of the ship as they approached closer, Aang looking around for an entry point into the ship. There was a hole in the hull near the front of the ship that made for an easy entryway for Katara. He could leap all the way to the deck of the ship with some airbending, but this was easier for her.

Aang pointed the opening out to Katara. "We'll get in through there. Can you climb up the ice?"

"Yeah, I think I can manage." Her eyes betrayed her uncertainty.

He looked up at the ice. There were enough jutting, layered slabs of ice. It wasn't a sheer wall. She could do it. "I'll go up first. If you need help, just call me."

With one simple leap he arrived at the hole in the ship. Katara had only seen his small display of airbending, so this earned him a gasp from her. "Wow!" she said, before grabbing onto the nearest protruding slab of ice. Demonstrating a fitness he hadn't expected from a girl her age, she easily pulled herself up it, standing again at the top. She did the same for the next few layers of ice, but the final one was actually a bit too tall for her to easily scale. He knelt down and extended a hand to her, pulling her up once she grabbed hold.

Turning to face the ship, Aang could now make out the details much more clearly. It seemed so from a distance, but up close he could tell for a fact that this was a metal ship. Ships with metal plating weren't exactly common, but he knew that the Fire Nation had them.

Beckoning Katara, Aang entered the hole. What had caused the damage, Aang had no idea, but it was more than large enough for the two of them to crawl into the warship's innards. Aang immediately knew what was different about this ship. It didn't just have iron plating, it had metal all throughout its insides.

From his first step into the ship, all he could see was metal. Metal walls, metal floors, metal piping in the halls' corners. Aang walked faster, peeking into different rooms of the ship as they passed. The same was true for the rooms too, every surface that wasn't covered in snow was visibly iron. Strange wheels connected to various pipes dotted the walls for no purpose he could readily comprehend.

He heard a squeak above them as they passed a ladder that led to a hole in the ceiling and his head shot up.

"That was just an arctic mouse I think." She removed her hood. "There hasn't been any Fire Nation in the South Pole in years," Katara said, a distant look on her face..

Aang continued to scan the interior of the ship until they eventually came upon a weapon storeroom. Spears, swords, and polearms of varying builds lined the walls of the room, a pipe near the ceiling torn open. Aang stepped in and grabbed a nearby spear to inspect it. Even the spear was different than what he had seen at the temples. This couldn't be right, could it? This kind of technology couldn't exist. It didn't exist.

"This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran-Gran was young. It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks." Katara stared at the weapons solemnly.

"This doesn't make any sense," Aang breathed, clenching the spear tightly, "I was there when the Fire Nation attacked the Air Nomads. That was when the war started! I fought them! They were focusing on us the whole time. It was a war of extermination, and no one helped us!" The spear's shaft snapped in his hand, and he let it drop to the ground carelessly. "But your grandmother is so old. I don't get it. How is this possible?"

Katara, frightened from Aang's yell and the spear's snapping, fidgeted. "I–Sokka found you in the ice, right? Well, how long were you in there?"

"It couldn't have been more than a few days." Right?

She looked him deep in the eyes, "Aang, I think it was more like a hundred years."

"No, that's impossible," Aang replied, rejecting the idea outright.

"Think about it," she said placatingly, "the war is a century old, and you were there when it started. The Avatar helped them fight the Fire Nation, but once he disappeared, they… died out." She cringed. "The airbenders have been gone for so long, that some people don't even think they existed at all. You had to have been in that iceberg this whole time..."

No.

No, no no no no.

This wasn't why he went through everything. This wasn't why he watched his family die. This wasn't why he killed.

Aang fell to the ground, his head in his hands. Did their suffering mean nothing to the world? This shouldn't be possible, but everything lined up. Everything lined up to say that he'd failed. That his people were gone. That he'd slept for a century and everything had changed.

"I–I think I've seen enough here," Aang finally said, "Let's go back to the village." He picked himself up slowly, shaking his head as he did.

Katara nodded, walking into the corridor again. "I think I see a light this way, wanna look for an exit there?" She asked.

He shook his head, "Let's just go back the way we came. Like you said, it could be booby trapped."

Aang looked straight ahead as they retraced their steps through the warship's cold metal halls. He needed one last confirmation, he had to get back to the Southern Air Temple as quickly as he could. He didn't want Katara to be right. It hurt to imagine her words being true. But he needed to know.

He had to let go of his fear.

‡

Sokka didn't want to go penguin sledding for a number of reasons. First, he hadn't gone penguin sledding in years, so he was horribly out of practice. Second, he was honestly never that great at it in the first place. And third, he had much more important things to do than waste a perfectly good fish catching a dumb animal to go sledding with a probably airbender. And one of those important things was training these damn kids to follow orders.

"Now men, it's important that you show no fear when you face a firebender. In the Water Tribe, we fight to the last man standing. For without courage, how can we call ourselves men?" He ignored the fact that his troops were mostly less than five years old and that one of the six assembled was in fact a girl.

One squirming boy raised his hand, "I gotta pee!"

Attempting to take an even more commanding tone, Sokka continued, "Listen! Until your fathers come back from the war, they're counting on you to be the men of the tribe! Well, except you Auka," he said, pointing to the lone female in his troops, "But anyway, that means no potty breaks!"

"But I really gotta go!" The boy said again, now holding his stomach tightly.

Sokka released a deep pent up sigh. "Fine. Who else has to go?"

Everyone except Auka raised their hand, and Sokka groaned with an intensity nearing that of Aang's bison. The five boys all ran off to the other side of the village, where they would hopefully get whatever they had to out of their system.

It was after watching his lone female pupil twiddle her thumbs for ten minutes that Sokka figured something was up. "C'mon Auka, something smells fishy about this potty break." She readily got to her feet and followed behind him closely, proving once again that she was the only good man in his troop.

Quickly crossing the village and turning into the nook the bathroom hid in, Sokka could plainly see that his men were absent without leave. He knelt into the bathroom's small entrance and confirmed his suspicions. None of them were in the bathroom. Upon exiting he turned to Auka, who had dutifully waited outside the structure. She had access to information he wouldn't be privy to, and he didn't feel like wandering into every tent if she might have an idea. "You're a kid, did you hear them say anything about where they were going?"

She shyly looked to the village entrance. "Well, there was that noise this morning…"

Sokka's eyes narrowed. The Sky Bison. Of course.

He quickly marched outside the village with the girl hot on his heels, and saw that she was almost definitely right. Bunches of small footprints led outside the village and around the wall. Following them with all the technique of an expert hunter (if he did say so himself), Sokka found himself meeting a sight he had not at all expected to see.

The huge beast known as Appa hovered a few feet above the snow, its huge tail flapping up and down slowly. All five of Sokka's derelict soldiers hung from one of its six legs.

Sokka had always prided himself on his skepticism. It kept him grounded. He didn't believe in spirits, or curses, or any of that kind of stuff. This kept him wary of tall tales or exaggerations, which he thought was a good thing. So when Aang claimed to be an Air Nomad, he shrugged it off. Either he was driven mad from being stuck in ice, or he had some other strange reason to lie. When Aang had made Katara's hair move with some fancy sleight of hand– well, maybe it was airbending. Or maybe it was a weird trick.

But this, this defied logic. Sokka couldn't pretend this massive creature wasn't flying. Which meant that Aang hadn't been lying or tricking anyone. He was an Air Nomad, and he was an airbender.

Huh.

While Sokka pondered his prior judgments, Auka broke rank and ran to Appa's sole remaining leg and jumped onto it. In seconds her happy laughs had joined those of the rest of the Southern Water Tribe Home Base Defense Regiment. Sokka scowled. Even his best man had deserted him.

The great white beast seemed docile enough around the children, but as the only real man in the tribe Sokka couldn't let six kids be in actual danger. If this thing could hover he could surely fly away, and if the kids fell off from more than a couple feet, they could be seriously injured or worse.

"Alright kids, no more of this, time to get off," Sokka said sternly.

Whines resounded through the Regiment.

"Aw, c'mon, please?"

"We're flying!"

"He won't hurt us!"

Sokka shook his head. "Nope, sorry kids. Get off right now."

A couple kids let go and trudged over to Sokka, but the rest had ignored his orders. It was time to pull his trump card. "Don't make me get your moms." That did the trick, and the rest of the children let go of the flying animal. They all landed on their feet, which spoke highly of Sokka's training of them. He'd have to remember to congratulate himself later.

"Auka, you take point and lead us back to the village, I'll be in the back to make sure none of you run off." Auka duly obliged, and the rest fell in behind her. Appa returned to the ground with a lightness that was shocking as they began their march. He had to snap his fingers and urge them forward to keep them from turning back to the fluffy monster. Kids were truly awful.

Well, not really. But it was hard to deal with them. He clearly wasn't going to get much done with them today, the sky bison was far too much of a distraction for their little kiddie minds. Quickly making it back to the village gateway, Sokka assembled his troops one last time for the day. "We're done for today men. Good job on that march. Now, go have fun or help your mothers or whatever it is you kids do," he said, shooing them away.

They ran away screaming their heads off, preparing to cause untold mayhem in their peaceful home. That was okay. It wasn't his job to make sure they were fine all the time. But for now he'd keep watch at the entrance. He had to make sure the kids didn't run off to find the bison again and break their necks, and he wanted to keep an eye out for Katara and Aang.

He wondered what Aang was going to do after this. Since he seemed to actually be an airbender, then there was more than likely a price on his head or something, and as good as he could potentially be at fighting, one airbender wouldn't change the tide of the war. So maybe he'd just take that animal of his, find a pretty girl, and run off into the wilderness to repopulate the airbenders.

But from what little time he'd known the enigmatic bald teenager, that really didn't seem like his style.

‡

The sky was beginning to shift colors when Katara and Aang returned from their little adventure. Katara was visibly tired, while Aang had somehow maintained the alertness he'd had when the day began. Maybe that's how all airbenders were? He'd have to ask at some point.

Before Sokka could even ask them how their sledding had gone, Aang called him, "Sokka, come out here," he said, pointing to the outside of the wall.

Katara looked as confused as Sokka felt, which was good. He didn't want her being in on anything that he wasn't, especially with a stranger. Nonetheless he did as Aang asked and ambled over a few feet to where he had directed.

Leaning against the compacted snow wall, Aang looked to Katara, then Sokka, and then back again. "If the Southern Air Temple is– is like I think it is, then I'm not going to stay there. I'll be heading to the North Pole."

Katara clapped her hands together softly.

"If there's one group of people that'll really be able to provide lasting help your village, it's the Northern Water Tribe," he said to Sokka. "And Katara, you need a master if you're serious about waterbending. I'm pretty sure the North Pole is the only place in the world that has any." Aang looked down slowly, "I'll be going with or without you, but I just thought I'd extend the offer to you two."

Katara turned to Sokka excitedly, "And he's really an airbender! I saw him do more!"

Sokka groaned inwardly. "I saw Appa fly," he said flatly, "Even I can't explain that away." He paused, trying to earnestly think Aang's offer over. His first instinct was to say no. This was too sudden and life changing for him to accept. The village was boring, but it was all he'd known his whole life. It offered him stability. On the other hand, the village was so boring. He'd been too young to leave with Dad and the other men two years ago, but he was a man now.

If he was honest with himself, he knew there was never going to be a Fire Nation attack on the village. There was nothing to attack. And if there was nothing to attack, then there was nothing to defend. Not really. He loved the village and wanted to keep them safe, but there hadn't been an attack here since… since everything happened. There was really no reason for him to be here.

And Katara? She deserved to learn to waterbend. She was the only one they had, but she wanted to be the best one they'd ever have. It wasn't fair that she had to languish here and never reach the heights he knew she had in her.

He didn't know Aang's story, but this was a hell of an offer. It was probably his and Katara's only real shot to get out of here.

"Sokka, I want to go," Katara said, "If I can become a master waterbender, then I could help rebuild the whole tribe! If I stay, then– then I'm just gonna be washing clothes and cooking for the rest of my life!"

Sokka glanced at Aang, "So why are you going to the North Pole?"

"I can't tell you right now," Aang said simply, "But it's to put an end to the war."

Sokka was a bit suspicious of him, but that was definitely a goal he could sympathize with. Alright. "You've worn me down. I'll go." He rubbed his head absentmindedly, "When do you want to leave?" Sokka asked.

"The sooner the better," Aang answered, "There're some islands to the north that we could make it to in a night's ride, and we could camp there before heading to the Temple itself."

Sokka nodded. "Let's go talk to Gran-Gran, Katara. We'll get whatever we need and then meet at Appa."

Katara rushed off ahead of him with a hop in her step the likes of which he hadn't seen in years. This was going to suck.

‡

They found Gran-Gran washing clothes inside the igloo. Other women were there doing an odd chore here or there, and a couple kids ran about play fighting. Sokka was hesitant, but Katara bore a wide smile when they approached their grandmother.

"Gran-Gran," Katara said to catch her attention.

Gran-Gran got up from her work and turned to the two of them, "What is it?"

"Uh…" Sokka droned, suddenly feeling like an awful person, "We–we have something we kinda gotta tell you."

Katara continued for him, "Aang's going to take us to the North Pole," she said.

Gran-Gran's dropped the wet sock she'd been washing.

"If we can get to the Northern Water Tribe, then maybe they'd be willing to help rebuild down here," Sokka said with a slight tremor in his voice.

"And I could learn to waterbend!"

Their grandmother glanced between the two of them. Slowly though, a warm smile crept onto her face. "I always knew this day would come, I just didn't expect it to be so sudden." She said, "Sokka, you found that airbender for a reason. If he wants to go to the north, then it's no coincidence. Your destinies are intertwined." She stepped close and enveloped Sokka in a warm and ginger hug. "Be nice to your sister, my brave warrior."

Sokka gave a mock groan, but nodded and returned the hug.

"And Katara, my little waterbender," she said, wrapping her granddaughter in a hug as well, "It's been so long since I've had hope, but you brought it back."

"Thank you Gran-Gran," Katara said.

"It's going to be a long journey you two. Come on, I'll help the two of you pack," Gran-Gran said, picking up the sock that she had dropped.

For once, Sokka didn't mind dealing with domestic duties.

‡

Sokka had never thought that packing clothes and blubbered seal jerky into a sack could be as tear jerking as it ended up being. But within thirty minutes, just about everything important Sokka and Katara owned was stuffed into two sacks. Sacks, sleeping bags, and (Sokka's) weapons in hand, they made their way to Aang.

Sokka didn't want to make a scene, so he made sure to tell Gran-Gran to not let anyone know they were leaving until they were already gone. Sure, the sleeping bags might be a pretty obvious sign that they were going away, but maybe they were just going for an extended hunt? Sokka and Katara quickly made their way out of the village's short wall, seeing that Aang had ushered his sky bison closer in the process.

He could've brought him to the entrance if he really wanted to, everyone that wanted to see the bison would've by this point, and Sokka was pretty sure that was just about everyone in the village. But if Aang was anything, he was guarded, so Sokka couldn't blame him. Sokka hailed Aang as they approached him, to which the Air Nomad replied with a small wave.

"Toss everything up here," Aang said, "I'll catch it for you."

Sokka obliged and threw both of their sleeping bags and sacks to him. Aang, of course, caught each item deftly and set them down in the saddle. Aang then leaned over the edge of the saddle and pat the bison's upper leg, which was evidently the sign for the animal to kneel.

"Alright Katara, climb up," Sokka said, nudging her.

Katara knitted her eyebrows, "...Do I just climb up his legs?" she asked.

"Go for it, you'll see."

Frowning at Sokka, Katara clambered up Appa's hind leg and entered the saddle with only a bit more grace than Sokka himself had managed the day before. "Wow, it's pretty roomy in here," she said, her amazement evident.

Sokka quickly followed her up, but in his haste stumbled a bit during his climb. He recovered and managed to not fall into the snow, but his pride was bruised ever so slightly. "Where do we put all our stuff?" Sokka asked when he made it into the huge saddle.

"Oh, inside that cushion," Aang said, pointing to the cushion that lay behind the end of the saddle. "The ropes keep it down, and besides that, Appa's a gentle flyer."

Turning to the cushion, Sokka saw that it was what he'd been resting against the day before. Huh. He hadn't even noticed you could put anything inside it. He must've been pretty stressed out. Stuffing all of their stuff inside the cushion, Sokka took a seat at the back of the saddle once again, and rested back on it. While it looked more like a wrapped tarp or something, it was still pretty comfy!

Aang was once again perched upon Appa's head, and Katara took a seat nearer to him at the front of the saddle. "Do you have everything you need?" Aang asked, "We're going to have to ride fast if we want to spend the night at the island I'm thinking of."

"We're all packed!" Katara answered excitedly, "How do you get him to fly?"

"You're sure there's nothing else you need?"

Sokka and Katara both replied with nods, though Katara's was considerably more energetic.

"Alright first time flyers, stay calm." Aang cracked his knuckles and took hold of the reins. "Appa, yip yip!" He shouted with a whip of the reins.

Appa groaned loudly, and once again raised his thick tail. The tail slammed into the ground, but oddly, it didn't even produce a sound. A gust of wind kicked up at the bison's tail, and suddenly they were in the air. They picked up speed far faster than seemed possible, and it was exhilarating. Sokka clutched the edge of the saddle and peered to the ground below, "We're flying!" he yelled, "Katara, he's flying!" He'd seen it earlier in the day, but experiencing it was– it was something else entirely.

Katara's wide smile echoed his own, and she too looked to the rapidly distancing ground. "This is amazing!" she said.

Jerking the reins, Aang guided Appa around and to the north, affording them one last look at their humble home.

Sokka could see a figure outside the village's only igloo. He and Katara waved to it with matching smiles and teary eyes.

"You'll be back one day," Aang said, his back to them, "I promise."

Appa's tail moved up and down as they flew, having seemingly nothing to do with how fast they were going or at what angle. Sokka sat back against the saddle and hunkered down. They were the first people to really fly on a Sky Bison in nearly a hundred years. Gran-Gran had told them stories about this, but he'd honestly never believed they could be true.

He glanced back to Katara, who was still staring down at the land below with wide eyes. She looked even more awed than Sokka felt, which was seriously saying something.

Hmm. Sokka never would've thought that a failed fishing trip could lead to anything like this. Life really was full of surprises.

‡

AN: Sorry that this second chapter took so long. When I first wrote chapter one I was really hyped for the live action movie. The movie killed that hype and any desire to write. I had hoped Korra would have kickstarted my urge to write again, but I was pretty disappointed in it, so it did the opposite. So here I am with chapter 2 six years later. I'm hoping I'll be able to pop out at least a chapter a month, so just bear with me.

Constructive criticism is appreciated! Drop a review if you have the time, it really helps me out. Any questions/comments/concerns, just lemme know and I'll answer if I can. If you see any errors I missed, lemme know and I'll fix 'em.