Hey, guys! I've been debating about which of the two early Katara episodes to turn more so into a Celina one since each of the Gaang kinda gets their own respective episodes about them in the beginning of Book Three. The Painted Lady would dip into Celina's connection with the spirits but I decided to leave it to Katara seeing as it plays upon her desire to help people more. So I'm sure you guys can figure out what will end up being Celina's episode. But that's not until later so I'll let you get to reading this chapter. I don't own anything. Avatar the Last Airbender belongs to Nick. Enjoy!


The Painted Lady

Appa slogged his way down the river with the Gaang riding in his saddle, minus Aang and Momo who choose to frolic in the water. Sokka sat at the back of Appa trying to fish up some food for the group for which he was currently failing at. As they swam deeper through the river Celina became more and more uncomfortable, noticing how polluted the river was getting along with hearing a muffled soft moan coming from underneath the muddied water.

"Aang, I think you should get out of the water," she called out to the airbender.

Listening to his friend's advice Aang airbended himself up into the saddle, noticing all the goop that clung to him. "Hey, guys, I think this river's polluted," Aang said, voicing one of Celina's concerns. He bended the residual goop off himself and off anyone who might have gotten hit with his first air blast.

"Well, that explains why I can't catch a fish around here. Because normally my fishing skills are… off the hook!" Sokka joked though nobody laughed. "Get it? Like a fishing hook?"

"Too bad your skills aren't on the hook," Toph said, earning the laughs and chuckles that Sokka had been looking for.

"It looks like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food. Assuming that'll fit into Sokka's master schedule," Katara said, taking out the schedule Sokka made, looking at it unimpressed. Sokka quickly grabbed the scroll, studying it intently.

"Hm… it's doable. But that means only two potty breaks today!" Sokka said, causing his sisters to roll their eyes.

"Hey, made we can get food there," Aang pointed out.

Following where Aang was referring to the Gaang spotted a little village that sat a while down on the river. Having decided on a plan Appa flew up out of the murky water and towards a secluded spot in some nearby uplands. Celina and Katara helped get the muck from the river out of Appa's fur before Aang covered the bison with a blanket of turf to hide him. With Appa concealed, the Gaang headed down the cliffs down toward the river being able to survey the scene.

"I don't feel anything. Where is this village?" Toph questioned.

"It's in the middle of the river!" Sokka gasped.

"Sure is!" an old, excited voice called out. Looking down the shoreline the Gaang spotted an old eccentric in a boat. "My name's Dock. Mind if I ask who you are?"

"We're from the Earth Kingdom colonies. We came back here to visit family. Luckily we were able to stumble upon your village. We still have a long way to go and our food supply has run out," Celina lied.

"Wow… colonials! Hop on; I'll give you a ride into town," Dock offered.

Taking the man's offer the Gaang hopped into the boat. Dock pushed off from the dock and began to paddle towards the village. Wanting to fill the silence, Katara started up a conversation with Dock.

"Why do you guys live on the river?" Katara asked.

"Because we're a fishing town. At least that's how it was before the factory moved in," Dock explained, pointing out the factory set on the cliffside nearby the town. "Army makes their metal there. Moved in a few years ago and started gunking up our river. Now our little village is struggling to survive."

The muffled moan from underneath the water reprised as they approached the town. Celina looked around to her friends to see if any of them had heard it. None of them had even blinked. She got a gut feeling that reminded her of her family, her dad weak in bed from the 100 years war with her mother worriedly sitting by his side.

Once they reached the village Aang thanked Dock as the Gaang wandered into the village in search of a food stand. Looking around the group felt uncomfortable seeing how stricken with poverty the village was. So many people just idled around being either too sick or hungry to move much more.

"Look at this place. It's so sad. We have to do something to help," Katara lamented.

"No, we can't waste our time here! We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on. These people are on their own!" Sokka told her.

"These people are starving, but you turn your back on them?! How can you be so cold and heartless?" Katara argued with her brother.

"I'm not turning my back, I'm just being realistic! We can't go around helping every rinky-dink town we wander into. We'll be helping them all by taking out…" Sokka went to argue back.

"Alright, that's enough," Celina cut in before Sokka could accidentally reveal their plans. She turned to her sister. "Katara, I know you want to help these people and I would be all for it if we didn't have a deadline. Sokka's right. If we stop to help out every village in need then we won't be there in time to help the world. You need to think about the bigger picture with this."

"I guess so," Katara reluctantly accepted.

"Let's just get what we need and go," Aang suggested.

The Gaang approached the counter of a market stall. The man who popped up to run the counter was the same man who had given them a ride to the village just wearing a different hat.

"Hey, Dock. You work here too?" Sokka greeted.

"I'm not Dock, I'm Xu. Dock's my brother," the man informed them. The group looked at him baffled that he was trying to convince them that he was someone else.

"But we just saw you. You're even wearing the same clothes. The only difference is your hat," Aang tried to argue.

"Dock works on the docks, that's why they call him 'Dock', and I work in the shop, that's why they call me 'Xu'," Xu explained.

"I don't get it," Aang said, not understanding that the man didn't see how Dock and Xu were the same person.

"Me neither," Xu replied, though this time referring to why they called him Xu.

"Can we purchase some fish please?" Celina asked getting back on task.

"What can I getcha? Hey, I'll give you a special deal. If you buy three fish, I'll throw in a clam for free," Xu offered.

"We'll just take the fish," Sokka said. Celina dug some money out from her pocket and gave it to Xu who in turn handed the fish over to Katara. "Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore?"

Xu ducked down beneath the counter and reappeared with his previous hat, signaling that he was Dock now. "Hey, colonials. My brother says you need a lift," he greeted.

Aang looked like he wanted to argue with Dock more but Toph placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head no. As they made their way back to where the boat was docked Celina saw Katara sadly give away one of their fish to a boy who looked to be either five or seven. She could see the guilt in Katara's eyes over not helping more as the boy ran over to his sick mother. She gave her sister a soft smile before ushering her towards the boat. The ride itself was fairly quiet, no one knowing what to say after seeing how impoverished the town was. Once again Celina heard a low moan come from underneath the water. Needing to know if what she thought was true she hung back after Dock dropped them off.

"Dock… are there any spirits who might be connected to this place?" she asked.

"Well, there is the Painted Lady, though she hasn't been spotted in while. Not that many of us have seen her. She would tend to appear when everyone was asleep. Spirits. How'd you know?" Dock answered.

"Just had a feeling," Celina replied. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem," he smiled before starting to row back to the village.

o

Back at camp the benders bended the pollution out of the cooking water that Celina and Katara had gathered. Katara took some to use in the cooking pot while Celina took the other, choosing to run the clean water through the fish. Her eyes glowed as she used her spirit healing abilities to make sure that the fish would be clean enough to eat, dispelling the pollutants. It had done a decent job, the fish still retained its sickly look compared to a normal fish but looked more vibrant than when they first got it. Sokka in the meantime pondered over his schedule, trying to figure out how to get them back on track.

"Our detour into town today has completely thrown off our schedule. It's gonna take some serious finagling to get us back on track," he complained.

"Finagle away, O schedule master," Toph said sarcastically.

"Well, for starters, it looks like we'll need to wake up forty-three minutes earlier every day," Sokka said, ignoring Toph's sarcasm.

"Forty-three minutes?" Katara repeated, taken aback with how specific he was.

"Look, we only have a few weeks to get to the Fire Lord in time for the invasion and the eclipse - which, by the way, only lasts for eight minutes. And we just lost a whole day. So if we want to make up the time and stay on schedule, we have to walk up early!" Sokka justified.

"Well, I'm not waking up early," Toph dismissed.

"Or we could just cut out all of our eating breaks," Sokka suggested as an alternative.

"What?" Aang gasped.

"No way," Katara refused.

"Forget it," Toph second.

"I got it, how's this from now on, we'll take food breaks and potty breaks at the same time," Sokka said, earning ews from the others. "Hey, it might be gross, but it's efficient."

"All of what you suggest we cut will only end with us getting sick which will only set us back more. You're gonna have to think of other ways to make up the time," Celina pointed out.

"Fine. But first thing tomorrow morning we leave," Sokka said. This the rest of the group could agree upon.

The night continued on. Katara and Celina fixed everyone dinner which didn't have any hint of pollution in the taste thanks to Celina's healing of the fish and Katara's mixing of vegetables and spices. After, when everyone headed to bed, Celina set off to a secluded spot by the river. She laid some rocks down to form an altar before setting down a small bowl of stew from dinner along with some clean water as offerings.

"I know it's not much, but I pray for your health. I hope these offerings help you to live another day," Celina prayed to the Painted Lady.

Closing her eyes she felt a small portion of her spirit energy go to the Painted Lady to aid in her healing. Finished with her prayer Celina got up to head back to camp and stumbled a bit, not used to pouring her spirit powers into something that wasn't healing. She needed sleep more than anything now. But with sleep came the other complication.

o

After what happened at Zuko's mother's garden Celina tried to avoid Zuko and him her. It was what was best. Avoid the enemy at all costs. So feeling the need for some familiarity Celina transformed the space into her parent's garden and lost herself in it. After wandering around for some time Celina came across a familiar bench and sat down, longing taking over. It had been so long since she had last contacted her parents, not having the chance to since arriving in the Fire Nation. And after feeling the sick spirit that laid dying underneath the river she was reminded of her father lying in his bed, slowly dying thanks to the war.

Her mind went to her time back on the Fire Navy ship, creating an altar to her father as she had for the Painted Lady. The offerings had been small thanks to the limited resources and Celina had passed out after giving her father some of her spirit energy. Her parents had scolded her at once when she visited the Spirit World later, saying that she shouldn't be sending prayers to spirits. After a small whimper from her, saying she just wanted to help, Bishamon and Ai calmed down and pulled their daughter over to their bedside.

"Celina, your heart was in the right place, but you need to keep your energy for the war," Bishamon told her, a tiny bit of color returned to his cheeks thanks to her prayer.

"How does me sending you a prayer for your strength to return have anything to do with my own?" Celina questioned, still a bit upset.

"Oh, honey. You see, when a spirit offers another spirit a prayer, part of their offering is a portion of their energy, taken willingly or not in your case," Ai explained.

"I would have given my energy willingly," Celina protested before turning to her father. "Everything is a mess and I'm not sure when Aang's gonna wake up and… and… I just want you to get better."

Bishamon pulled Celina into a hug, gently stroking her hair to calm her down. "Oh, turtle duck. It's alright to be worried with the setbacks you've encountered. But I need you to stay strong. You still have your invasion plan, and with the healing you've been doing, I'm sure the Avatar will wake up soon. You need to save your energy for the oncoming battle, your victory in ending the war will be more than enough to heal me. No more prayers alright. Promise me."

And Celina had promised, much to her displeasure. She still didn't understand why she couldn't give her father a boost, especially now that she wouldn't faint each time she did so. But Celina knew that if she tried to send her father a prayer he'd just reject it and her parents would just scold her again once she visited them. That didn't mean she couldn't send prayers to other spirits though. If Celina couldn't help her father with her prayers then she could help another spirit who was dying because of the war. She just hoped it would be enough of a boost to keep the Painted Lady alive.

o

Waking up the next morning the Gaang was going to start packing up their campsite when they noticed Appa lying on his side, groaning. Katara was the first one to run over to him, examining the bison to see what was wrong.

"I think Appa's sick," she informed the group.

"What, Appa's sick!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Wow, Sokka, I didn't realize you cared so much," Toph noticed.

"Of course I care. I might as well just throw our schedule away now," Sokka continued. Celina slapped her brother's chest while the rest of the crew gave them the evil eye. Correcting himself he rushed to Appa's side, quickly petting his tummy. "And I'm concerned because my big, furry friend doesn't feel well."

"He must have gotten sick from the polluted water. I should have noticed sooner, then he wouldn't have been in there that long," Celina sighed, feeling guilty. Appa licked Celina, trying to tell her it wasn't her fault. In doing so though it showed how his tongue had changed color.

"His tongue is purple! That can't be good. Can you heal him?" Aang asked the waterbenders.

"It looks like he needs some medicine. Maybe we can find the right herbs in town," Katara suggested.

The others nodded in agreement and headed down towards the docks so that they could get a boat to town. Once again as they approached the docks Celina heard a low moan. Arriving everyone was surprised to find that the town was bustling, kids running around in play and adults walking about. Celina looked around confused. Had the Painted Lady taken the small amount of strength she'd given her and put it towards aiding the town? It wasn't the smartest move but she knew her father would put those important to him over himself. Shaking the thought from her mind she followed the group to Xu's market stall.

"Hey, Xu, what's going on with everyone today?" Sokka asked.

"Ah, something amazing happened last night. Food was delivered to our village by a mysterious and wonderful person… the Painted Lady," Xu explained, gesturing to the small statue that was on his counter.

"The Painted who now?" Katara questioned.

"The Painted Lady. My brother told that little lady about her yesterday," Xu said referring to Celina. The group glanced over at her to which Celina gave them a small smile signaling that she'd explain later. "The Painted Lady is part of our town's lore. They say she's a river spirit who watches over our town in times of need. I always thought she was just a legend. Until now."

"See, we don't need to help these people, they already have someone to help them," Sokka said to Katara before turning back to Xu. "All we need is medicine for our sick friend."

"Medicine? Sorry, all the medicine we have goes to the factory. That's why there's so many sick people in our village," Xu explained.

"Looks like we need to stay another night so Appa can rest," Katara said.

"I guess you're right," Sokka agreed exasperated.

"Do you have any more fish?" Celina asked Xu.

For beneath the counter Xu pulled out a fish with two heads and a fish with a singular head that was still a monstrosity. "Would you like the one-head fish or two-headed fish?"

"Two-head!" Sokka decided, turning to his friends who looked at him revolted. "What? You get more for your money that way."

Not bothering to argue with him Celina simply pulled out a coin and handed it to Xu before leaving with the others. Once back at the camp the group turned to Celina, wanting her to explain what Xu had told them.

"It was when we first arrived. I started hearing this moan come from beneath the water as we approached the village. When none of you noticed it I had my suspicions that it was a spirit. Last night I asked Dock if there were any spirits associated with the village and he told me about the Painted Lady, confirming it," she told him.

"So because we arrived she felt another spirit's presence and decided to come up and support her village?" Sokka questioned.

"Not exactly. The reason why she probably hasn't been around is because the pollution is slowly killing her. She is a river spirit, after all. So last night I kinda set up a small altar and sent her a prayer so help her return to health," Celina continued to explain.

"That was really sweet," Aang smiled.

"And it worked out pretty well," Toph commented, referring to how the village had improved.

"Yeah," Celina agreed, still feeling a bit uncertain.

"See, Katara, turns out we did help! Satisfied?" Sokka said.

"...Sure," Katara responded, being the only one to have seen the uncertainty on Celina's face.

Satisfied himself Sokka set off to go back to examining his schedule while Toph and Aang did a bit of sneaky training. The girls had taken on the responsibility of gathering more water to use for lunch and dinner, heading back down to the shoreline. Coming back up Katara headed to start working on the food but stopped when she noticed Celina heading over to Appa.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked.

"I was just gonna do a scan on Appa, see if I can help flush out the pollution he ingested that caused him to get sick," she explained.

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I… I got the majority of the pollution out when I checked him them morning. All we can do now is just let him rest," Katara hurriedly told her sister.

Celina raised an eyebrow, sensing that something was up but relented anyway. Moving on to cleaning the fish she saw Katara relax out of the corner of her eye.

o

When night had fallen and the rest of the Gaang went to bed Celina gathered up supplies and headed down to the small altar. Approaching she could see that the previous offerings had been removed, most likely taken after Celina left. Material offerings tended to take time for spirits to consume. She was setting up the new offerings when she spotted a figure making its way down to the water. Celina left the bits of offerings at the altar and hurriedly made her way over to them, having a feeling she knew who it was. Her suspicion was correct as even though they had tried to hide with robes and makeup and a veiled hat, Celina could see the golden armband and tied red top beneath.

"You've really got to work on your lying skills," Celina said to her sister, stopping Katara in her tracks.

Seeing that she was caught, Katara sighed and turned to address her sister. "How'd you know?" she asked.

"You jumping to stop me checking on Appa gave it away. Besides, if the Painted Lady were to come to help the village she would have come from the river or close to it. Not from the direction of our campsite," Celina answered. "So what'd you give Appa?"

"Just some berries that turn your tongue purple," Katara admitted embarrassed.

"Is it right for me to assume that it was you who delivered the village food last night?" Celina asked. Katara nodded. "Katara, I get that you want to help but this is dangerous."

"I know, I'm seriously messing with Sokka's schedule…," her sister went to admit.

"I'm not referring to that. Katara, you're parading around as a spirit, one that you have no knowledge about outside of what Xu/Dock/whoever has told us, which isn't much. If the Painted Lady is a prideful spirit she won't appreciate you pretending to be her. And you've seen what spirits have done when we get mad," Celina warned her.

Katara shuddered, memories of spirits flashing through her mind. Hei Bi's anger over his burned forest, Wan Shi Tong's anger about his library, the Spirit of the Ocean's wrath over the death of the Moon Spirit. Celina, her own sister, murdering Zhao and members of the Dai Li for what they did. She didn't want to be on the other end of a spirits anger.

"I'm not claiming to be the Painted Lady, I just want the villagers to believe in their spirit again. I want them both to be okay after we leave. If the Painted Lady gets mad at me, fine, but that's a risk I'm willing to take to help these people," Katara told her sister.

Celina sighed, knowing there was no way to talk her sister out of it. "So what are your plans for tonight?" she asked.

"These people will never get better without medicine. Tonight was going to be a mass healing session," Katara answered.

"Alright then, let's go," Celina said, freezing a raft for them to travel across on.

"You're coming with me?" Katara questioned surprised.

"Of course. It's clear that you're dead set on doing this. So hopefully with me tagging along it will not only help the mass healing session to go faster but after this, I am forcing you to send a prayer to the actual Painted Lady. Hopefully, that will lessen her anger at you," Celina explained.

Katara threw her arms around Celina, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you," she squeezed.

With her sister on her side, Katara and Celina hopped onto the frozen raft and traveled over to the village. The two split up, each taking one half of the village to heal. Celina took a moment to locate a cloak of her own, not wanting to be recognized if one of the villagers was to wake up. The two worked through the night, healing all of those who were sick, Celina having to dip into her spirit healing for at least two villagers. There was almost a problem when the two met up and were getting ready to leave, as a little boy ran out to thank the Painted Lady, but Celina was already hidden on their frozen raft while Katara silently nodded to the boy which was enough to send him back to bed. Upon returning to the shore Celina made Katara remove her costume before ushering her over to the altar, the offerings she had originally brought for the night still there. A small weight was lifted off Celina's shoulders after Katara sent the Painted Lady a prayer for her to return to health, though the tiredness of the night had caught up to them. Back at camp, the girls crashed on their sleeping bags, Katara excited to see the results of the night's doings in the morning while Celina pushed aside the task of dealing with Sokka and his schedule in the morning.

o

The morning had come sooner than most would have liked but just shortened Celina's time within her shared world with Zuko. He had transformed the place back to his mother's garden and was sat by the pond when she arrived. Celina hadn't approached and instead hid herself up in a tree at the back of the garden, away from the Fire Nation Prince. When morning arrived however Celina was reminded of taking on the task of dealing with Sokka's schedule, something that Katara only made harder with feeding Appa the berries again to make him look sick.

"Well, this is just great! My schedule is completely ruined! We'll never make it to the randevu point now!" Sokka complained loudly. As he did this Celina grabbed his schedule out of her brother's pack. Upon looking at it, she noticed a huge flaw.

"Uh, Sokka, your schedule is off by a month," she informed her brother.

"We're behind a month?!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Actually we're ahead by a month," she corrected. Sokka scurried over to Celina, looking at his schedule from over her shoulder. His jaw dropped when he noticed that he had forgotten to include a month in his plan. Making Celina's observation to be correct.

"Well, whaddya know," Sokka muttered before fainted, no longer needing to be overwhelmed by their process.

After rousing Sokka, the Gaang headed back down into the village since thanks to Katara's tricks they would be staying another extra day. Now knowing they had more time though Sokka was more relaxed over the loss, though still expressed that they'd be leaving once Appa was better stating it wasn't wise for them to stay in one place for too long. Walking up to their typical market stall Sokka noticed that Dock was polishing his Painted Lady figurine.

"Hi, Dock. Is Xu around?" he asked, still playing his game.

"Let me check," Dock said before dipping down behind his counter and coming back up with his Xu hat. "Hey there! Back again, are ya?"

"We need more food. Our friend is still sick and we can't leave until he's better," Toph explained.

"Oh, well that's too bad. Maybe if you guys are lucky, the Painted Lady will visit you in the night, and heal your friend," Xu said, presenting them with a platter of noxious clams.

"And maybe she'll cook us a midnight snack and we'll all have a sing-along," Sokka said, his skepticism having snuck through, earning him a glare from Celina.

He mouthed an apology. Even knowing that the spirits existed he still had a hard time believing in them unless confirmed with his own eyes or by his sister. And even with Celina's explanation of the spirit of the river he still had some doubts.

"Yeah, maybe! You know, last night she visited us again. Healed most of our sick folks," Xu explained, oblivious to Sokka's sarcasm.

"Is that why this place seems so festive?" Aang asked. Looking around the Gaang saw the villagers erecting a large statue of the Painted Lady in the middle of town square. Everyone broke out into applause when it was fully in place. Celina saw Katara smiling at the village's prosperity.

"Yep, it's all because of the Painted Lady," Xu answered before heading back to work.

"Can you believe how much an entire village can be affected by one lady? I mean… spirit?" Katara marveled.

"Well, I hope she returns every night. Otherwise, this place would go right back to the way it was," Sokka said.

"Why would you say that? Look how much better off these people are," Katara questioned indignantly.

"Yeah, now. But without her, they wouldn't be able to fend for themselves. If she really wanted to help she would use her spirit magic to blow up that factory. Oooooo….pow!," Sokka pointed out, bringing a bit of reality back to the situation, along with some silliness with his imitation of a spirit.

"Spirit magic doesn't work that way, Sokka. It's more like… Woooooo…," Aang corrected wiggling his arms.

Celina looked at them unimpressed. "Both of you have seen what I'm capable of doing and this is what you think spirit magic is? Honesty," Celina rolled her eyes, walking off back towards the boat, hoping that what Sokka had said didn't give Katara any ideas.

After dinner, Celina headed back down to the altar this time with Katara, wanting to give her respects to the river spirit as well. On their way back from the village Celina didn't hear any sickly moaning coming from below the river but knew better to assume that the Painted Lady was completely healed. After all, the river was still a polluted mess. The two set off their prayers at the exact same time after placing down the offerings of clean water and some of their dinner. Katara, finished praying first, looked up to see a glimpse of Celina's spiritual glow comes from small spots on her back as part of her energy was sent with her prayer. The glow disappeared as Celina finished, feeling tired from her low energy. Katara was quick to catch Celina by her arm as she stumbled but Celina quickly corrected herself, assuring her sister that she was okay and that all she needed was some sleep.

o

Being the first one to arrive in their shared space Celina transformed the blank canvas back into her parents garden. She wandered through its twisting maze, lost in thoughts about her father thanks to the situation with the Painted Lady. What caused her to freeze was when she came across her familiar bench only to find Zuko sitting on it. Why did it always have to be that bench that held her romantic problems? Feeling a presence Zuko looked up, surprised to find her in front of him even though he knew this space only belonged to the two of them.

"Sorry. I'll just…," both of them apologized as both moved to leave but paused when they noticed what the other was doing. Celina and Zuko couldn't help but chuckle at the awkwardness before silence fell over them.

"Sorry, seeing you on that bench threw me off,' Celina admitted.

"Something particular about this bench?" Zuko asked, his good eyebrow raised.

"It's just something I associate with my ex,' Celina answered, not looking at him. That shut him up.

"Oh," was all he could say.

"Is me being in a previous relationship so surprising to you?" Celina questioned, feeling a bit offended.

"No! It's not that, I just...," Zuko quickly backtracked before letting out a groan knowing whatever he was going to say was just gonna make things worse. There was a pause in their awkward conversation as both thought of what to say. "So… I guess you must miss him then. This is the second time you've changed this place to this garden."

"Actually… that wasn't my intention. It was more so because I miss my parents," Celina admitted.

Zuko looked around at the garden confused. "I thought you lived in the South Pole," he commented.

"I did… do… spirits I don't know anymore," Celina confirmed, though the last part was mainly muttered to herself.

"Then, why the lush garden?" he asked.

Realizing her mistake Celina quickly fabricated her history with something Zuko could easily buy. "Why does the North Pole have a lush oasis? There are spiritual places all over the world that bring a sort of beauty. My parents just so happened to be the guardians of one at the South Pole, the Southern Garden."

"I guess that explains how you were taught by the spirits," Zuko accepted.

Turning away from him, Celina transformed the area in front of her to create a small opening. In that small opening, she conjured images of her parents, Ai and Bishamon standing proudly in Water Tribe inspired clothes, her father holding an infant version of Celina in his arms. She couldn't let on that her parents were anything besides Water Tribe. Still, her heart couldn't help but ache seeing the imagined image of her father returned to health, finally out of his sick bed.

"Not that I remember much," Celina said, letting out a dry laugh. "This garden is practically a blend from what little I remember and the garden I met my ex in."

"Hench the bench?" Zuko questioned.

"Hench the bench," Celina nodded, not looking back at him.

"You said you don't remember much of the Southern Garden. Why is that? What happened?" Zuko asked.

"Like I said. I don't remember much, I was too young. From what I was told, everyone suspects that they left because I was sick," Celina explained.

Zuko looked back at Celina's parents, having a feeling from what she said they weren't going to have a happy fate. That was confirmed as Celina dismissed the conjured images of her parents. She replaced the scenery in front of her with her igloo in the Southern Water Tribe. Her parents were replaced with her adoptive parents standing in front of it, watching as a young Celina ran around playing with a young Sokka and Katara.

"They found me out crying in a blizzard, my parents' bodies were never recovered. Luckily I was taken in by a loving couple, right as they were starting their own family. Sure there were moments we had to deal with regarding members of the community, but for a while we were happy," she continued. "You already have an idea of what happened."

Zuko frowned as the scene transformed, already knowing about the death of her mother thanks to the conversation down in the Crystal Catacombs. The icy village of the Southern Water Tribe transformed to the wreckage after the Fire Nation's attack. Kya was gone, Hakoda was off in the distance with the other men of the tribe, preparing to go to war. A young Celina sat by the igloo, cradling her sobbing sister in her arms as Sokka stood by them on edge.

"Another broken family. This time from the war. With my second mother dead my adoptive father focused on leaving to fight, no longer caring about the little girl he took into his home so many years before. The man I trusted pushed me aside, leaving me open to all the emotional abuse from the rest of the village. I remember overhearing him before he left, telling my grandmother to marry me off. It was probably one of the darkest periods in my life."

Getting up off the bench Zuko slowly walked over to Celina, stopping a foot behind her. He reached out to touch her shoulder but drew back. Zuko wanted to so badly return to the intimacy they shared back in Ba Sing Se. But with the tangled atmosphere surrounding them, he knew it wouldn't be right.

"But then I found some light. Literary," Celina said. She changed the scene once again, wiping away the Southern Water Tribe and replacing it with a grassy field. The Water Tribe siblings all stood together before being joined by Aang flying down on Appa. The landing of the large creature surprised them but somehow ended up with the four of them laughing.

"Once again, a new family. Made up of the familiar…" As Aang jumped down from Appa a rock launched him up higher into the air, surprising the Gaang. When Aang hit the ground Toph stepped out from behind the extended rock. Her laughter caused another round of laughter. "...and new. Our whole adventures together brought me out of this shell I had created in order to protect myself. But with them, I didn't need protecting. I found my own strength and the happiness that came with it. With everything I've done, the person I've become, I hope that I've made my parents proud."

Looking off from behind Appa her parents stood watching Celina with the rest of the Gaang, smiles on their faces. Breaking from the trace she'd put herself in telling an altered version of her history Celina quickly cleared the scene back to the normal garden. She turned around to face Zuko.

"I guess we're even now," she said.

"What?" Zuko questioned confused.

"You showed me your life, now I've shown you mine," she explained. Zuko was quiet for a moment before nodding. Something that Zuko said earlier came back to Celina. "How did you know I was taught by the spirits?"

Zuko tensed as he remembered back to that moment at the North Pole. "I was… there, when you killed Zhao," he informed her.

Celina was quiet as she herself tried to remember back to that moment. The fuzziness of those memories clearing from what he told her. Saving Zuko from Zhao's deadly blow before focusing on her target. She remembered the small glimpse back at him before passing out. Her eyes widened as the memories also unlocked an epiphany.

"You're the one who brought me inside," she breathed.

He tensed once again before looking away, blushing in embarrassment. Silence once again in the garden as the tangled atmosphere became even messier.

o

The sun was just rising when Celina woke up thanks to her brother. He had an angry look on his face, which made Celina tense at first, thinking he somehow knew about what happened that night with her time with Zuko. But with him nodding his head over to Katara's empty sleeping bag she knew that wasn't the case. He figured out what Katara had been doing. She had just stood up from her sleeping bag when Aang and Katara made their way back to camp from whatever Painted Lady adventure they had been on that night. Katara froze for a moment seeing her brother but tried to put on an innocent act.

"Hi, Sokka! We were just… out on a… morning walk!" she tried to lie.

"Oh really? A morning walk? I know you're the Painted Lady. I know you've been sneak out at night, and I know you've been lying about Appa and feeding him purplizing tongue berries!" Sokka shouted. Toph stuck out her tongue while holding up the bag of berries, showing that it was the same color as Appa's. "Katara, we might not be behind schedule but you've still put us in danger by keeping us here longer than we should have been. We're leaving right now. And how long did you know about this?"

"Hey, I just found out this morning," Aang defended himself.

"But…," Katara tried to protest.

"Katara, he has a point," Celina interrupted, moving to pack up.

She wanted to continue to argue but Katara closed her mouth, knowing she wasn't going to win the battle. Feeling ashamed to have been caught Katara just kept quiet and began to pack up camp like the rest of the group. They had almost everything packed when a strange sound filled the air. Looking back over the cliff the Gaang spotted a detachment of Fire Soldiers on jet skis racing down the river towards the village.

"What's going on?" Toph asked, obviously not being able to see.

"Fire Nation soldiers are heading to the village," Aang told her.

"Katara… what did you do?" Celina asked her hesitantly, having a feeling that she already knew the answer.

"I… kind of destroyed their factory," she guiltily admitted.

"You what?!" Sokka shrieked.

"It was your idea!" Katara argued.

"I was joking. I also said to use spirit magic and made funny noises. Did you even think this through? The army's gonna blame the villagers. They're headed there right now to get revenge," Sokka argued back.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Katara shot back.

"Leave! Do nothing!" Sokka exclaimed.

"No! I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me," Katara refused and got up to leave. "I'm going down to the village, and I am gonna do whatever I can.

She didn't get far before Sokka stood up to follow her along with the rest of the Gaang.

"Wait. I'm coming too," he said, causing Katara to stop.

"I thought you didn't want to help," Katara questioned.

"You need me, and I will never turn my back on you," Sokka told her.

"Sokka, you really do have a heart," Katara smiled and tackled her brother with a hug.

"He really does have a heart, doesn't he?" Aang asked, tearing up at the moment.

Wiping away his tears the airbender looked to Toph for confirmation. All he received, however, was a smack to his chest, causing him to fall to the ground. Celina broke the emotional moment, getting everyone back on track since the Fire Nation soldiers were quickly approaching the village.

"Alright everyone, we need to hurry. It's spirit time," Celina hurried.

o

As Katara got back in her Painted Lady outfit Celina and Aang had snuck down to the village, getting ready to perform their roles. The Gaang had initially asked Celina to take on the role of the Painted Lady, saying that Celina's spirit abilities would be able to sell it more. But she instantly shut them down. A spirit parading around as another spirit was not something she wanted to get into, and besides, Katara had been going around as her for days. It would be foolish for her to stop now that they needed to make a grand entrance, but Celina did agree to tap into her spirit powers to help. So there she was, hiding underneath the village, waiting for Katara to appear, as a Fire Nation general shouted at the villagers.

"I thought we could live as neighbors, in peace. But I guess I was wrong. You steal our food, our medicine… and then you destroy our factory," the General growled.

"We didn't do any of that!" Dock shouted before popping back up as Xu. "Yeah, the Painted Lady brought us food. She's the one that healed our sick, not your medicine!"

"Oh, right, the mysterious Painted Lady did it. And I suppose she drew the army emblem on your containers too. This is a town of thieves and liars!" the General shouted, destroying a house with a fire blast. "Where's your Painted Lady now? We're going to cure the world of this wretched village." The Fire Nation soldiers began to demolish the town, two of them lighting a large flammable ball perched on a buoy in the river. From his hidden spot, Aang sent a gust of wind, blowing out the fire. "Light it again!"

Once again Aang blew the fire out. Heavy fog began to roll in with eerie flute music playing thanks to a team-up of Sokka and Katara.

"Look at that! Where's it coming from?" a female soldier asked, referring to the fog.

"I don't know. Something strange is going on," a male soldier replied, as ominous growling noises echoed over the river thanks to Appa.

"It's the Painted Lady. She's coming," the boy Katara previously helped said.

"There is no Painted Lady!" the General shouted.

"What is that sound?" the female soldier asked freaked out.

A repetitive thudding mixing in with the eerie music and growling, Toph adding in her own noises. The fog parted, revealing Katara in her Painted Lady costume. There was a pause as the Fire Nation soldiers stared at her in shock and a bit of fear before she rushed towards them in a burst of waterbending, landing lightly on the dock before slowly approaching the soldiers.

"Do something!" the General commanded, pushing one of the soldiers forward. As they drew closer to Katara they were rattled by an air blast. Celina looked over and saw that Aang had joined her below the dock. "Stand your ground!" Katara started to take action, waterbending two jet skis into a cliff. She raised her hand to wreak further damage, scaring the soldiers away. As the soldiers fled on the jet skis the general stood his ground. "I'll take care of you myself."

He bended an arc of fire at Katara. Aang jumped in with a column of air, sending Katara in the sky to avoid the arc of flame. As she hovered in the air he rendered the dock in two with a blast of wind, sending the General into the river. As he flounders to the top, Celina pulled upon her spirit abilities. As Katara hovered on the water in front of the general Celina used her spirit healing to cause the water below her sister to glow.

"Leave this village and never come back," Celina ordered, her voice sounding with power as Katara lip-synced to her.

Beyond terrified the General swam away, clambering onto a passing jet ski as they rode away from the village. Celina saw Sokka and Toph row towards the village as the villagers began to applaud Katara. Celina stopped her glow as Katara stepped back onto the docks before her and Aang snuck their way back up.

"I knew you'd come," the village boy smiled.

"Thank you! Me and my brothers really owe you a lot," Dock said as he approached Katara. His appreciation turned to shock as he finally got a good look at her. Her Painted Lady makeup having come off during the fight. "Hey, wait a minute! I know you! You're not the Painted Lady, you're that colonial girl!"

"Yeah, you're the lady that gave me a fish," the boy confirmed.

"She's a waterbender! How dare you act like our Painted Lady!" Dock shouted.

The crowd of villagers surged forward towards Katara in anger. Celina and Sokka shot ahead, standing protectively in front of their little sister.

"Maybe she's a waterbender, but she was just trying to help you," Celina came to Katara's defense.

"Because of her, that factory won't be polluting your river, and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking her," Sokka continued, getting angry himself. Katara put her hand on Sokka's shoulder to stop him.

"Sokka, it's okay," she told him. Stepping out from behind her siblings Katara addressed the village. "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have tricked you. But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. Because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself."

The Gaang watched as the villagers took in Katara's words, their anger transforming into one of acceptance. Still, they all looked unsure of what to do.

"She's right, but what should we do?" Dock voiced.

"Maybe we can clean the river," Toph suggested, hidden in the crowd.

"Yeah, we can clean the river!" Dock repeated, the crowd cheering at the idea. "Thank you. You know, you're not so bad for a waterbender."

"You wouldn't mind keeping that a secret, would you?" Celina asked.

"No problem. Keeping my mouth shut is a personal specialty. My brother, Xu on the other hand, hoo! He's a blabbermouth," Dock promised.

"So, Dock, are you gonna help us clean?" Katara asked.

"No, ma'am. I'm going to get my other brother, Bushi. He loves cleaning rivers," Dock said before switching his hat, becoming Bushi. "Alright, I'm Bushi! Let's get some river cleaning done."

"Aha, I knew it! I knew you were the same guy. You're the shop owner and the boat guy," Aang said, thinking he got the man. The Water Tribe siblings shot each other an amused look.

"Oh, you must be talking about my brothers, Dock and Xu," Bushi replied with a smile.

"No, I just saw you! You switched hats and called yourself a different name!" Aang exclaimed exasperated.

"Oh, you know who does that? My brother, Dock. He's crazy," Bushi whispered.

Aang would have stayed there fuming for a while if Toph didn't come by and drag him away.

o

With everyone working together the Gaang helped the villagers clean up the river, mainly getting it completed thanks to the Gaang's bending abilities. Aang and Toph would bend the earth while Celina and Katara would use their healing abilities to purify the water. Everyone was exhausted after the long day but things were clean, and hopefully, the village would prosper. After dinner, Celina and Katara headed down to the altar, goodies in hand. Katara, knelt down next to the shore, running her hands through the clear water. Celina smiled and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You did good, Katara," she told her sister.

Katara smiled back. Their sisterly moment was interrupted as a thin fog washed over them. Celina's skin pricked, feeling spiritual energy. Looking up the girls were surprised to find the real Painted Lady floating above the water. The spirit had a soft smile on her face.

"Thank you," she told Katara.

The spirit looked at Celina, sending her a silent thank you before disappearing before their eyes. Katara looked back at Celina, a large glowing smile on her face before tackling her sister in a hug. Celina herself looked over the river, happy that she had made an ally instead of an enemy.


Thanks for reading. Be sure to leave me a review and a crazy "So Tell Me About Yourself" answer.

"So Tell Me About Yourself" is an inside joke between me and my friends which started from my one friend's hatred for the typical getting-to-know-you question "So tell me about yourself". She, being so annoyed with the phrase, gave a silly answer that she murdered people in their sleep. When she brought it back to me and my other friend we both gave a silly answer. That is where the idea for my account name came from.