Book I: Water

Chapter 12: The Enemy of the Enemy

Fire Nation Colonies - Ten Years After Sozin's Comet

When they were finally certain that no one was trailing them into the woods, and could begin making their way directly towards the clearing where they had left Appa, Aang took a moment to study the prisoner who had inexplicably joined them. He had heard Zuko say the man's name was Hakoda, and Katara certainly acted like she knew him. But introductions had not been made.

"I'm Aang," he said cheerfully, falling into step beside the stranger and looking up at him. It was still raining, which had washed away most of the black grime that had covered him. He was slightly taller than Zuko, with dark skin and blue eyes like Katara - obviously he was water tribe, so Aang assumed Katara knew him from her village.

Hakoda looked down at him curiously, then back at Katara, who was leading the way. "Oh right," Katara called over her shoulder. "Aang, this is my father. Dad, Aang." But she didn't offer any further explanation. She did, however, use her waterbending to deflect the rain away from all four of them, now that they didn't have to run anymore.

"Why are you…" Katara's father began, wiping the last of the raindrops from his face, but Zuko cut him off from where he brought up the rear of the group.

"We'll explain when we're in the air," he said.

"In the air?" Hakoda repeated in surprise. "Did you come here in a war balloon?"

"You'll see," Katara replied.

His confusion was not allayed when they reached the clearing and and he laid eyes on the still-slumbering Appa, who admittedly did not look like much of a means of flight as he reluctantly responded to Aang's efforts to wake him. Fortunately, the bison was well-rested enough to get them into the air with no difficulty. Aang took the reins, while Katara and Zuko sat very close together at the front of the saddle - they might have been holding hands, but it was hard for Aang to tell. Hakoda sat further back, so Aang could only hear him, and faintly, with the wind carrying his voice away.

"Who is that boy?" he asked as soon as they had cleared the treetops. The rain had abetted to a misty drizzle, and Katara had given up shielding them. Aang urged Appa to fly as fast as he could, hoping to find clearer skies soon.

"He's the Avatar," Zuko answered. "We found him frozen in the ice, back home."

There was silence as Appa climbed higher, except for the sound of the air rushing past them. Aang supposed that was a lot to process. When he heard the adults' voices again, they were too low for him to make out, but he assumed Zuko and Katara were explaining the rest of their adventures so far. Or maybe they were talking about the rest of their family that they had left behind. Aang's insides still twisted with guilt at the thought.

About an hour later, when they had outrun the storm, Zuko leaned over the front of the saddle and suggested they find another place to land. They were at the southern end of the Penkou River Valley, far enough from the mining town that news of their exploits had probably yet to spread.

Back on the ground, on a grassy slope leading down to the river, they took stock of their situation. The food and supplies Katara had bought on their last stop had obviously been lost, along with the money and the waterskin she had had on her when she was captured. They would still need to restock before they reached the burned lands, which meant either foraging or risking another stop at a settlement.

"I still can't believe it was an earthbender that caught you," Aang said to Katara, shaking his head. "I thought the Earth Kingdom people would be against the Fire Nation's rule here."

Zuko shrugged. "It's more complicated than that. Some areas have been colonized for a long time." He looked away as if ashamed. "Fire Nation rule is probably all that woman has ever known."

"The burning broke many people's spirits as well," Hakoda added. Zuko seemed to shrink even further, and Katara took hold of his hand.

"We're hoping that will start to change," Katara said, a welcome positive turn in the conversation, "as news of the Avatar's return spreads."

"Like how the swamp benders agreed to help the resistance now!" Aang added brightly. He was glad of the reminder that his tenure as Avatar hadn't been totally marked by failure. "And hopefully the Northern Water Tribe will, too."

Hakoda gave Aang an appraising look. "Indeed," he said with a sad smile. "Let us pray that you can convince them of that."

"You could come with us to the North Pole," Zuko suggested tentatively. "The northern chief might be more easily persuaded to help if the southern chief asks him personally."

Hakoda and Katara exchanged a look. "Unfortunately," Hakoda said, "there's that unpleasant history between our families. Katara is further removed from it. I think it's better to let her act as my representative."

Aang waited for further explanation, but Zuko merely nodded in understanding. Apparently he was already familiar with whatever had happened between Katara's family and the northern chief's, and nobody thought Aang needed to know about it.

"Will you head for Gaoling, then?" Katara asked her father with concern. "It's a long way, through hostile territory."

"Oh, I've got plenty of experience making my way through hostile territory," Hakoda reassured her. "You're the one attempting to cross the burned lands."

"But that can't be that dangerous, as long as we're properly supplied," Aang said in confusion. "There's nobody there to attack us, right?"

Hakoda looked from Katara to Zuko in surprise. "No one's told him?"

Aang felt a flare of annoyance as Katara and Zuko exchanged a guilty look. "Oh, there's lots of things nobody tells me," he said bitterly.

"We didn't want to worry him," Zuko said to Hakoda. "Not before we had to."

"Well, I'm worried now," Aang complained. "What's in the burned lands?"

"Spirits," Katara answered. "And they're...not happy."

Even the spirits go to war, when they have cause, Sokka had said. Aang had assumed the cause they would have now was something to do with the Fire Nation. But somehow he had thought that spiritual warfare would be confined to the spirit world. "You mean they attack people?" he asked in amazement.

"Anyone who gets near them, as far as we can tell," Hakoda confirmed.

"But we'll be flying over," Zuko pointed out. "So hopefully they'll leave us alone."

Aang thought it was overly optimistic to expect spirits to stay on the ground, but he had his own ideas. "Or maybe," he suggested, "they'll know I'm the Avatar, and they won't want to attack me." If he was the bridge between the spirit world and the mortal world, the spirits were supposed to like him, weren't they?

"That's certainly possible," Hakoda allowed.

Zuko got out the maps they had brought with them, and the four of them sat in a circle in the grass to look them over, with Momo nestled in Aang's lap. Aang was glad to be included, even if he didn't have much to contribute to the planning. Hakoda and Zuko knew the colonies better than he or Katara did, and it was mostly between the two of them that Hakoda's route back to Gaoling was worked out.

"We should try to get supplies further north in the valley," Katara suggested once her father's plans were settled. Aang looked at the area on the map she was pointing to. There was a single green circle there, though it was only a thin outline, not filled in like the others further south were.

"What does that mean?" he asked, pointing to the symbol.

"Possible safe haven," Zuko explained. "That area is known for being more resistant to Fire Nation rule, but the Underground has had no contact with them."

Hakoda leaned closer and looked at the name of the largest town marked in the region. "Gaipan," he read aloud, then looked back up at Zuko. "Be careful," he warned. "I've heard that's a rough town."

"As long as they're not eager to help the Fire Nation, that may work to our advantage," Katara pointed out. She got to her feet, and Hakoda did the same. Katara said her goodbyes to her father while Zuko rolled up the maps.

"Once you find the rest of your war party," Katara said in a low voice, one hand on her father's arm, "you should think about going home again for a while."

Hakoda frowned, and Aang suddenly became very interested in the drowsy lemur still curled in his lap, trying hard not to look like he was listening. "Is he really so bad that your brother can't handle him?" Hakoda asked. Aang guessed he was talking about the green-eyed waterbender who had led the council at the South Pole. Katara obviously didn't like him.

"It's not about him," Katara argued. Zuko got to his feet and stood next to her, but Aang stayed where he was. "People need to see you, Dad. You're their chief."

"They have seen me," Hakoda replied stubbornly. Aang got the impression this was an argument they'd had before. Zuko, at any rate, seemed to be staying out of it.

"That was seven years ago," Katara pointed out. "Bato has a son he's never even laid eyes on who's almost halfway old enough to go ice dodging. And," she added, an edge creeping into her voice, "you've never met your grandson."

Aang looked up at the adults discretely, since they weren't paying any attention to him anymore. Hakoda looked shocked into silence, and Aang got the impression that Katara playing the grandchild card was a low blow, as far as he was concerned. Hakoda looked to Zuko as if seeking support, but Zuko merely shrugged. "She's right," he said, reluctantly being drawn into the debate. Privately, Aang thought Hakoda should have known that Zuko would take Katara's side.

Katara, for her part, looked triumphant, but not without a hint of old anger behind it.

"Alright," Hakoda relented. "I'll think about it." Even Aang could tell that this was mere face-saving, and that the chief of the Southern Water Tribe had been prevailed upon by his daughter.

"Good," Katara replied with a firm nod. She hugged her father, a long embrace that he seemed reluctant to break. When he did, Zuko held out his hand to him, as he had to the fire sages at Roku's temple. Hakoda grasped his forearm, but pulled him into a hug as well. Zuko stumbled in surprise as Katara's father clapped him once on the back, then let him go.

Hakoda turned to Aang, who blinked sheepishly at having been caught watching them. But Hakoda didn't seem bothered. "Avatar," he said, with a formal bow, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Aang said, hugging Momo to his chest. He was going to need all the luck he could get, if they really did have a run-in with angry spirits on their way to the North Pole.

They parted ways not long after, Hakoda making his way back towards the south on foot, and Appa reluctantly coaxed back into the air to fly in the direction of Gaipan. Zuko took the reins this time, and Katara sat at the back of the saddle, looking into the distance behind them. Aang figured she was still thinking about her father, or her home at the South Pole, or both. She looked sad.

"Do Zuko and your dad not get along?" Aang blurted out. Katara turned to look at him in surprise, and Aang shrugged. "They seemed awkward around each other, is all," he mumbled by way of explanation.

Katara shook her head. "It's not Zuko that my dad has a problem with," she said. She looked away, considering for a moment, then added, "It's not my dad that Zuko has a problem with, either." She leaned her elbow against the rim of the saddle, rested her chin on her hand, and said no more.

South Pole - Eight Years Earlier

Katara waited two weeks before she gave Kohnna an answer. Her mind was mostly made up, but she was reluctant to reject him too quickly. She knew it wasn't fair to drag things out unnecessarily, either, but there was a small voice in the back of her mind that sounded suspiciously like Lagora that did whisper to her every now and then about limited options. It wasn't like Kohnna was terrible, or she had her heart set on someone else.

Be that as it may, she wasn't going to marry Amaruk's son.

When she finally plucked up the nerve to speak to Kohnna alone, once again following their waterbending practice, she realized from the resigned look of defeat in his eyes that she had been more obvious than she had thought.

"I'm sorry, Kohnna," she began, and meant it. "I know your intentions were honest, and you made your offer in all sincerity. But your father…"

Kohnna looked away from her dejectedly, kicking at the snow under his feet. "I had a feeling he would be what would ruin it," he said softly.

Katara felt bad for him, she really did. But that didn't change anything. "I don't know if you realize what he's trying to do," she said. Marrying his son into the chief's family would only further solidify Amaruk's prominence within the community, and with Katara's father still away on his seemingly endless war campaigns...

"I do, Katara," Kohnna replied. He looked up, still not meeting her eye, and gazed into the darkening afternoon sky. The days were still short, but getting longer. Spring would come soon. "Believe me, no one can see a man's faults like his own children."

Katara knew that to be true. "I can tell him, if you want," she offered. Amaruk probably wouldn't take her failure to cooperate with his designs well, and Kohnna shouldn't have to face his ire for that.

"No," Kohnna said, looking at her at last. He had a new determination in his eyes, and Katara couldn't help but think of what Gran Gran had said, about how he needed to get out from under his father's influence. "I'll let him know. And maybe I'll tell him some other things as well."

"Good luck with that," Katara said earnestly.

"Thanks," Kohnna replied, finally smiling again.

They headed back to the village, and went their separate ways, Katara to find her brother, and Kohnna looking for his father. She didn't envy him at all, though she supposed she would also have to deal with Amaruk's displeasure at some point.

Over the next several weeks, however, Katara found that her waterbending teacher did not attempt to change her mind, nor did he do anything to make her life difficult. Well, nothing more than usual. In fact, he didn't mention her rejection of his son at all, as if it had never happened. Perhaps that was how he dealt with failure.

What he did continue to pester her about, each time the full moon drew near, was bloodbending. But Katara refused to try it again, and nothing he could say would change her mind. Gran Gran, at least, was happy that there were no more late night lessons.

When springtime came, Sokka's war party began preparations in earnest. Kohnna would indeed be going with him, as would Senorit, Atial, and Mekkino. The rest of the warriors - including Katara - would stay behind. Amaruk had insisted, and the other elders had agreed, that it had been an error in judgement on the part of Chief Hakoda to leave the village undefended, and they were not going to repeat the mistake. There had been no Fire Nation raids in the south for several years, but the attempted siege of the north two years ago proved that they could never let their guard down.

There were other preparations to be made as well, for there was a wedding to celebrate. Ikino, the elder of Nivi's two brothers, was marrying Siaja, a southern woman. It was the second such marriage, after Atial and Tira's wedding the previous year. Tira was now great with child, and Katara knew her aunt was hoping the baby would be born before Atial left with Sokka. Senorit's wife had given birth just a few weeks previously - Katara had been called back into the healing hut to help Kida with the delivery of her grandson - and the first birth in their village in five years had been cause for much celebration. Tira's child was anticipated just as eagerly.

The night before the wedding, all the women of the village gathered in the house where Siaja lived with her older sister, Keela. Katara was the youngest one there, for Minak was still a month shy of her sixteenth birthday, and Lagora wouldn't be of age until the following year. She sat between Natika and Nivi as cups were passed around containing a strong, dark liquor. Katara managed only a few sips before the taste made her gag, and her cousin laughed at the face she pulled.

"You're a grown woman already fending off suitors, but you can't handle your drink, Katara?" Natika teased.

"Ease up," Tira scolded her, handing Katara a cup of water instead, which Katara accepted gratefully. "Getting drunk isn't the point of being here."

"That's right," Keela agreed, though she proceeded to take a healthy swig from her own cup. "We're here to complete the young bride's education." She elbowed her younger sister affectionately, and Siaja blushed as the rest of the women laughed and whistled.

Most of the talk that evening was nothing more than bawdy tales and off-color jokes, though the married women did give Siaja some advice as well, on matters ranging from managing a household to "enjoying" her husband to spacing her children. Everyone seemed to have her own ideas on the last subject, though the word "mucus" was used more than Katara would have liked. The old women spoke frankly about it all while the younger ones giggled, and by the end of the gathering Katara was quite glad she was not getting married any time soon.

Gaipan - Ten Years After Sozin's Comet

The flight upriver towards Gaipan didn't take long. The skies had cleared, so they maintained a high altitude, hoping anyone who saw them from below would simple take the distant shape for a bird. From their vantage point, they could see the small black shapes of boats traveling up and down the river. Zuko hoped no one on those boats was looking up with a telescope.

"There it is," Katara called from where she held Appa's reins. Zuko followed the direction she was pointing and saw the town. It was at the northern edge of the forest. The trees went right up to the town walls on the west and part of the southern side, while the Penkou river ran around the southeast. Beyond the town was grassland - the southern limit of where the fires had reached on the day of Sozin's comet, the parts of the burned lands that had been able to see some regrowth in the years since. The town itself didn't look like much, either.

They landed, found a suitable hiding place for Appa and Momo, and set out for Gaipan on foot. There was little debate about who was going this time - they all felt it was best for the three of them to stick together. Aang tied the blue cloth over his tattoos again, and Zuko kept his hood up. It had worked well enough as a disguise at their last stop. At the last minute, he grabbed the largest knife from their camping gear and tucked it into his belt. It wouldn't be much of a weapon, but he'd be glad of it if they found themselves in a tight spot where firebending would be risky. Katara insisted Aang carry a waterskin as well.

Three miles from the outer limits of the town, they encountered a row of pikes by the side of the road, each topped with a spiked red helmet, running along the remaining visible distance through the forest. A placard affixed to the first pike bore a short warning. "Fire will not be tolerated," Aang read aloud. The overall effect of the display made its point quite clearly.

"Well," Katara said uncertainly, "they're certainly not eager to accept Fire Nation rule here."

Aang looked at her in confusion. "That's a good thing for us, isn't it?"

"Maybe," Zuko replied. "The enemy of your enemy isn't necessarily your friend."

Katara was looking at Zuko with concern. "Do you want to turn back?" she asked.

Zuko shook his head. They'd come this far, and he really didn't feel like leaving her and Aang on their own. He had a job to do. He wasn't going to go hide with Appa while his wife and the Avatar went ahead to the rough town Hakoda had warned them about. "Let's just get this over with," he said resolutely, grasping the knife on his belt. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave."

They continued down the road. The monotony of the row of helmets soon grew eerie in the dim light of the forest. How many Fire Nation soldiers had this town taken out? How were they holding out, unconquered, in the middle of the colonies? Zuko would have guessed indifference towards a strategically insignificant settlement, but the sheer number of helmets testified that the Fire Lord's armies certainly had tried in the past.

"Well, at least we know one thing," Aang said after they had walked in silence for a while. "If Zhao catches up with us here, he's not going to have an easy time of it."

Katara forced a little laugh, but Zuko didn't find that a comforting thought at all. They did seem to have thrown off Zhao's pursuit, since they hadn't seen him since before Gaoling, but they hadn't exactly been subtle in their escape from the mining town, either. If the disgraced admiral had caught word of that incident, no doubt he was already on his way north after them.

There were no more attempts at levity as they covered the rest of the distance to their destination. If Gaipan had looked unimpressive from the air, it didn't fare any better from the ground. It was a medium-sized town with a low wall and only two gates. Most of the buildings looked run down, though there were plenty of people going about. Each and every one of them wore green or brown. The three of them in their blue and orange stuck out more than Zuko would have liked.

More disturbingly, armed men wearing mismatched armor dotted every street corner. Even without a uniform, it was clear this was the force responsible for keeping the Fire Nation soldiers away, but based on how the townspeople avoided their eyes, Zuko didn't think they were very popular. Freedom from one distant foreign tyrant didn't guarantee freedom from tyranny of a more local variety.

Zuko kept a firm hand on Aang's shoulder.

They found the market, and Katara led them towards one of the merchant stalls run by a balding older man seated on a high stool. "Hello," Katara said politely, giving the old man her friendliest smile. "How much for a bag of rice?"

The old man glanced each of them up and down in turn before he spoke. "Are you travelers?" he asked hesitantly.

Katara gave an unconcerned shrug, still smiling. "Pretty obvious, huh?" she replied. "We're just passing through."

But it seemed none of Katara's easy, non-threatening small talk was going to allay the old man's suspicions. He jerked his chin in Zuko's direction. "He's awfully quiet, isn't he?"

Zuko felt Aang tense under his hand, and he gave the boy's shoulder a quick squeeze to steady him. "We don't want any trouble," he said as evenly as he could. "We just want to buy some food."

The old man was staring hard at him, clearly trying to make out his face under the shadows of his hood. "Well, I don't want any trouble either," the old man replied. "Which is what selling to strangers might get me. You want to shop here, you better get approval first." He pointed to a larger building down the street, flanked by two armed guards at the door, which might once have been stately enough to be obviously the town hall.

"Approval?" Aang asked in confusion. "Who do we need approval from?"

"From Jet," the old man explained, giving Aang another suspicious once-over, though with less interest than he had shown in Zuko. Perhaps news of the Avatar hadn't made it this far north yet. "He and his Freedom Fighters run everything around here. No one buys or sells without his approval." The old man leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his hands hang down casually. "Keeps the Fire Nation away, you know," he explained with a touch of bitter sarcasm.

"I see," Katara said, exchanging a troubled look with Zuko. Getting approval from the warlord who ran this town would be problematic, if they had to prove they had no ties to the Fire Nation. But declining to even try now would look like an admission of the same. And the guards outside the town hall - the so-called Freedom Fighters, Zuko surmised - were watching them.

"Well, go on," the old man said irritably. "Go make your case, then you can come back and buy all the rice you want." There were other customers approaching his stall, and he promptly turned his attention to them.

Zuko thought quickly as he led the group towards the town hall. Squeezing Aang's shoulder again, he whispered hurriedly, "Say something to me, and sound embarrassed."

"What?" Aang muttered back, giving him a confused look. "Why do I have to do that?"

Zuko hoped that would be good enough. They were coming within earshot of the guards now. "Kisu!" he scolded, turning Aang roughly to face him. "I told you to keep it on you at all times! You're old enough to be responsible for these things yourself!"

"I'm sorry, Uncle?" Aang replied uncertainly, playing along but clearly not understanding. Zuko hoped anyone who overheard would take that for sheepishness at what he had purportedly forgotten.

Zuko turned to Katara. "He doesn't have his passport," he said, voice low enough not to be obvious, but hopefully still loud enough for the guards to hear. "We have to go back to the camp and get it."

Katara sighed for effect. "Well, we'd better get going then," she said exasperatedly. She took Aang by the hand and marched him past the town hall, back towards the gate they had entered the town through. Zuko followed closely behind them after casting a furtive glance at the guards. They'd been listening to the whole exchange. He hoped they'd bought it. As he looked away, not wanting to be caught staring, he just saw one of them duck inside the building.

They made it all the way past the grizzly lineup of Fire Nation helmets, and Zuko had just started to relax a little, when trouble caught up with them. Six of the motley crew of Freedom Fighters from the town emerged from the trees, blocking their path. The ringleader was a behemoth of a man wielding a large wooden club. He held the weapon downward with one hand, but Zuko had no doubt he'd be able to use it readily.

"You folks left town awful quick," the giant drawled in a deep voice. "You lose something?"

"Just left something behind," Katara answered evenly, one hand on her waterskin. She shifted forward half a step, and Zuko did the same, subtly putting themselves between Aang and the Freedom Fighters. "Won't take us long to get it," Katara added.

"We'll help you," the giant said.

"That's okay, we'll manage," Zuko replied.

"Wasn't asking your permission," the giant shot back, glaring at him. "Now, how about you show us what you're hiding under that hood."

Zuko glanced at Katara, and she nodded. If there was still a way they could escape without having to fight, they'd have to take the chance and play along a bit longer. Six against three with no large source of water at hand was not great odds if Zuko wielded only a knife, and if he used firebending it might just make things worse. Reluctantly, he pushed back his hood.

"Hey!" one of the other Freedom Fighters exclaimed when he saw Zuko's face. "Isn't that…" But he trailed off without finishing the thought.

The giant seemed to take no notice. "Just like I thought," he said, hefting his club against his other hand. "Yellow eyes. You know what that means, boys."

Zuko reached for his knife as the giant lifted his club, but Katara knocked the weapon from the giant's hand with a water whip first. The giant turned his glare on her, but before the rest of his men could make a move on them, an arrow whizzed down from the treetops and caught the one who had recognized Zuko square in the back.

The rest of the Freedom Fighters whirled around, looking for the new assailants. Zuko's first thought was that Zhao's archers had found them again, but the giant recovered his club and brandished it at the forest canopy with a roar. "We know that trick!" he bellowed. "Come down here and face us, you traitors!"

The newcomers, whoever they were, were apparently happy to oblige. They descended swiftly from the trees and fell upon the Freedom Fighters. Zuko and Katara wasted no time taking advantage of the distraction to attack as well, though Zuko stuck to using his fists and his knife, and even Aang got a few good hits in with his waterbending. The fight ended with two more Freedom Fighters dead and the other three, including the giant, bound with the same whiplike cords the mysterious assailants had used to swing down from the treetops. The one who had been hit by the first arrow had not moved since.

Zuko and Katara remained on their guard, unsure who their circumstantial allies were or what they wanted. They wore some kind of red and brown uniforms, though not one that Zuko recognized. Their leader, a young woman with short brown hair and red stripes painted on her cheeks, told them to stand down. "Jet's goons are idiots," she proclaimed, looking at Zuko. "No one with a burn scar like that is on the side of the Fire Nation."

"Who are you?" Zuko asked warily.

"You can call me Smellerbee," the young woman replied, returning her sword to its sheath. "We're the real Freedom Fighters."

South Pole - Eight Years Earlier

The ceremonies that preceded the departure of a war party were a somber contrast with the wedding that the tribe had celebrated a mere two weeks earlier. Inuk blessed all the warriors, who were arrayed in full warpaint. He invoked the moon and ocean spirits first, then their four children, then proceeded to rattle off a litany of names, more spirits than Katara had ever heard of. She hadn't paid much attention when her father's party had left four years ago. She had been too angry then.

She didn't lack anger now, but it was different.

Inuk concluded his litany with the invocation of Tokusok, the custodian of all travelers. Katara couldn't help a shudder, for the ultimate journey on which Tokusok accompanied everyone was into the afterlife. She looked at Sokka, and Kohnna, and the others, and offered her own silent prayer that none of them were embarking on that voyage.

They drank a toast to the warriors, and then Sokka lead them in procession down to the shore, where the boat they would take was waiting. It was a southern style clipper, but they'd painted it like the northern ships. As they walked, the men sang rousing verses about the heroic exploits of famous warriors of legend, while the women took of a mournful refrain about mothers awaiting their sons' return. It wasn't just mothers who waited though, Katara thought. Why were there no songs about the sisters and daughters left behind?

When they reached the shore, the songs came to an end, and everyone said their more personal goodbyes. Katara saw Amaruk speaking quietly to Kohnna, one hand on his shoulder, while Gran Gran gave Sokka a blessing of her own. Senorit held his wife tenderly, their infant son in her arms. Tira was not there to say goodbye to Atial - her baby had been born only two days ago, a healthy boy, and she was still recovering. Her sister Kitra and her children were there to send off Atial and Mekkino instead.

Katara looked up into her brother's face, stark and a bit unnerving with its gray and white paint. He had gotten so much taller than her in the last year. She was sure he was almost as tall as their father now, though of course she had no way to compare for certain. She searched for some heartfelt words of encouragement to give him, and drew a blank.

"Are you leaving me behind because I'm a girl?" she blurted out instead.

Sokka didn't seem surprised. "No, Katara," he said, taking hold of both her shoulders. "I'm asking you to stay for the same reason Dad asked me." He smiled a little sadly. "You're barely older than I was then."

"But I am older," Katara insisted. He had only been fourteen then. "I'm an adult, and I'm a warrior."

"And someone still needs to look after things here," Sokka reminded her. In a lower voice, he added conspiratorially, "Do you really want to leave Snake Eyes in charge unsupervised?"

Katara laughed a little in spite of herself at her brother's nickname for Amaruk. "Kida and Gran Gran would keep him in check," she argued, but she was beginning to see his point.

Sokka shook his head. "Like he listens to either of them half as much as he listens to you. He respects you, after his own fashion."

Katara felt another twinge of resentment at his words. "It's not his respect I want," she said bitterly. And she knew she didn't really have it, anyway. Amaruk might consider her a powerful bender and a capable warrior, but she was still just another pawn to him. And now an uncooperative one, at that.

"Please, Katara," Sokka all but begged. "I know that…"

"That I'll be safer if I'm here?" she finished for him.

"That everyone will be safer if you're here," Sokka corrected her.

Katara remembered what Gran Gran had said to her, about how she didn't need to retreat. And she knew she and Sokka were both right, that she had an important role to play here in the village. But so had her father, and it hadn't stopped him from leaving.

"Alright," Katara agreed reluctantly. "I'll stay here - for now."

She hugged him goodbye, and the warriors boarded the ship. But as she watched them sail away, Katara still couldn't help but feel a little envious that Sokka, like their father, got to run away.

It was strange, the next day, for Katara to have waterbending practice without Kohnna, knowing this would now be the norm. With the full moon approaching, Amaruk asked her once again if she would reconsider learning to bloodbend, and Katara once again refused. She wondered how long this impasse would go on.

She found herself alone with Kida that afternoon as well - Lagora was helping Tira with her newborn, and Nivi and Minak had taken a boat out to some of the islands to the north to gather medicinal plants. Kida had asked for her assistance cleaning out the apothecary, and had ended up showing her a scroll that had somehow been left in the tent. It had detailed diagrams explaining how to ease blockages in both the major blood vessels and chi paths of the body.

The bright red lines running through the outline of a human figure inevitably called to mind the more sinister way she now knew her bending could be put to use. "A few months ago," she began hesitantly, "during the full moon, Amaruk showed me something…" She trailed off, uncertain why she was even confiding in Kida.

"He taught you bloodbending," Kida concluded, rolling up the scroll.

Katara blinked in surprise. "You know about it?" Amaruk had said only the most advanced waterbenders were taught how to do it. She couldn't imagine the Northern Water Tribe reckoning healers, even accomplished ones like Kida, among that elite group.

"It was the healers who first discovered it," Kida replied as if reading her thoughts. "It's not a proper healing art, since it manipulates the blood directly rather than the chi, but it can be useful in extreme situations." She tucked the scroll into her belt, and Katara had the strange impression Kida was avoiding her gaze all of a sudden. "Of course, there's a reason it's a secret technique," she said sadly.

"Well, good," Katara said forcefully. "Let it stay that way. It's horrible."

Kida sighed and busied herself with stacking some empty baskets. "What did he make you do with it?"

"He wanted me to control an otter penguin," Katara explained, feeling queasy at the mere memory. "But I could feel how much it was hurting the animal...I could never do that to a person. I don't know how Amaruk can stand it."

"He wouldn't feel it like you do, Katara," Kida said, still facing away from her. "That empathy comes from your healing abilities."

Katara crossed her arms. "So he wouldn't feel it because he's a man."

Kida stilled. "It does seem the spirits have ordained things that way." She sounded just like Lagora, declaring that to be simply the way things were. Then again, Lagora must have learned that from someone.

"Has anyone ever tried?" Katara challenged her. "To teach a man how to heal, I mean."

Kida actually gave a short laugh, a dark sound that caught Katara by surprise. "I should have known he wouldn't tell you," she said, shaking her head. She turned to face Katara at last, sitting across from her and folding her hands in her lap. "Amaruk came to me, years ago, and asked me to teach him. He thought the notion that women were healers and men were warriors was nothing more than ancient superstition, and he wanted to prove the elders wrong."

Katara leaned forward eagerly. "And did he? Was he able to do it?"

"No," Kida replied. "He couldn't heal even the tiniest cut or bruise." She sighed again. "That's why I taught him bloodbending."

"You taught him that?" Katara asked in disbelief, her voice all but a whisper.

"I thought he wanted to heal, and since bloodbending doesn't rely on the manipulation of chi paths like other healing techniques, he would at least be able to do that." Kida unfolded her hands and rubbed her palms against her knees. "But as soon as I'd shown him, he immediately thought of using it to fight."

Disparate pieces fell into place, finally making a complete picture. "And you objected, and he called you backwards or cowardly or something, and that's why you hate each other," Katara concluded.

Kida nodded. "More or less," she agreed.

A year's worth of resentment that Katara had been nurturing towards Kida simmered to the surface - she had brought her feud with Amaruk here to the south without regard for the consequences - but just as abruptly her anger fizzled out. Kida had tried to keep Amaruk away from her, and tried to warn her about him. Now, Katara could finally appreciate why.

The next morning, Katara was already waiting for Amaruk at the training field when it was time for her lesson. She followed all his instructions without complaint, going through the complex form they'd been working on that involved controlling multiple water whips and ice daggers at the same time. She sparred with him, then with Pamuk. Finally, Amaruk declared it was time for a break.

"Actually," Katara said, meeting his green gaze defiantly, "I'm done for today."

Amaruk gave her a puzzled look. "Do you have something more important to do?"

"Yeah," Katara replied, unable to fully suppress a cheeky grin. She knew he was going to hate this. "I've got lessons with Kida."

Amaruk did not disappoint, scowling at her as if she'd insulted him personally. "I thought you had realized such things were beneath you."

"Why?" Katara challenged, hands on her hips. "You didn't think you were too good to learn from her until you failed. Why should I give it up, if I can actually do it?"

Amaruk blinked at her accusation. "You and Kida have been gossiping, I see," he scoffed. "Do you really think that what this tribe needs is more healers? We need warriors, Katara."

Katara raised her chin. "Well, what if I'm both?"

"Do one thing well, Katara," Amaruk scolded her by way of reply. "Every moment you spend with Kida learning to treat stomach aches is time you're not spending honing your skills at fighting."

"And every moment I spend with you is time I'm not spending learning how to treat serious injuries," Katara shot back. "My time is mine. I get to decide what the best way to use it is, not you."

From then on, Katara spent at least a little bit of time each day in the healing hut. And Amaruk never asked her about bloodbending again.

Gaipan - Ten Years After Sozin's Comet

Smellerbee studied the three of them, hands on her hips, as a few of her men dragged the prisoners off into the forest. "You guys are water tribe, right?" she asked, but went on without waiting for confirmation. "We don't see many of you around here. North or South?"

"South," Katara replied, closing her waterskin. Aang copied her, and Zuko likewise relaxed his fighting stance. Smellerbee didn't look like she wanted any quarrel with them. Still, neither Zuko nor Katara volunteered any further information.

"You're a long way from home, then," Smellerbee observed. Zuko grimaced in spite of himself. "Let me guess, you're part of that Underground the bigwig Ba Sing Se survivors organized?" When none of them answered, she elaborated, "The last messenger you sent up north passed through here. He managed not to run afoul of Jet, though." She gave Zuko another appraising glance. "Bad luck about your eyes," she said sympathetically. Zuko shrugged.

One of Smellerbee's men, an archer with a broad-brimmed hat, came to her side. They exchanged a look without speaking. "You're right," Smellerbee said. "We should get moving." Returning her attention to Zuko, she added, "You guys probably want to come with us. Jet will send more of his goons when those geniuses don't come back."

"No offense," Katara said carefully, "but I think we'd rather just get out of the area."

"You could do that," Smellerbee agreed with a knowing grin. "But if I'm right, and you guys are headed for the North Pole, you need provisions before you cross the burned lands. And we can help you there."

Katara and Zuko looked at each other again. Zuko thought it sounded too easy, that there must be some catch, something Smellerbee would want from them. But Katara's look said they had few options. The enemy of an enemy wasn't always a friend, but sometimes they were the best you could find.

They agreed, and Smellerbee led them off the road, through the underbrush, and eventually up to her treetop hideout by a series of ropes. "Jet used to hide from the Fire Nation this way," she explained dryly. "Works just as well against him."

"You knew him?" Aang asked curiously.

"Sure did," Smellerbee answered, ushering them into one of the treehouses. Her silent lieutenant had gone ahead of them, and was already laying out a simple cold meal. "Longshot and I were among his first recruits." She sat at the table, grabbed a handful of lychee nuts, and gestured for them to join her. Aang didn't hesitate to tuck in, and Zuko and Katara sat on either side of him, across the table from Smellerbee. Longshot was the last to sit, by his captain's side.

As they ate, Smellerbee went on to explain, without any prompting, how her faction had split from Jet's shortly after the comet, when he had finally taken control of the town from the Fire Nation. Jet had killed or driven out anyone with Fire Nation blood, even if it was just one grandparent, and had then done the same to anyone who opposed him. Zuko got the distinct impression they were being given a recruitment speech.

"Jet says he's keeping Gaipan free," Smellerbee concluded bitterly. "But really he's just grinding the town beneath his boot."

"And yet your fighters seem better equipped than his," Katara observed. Zuko had noticed the same thing - her men wore uniforms, wielded swords or bows, and fought in an efficient, organized manner, while Jet's thugs were undisciplined, many with makeshift weapons, and seemed to rely more on brute strength than anything else. If Jet was in power and Smellerbee was on the out, it certainly didn't look like it.

"We have a powerful backer," Smellerbee admitted.

"But not one of the Ba Sing Se bigwigs?" Zuko asked.

"Look," Smellerbee said, wiping her hands on the legs of her pants. "Let's speak plainly: I want your help with something. Your Underground seems like good people, even if you're a bit far removed from us simple folk up here. You help me get rid of Jet, I help you get where you're going, and maybe it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship." She held out her hand. "What do you say?"

Zuko considered carefully. He had known there would be a catch. However, they had been sent north to find more allies. A suspiciously well-armed splinter cell fighting the warlord who had once been their leader wasn't the sort of ally General Kwon had had in mind, but in their dire straits, could they afford to be choosy about where help came from?

"We're grateful for your help so far, and sympathetic to your cause," Zuko answered diplomatically, not taking her hand. "But what is it you're asking us to do?"

"Fair enough," Smellerbee replied. She stood, went to a crate by the wall, and removed a stack of leaflets. "We want to spread these around," she said, setting the stack on the table.

Katara removed the leaflet from the top of the stack and read it aloud. "A warning to the people of Gaipan: the governor can hold back the armies of the Fire Nation no longer. If the warlord Jet does not surrender control of the town to the rightful mayor, the Fire Nation will burn Gaipan to the ground." Katara frowned and looked up from the paper. "This sounds like a threat."

"Of course it's a threat," Smellerbee replied. "It's the Fire Nation. But it's all true. Lord Moravid really has been holding them back as long as he could." Zuko thought the governor's name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it. It wasn't a Fire Nation name, so it couldn't have been someone he had known before his exile.

Aang had grabbed one of the leaflets as well and was studying it carefully. "What's this?" he asked, pointing to the red stamp at the bottom, a flower with five petals and the characters for "justice" on either side.

"That's Lord Moravid's seal," Smellerbee explained. "It's the seal of a very old and respectable Earth Kingdom family."

"Your plan is to spread propaganda from the Fire Nation's provincial governor?" Katara asked, her eyes narrowed.

But Aang paid no attention to her reservations. He looked up at Zuko excitedly. "I saw this in my vision!" he exclaimed. "The woman I saw in the swamp, she gave me this flower! She was telling me to trust him!"

"How do you know she wasn't warning you not to trust him?" Katara asked skeptically. "You said she didn't say anything except 'not yet'. Sounds a bit ominous, if you ask me."

"It was my spirit vision, and I'm the Avatar," Aang protested. Smellerbee's eyebrows shot up, but the boy didn't seem to notice. "I think I know what it means," he insisted.

"You don't even know who the woman was," Zuko pointed out sternly. He wished Aang hadn't mentioned being the Avatar, but that catowl was out of the bag now.

"Not yet I don't," Aang replied cheekily. "But I know the flower was a sign of something good, not something bad. You have to take my word on this."

Smellerbee exchanged another wordless dialogue with Longshot, then nodded. "I don't know anything about spirit visions," she said carefully. "But Lord Moravid is trustworthy."

"He's your backer," Zuko realized aloud, suddenly remembering where he had heard the name. When he was a child, a Fire Nation noblewoman had married into the Moravid family, Earth Kingdom gentry who had held on to their lands in the colonies. Zuko supposed that was how the governor had obtained his post. "You're collaborating with Ozai's functionary."

"He's collaborating with us," Smellerbee corrected.

Zuko had already gotten to his feet, as had Katara. Only Aang and Longshot remained seated. "And the rightful mayor he's appointed?" Zuko asked accusingly. "That's you, isn't it? Is this really about freeing the town, or just getting rid of your old rival so you can take his place?"

Smellerbee raised her chin defiantly. "It's about making sure that no one has to live in fear anymore," she said firmly. "I'm not ashamed of anything we've done to make that happen."

"Even working with the people you're supposed to be seeking freedom from?" Katara challenged.

"Lord Moravid is on our side," Smellerbee insisted. "If your Underground had ever spared a thought for us up here in the northern provinces, instead of focusing everything on Omashu, you might know that."

"I really think she's right," Aang said quietly, once again studying the seal on the leaflet. "I know it's a risk," he added, looking up at Zuko again. "But you said things were complicated here in the colonies. If people you'd expect to be on our side sometimes aren't, why can't people you'd expect to be against us sometimes turn out to be on our side?"

It sounded like such naïve reasoning. And yet...if the spirits in the swamp really had shown Aang this man's symbol, that did have to mean something. Zuko's own visions had hardly been pleasant, but it was only natural that the Avatar would fare better.

Aang turned his pleading eyes on Katara. "I know that you and Zuko know better than I do, most of the time," he admitted. "But this time it's a question of what the spirits are telling us, and for better or worse, I'm the expert on that here." He got to his feet at last and held out the leaflet to Katara. "If you can't trust Smellerbee or her people, trust me."

Katara hesitated, looking from Aang to Zuko. She took the leaflet from Aang's hand and read it over again silently, frowning at the dire message.

"He has a point," Zuko said softly.

"Alright," Katara agreed reluctantly. "We'll help you." The look she gave Smellerbee nonetheless made it clear how wary she still was of the younger woman.

Aang grinned triumphantly, and Zuko hoped they weren't making a huge mistake.