A/N: a filler chapter to give the story background and get things going really. This isn't from a character's POV, rather just focused around them. Please review.


Katara

A throne forged from war, seeped in ages of endless blood. 4 kingdoms as old as time, once were united under a great but powerful man. Legend speaks of him as being a wise old man, a being who could communicate with the ancestors of old, taking wisdom from the moon itself, and strength from the earth.

That's all they are, Katara mused. Legends.

It was a common acceptance, a fact if you will that the Avatar had not existed for many years. His presence absent for so long now, that only fables remained, claiming of his great might and mind.

Katara snorted, the gesture not ignored by her grandmother.

"It is unbecoming of a princess to make such noises" Kanna chided.

"Gran Gran, how many times do I have to hear these stories?" the princess whined.

"Stories always hold some truth. You'd be wise to remember that."

The princess conceded, if escaping the tortures of quilting meant listening to her grandmother's stories, then so be it. At least she wouldn't be holed up with all those haughty ladies.

Taking note of her granddaughters' lack of attention, the old women smiled.

"Your father, he should be returning any day now from sea."

The girl's face immediately lit up with joy.

"Dad's coming home?"

Kanna replied with a soft smile and a gentle nod as she watched the growing girl run out of the room. It was at times like these she recalled Kya, her daughter-in-law . Each day Katara grew to look a little more like her mother. The same carefree smile, the same gentle nature, the chief's mother knew that once she bloomed, Princess Katara would go onto break a few hearts or two. The thought brought a smile to her lips, her grandchildren were growing up.

Kanna's face fell as her thoughts took her elsewhere. Her tribe in its former glory would have once rivalled the vast cities of the Earth Kingdom. It was truly a sight to see. Now all that remained was a broken dream of what once was. The palace, much smaller now than it was originally created, had suffered a fate similar to the Southern Water Kingdom's entire infrastructure. After the Fire nation's last and only attempt at an invasion, the kingdom had been left shaken. There had been carnage, many of their benders and healers had been taken hostage or killed fighting. Shaking such thoughts away, the grandmother realised that soon Katara would be in need of a master to train her.

###

Running as if with a purpose, the young girl, no older than 9, dashed hastily through the icy palace.

"Princess Katara!"

The princess collided with something rather solid, causing her to fall backwards. Raising her hands to her face, she desperately dabbed at the forming tears in her eyes. Big girls don't cry, she recalled her brother saying.

"Princess!" a servant cried, fussing over the girl. Turning upon the source of the collision, the maid's eyes formed angry slits as she reprimanded the fallen servant. "You should watch where you're going! For La's sake, look how clumsy you are girl! You've hurt the Princess! Wait till I tell the Wise Mother about this!"

Katara looked over to the fallen maid; the girl in question looked young. Evident fear grew upon her face at the mention of Katara's grandmother. Knowing what it was like to be on the receiving end of her Gran Gran's anger, the princess interceded.

"I am not hurt!" she announced.

"Princess, I think some rest may do you some good" the older maid replied.

Annoyed at the servant for not listening to her, Katara tried again with a little more force, "I am not hurt! I don't want to go to bed either! It was just an accident, I was running so fast, Mei Ling here didn't even have chance to see where I was going. I sort of ran into her" Katara sheepishly acknowledged.

"Where's my brother?" the Princess asked, hoping to diffuse the situation.

"Here's in the war chamber Princess."

Picking herself up, Katara continued her frantic pace, leaving the bickering voices of the maids behind her. She had important news to tell Sokka. Panting as she reached the door, the young girl called for her brother, "Sokka! Sokka!" Grinning she skipped merrily into the war chamber.

A boy clad in a blue tunic, pants and warm fur boots stood studying something with rapt attention. His face painted in tribal colours. Katara giggled, her silly brother was too serious. She hoped when she was 11 like him, she'd be a lot more fun.

"Katara you can't skip in here!" Sokka cried, unimpressed by his sibling's lack of etiquette.

"Why not?" she demanded, hands on hips, a pout forming on her lips.

"Just because! Girl's skip and this is a non girly room! You can't skip in here because you'll girl it up with your skipping!"

A splash followed, as the young girl laughed at her angry brother.

Sokka wiped the water off his face. "Katara you can't just attack people! And now I'm wet! What if you destroyed these war maps?" he yelled pointing at the table.

"I'm sorry"

Sighing, the boy walked over to his sister, throwing a soggy arm around her.

"You're getting good at your bending" he smiled.

Looking up at her brother, she eagerly asked, "You really think so?"

"Definitely! Watch out world! My sister will be the best ever waterbender ever!"

"Sokka you're so silly!" she laughed at her brother's attempt to mimic bending. "Hey Sokka guess what?"

"You brought me some blubbered seal jerky?"

"No! Your belly is fat enough!"

"That hurt little sis" he said, feigning tears. "A boy can't help his love of food. Besides I'm a growing boy! Gran Gran agrees!"

"Sokka quit thinking of food and listen to me! Gran Gran said that Dad's coming home!" she announced squealing.

"He is?" Disbelief coloured Sokka's voice. "You mean we can be a family again?"

"Uh-huh! Gran Gran said he'll be here real soon!"

###

That night Katara struggled to fall asleep. As her grandmother finished tucking her in, she kissed her temple.

"Goodnight Katara."

"Gran Gran?"

The elderly woman stopped by the door. "What's wrong?"

"Will dad be here by tomorrow?"

The grandmother smiled, "Oh sooner than you think. Now go to sleep."

Some time later Katara groggily awoke. Blinking away the sleep in her eyes, she fought back a yawn as her attention turned to the voices coming from room next door. They sounded familiar. With her ear pressed against the cold ice wall, she listened attentively.

"What news do you bring then?"

"The General has been banished."

"Another royal banished?" laughed the first voice. "Are all of the fire nation nobility to be banished? Who'll be left to sit on the throne!"

"Speak quietly, there are people asleep" the new voice reprimanded.

"And what of the boy, the prince?"

"He is presumed dead, the country have declared a period of mourning."

"Do you believe it Hakoda?"

The princess fell away from the wall. That was her dad's name. Pushing past the fur pelt that covered the doorway, Katara ran into the room next door. There sitting at the main desk was a man of strong stature clad in blue armour, his face only starting to give away his age. He rose immediately out of his seat.

"Katara?"

Throwing herself at the man, she shrieked, "Dad!"


A/N: sorry for the lack of gore and guts!