PAKKU

We didn't find him that day. "Him" being that rotten waterbending thief that stole the seal blubber along with various other items. Maybe we just took a wrong turn or maybe he outsmarted us again, but we had no luck capturing him. The only god part of today was seeing Kanna. Yeah, yeah, I'm sure she hates me, but I think I have a way to win her heart:

The best betrothal necklace ever.

The large majority of the tribe knows I'm giving the necklace to her. Everyone advised against it, but they don't know Kanna. They said she was too wild, but even the wildest sky bison could be trained by the gentle touch of an air nomad. Of course, there were no air nomads left, ever since the fire nation attacked and killed all of them, but that's not the point. The point is that it'll work out.

After looking or the thief for another hour, I decided that it was no use and took my boys back to the training pavilion. There stood the man who taught me everything I knew about waterbending. My father. He told the rest of the class to practice their forms and puled me aside. He usually did this because I was the only master in the class, so he would almost always give me a different set of instructions.

I bowed to my father and he nodded back. My dad was a tall man with long brown hair like mine a short-cropped beard. Unlike me, however, dashes of gray danced around his hair. He had dark circles under his eyes because of his lack of sleep, and had a slight limp, making him favor his left leg.

I wanted to be just like him someday.

Father began walking and invited me to come with him. He cleared his throat, and I knew that one of his famous speeches was coming.

"Pakku," he began. "How is your betrothal necklace coming along?"

"Just fine. I'll probably be done by tomorrow." I replied.

"I understand you'll be giving the necklace to Kanna," he said to me slowly, emphasizing the word "Kanna". I nodded. "Well," he continued, "I'm sure you realize that the majority of the council including Chief Nanuk do not approve of your proposal to Kanna." I stood there in awe for a moment. The fact that members of the tribe's council other than my dad, including the Chief himself cared about my life was an honor. Father continued.

"After the last council meeting, Chief Nanuk approached me and introduced his daughter Princess Ling. She seemed very interested in you and, well, after a while, Chief Nanuk introduced an idea to me. He said that maybe if it didn't work out with Kanna, something could be arranged for you and Ling." Father scratched his head and looked at me. I stood there for a minute, digesting what he had just said. Princess Ling was interested in me? Wow. But Kanna… I had such deep feelings for Kanna that being with any other girl would probably crush me. But still…

"Alright, Father," I said. "If things don't work out with Kanna and I and she doesn't accept m proposal, I will marry Princess Ling. But if Kanna does accept my proposal, I don't want to hear any complaints about Kanna because I love her." I stuck my hand out. "Deal?" I asked. My father thought about it for a moment, then took my hand and shook it.

"Deal." He replied. And with that, I felt like my fate was sealed. I heard the sound of crunching snow behind us and saw one of the younger students in the class running up to us. He bowed to my father and my father nodded to him.

"Master Ganux," he began. "A couple of the older kids need some help with one of the techniques."

"I'll be right over," my father replied. He turned to me. "Go home and work on the necklace. Your mother probably won't be home from teaching her healing class yet, but when she does get home, let her know that I will be there around sunset." I grinned and ran off, shouting words of thanks back at my father.

As soon as I got home, I went into my workshop. I liked tinkering and building things, so one year Father built this for me. I sat down and looked at the progress I had made on the necklace so far. It was made from the bone of a polar bear dog. I had painted the bone blue and was halfway done carving the water design on it. Next to the bone sat the strip of leather I would fasten the bone on to. I hoped it would look simple yet elegant and got to work chiseling the bone to make the design. I heard my mom get home and told her that Father would be home around sunset. Then, I got back to work. Mom brought my dinner to me and I ate while adding the finishing touches to the necklace's design and fastening it to the leather strip. Finally, it was done. I wiped some sweat off of my forehead and looked at my creation.

It was beautiful.