I don't own ATLA or it's characters...

The Southern Tribe

After the war ended in the summer, the gang decided that they weren't done traveling quite yet. Why not finish off the year together before going their separate ways? The rest of the summer they spent in the Fire Nation, allowing Aang and Zuko to complete their fire bending training until they were both good enough to be considered masters. In the fall, they traveled to the Earth Kingdom for Toph and Aang to learn different styles of earth bending. Finally, for the winter, they went to the Southern Water Tribe to celebrate the winter solstice and the coming New Year.

Zuko had chosen to stay with them, even though he knew that he should be home in the Fire Nation preparing himself to be the next Fire Lord. Uncle had been crowned as the new king after Ozai had been over thrown, and he had chosen Zuko as his heir. He couldn't have been happier. Still, Zuko felt it was the right thing to finish up his traveling while he was still young. Ever since the end of the war and even a bit before that, he and Katara had become very good friends. They had grown exceptionally close over the past few months.

When they arrived at the South Pole, though, he couldn't have been more miserable. It was cold and there was snow everywhere. Katara laughed quietly when she heard him complaining about the weather. "It's the South Pole," she had reminded him. "If it's above thirty degrees for too long, well, it wouldn't be a pole any more."

He rolled his eyes. "I know that, but I hate the cold. I'm used to blistering hot temperatures in the Fire Nation. This is horrible," he whined to her quietly.

To keep from laughing aloud, Katara hid her smiles behind her parka's sleeve. "Well," she giggled, "you're just going to have to get used to it. After all, we are going to be here for a while."

Zuko groaned and fell back into the white, fluffy snow bank behind him. "I don't even have something that warm to wear. If I don't kill myself out here from falling into the water, it's going to be from hypothermia." Katara sat down next to him, putting her hand on his chest. He looked up at her in pain, and she couldn't help but to smile.

"I'm not going to let you die out here, Zuko," she told him gently. "We can find a nice, warm parka for you to wear. Trust me, we always keep a few extras. My father might even have one for you." He looked up into her deep blue eyes. Zuko took her hand and pulled himself up. After thoroughly brushing the snow off of his freezing pants, Zuko stood still.

"You know, blue is a new thing for me. I never could see myself wearing blue," he wondered out loud.

Katara playfully pushed him back into the snow. "I never knew that you were so concerned over your appearance. You know, red makes you seem even paler than usual, but maybe a bit of blue would make you look a bit, uh, more not so ghostly white."

"Oh, thanks," he laughed, "making fun of my paleness. I think my confidence just plummeted." Zuko walked ahead of her toward the village, waiting for her every now and then.

"You have your ego to make you feel better," Katara reminded him. "You've got the biggest ego that I've ever seen. That's what I like about you. You always have a drive to keep going, and I know that you can make it through something this small."

"What, that's all you like about me, my craziness?" he asked. He glared at her before she threw herself at him. Katara playfully roused his hair.

"No," she mused. "I like your hair too." Katara placed her hand on the top of his head, and she rustled his messy hair again before continuing toward the village.

"Two can play at that game," he challenged. Katara saw the mischievous grin in his eyes as he launched himself at her. They tumbled through the snow, laughing while they rolled along together. When they finally stopped, they were on top of one another. Zuko looked into the eyes of the girl on top of him. For a long time, they just studied the other. It wasn't until Sokka came calling that they parted.

"Katara, come on! Gran Gran is waiting to see us," he shouted excitedly. He stopped abruptly when he saw his sister and the prince sitting awkwardly next to each other and frighteningly close. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No! No, nothing happened, Sokka," Katara assured her brother. She quickly stood up and dusted the snow off of her parka. "Come on," she called, "we need to get Zuko some proper clothing. He'll freeze if we leave him like this."

Sokka folded his arms across his chest defiantly in an amusing way. "What? The big, bad fire bender can't handle the cold?" he teased. Zuko began to rise defensively, yet still keeping a smirk on his face.

"Okay you two," Katara warned. They both looked over to her, hands on her hips. She watched as Zuko and her brother released their grasp on the other's neck.

"Oh, come on, Katara," Zuko sighed. "You know that I wouldn't strangle or even hurt Sokka, at least not when any one was watching." Sokka punched the fire bender in the arm, and before she knew it, they were fighting again.

"Sokka!" someone called from a short distance. His voice was strong and it boomed with authority. The young water tribe warrior looked up at the sound of his name. Instantly, a smile came over his face.

"Dad!" he exclaimed. He ran over to his father and embraced him. Katara was quick to follow. "Dad, it's so good to see you! We haven't seen you since we left the Fire Nation."

Hakoda smiled and caringly put his hand on his children's shoulders. "Yes, after you and your friends defeated the Fire Lord, I came back home. Of course, I would have loved to stay with you kids, but I had things to attend to here."

"We understand, Dad," Katara told him confidently. "It's your job to take care of the tribe. You're our chief." She hugged her father again, and he smiled down at her.

Zuko looked puzzled and pointed at Hakoda. "Wait, you're the chief? You're the Southern Water Tribe's chief?" he asked.

Hakoda shrugged a little. "I guess you could call me that. I mean, we don't have any formal system here, we're only so big, you know. Though, everyone has acknowledged me as their leader, I suppose," he explained as simply as possible. Zuko nodded his head, seeming to understand. "Besides, we're a tightly knit community. Everyone knows everyone. We're all one big intertwined family."

"Which basically means that Dad is in charge," Sokka summed up. Hakoda laughed modestly.

"Well, simply put, I guess that is accurate enough," he chuckled. Hakoda looked over at Zuko, who was beginning to shiver wildly. "Come along, young man," he directed, "let's get you some proper clothing to wear. You'll freeze to death if you stay in that while you're here."

"It's Zuko, sir," he told him. "My name is Zuko, and it's a pleasure to meet you Chief Hakoda."

A smile came about the man's face. "Ah, yes, Prince Zuko, I've heard so many good things about you," Hakoda said, glancing over to his daughter. Katara blushed and looked away, seeing her father's smirk. "And, please, son, just call me Hakoda. Chief Hakoda makes me feel too old and too important. None of that is necessary."

Zuko grinned at the chief. "Will do, and likewise, just call me Zuko. We don't need to worry about titles. It's the name that's important," Zuko told him.

"I think I'm going to like you, Zuko," Hakoda chuckled. Zuko grinned proudly, doing his best not to quiver from the frigid temperatures. "Come on, Zuko," Hakoda called openly, "let's get you your parka, and welcome to the Southern Water Tribe."


But wait! There's more! xD

Sorry for the long wait...I was out of state, if that counts as an excuse. . Anyway, this one is connected to the next three or so. They're all about the Southern Water Tribe. So, be ready! I'll probably post the next two (Penguin Sledding and maybe The Winter Solstice) Yep, so there we go.

Oh, one more thing...is anyone else here a Twilight fan? Twilight is a vampire romance novel series. I just got Eclipse and I'm dying to read it.

Anyway, as usualy, read, review, relive, repeat.

- Saz