Here's a thing: How Katara develops in certain areas is going to be different, obviously, but one thing that I will warn you about right now is that her power level is increased by more than a fair bit. She's still mostly self-taught, but she's taught herself some "I can actually use this to kill someone/several people" waterbending and not just "I'll make the tide come in" or "look at all the tricks I can do!" waterbending.

Also, you her waterbending power is shown to skyrocket when she's angry. In the first episode, she shatters an iceberg accidentally because she's annoyed at Sokka's sexist comments, and then later on cracks the very ground she's standing on when yelling at Pakku. How angry do you think she's going to be when she thinks about the fact that her brother was murdered in front of her? And she's dealing with those same people that killed him?

Normally, one wouldn't look twice at an iceberg in the South Pole. But considering the fact that icebergs rarely formed perfect spheres, this case was an exception.

Katara circled the odd formation on a floe of ice, a mix of caution and curiosity written on her face. She didn't want to get too close; who knew what sort of trick this could be? But something caught her eye: a warped shadow behind the glassy surface. As she inched toward this new discovery, the image became clearer, yet more confusing; was it... glowing? And what were those arrows? Her face was nearly pressed to the ice when she finally processed all the information.

"Guys?" She called, "I think someone's inside this thing."

Ratuq looked up from gathering the scattered, frozen fish. "Then let him out! See if we can make this hunting trip even more of a hassle!"

"You're the one who threw the spear." Akrun muttered, also busy with collecting spilled game.

Katara placed her palm against the smooth ice, running it up and down to find a suitable spot. When she was satisfied, she pushed, creating a vertical fissure that ran both upward and downward, stopping at her feet but splitting the rest of it open like an egg. She was almost knocked off of her feet by a rush of air, left seeing spots from a light that burst into the sky.

"Finally."

Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation (Once removed, soon to be reinstated), allowed himself a small smile.

"Uncle, do you realize what this means?"

The old man, seated cross legged at a low table, put his tile down on the table and took a sip from his cup of tea. "I won't get to finish my game?"

Zuko's smile faltered; still, he wouldn't let Uncle's nonsense get to him. Not today. Not now. "It means my search - it's about to come to an end."

Iroh groaned. "Zuko, are you sure?"

"That light came from an incredibly powerful source. It has to be him!"

"I do not doubt that, even though it could just be the celestial lights. Are you sure you want to enter Southern Water Tribe territory? Have you not heard the stories?"

"The Southern Water Tribe is practically the only place I haven't checked! The Avatar has to be hiding here! Why else would they be attacking every Fire Nation ship that enters these waters?"

"I suspect the same as you, Nephew. But you know what they say about these waters."

"The Southern Wraith is a myth!" Zuko rounded on his uncle, fist closing around small bursts of fire. "A warped truth that's been spun into an old wive's tale."

"Tale or not, how do you expect to survive an encounter with a person who has laid waste to entire crews and fleets?"

Zuko glared, setting his jaw and gritting his teeth. "I have no choice. I refuse to let one man keep me from restoring my honor. Helmsman, head a course for the light!"

Iroh stared sadly at his nephew's back. "Maybe one day you will see who that one man truly is."

"Will you go penguin sledding with me!"

Katara got that question all the time- she'd taken practically all of the tribe's children out on the ice for a ride at one point or another- but in context, the question was definitely the weirdest thing that happened all day.

"Um... sure?"

"Cool!" the kid yelled, leaping up slowly (paradoxical, yes, but the only way to describe what he'd just done).

He looked around for a bit, confused, then said "So what's going on here?"

"Because clearly," Ratuq chimed in, "something weird is going on with us and not the Air Nomad we found frozen in ice."

"My name is Aang. And while I admit the 'frozen in ice' part is a bit odd... what's so weird about seeing an Air Nomad?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that nobody's seen one for around a hundred years."

The boy quirked an eyebrow, sending ripples across his arrow tattoo. "You're kidding, right? I was here last month!"

"I think I would have remembered that," Akrun said. "Anyway, you might want to come back with us any-"

She was interrupted by a low, guttural growl.

"Appa!" the boy yelled, scrabbling over the rim of the iceberg.

The three tribesmen looked on in confusion.

Seconds later, a massive six-legged beast came lumbering out of the bowl. Katara quickly put the other two behind her and dropped into a fighting stance, but calmed down a bit when she noticed the boy on the thing's head.

He jumped down and gestured at the creature. "This is Appa, my flying bison."

Katara gave him a side-eye. Flying bison? "Okay. Uh, so, Mr. Nomad, sir."

"Aang."

"Okay, Aang. I'm Katara, she's Akrun, and he's Ratuq."

"Nice to meet your acqu- ac- aaaaa... CHOO!"

The three watched in awe as Aang's sneeze sent him airborne.

He landed, none the worse for wear, and grinned. "Nice to meet you."

"You're an airbender?" Katara asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, what's so odd about- oh, yeah, the 'hundred years' thing. Is there anyone I an talk to about that?"

"My Gran-Gran is the oldest one in the village, and even she wasn't around a hundred years ago... but it can't hurt to ask."

She hopped into a boat, Akrun and Ratuq taking the other. "Uh... Appa can swim, right?"

"Even better," Aang said with a devious smile. He leapt up onto Appa's head, snapped the reins, and said "Yip-Yip!"

Appa took a running (more like jogging) start and rose into the air and came down with a splash.

Aang grinned sheepishly. "Swimming it is."

"...but nobody's even seen an air Nomad for a hundred years!"

Katara finished her explanation and waited for Kanna to say something. Old people sure spent a lot of time thinking.

Finally, she said "Send him in."

Katara stuck her head out the tent. "Aang, Gran-Gran wants to see you now!"

Aang jumped up and began to walk in. Before Katara could return, however, a hand roughly grabbed her braid.

"You!"

Katara turned to find a very angry woman.

"Good Afternoon, Miss Kua."

"Don't 'Good Afternoon' me, child! I hear you made my daughter do twenty-five pushups this morning?"

"Technically, she only did fifteen-"

"And you stepped on her back?"

"It's not like I stomped on her or anything-"

"And you're teaching her how to use a club! She's been swinging that thing around all day, nearly scared my arctic hens to death!"

"It's something that she'll have to learn-"

"That's not the point, Katara! How could you force-"

"I do not force anyone to do anything!" Katara interrupted. "Rukna is free to leave my training at any time. Akrun can teach her to fish. Ratuq can take her hunting. She could stay here and weave baskets, dye clothes, or even sit around with her thumb up her ass for all I care, but she chose to be a warrior, and she's chosen everything that comes with it!"

"But you're pushing her too hard! You're pushing all of them too hard! She's only eleven years old, Katara! This isn't-"

She stopped abruptly, as Katara's face fell into a mask of barely-contained fury.

"How old was Sokka when a Fire Nation Soldier slit his throat?"

"Um-"

"Nine. How old was I, when I watched said Fire Nation soldier slit throat? Here's a hint, subtract 2 from the previous number."

"S- seven."

"It was also at that age that I took my first kill. Was I too young?"

"Yes you were!" Desperate tears picked at the woman's eyes. "You were too young, Sooka was too young, my daughter is too young! This shouldn't- nobody should have to deal with this, it's not fair!"

Katara softened. "You're right. It isn't fair. To anyone. But as our tribe's only waterbender, I'm the first line of defense against the Fire Nation. I've been lucky so far, but I'm still one person. If my luck runs out and I fall in battle, our village is doomed if nobody follows after me. I don't want to be so tough with them, but... the enemy has already proven that they aren't going to go easy on your daughter because she's a child."

Kua nodded gravely. "I understand."

Katara turned to leave, and at that exact moment, something caught her eye.

A black snowflake.

Normally, one wouldn't look twice at an iceberg in the South Pole. This one was no exception.

Though if one looked closely- far closer than he had reason to- he'd swear he could see a girl in this one. Of course, after getting that close, he was as good as dead, anyway.

It had taken Katara nearly a year to perfect this it was her and Hakoda's pet project, using her ice carving skills to create a sort of mobile surveillance craft: part raft, part iceberg. The hardest part was adjusting the ice just enough that she could get a clear view from the inside, but nobody outside could see her very well. She hadn't had a reason to venture out with it in quite a while; then again, she would have started out earlier if it hadn't taken so long for her to realize that there was no way the gigantic beam of light shooting into the heavens went unnoticed.

So here she was, not entirely certain that there had been any Fire Nation presence that close to the tribe, but all the same looking out anyway. With an inward pulling motion, she increased the size of her iceberg raft, from the bottom up, until she could get a nice view of the surrounding area... and the gray spot belching out black smoke amidst the blue and white. It was about half a day's journey from the tribe- and not even heading in its direction, from the looks of things- but too close all the same.

She made her way there slowly- a fast-moving iceberg drew attention- shrinking her craft until it was small enough to hide behind the ship. The moon was up by then, and nearly full, and she called upon its power to do more than she could alone. Waving her hands she swathed the ship in an eerie fog. The crew began scrabbling about the deck, and then she made her move.

"Who commands this ship?" She yelled. "For what reason do you enter these waters?"

The curvature of the iceberg raft both amplified and distorted her voice, giving it a ghostly echoing quality. She counted on this to keep up the charade.

An old man answered her; she couldn't see his face, but his voice was distinctive- a low tenor, maybe high baritone with an odd edge to it.

"My name is Iroh. I am here on vacation, really. I am always interested in discovering new places, spreading knowledge and-"

"The Fire Nation is not welcome here!"

"Surely you can make an exception in my case; I am not- WOAH!"

Katara pushed her waterbending as far as it could go, altering and strengthening the natural currents to send the ship bucking wildly and carry it off. After several minutes of breakneck speeds, sharp turns, and near misses with icebergs, they entered a new area. To the left and right were dozens of Fire Navy ships, impaled on and frozen frozen inside of icebergs. Some looked to have been in the process of exploding; others were mostly intact. Almost all showed evidence of human habitation. Soldiers frozen in place, many as they attempted to abandon ship. Men in lifeboats that never reached the water. Heads and arms and legs without bodies.

It took them nearly half an hour to pass through the valley of death and destruction, the soldiers only able to stare in awe and terror. When they got to the end, they were treated to another round of unearthly speed and left in the middle of nowhere when the fog cleared.

"Leave these waters, Iroh. And never return. Or your crew will join my... collection."

The ship left, as fast as was humanly possible.

Katara took on a slower pace as she returned to the village. All that bending had tired her out; pushing a ship along at high speed did that. It would have been easier to just kill them all, but something about Iroh's voice was sincere, trustworthy. She never thought the Fire Nation capable of such a tone; it was enough for her to know that Iroh was, while not a friend by any stretch of the imagination, at least not her foe.

It was too late when she realized that her foe had already reached the village.