Book One: Water

Chapter 18

The Waterbending Master

The Avatar and his friends had been flying over the ocean for two days straight in search of the Northern Water Tribe. Everyone was becoming grouchy and tired from the journey except Lin who knew they were close to her home town. She was more anxious and nervous about her return. It had been a year since she left the North Pole and Lin had not written home, not even once. She was too embarrassed because she promised to find herself a waterbending master, but wasn't successful. Paku had laughed at Lin's decision knowing she would have trouble finding anyone that could waterbend let alone a master. As all these thoughts raced across her mind she wasn't paying attention to the bickering going on between Sokka and Aang.

Suddenly Appa was tripped up by some ice glaciers and they all held on for dear life. They were ambushed by rafts with members of the Northern Water Tribe, looked like the welcoming committee found them first. Among the many faces Lin recognized was her father. Though his face did not betray his emotions she could tell that he was extremely happy to see her again. Lin held back tears "Everyone I would like you to welcome the Avatar! He has come to learn the ways of waterbending."

After many surprised gasps they were escorted to the Water Temple to see the Tribal Chief Arnook. The northern waterbender enjoyed seeing her friends wide eyed with wonder and excitement and probably some jealousy too. Lin and her friends were the special guests of the evening and a dinner was held in their honor. It also happened to be Princess Yue's 16th birthday and Lin felt it to be a high honor to sit at the same table as her. Lin never officially met Yue until that night since the princess spent most of her time at the temple and with the few friends she had.

The hall became quiet as Master Paku and his students took stage to perform their waterbending techniques. Lin knew that Aang would learn waterbending from him, but that didn't make her like him any less for how he treated her before she left. Once the show was over she noticed that Sokka was doing what he does best, failing at flirting with Princess Yue. "Does your brother always find some girl to fall in love with everywhere he goes?"

"If he didn't then I would start to worry" Katara chuckled.

After the dinner Mei-Lin went alone to visit her parents. It felt odd to be walking back through the front door after all this time. Nothing inside the house was different except for her. Yuki was the first to greet her daughter with a loving embrace "I'm so glad you are back home safe and sound."

"Oh Mom I really missed you."

"Got a hug for your old man?" her father came in and hugged both of them. Lin sat with her parents for a while as they asked how her journey was. They were proud of their daughter helping the Avatar and they thought this time she would be back home for good.

Lin felt that she couldn't stay now after meeting Aang and especially Katara who was teaching her so much. Also if she stayed she would probably never run into Zuko again. The waterbender truly believed that fate brought them together again because their destinies had become entwined. Either way Kaito was against it and every time he tried to put his foot down Yuki would step in.

"You wanted to learn some waterbending and you accomplished that. Lin you have done more than anyone in this village and aided the Avatar. Isn't that enough for you? You belong here with your family" her father pleaded.

"Dad I don't think my journey with Aang is over. I've become an important part of their group." Lin wasn't really sure if they even needed her, but she needed them.

"If you leaving before wasn't dangerous enough now you want to head to war!?"

Yuki stepped in before her daughter could answer "Kaito that is enough! Don't you see she doesn't belong here anymore? If she stays it will cripple her soul and you would hate yourself for it. I knew from the moment I showed her what was beyond those walls of ice that she belonged out in the open world."

Kaito just stared at his daughter and imagined her future if she stayed. Yuki was right. He would regret today for the rest of his life for putting out the flames of life that burned in her eyes.

Before Lin left to go back to the temple where her friends were staying she went to her room to get a few important items now that she might run into Zuko again. She went to a chest in the corner of her room where hidden underneath a drawer she pulled out a picture that was painted at the Fire Festival of her and Zuko. Mei-Lin also took the stuffed turtle-duck he won for her at a festival game that was on her bed. She would sleep with it all the time in hopes that one day she would run into him again.

Yuki was shocked to see Fire Princess Ursa standing before her and Lin. "Welcome Princess" Yuki bowed her head in respect. Ursa raised her hand to show there was no need to fuss over here "Please, just treat me like a normal customer."

The princess had been on one of her secret, but always turned out not to be secret strolls. It had come to her attention that some new designer fabrics were gaining in popularity and she decided to make the trip down from the palace. It was no wonder the designs were unlike any other fabric shop since the seamstress was from the Water Tribe. Ursa didn't say a word about their secret and allowed Lin to help her choose some items.

As the fire princess paid for her drapes and robes she came up with a brilliant idea "I know Mei-Lin wants to see the festival. How about a play date with my son Zuko? The poor boy rarely gets to leave the palace and I think they could become good friends." Ursa also desperately needed her son to escape the bad influences of her husband Ozai and her daughter Azula. This was the perfect chance to expand Zuko's horizons since he was to be Fire Lord one day.

Yuki on the other hand wasn't quite so sure. First they end up in the capital of the people who would enslave her daughter and now she was cozying up with the Fire Lord's wife. From the corner of her eye she could see the hopeful look on Lin's face and couldn't turn the princess down.

On the day of the festival Yuki and Lin were waiting by the main stage where shows would be held later that evening. She was surprised to see that Ursa and Zuko arrived without any palace guards and dressed down so as not to draw attention to themselves.

Zuko was under the impression that the new friend his mother was talking about was going to be a boy. Instead he saw a girl with long black hair and half of it was placed up in a bun. Through her bangs he could see that she had light blue eyes. "You didn't tell me I was going to be playing with a girl. I already spend enough time with Azula and her friends" he whined.

His mother gave him a stern look to be on his best behavior. "Yuki, Mei-Lin. This is my son Zuko." Ursa nudged him forward to give a proper greeting.

"Nice to meet you Zuko!" Lin waved and gave him the biggest smile. He was the cutest boy she had ever seen and felt lucky that she was going to spend the day with him.

All four of them walked through the festival which was bustling with commotion. Every once in a while they would stop at an interesting vendor. "So what's it like being a prince?" Lin asked.

"It's alright I guess." Zuko knew that he was privileged, but didn't make up the lack of disappointment he felt from his father. There was no real reason for it and the only thing he could understand was that his dad was fonder of his sister.

"Just alright?"

"Ok it's amazing. I get to do whatever I want when I want. Is that what you want to hear?" Zuko's tone became more sarcastic with every word. Lin stuck her tongue out at him. "You don't have to be so mean about it. I just thought it would be awesome to live in such a large palace."

Even though the young boy with the ponytail was cute his personality left little to be desired. Lin hoped that Zuko wouldn't ruin the festival for her. The two kids walked in silence until they came across an origami booth. "Hey Zuko let's make something cool." The young prince just shrugged his shoulders and followed behind her while their mothers continued on with their adult conversation.

Mei-Lin made a pig-rooster with a large tail and went to show it to Zuko who seemed to be having trouble with whatever he was making. "Is it a snake-spider?" the waterbender asked.

"No! It's a dragon. Can't you tell by its…uh..uh." Even Zuko couldn't make out what it was and let his head drop down in defeat. Lin felt bad and decided to help him. After they made the last folds on the dragon Zuko finally had a smile on his face. He thanked Lin and realized she wasn't so bad to hang out with after all.

The next thing that caught the children's attention was a fish scooping game. Mei-Lin really wanted to win a prize which was a cute stuffed turtle-duck. No matter how many times she tried she wasn't able to catch a goldfish since the scoop kept breaking. If only she was knew how to waterbend it wouldn't have been so difficult, but her mother would have forbidden her anyway. Zuko was pretty good at the game and decided to win the toy for her since she helped him make his dragon. With his dexterous hands the boy was able to scoop up five fish before the scoop broke. Once Lin had the stuffed animal in her hands she surprised Zuko with a hug causing his face to turn flaming red.

"Thank you so much! I am going to treasure it forever!"

The next morning Aang and Katara woke up early to start their training. "Hey Lin aren't you coming?" asked Aang.

"Nah I'm just going to sleep in." She didn't have the heart to tell Katara and Aang about the rules here in the North Pole.

"C'mon I already told him that I'm bringing two of my friends. You don't want me to look like a liar on my first day do you?" Aang looked at her with those sad loveable grey eyes. How could she say no especially since he had a good point.

The three of them made their way to Master Paku who was performing a technique until the Avatar made him lose his concentration with his loud entrance. Lin could see Paku's face when the young boy told him who his two friends were.

"You didn't tell me your friend is a girl. There has been a misunderstanding. In our tribe it is forbidden for women to waterbend. Lin you know better, why didn't you tell them?"

Before Lin could utter a word Katara stepped in. "What do you mean women can't learn?"

"Katara that is the reason why I left home. I thought it was unfair that I couldn't learn how to waterbend so I left to find someone who would teach me or learn at least be free to learn on my own. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I feared Aang would not come here to train if he found out."

"You are more than welcome to learn how to heal" Master Paku interjected.

"I don't want to learn how to heal I want to fight!" Katara yelled. "I can see that" said Master Paku non-chalantly

"Well then I don't want to learn from you!" Aang stormed off.

Katara chased after him. "Wait you can't risk your training from me. You have to learn from Master Paku." Lin could see that he reluctantly agreed. Both waterbending females left Aang to train with Master Paku.

"I can't believe this place has such rules. I don't blame you for leaving."

"It was a hard decision to make leaving my family, but my mother always encouraged me to see the world and discover what was out there. Katara I know this isn't what you came for, but I think you should really learn from Yagoda. Healing can be very helpful especially hanging around Aang and Sokka." The girls giggled and Lin showed her friend the way to Yagoda's training hut.

Back in the group's room that night the mood in the air was pretty sour. Sokka complained about Princess Yue dumping him, Aang about Master poop-head, and Katara about the rules against women waterbending. Lin on the other hand was speechless that Princess Yue fell for Sokka's advances. She really did not know the princess at all.

After some silent contemplation over the day's events Sokka had another golden idea. Aang was going to teach Lin and Katara at night what he just learned earlier that day. The girls' faces lit up like fireworks and ran out of the room with Aang anxious to learn. Sokka was left to brood alone.

As Katara and Lin were maneuvering a large amount of water around them they noticed that it moved away from them. Paku had caught them training and made it well known how displeased he was. At once the three waterbenders were brought to the head council of the tribe and Master Paku announced that he would no longer be teaching the Avatar. Katara had enough of the sexist rules and challenged Paku to a fight.

It was an intense battle, but it was obvious southern waterbender had great potential and was able to hold her own until Paku got the better of her. Master Paku walked away with pride until he noticed Katara's necklace on the floor that was knocked off during the fight. It was the betrothal necklace he gave Katara's grandmother. She was shocked her grandmother could ever be engaged to a man like Paku. When she met Yagoda she learned that Kana was from the Northern Water Tribe, but ran away. A light bulb went off in her head when she realized why her grandmother left.

"My Gran-Gran left you because she didn't believe in your tribe's silly customs. She had the courage to leave and its happening once again with Lin. Can't you see that families are being torn apart? How much longer are you willing to let this happen?"

Finally after all this time it finally sunk in how unfair the Northern Water Tribe customs were and its consequences. Lin had never been so glad to have met her new friends because now it meant that she could return home whenever she wanted and be her waterbending self. The next morning Katara and Lin were able to join Aang in his training.