A/N: I'm so pleased that you guys are enjoying this fic so far. I know it's taking a while to get the plot moving but I wanted to give each character more of a detailed back story. There wouldn't be a fight for the throne if a character wasn't truly motivated. I know some of this may not make sense but as I'm sorting of writing this as an AU, I'm having to wing a few things so thank you for continuing on with me!

A few questions that have been asked:

Q) Does Zuko have his scar? – He does, he wouldn't be Zuko without it and I don't want to change him that much. I will hopefully cover his scar in a later chapter; it was after all a key part of him.

Q) What's Zuko's hairstyle? – I may be upsetting the cannon readers here but I imagined Zuko having more of an Ozai style, the type he sports during book 3. I liked his hair looking shaggy and that ponytail/shaved head thing really irritated me, sorry!

Katara

It had been a week since her father and his men had returned from sea. Although she had felt ecstatic at first, the young princess found herself despairing one cloudy afternoon. Sat in the healers hut she watched the last female waterbender (besides herself), instruct her on the art of healing.

"Katara, concentrate!" Hama reprimanded.

"Huh?" the girl replied, pulling herself out of a daze, the child's thoughts seemed to be too distracted to often for Hama's liking.

Hama sighed. Why she had been dragged out of her peaceful solitude to train this girl was beyond her. The girl could barely bend. The elders after much deliberation had decided that by training her, Hama could return to the village. For although they respected her for being such a powerful bender, they had witnessed the extent of her true nature and so she had been treated somewhat like an exile.

Hama didn't mind the isolation as much as she first thought she would have. Although she resented the tribe's decision to outcast her in such a way, she couldn't wholly disagree with their decision. She knew the destruction her skill could bring, and at least in the isolation she could practice freely on the animals, biding her time till the Fire Nation was foolish enough to return.

Catching Katara gaze longingly at the pot of water, Hama decided that she was done following the tribe's foolish rules. A war was being fought and the girl had the means to protect herself, she just needed proper training.

"Katara?"

"Yes Master Hama?"

"How much would you like to waterbend girl?"

The girl's eyes immediately shot up, her eyes bright with hope. "It's the thing I want the most! But the council won't allow it. They're scared that the Fire Nation might return if it's found that there are waterbenders that survived." Katara's gaze lowered at the realisation that she would never be a true waterbending master.

"The tribe can stick their stuffy rules. We've lived in fear for long enough. I'm going to train you girl! Mind you we'll have to do it in secret."

"Secret?"

"The council may be just some stuffy old men but I don't fancy being sent back to the cold wastelands just yet" she laughed coldly.

Katara nodded fiercely in agreement, her heart beating quickly with anticipation.

"We could meet in the underground caverns? The ones under the temple? No one goes there much after Mama…" The Princess's excitement soon vanished as her heart ached.

Noticing the child's sudden change in expression, Hama promptly agreed, she may be stonehearted but she knew of the child's pain. Nothing was worse than losing a loved one.

"We'll start tonight."

"Tonight?"

Rising from the floor, Hama dusted herself off. Glancing at the child she replied, "Waterbenders rise with the moon" before departing.

Left alone with her thoughts, Katara found herself thinking about her mother again. Would she be proud of her now? Although she had been young when the Fire Nation had attacked she could recall every single detail of how it had occurred. Kanna had often reminded how brave her mother had been that night.

###

The siege at the Southern Water Kingdom had lasted just under a few weeks. The approaching of the Fire Nation was signalled by the grey clouds and the dark ash falling from the sky. Katara could recall the vast metal fleet that sailed ominously towards her home. The elders had spoken of this day; they had foreseen its approach. She watched as the Fire Nation launched their attack from the sea, blazing fireballs came raining down upon the icy Kingdom.

Waterbenders and warriors rallied together, the men wearing the markings of war on their faces. She watched as benders clashed, the power of it all lit up the sky, mimicking the aurora australis she could sometimes see. Her father led the warriors attack on vessels of their own although paling in comparison to the grandeur of the Fire Nations.

Nightfall approached with many casualties on both sides. She could recall her father saying that the enemy had underestimated their tribe, not expecting so many waterbenders to be present. Her father's men had managed to cause a standstill after a week's worth of battling. Neither side relenting as the casualties continued to grow as the days wore on. Katara could remember the fear she had felt, wondering each day whether her father would survive. Usually a few days would pass before he returned to the mainland to be healed. What had worried her most was when the elders had begun whispering their fears.

Her brother had brought the awful news during the last week of the siege, his face grim as he approached Gran Gran.

"It's not good."

"What's the current status?"

"The wall has fallen, the outer city too."

Kanna refused to shed any tears. She needed to be strong for her grandchildren.

"Go find your mother Sokka" she instructed.

The Princess could remember her grandmother explaining to her that the main wall separating the outer city and the port had fallen. The water tribe men had retreated, some falling in their attempt to protect the outer city. At the time she had been angry and upset at her Gran Gran for telling such horrible things but she knew now that her grandmother was trying to protect her. There's no point sheltering her Hakoda! There's a war being fought, don't you think she needs to know? Kanna had once reasoned with her father.

"You called for me?" Katara's mother inquired as she entered the room. Spotting her daughter, she offered a soft smile.

"It is time" Kanna instructed.

Grimly acknowledging her mother-in-law's instruction, she turned to her daughter.

"My little girl, I want you to know that I love you, you and your brother mean the world to me."

"Mama?"

"Katara dear, it is time my lovely girl that I do my part to end this siege."

Pressing a gentle kiss on Katara's temple, she faced Kanna before her daughter could see her tears.

"Look after her."

"I am sorry daughter" Kanna replied. "If I could, I would take your place."

"I was raised for this, do not apologise mother, I do not know if I will be successful yet."

Katara watched as her heart broke into fragile pieces with each step her mother took. If only she had known that would have been the last she ever saw of her mother.

That night the sky had adopted a strange hue. The moon was the brightest she had ever seen. A cold like she had never experience crept slowly through the ice. She shivered at the thought. The wind had picked up, groaning as if it had awoken from a long slumber. The tremors had been the only sign that something different was walking amongst them. Katara could recall desperately wanting to find her parents.

As dawn broke across the sky, an eerie silence settled amongst the tribe. The men had returned.

"We waited for their attack yet nothing came" Hakoda told his mother. "We found a few of their soldiers near the gate." His voice held fear of what he had witnessed.

"Did they-?"

"They wore the markings mother, the marking of old just like the stories say" he almost whispered.

"Take your men and burn them now Hakoda!"

"Mother?"

"They may seem dead now but they are in a deep slumber, Hakoda you must destroy them before they wake!"

"There eyes mother… What are they?"

"They are old, almost as old as Tui and La. Send your men son; I want you to take the council to the spirit oasis."

"Mother?" the warrior questioned.

"And brace yourself Hakoda; what awaits you there will not be pleasant."

They had found Kya lying next to the body of faintly glowing water. Hakoda turned his wife's lifeless body over only to be shocked at what he saw. Her eyes were red rimmed, glazed over and looked as transparent as the water she had been lying next to. Her face and arms were frozen, cooler than the ice itself. What had alarmed Hakoda the most were the foreign marking on his wife's body, they looked to be etched into her very skin. The markings matched those found on the fire nation soldiers. Hakoda backed away in horror.

###

The sun was at its highest when they set Kya's body on the pyre. Hakoda watched grimly, his face set in hard lines, holding his children in either arm. The council had refused to give Kya the traditional funeral. It would've been the last thing he could've given his wife but even then he had failed her.

"I am sorry Hakoda" his lieutenant muttered standing next to him.

The tears then began to fall. His heart clenched painfully as he watched his mother set fire to the pyre.

A/N: okay so I now I completely screwed cannon over completely, but I wanted to incorporate bits of Atla into this story, I didn't want to simply retell the original plot. I hope you guys enjoyed it?