((So I recently decided to re-watch the series through again...both to get some more inspiration for writing, since I'm getting lazy with it, and for gathering up anticipation for reading The Promise when it comes out...and this thought for another short story came to me after watching The Waterbending Master. I wonder what exactly made Pakku change his mind about teaching Katara. The show makes it look like it was just because she's the granddaughter of his lost love, but I always figured it was that plus a combination of factors. After all, she must have also told him at one point about the state of the South Pole, hence helping his decision to travel there after the season finale. x3

So, hope you guys like this short new chapter. I'll try and get up the inspiration to write some more in my other stories, promise. x3 This one takes place between the ending scenes of The Waterbending Master, Book 1 Chapter 18.

As for owning the show, I only do so by owning the DVDs. Mike and Bryan must have the DVDs too, but they created it. x3 Props go to them.))

Katara stood almost listlessly in the darkness, peaceful though it was, her eyes wandering all over the grandiose monuments of ice and snow that made up the Northern Water Tribe. It was a crisp, windless night, and yet she could still smell the cold…and how clean and clear the water was as it flowed in the canal beside her.

The others were asleep. Sokka had come back just an hour before, too grumpy to speak to anyone.

As for Katara, she couldn't sleep…so she tried to walk, but was still unable to calm the uncertainty in her mind from the events earlier in the day.

The young novice Waterbender had challenged the Master to a fight, just for her right to train as a fighter despite the strict rules of propriety here: that only men could fight.

Women just stayed behind and did the healing. An important task, to be sure, and she certainly took her lessons from the master healer Yugoda to heart…but still, the more she thought about the unfairness of it all, the more her blood boiled.

She had traveled across the world for this. To find the Avatar a Waterbending teacher was the primary goal, but half of the reason she had gone was to also learn the art for herself. Katara had come so far, faced so much to get there...and it was all taken out from under her feet.

Master Pakku had denied her as a student, just like that. She fought for the right, which now in hindsight she figured was a little rash of her.

She fought; and she lost.

But when she thought of the crass old man, she also couldn't help but feel a little bit of pity. Really, it was hard to know what to think of him after the revelation that he had once been engaged to her grandmother…and was left behind with a broken heart long ago. Earlier that day, after the fight, he had taken the necklace and had excused himself to think…without another word spoken to her…to Aang…to anyone.

Katara lifted a hand to her neck. She could still feel the smooth pendant on her skin even though it was no longer there…without her mother's necklace (Maybe I should call it Pakku's necklace? Or Gran-Gran's?), just like when she had lost it on the journey, she felt like a piece of her was taken with it.

Still, she understood in part what was going on when Pakku took it back for the time being. She wondered what was going on in his mind.

But only briefly, and then her musings flickered back to the subject of the rules of the Tribe. Strict rules for Waterbending, a tightly-woven culture, arranged marriages…she found that she didn't know as much about her own culture as she thought. The Southern Tribe was a far cry from all of this.

The girl took a deep breath and glanced again back to the canal. She had stopped in the same niche that she and Aang had chosen when they had the idea of training her in secret. There was nobody outside bar for herself…but it was hard to tell if anyone was coming anyway. Pakku had appeared before as if out of thin air; how he had known, or sensed, that she was Waterbending, she never knew. A Master's perception, she guessed.

She bit her lip in indecision. Whenever she was stressed, Waterbending was her release. And as far as she knew, she was still forbidden to use it.

Still…

Katara's eyes narrowed, and she assumed a starting stance. I came too far. I don't care what he says. If I have to teach myself…then I will.

She took another cleansing breath of the pure icy air, slipped off her gloves, and reached out toward the calmly lapping water.

Meanwhile, while most of the rest of the Water Tribe was sleeping, Pakku slowly walked down the great stoop of Chief Arnook's palace. He walked as he did out of habit, straight and tall and imposing, though nobody was around to regard him. But if one were to look into his hard eyes, they would see a spark of deep thought, introspection borne of sadness.

He paused at the bottom step and pulled his right fist out of his pocket. A necklace with a simple dark blue ribbon unfurled delicately from his grip. The pendant, symbol of the Water Tribe with the waves of the ocean churning over calmer waves, still glistened in the same way it had done after he first carved it. The last time he had held it himself was the day that he was to present it to Kanna.

And now, so many years later, fate brought it back to him from around the neck of her granddaughter.

Pakku wondered how he couldn't have seen it the first time. She looked just like her. The same hardness shone in her eyes; the same stubborn soul was seen in the fire of her voice.

He wondered if, perhaps, the Spirits were trying to tell him something. That maybe he had taken his part in this web of the world's fate with too little seriousness…and that some old edicts had to be forgotten in order for things to move forward. Katara had more than likely been right, when he remembered what Kanna was like. Those same ancient rules had been the reason that she ran away; had fallen in love with someone else, had a child, all the way at the other end of the world.

The old Waterbender even had to wonder how she was doing now. And even wonder for the state of the Southern Tribe. He could barely remember hearing passing reports in the past…of attacks against it.

All of these same thoughts stewed around in his head for a while as he walked into the city, wordlessly passing along the bridges and streets of the upper side of the river.

When he started to cross a bridge, he stopped. His face hardened, and he turned to quietly peer over the edge. There, he saw just the thing he had felt. A familiar someone, Waterbending.

But instead of following the urge to make his presence known, Pakku just watched the display.

Katara was going through many basic moves flawlessly, mostly with a Water Whip for practice in keeping her balance while she struck. She used a little crafted snow mound for a target briefly. When she hit it, it was with as much force as he'd seen any of his advanced students. The crack when it hit had made him remember the whip she'd given him in the back of his head to get his attention, and he saw that there was a good amount of control exercised in the force whenever she needed to use it.

There was no weakness in her attacks. Perhaps there was a short uncertainty in the placement of her feet or the twist of her wrists, and then there were the subtle changes in the posture of her fingers that in turn determined the texture of the water…things to experiment with that nonetheless she was grasping well on her own. But still, there within was raw talent with at least a tiny effort made to put it into a proper mode of training.

In her eyes he saw determination and courage. Passion for the art. It made the old Master stop and think…and he wondered when last he'd ever felt the need to test the character of a potential Waterbending student, when it was mostly just his duty to the Tribe to train all of those possessing the talent to fight.

Pakku waited for her to pause in her training. When she did, turning around to drop the water back into the canal, he made himself known just by simply stepping out from behind the bridge to stand facing her on the other side, hands behind his back and expression unreadable, but harsh-looking on his features.

Katara looked taken aback for a second upon spotting the old Master. Her heart raced just as the last time she was caught. But this time her nervousness was turned into annoyance. Her nose wrinkled with the slight sneer she allowed herself. "What…are you here to stop me again?"

He was unfazed by her attitude as always. But to her surprise, his head shook. "No, I'm not," Pakku sighed evenly.

Blinking incredulously, she straightened up and eased her posture a few notches. "Really? Why? I thought it was such an important rule."

"I can't really enforce the rules; that job belongs to Chief Arnook," he pointed out. "And I just had a talk with him. He reminded me that you are from the Southern Tribe, after all…you couldn't have known about the rules, and it isn't like you would be affected by banishment from here. He can no more punish you for wanting to learn Waterbending than I can…especially since you came here with the Avatar. Hrm…Arnook was always a patient sort of man."

"Ah, I see," she sighed and turned slightly from him, replacing her mittens and crossing her arms. "So just because I came with Aang, I get a special pardon or something."

"That is basically the gist of it," he bluntly stated, his look somewhat condescending.

She rolled her eyes upward and groaned. "Well, I guess it's something. But I still would have had my heart set on learning Waterbending with or without him."

He said nothing in response; just for a bit of a growl to permeate through the back of his throat. But it wasn't out of annoyance at Katara…more at himself, for lacking the practice to ease out of his stubborn attitude. Behind his back, his fingers still clutched the necklace, and running his thumb over the pendant seemed to quell that stress.

Katara glanced back, calming herself down as well when she noticed that he seemed to still have something to say. "So, if you're not here to stop me, what do you want?" she inquired a little more amicably, knowing that she couldn't try to hope for an apology from the opinionated Master.

With a movement of his arm across the canal, Pakku created a short ice sheet for him to walk across. As he did, he seemed to slacken in his stoic gait. He held out the hand that contained the necklace, palm-up. Katara's eyebrows quirked as she looked from the trinket to him and back again.

"To return this," he confirmed. "It is rightfully yours, after all."

She regarded him with a softened gaze once more before delicately taking the jewel. "Thanks." As she placed it around her neck and framed the pendant between her gloved fingers, she hummed. "You know, I've always considered this my mother's necklace, because it was passed to me after she died. I knew it was Gran-Gran's first, but…I never really knew where it came from."

Pakku's gaze dropped, and his voice was a little warmer as he spoke, tinged with old memories. "So, Kanna never told you anything about me."

"No…" her head shook. "I never even knew that she was born here at the North Pole. She never did tell us much about her life. I'll have to ask her about it when I go back someday."

"Something tells me that she'd be a little hesitant to tell it," he sighed, looking up toward the cloud-dotted night sky. "It's true, she didn't much like the rules here…but to this day I think that she might have run away because of me."

Katara tilted her head, all annoyance being replaced by curiosity. "I can actually imagine, what with your attitude," she still found the need to quip.

But Pakku didn't have an argument…in fact, he nodded in agreement. "I was never the most charming kind of boy when I was young. I actually knew Kanna for most of my life. We had a…begrudging sort of friendship. I picked on her, she argued with me…I actually cared about her very much, but I never got around to actually saying so. Then our families arranged our betrothal, and I rather foolishly thought that I didn't have to say it…she would be with me anyway. It never occurred to me that she would run away without even saying goodbye."

The old Waterbender paused and shook his head. "I still regret never having the chance to tell her. I tried to forget about her after so long…but I guess things have a way of coming back." He looked back toward the attentive girl. "Tell me…if you would…how is she now?"

If Katara weren't feeling somewhat sorrowful at how Pakku had relayed his story, she would have perhaps kept that information from him out of spite. But she squashed that side of herself; he was no longer speaking to her like a child, and he looked less like the commanding and respectable teacher that he was. At that moment, he was like an old man with regrets looking for a second chance.

"She's very strong," she said. "After our dad left with the other men of the Tribe to help with the war, she took charge and helped keep everyone safe, with mine and Sokka's help. We're a very tiny village, but still, she's done more than enough and has the wisdom and strength to spare. Everyone respects her for that. Probably also because her son Hakoda, our dad, is the Chief," she chuckled.

Pakku smiled shortly at that. He wasn't too surprised at all to hear that Kanna was an entire community's source of strength…and was somewhat impressed that her child had become the Chief of the Southern Tribe.

Katara hummed. "So, right now I imagine she's doing the same thing she's always done…though I hope everything's okay. I still feel sad about leaving her, but, Sokka and I had a mission to protect Aang while we all got here. If we can help save the world, it'll be the best thing for the Tribe too," she confirmed. "I know things will be okay."

"That's a very optimistic outlook," Pakku said. "I hope you kids would be prepared to back it up."

"It's what I want to fight for," she answered simply. "We all do."

The Master was silent for a moment after that. He mused on her words, and how easily she said them; like she was prepared to take on the realities of war without looking back.

"So then," he spoke up and broke the silence, staring toward the girl with inquiry. "You want to learn to fight with Waterbending. Couldn't you have learned from someone at the South Pole?"

Katara's head whipped up, somewhat surprised at the question. She knew that the two Tribes weren't in contact…but she didn't know until now just how bad it was.

Her head hung sadly. "No. The Southern Water Tribe has no other Waterbenders. It's just like I told Aang; I'm the only one. Back when Gran-Gran was young, the village was often raided by the Fire Nation, and they took all the benders."

"The Fire Nation?" Pakku's eyebrows quirked.

"Yes," Katara confirmed, her voice almost on the edge of breaking. She reached up to her necklace again. "We've still lived in fear from more raids. My mother was killed in one. I was always told that our village used to be so big, almost like a town. Now it's just a small camp of tents and snow huts. All because of them. Waterbending helps me connect with our lost culture; that's why it's important to me. Training here was the only option we could think of."

Hearing this, Pakku inwardly cursed himself for being so rash before. Though he was an old Master, he acknowledged that there was still much for him to learn. And he wondered why the North Pole had never even thought to check up on their sister tribe; why they had allowed raids to continue on the innocents of the South and to nearly completely decimate their Waterbenders. All except this one brave girl.

Kanna's granddaughter.

I guess I'd better take my duties more seriously, he thought, if not for Kanna and for the Southern Tribe, then only to catch up with the fact that a little girl has more focus than I do.

With a short grunt, he straightened himself up again and stood before the child, tall and imposing, looking down to her. "I suppose then, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, that I owe you a little bit more of a chance than I've been giving."

She blinked. "What do you mean?"

"As a Master, I am not only obligated to teach…I am supposed to be open to the potential of a person. The spirit and character needed to learn Waterbending can be found in anyone with the ability; but only those with the special passion and the will to work themselves down to the bone for it can become true Masters in their own right. And not even most of my own students have shown me that they could someday become greater than myself."

As Katara stared wide-eyed at what he was suggesting, Pakku continued. "So, in light of the pardon you've been given by the Chief…I suppose I am allowed to make an exception and let you train alongside the Avatar."

The young bender gasped, and a wide grin overtook her face. "You're kidding! Master, do you mean it? You'll actually train me?"

"Yes," he confirmed, and turned to her with a serious look. "But you had better be prepared. I won't go easy on you either…you'll have to train as hard, if not harder, than the boys in the class. If you can learn just as hard and fast as you can fight, then maybe…just maybe…you'll be able to survive this war."

She only had a moment to think about it, but her answer was as clear as it had been from the beginning. Katara straightened and bowed. "I'd have it no other way, Master," she promised. "You won't be disappointed."

"For your sake and for Aang's, I certainly hope not," he said as he turned around, his voice returning to the same dismissive tone. "Training will start at sunrise tomorrow morning. If you don't want to be late, I suggest you go back and get some sleep."

"Yes, Master," she replied, sparing one last quick bow before rushing back off toward the sleeping quarters that she and the others had been given. As he watched her run, only pausing to hiss a loud and triumphant "Yesss!", Pakku couldn't help but release a small laugh.

Well, it'll be interesting to see how she fares in my class. If a girl can someday surpass me as a Waterbending Master, I'll be impressed.

He walked on, feeling a little more fulfilled. I know at least it is what Kanna would want.

As for Katara, she only hoped that she would be able to sleep through the euphoria that, finally, her dream getting formal Waterbending training was being realized.

Aang's gonna be SO surprised.