I do not own any of the original Avatar characters.


Prognosis

Sado groaned, curling his knees to his chest, pulling his three jackets over them, and hugging his knees. He regretted choosing not to buy any winter jackets now. Go figure, the North Pole was cold. Not to mention, they had been flying for two days straight looking for the Northern Water Tribe, finding nothing.

"I'm not one to complain, but could Appa fly any higher?" Sokka asked as Appa's foot touched the water before he began to drift upward again.

"I have an idea, how about we hop on your back and you fly us to the north pole!" Aang snapped.

"Absolutely," Sokka said, turning around and waving his butt. "Hop on. Sokka is ready for take off."

"It wouldn't matter anyway," Sado said. "It'd just be colder up there."

"Well yes, but then we could see it from further away," Sokka said.

"Come on guys," Katara said. "We're all just tired because we've been flying for two days straight."

"Yeah and we still can't find the Northern Water Tribe!" Sokka complained.

As if on cue, ice shot up, catching Appa's foot and spinning him before the ice broke off, Appa crashing into the water and being frozen in place instantly. As soon as he was, several boats began to surround them, dozens of water benders total.

"They're water benders!" Katara exclaimed. "We found the Water Tribe!"

"Who are you and what do you want?" one of them asked, Aang standing, hands held up non-threateningly.

"My name's Aang. I'm the Avatar and I'm looking for a water bending master in the Northern Water Tribe," Aang said.

Everyone looked around at each other before the ice broke apart.

"Follow us," the man said. "We'll take you there."

Then, the boats turned, beginning to escort Appa through the glaciers that had been the only thing they could see. Finally, a massive ice wall came into view, the Water Tribe symbol proudly carved on the front of it. Sado smiled as it came into view. Then, his body shook violently with a shiver and he tucked his head back into his jackets. After a few minutes of hearing ice being bended around, Appa finally stopped and he peeked his head out, seeing the others climbing off. He followed and a man from the tribe chuckled, seeing how many layers Sado was wearing.

"You're from the Earth Kingdoms aren't you?" he laughed, holding out a very thick Water Nation jacket about the right size for Sado.

"Oh I prefer it much warmer than this," Sado laughed, dropping his jackets and instantly pulling on the Water Tribe one, noticing it instantly be warmer than his other three combined, along with it trapping his body heat, warming up even more.

He stored the other jackets with his things on Appa's saddle then caught up with the others. A few minutes later, they were introducing themselves to the Northern Water Tribe's chief. A couple hours after that, they were sitting at a table in a massive area where the Northern Tribe was gathered around them, several waterfalls fell behind them, and the Chief and the Northern Tribe's elders were seated to their group's right.

"Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe," the chief announced. "And they have brought with them someone very special, someone that we all believed disappeared from the world, until now. The Avatar."

Aang raised a hand, grinning shyly as everyone began to cheer.

"We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday," the chief continued. "Princess Yue is now of marrying age!"

Yue, a beautiful girl with snow white hair, walked forward and bowed, smiling politely. "Thank you father. May the great ocean and moon spirits watch over us during these troubled times."

"Now Master Pakku and his students will perform!" the chief announced, gesturing to a man with long white hair on the sides of his head and bald on the top, a thin white mustache and beard, and an eternally grumpy expression.

The man, flanked by two boys about Sokka's age, if not a little older, began to bend the water of a fountain, moving the water in a sort of dance-like demonstration of their bending ability. To Sado's right, Yue made the mistake of sitting beside Sokka, who went from shoving as much food as he could into his mouth to awkwardly trying, and failing, to flirt. He even went as far as calling himself a prince, to which Katara challenged his supposed authority before mockingly calling him "Prince Sokka." Then, Sokka began to, even more awkwardly, try to ask Yue on a date.

Sado forced himself to ignore Sokka's painful attempts at flirting, then stood, walking away from the area as he felt pressure in his chest. He stopped beside a river, pulling off the gloves he had bought and placing his hands in the water, heating them slowly, wincing as they began to slowly burn, the water steaming. After a moment, he let the heat fade just before the ache began to squeeze at his chest, making it harder for him to breathe for a moment. Finally, it began to pass and he sighed. So, using his bending didn't actually make it hurt less. Joy.

He sipped some water out of the river before drying his hands on his coat and pulling the gloves back on, still trying to catch his breath. He turned as he heard snow crunch behind him, finding a boy a little older than him watching him.

"Are you wounded?" the boy asked. "You looked like you were in pain."

"It's not something that can be healed," Sado said. "Trust me, if there were a way to stop it, I'd have found out by now."

"I still believe you should let the healers take a look at you," the boy said. "Have you ever at least given them that chance?"

"No," Sado sighed. "I suppose I haven't."

He stood, following the boy to a small building where an older woman with a kindly smile was teaching young women to heal. She stopped as they walked in, smiling.

"Welcome," she smiled. "How may I help you?"

"This guy convinced me to let you try and heal a certain condition of mine," Sado sighed.

The woman nodded, motioning him over. He walked over and she had him lie on the ground.

"Now, hold still dear," the woman said, as she formed a ball of water which began to glow as she pressed it to his chest. "This won't hurt a bit."

She hummed to herself while she moved the water over his torso, before stopping, her brow furrowing slightly. Then, a pleased smile spread over her face again and her humming resumed. After a few more minutes, she stopped, putting the water back and turning back to the boy who had brought Sado there.

"Kurik, why don't you show the children what you've been learning?" the woman said.

"Sure," the boy nodded, stepping outside, the children following.

Once they were gone, the woman sighed, standing and walking away from Sado, who sat up. She sat down, sighing yet again.

"It's been many years since I've seen that condition," she said. "More than I care to admit."

"You know what this is?" Sado asked.

"I do," she nodded. "It's a condition born of an exceptional fire bender not having the will to control his own fire. A bender's element is as much a part of them as the world around them. For fire benders, this could be a problem. Fire is alive. If it's not fed properly, it begins to eat the closest thing, the bender himself. The will to control the bending, in this case, isn't a physical form of control, or the common form of will. It's the desire, the passion, the spirit. A fire bender's spirit must be both disciplined, and yet free, unyielding, yet fluid. Without this, the fire will burn its bender away. Of course, you probably already knew this. I'm afraid I can't cure the condition, but I was able to undo the damage it's caused. At the rate it's progressing, though, you have maybe six months. It will speed up each time you bend, but not bending will result in the worst pain you can imagine. You're literally burning from the inside out, so the pain is inevitable. Also, the damage can only be healed so many times. Eventually, it will scar. I'd wager that, as long as the damage isn't too far along, you can be healed a total of three times before it begins to scar."

"Why would you help me if you know what I am?" Sado asked.

"Because you're a good person," the woman said. "And because I know that not all fire benders are evil. The last time I saw that condition it was the man I loved. I kept him alive for a full year past what he was meant to have. But eventually, there was simply too much damage and scarring."

Sado nodded, understanding. "Thank you for your help. And for not telling anyone about me."

"Please don't make me regret it," the woman said.

"I won't," Sado said.

He stood, leaving the building and walking back toward the feast, taking his seat again and picking up a roll, taking a bite of it as the woman's prognosis returned to him.

"Six," he muttered. "Better than two but..."

He took another bite as Katara looked over at him.

"You okay?" Katara asked.

"Yeah," Sado nodded. "I'm fine."

She nodded and turned back to her food, allowing Sado to eat in peace.


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