Chapter 11

The Team avatar sat on Unagi as the large beast was slowly approaching the Northern Water Tribe. Unlike the Southern one, this Tribe was enormous in size, and it was clear that many Water benders lived in the capital city.

"Wow, this is huge" spoke Korra as she opened her eyes very wide

"I hope they have some fresh meat, I really miss a good meal" spoke Sokka as Jinora hit his hand.

"What? I am a man and man require a lot of meat to be strong while you ladies would cook for us" spoke Sokka as he sat comfortably. Jinora glared but chose to ignore that remark.

"What about the Kyoshi Warriors, or strong brother of mine. As I recall, their leader Suki kicked your butt" spoke Katara as she laughed.

"Well, they are different" blushed Sokka in embarrassment

"And could you tell us how?" continued Katara as she formed a water whip and hit her brother.

"Hey" spoke Sokka as he accidently fell overboard before Katara and Korra returned him back. "You always make me wet, cant a guy stay dry for a change" complained Sokka.

The Unagi met the main wall leading to the Water Tribe city; as soon as they touched the wall, a group of water bending men appeared, who froze Unagi and were ready to fight the group.

"Stop, we are friends from the Southern Water Tribe" spoke Katara as the group looked at the Team Avatar. They eyed the travelers with suspicion but decide to open the gate. The group was amazed as how the water moved in various places, helping Unagi as well as the Team Avatar to arrive safely into the capital.

"This place is amazing" spoke Katara, "I am sure we will find some great Water bending teacher here"

"This place is too cold for me, even your South Pole is warmer. In Fire Nation" Zuko did not finish as a few warriors heard him speak and bent water, which threw the boy overboard before sticking him at an ice wall and freezing his body.

"By the decree of Chief Arnook, you are hereby sentenced" spoke the leader of the group before being blown away by Jinora.

"He is with us" spoke Katara as she jumped in the water and tried to defend her friend.

"Young lady, step away from this Fire Nation spy" spoke the guard

"Zuko is no spy" defended Katara as she formed an ice wall around them, which the men easily broke

"Zuko? As in Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation?" spoke the leader of the group, clearly not amused.

"Crap" Zuko did not like his odds.

The rest of Team Avatar looked jumped in the water as they too defended their friend. "Wait a second, are you an Air bender?" asked one of the men as they looked at Jinora

"Yes?" spoke the girl

"Greetings young Avatar. We had been waiting for your return" spoke the leader of the Water bending police as Jinora looked rather uncomfortable.

"I am not the Avatar." Spoke Jinora

"But you said it yourself that you are the Air bender" spoke the man

"Yes, so?" asked Jinora

"If you are not the Avatar, who is?" asked the puzzled man

"I am" spoke Korra with confidence as she bent both water and fire to a small extent, but her bending still impressed the men.

"You are the Avatar, please forgive us but we really need to arrest this young man" spoke the leader

"Well, he is kind of my fire bending teacher" spoke Korra as she tried to find an excuse of why the guards should have thought that the boy was useful. It worked but they nevertheless were quite shocked.

"Prince Zuko is your fire bending teacher?" asked the man before he quickly regained composure and signaled his men to release the boy.

"Thanks Korra" replied Zuko as he was finally free. The boy quickly made a deep breath as his body regained the heat.

"It is an honor to have the Avatar in our Tribe. As such, you are hereby invited to tonight's dinner with our Chief Arnook. Replied the guard as he led the group towards the Royal palace.

The palace was clearly the biggest building in the entire Northern Water Tribe. While most buildings in the city looked rather similar in size with some bigger than others, the Royal palace dwarfed even the biggest houses.

"That is a very large house over there" commented Sokka as he admired the handiwork.

"My father's house is not much smaller" spoke Asami as Sokka looked at his friend in confusion.

"Who is your father? Earth King?" asked Sokka

"No, he is a wealthy regional king of a small city state next to a large desert, somewhere in the middle of the Earth Kingdom. You see, he was originally from a fire colony but due to his hard work and brilliant inventions he rose up to become the regional kind" replied Asami

"Remember to ask him if he would allow me to marry you" spoke Sokka dreamily as Katara laughed.

"Stop flirting big brother, we have a mission here. Korra needs to end the war and save the world remember?" asked the girl

"Hey, a guy can enjoy the presence of a nice lady," replied Sokka as Katara shook her head.

"Sokka" spoke the girl as she sighed

"Its OK Katara, I am not hurt. I know that your brother likes to joke around" spoke Asami.

"Come here" spoke the girl as she approached Sokka and kissed him on the cheek. Sokka dropped on the snow.

The Team had finally arrived to the Royal Palace, and as they entered, they saw a man in his forties, around Sokka and Katara's father's age. "Greetings young travelers, I am Chief Arnook. How can I help?" asked the man

"You see, I am the Avatar" began Korra as the man looked at her.

"It is an honor to meet the Avatar in our Tribe. As such, I invite you to a feast tonight. So, why did you come here?" spoke the man

"Well, I kind of need to learn the Water bending," replied Korra

"I see. There might be a problem but I will see if I can talk to Pakku about this situation. Meanwhile, lets enjoy the evening" spoke the man as she told his guards to show the Team Avatar their rooms.

"This place is amazing, it has so much water to practice water bending" spoke Katara

"Yes, I cannot wait to kick all of here's Water bender buts" smiled Korra as she formed an ice ball from the nearby wall, but it quickly fell apart. "Aww" spoke Korra in disappointment

"Relax Korra, I am sure you will find a great teacher here. I heard Chief Arnook spoke about some Pakku. I know that you will do well. Even if you don't get it on the first try, don't worry, as it is precisely the reason why we arrived here in the first place- for you to learn and master Water bending. I believe in you Korra" spoke Katara as they entered the room.

The room was fully made of ice, even the beds were covered in snow; the room had only a small amount of furs inside. "I refuse to stay in a water only room. Do they have better accommodations?" spoke frustrated Zuko as he sent a fireball at the wall, which destroyed it.

In the evening, the group traveled to a large dining hall in the palace, where they sat at the main table with the Chief. "So tell me Avatar Korra, what happened to our sister tribe? I wonder why you came here if there are Water benders in the South Pole as well" spoke the man

"You see, Katara and I are the last Water benders in our Tribe and we are kind of looking for a teacher" spoke Korra as the man listed to the girl.

A young girl, around sixteen years old had arrived and sat beside Sokka, much to his delight. "Hello my name is Yue, I heard that my father invited you all to today's dinner" spoke the girl

"Hello Princess Yue right?" the girl nodded, "You know, in my tribe I am also a Prince myself" spoke Sokka as he saw that the girl liked him

"Prince of what? Sarcasm?" joked Katara as she intervened into the conversation

"Sis, don't you see that I am trying to have a conversation here?" asked Sokka as he lightly pushed his sister away.

Katara looked at her brother and moved away. "So Jinora, are you enjoying this party?" asked the girl

"People dance and sing, so I suppose it is lovely but I would prefer to be in my room and read" spoke Jinora

"Aww" spoke Katara

"You know that we are the same age, right?" asked the Air bending girl

"Yes. Jinora, can you promise me that your later teenage years won't be like Sokka's antiques? I don't think if our group can handle more relationship troubles and failed flirt attempts." Spoke Katara

"I will make no such promises" spoke Jinora as she took a book and began reading her book, although Katara saw that the young girl lightly tapped her feet on the floor. The Water bender smiled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that since my daughter Princess Yue had come of age, she now is eligible to marry" spoke the Chief as Sokka's eyes widened.

After the dinner the group returned to their room, where they discussed the party. While some people clearly enjoyed it like Sokka, especially given the fact that he met Yue, others like Zuko were not so happy as the fire Prince did not feel very comfortable of sitting among a great number of Water Tribe people.

"Did you notice that there were no female Water benders present during the show?" asked Zuko

"Relax Zuko, it's just a coincidence. There is nothing to worry about, we just arrived to a place where we can finally rest, while these two learn their magic water tricks." Spoke Sokka as he lay on a bed.

As the group talked, Korra sat in silence in the corner as she prepared herself for her classes. The Avatar was clearly excited. "Over here" spoke a lowly voice. Korra looked around and saw a woman, whose face was hidden under the hood.

"Hello?" asked Korra as she approached the woman.

"Avatar Korra, I traveled here to send an important message. A great fate awaits you where you will have to face the Fire Lord and end the war" spoke the woman

"I know that already" spoke Korra, as she was not amused.

"In that case, keep this tile. You might need it later" spoke the woman as she water bent the wall and left.

"I knew it that there were female water benders here" smiled Korra before looking at the tile. "A White Lotus Pi Sho tile?" asked the girl herself.

In the morning, Korra and Katara left their friends and journeyed to the nearby Water school, where they learned that Master Pakku taught his students. "We will learn Water bending today" spoke Katara happily as the two girls arrived at the school

"Do you need something?" asked Pakku as he saw the girls

"Yes, we came here to learn Water bending" spoke Katara

"I am sorry but there had been a mistake. I think you need to go visit Yugoda, she teaches healing to the girls. In our Tribe, women are forbidden to use Water bending and as such I will not teach you the bending art" spoke Pakku as he formed a snow chair before seating on it.

"What do you mean you will not teach us? You cant say no, I am the Avatar and I need to learn it" spoke Korra angrily as se bent fire and water; it was clear that Pakku understood that Korra was indeed the Avatar but the man paid no attention to that fact.

"You might be the Avatar but since you are a woman, I will not teach you" spoke Pakku to both Korra and Katara's frustration.

"I know that there are other Water bender women here" spoke Korra, "I have seen one yesterday"

"That's impossible," replied Pakku, "Now go play with other women and let the men learn their Water bending

The girls had it with Pakku's sexist remarks as they both simultaneously sent water waves at the man. "So you want to play. Fine, observe how a real master Water bends" spoke Pakku as the water battle began.

A/N:

As you can see, I will be teasing the readers with many possible pairings like Sokka/Asami and Korra/Zuko among many others later on. Will be really clear in the Chapter in Arc 3 (Fire)- Ember Island Players

Next Chapter: Water battles

The Chapter after that: Tarlok