Time for my first posting here of the year, which is another request that I got. It takes into consideration the events and new characters of the North and South comic so you probably won't understand the premise of this piece if you haven't read that.

Different Sides

After everything that had happened in the South Pole, Malina was feeling as though that she could use a break from everything. Things had just turned into so much chaos in ways that Malina hadn't expected. Then again, things had barely gone the way that she thought they would once they were in the South Pole. One thing for sure was that Malina had never expected to develop feelings for Chief Hakoda. But there was just something about the man that had endeared Malina and she found herself wanting more from him.

Truth be told, Malina's actual intentions in regards to refurbishing the South Pole had been the same as her brothers. Malina had very much intended to turn their sister tribe into a smaller replica of what she viewed to be the superior tribe. But those thoughts all changed once Malina truly got to know Hakoda and experience life in the South Pole. Despite having no problems with lying to Hakoda about her intentions at the beginning, Malina came to regret lying to the man that she had grown to deeply care about.

Everything became a bit of a conflicting web of lies, since Malina knew that Maliq had stayed true to their initial goal in regards to the Southern Water Tribe, but she couldn't bring herself to turn against her brother. Malina had always been raised to respect her brother and support him, which is why she had so ignorantly believed that what he wanted for the South Pole was in their best interests. Only now Malina wished that she had never been so ignorant, but she was glad to have seen the light.

After what had happened with Gilak and the protestors, Malina had felt guilty about her appearance in the South Pole letting things get so out of hand. Despite Hakoda's children forgiving Malina for her deception, she still felt guilty and ashamed for what she had done. So although Malina had been invited to a dinner with Hakoda and the Avatar's friends, she was hesitant about attending. Not when her brother would be leaving the South Pole any moment now, which was why Malina found herself at the docks as Maliq prepared to leave.

"Finally, Malina!" Maliq exclaimed upon seeing his sister. "It's about time you showed up here. We're just about to head off."

"Haven't you been wondering where I was?" Malina asked.

"I assumed that you were still trying to suck up to the Southerners," Maliq replied.

"So, you didn't even care to find out that I had gone to the Bridge of No Return as a way of getting the Earth King back safely after that Gilak man kidnapped him?" Malina crossed her arms.

Maliq gasped, "Malina! What did you think that you were doing getting even more involved in that mess? You were the one who made the deal for us to leave!"

"After you ruined everything, Maliq. I was trying to right the wrongs that we had made since being here," Malina said.

"I made no mistake, Malina. Everything was going according to plan until you decided to cosy up to their chief and that Gilak maniac ruined everything," Maliq scowled.

"How can you not see anything wrong with our actions, brother?" Malina wondered. "We tried to change everything about this beautiful place by lying and manipulating these people. We were going to make them into a by-product of the Northern Water Tribe and use their resources for our benefit. How can you not see that what we did was wrong?"

"Malina, you and I both know that we only joined the Southern Restoration Product as a way of benefiting the North. Finding that oil was a golden opportunity for us to better our society. How could you think that the South Pole would be ready or even deserving of having access to such an important resource?" Maliq argued.

"Because it is their resource. Although I initially saw no problem with using the Souths utilities to our advantage, I came to realise just how wrong that would be," Malina stated.

"No, Malina. You came to be brainwashed by their chief into feeling sorry for them," Maliq said.

"How could I not? They lost everything during the war, Maliq. We just stood by and did nothing for decades while our sister tribe was destroyed," Malina proclaimed.

"Which just goes to show how our tribe is superior of the two. We were able to defend ourselves for the entirety of the war without requiring any assistance. Our tribe stood strong while theirs fell apart," Maliq insisted.

"You seem to be forgetting how our tribe would have fallen apart if it weren't for the Avatar being there to defend us," Malina pointed out.

"If it weren't for the Avatar's presence, the Fire Nation would have left us alone. They made no attempt to invade us like they did on that occurrence until the Avatar showed up. That is the case here as well since everything was going according to plan until the chiefs children and the Avatar showed up," Maliq argued.

"You ruined your own plans, Maliq. You failed to see the error in your ways and now we are going to be ostracised by not only our sister tribe, but our own tribe as well," Malina said.

"Our tribe will see that we had our best interests at heart. It is not like our sister tribe was all that fond with us before these revelations came to light anyway," Maliq stated.

"And why do you think that the South Pole is not fond of us?" Malina asked. "We just hung them out to dry and offered no help as their tribe was destroyed during the war."

"Because they were too weak. We couldn't possibly give up our resources to them when we needed them as well," Maliq insisted.

"But they needed them just as, if not, more than what we needed them. Our icy fortress was able to protect us from the Fire Nation. The South Pole had nothing to protect them. We just stood by and did nothing as their tribe was wiped out to the point where they had no waterbenders for decades!" Malina proclaimed.

"That's their fault for not being able to protect themselves, which just goes to show that our tribe deserves this resource more than what they do. Clearly you have been down here for too long, Malina, if you are beginning to lose sight of the values that we have held for our entire lives," Maliq said.

"People change, Maliq. I changed here and this place changed me for the better. I am ashamed of how ignorant I once was towards our sister tribe and I am embarrassed that you cannot see how ignorant we have been our entire lives," Malina argued.

"Then I am embarrassed for you, Malina. You have allowed yourself to be manipulated by the Chief and his children. I knew I should've just left you at home so that you couldn't screw things up," Maliq scowled.

"If you are so convinced that the South Pole does not deserve to use their own resources because they are too weak, what does that make me?" Malina asked.

Maliq narrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"I am a waterbender, yet I have never been able to use my bending to fight. I have only been taught to heal. When we went to save the Earth King on the bridge, I was practically useless to defend myself and had to rely on Katara to save me. Did you know that Katara was the first waterbender in the South Pole for decades? She had nobody to teach her anything because her people had been wiped out. She learned from the esteemed Master Pakku and became one of the most renowned waterbenders in the world. How can you say that the South Pole is undeserving of using their own resources after seeing what Katara had achieved?" Malina explained.

It was clear that Malina had caught her brother in a difficult spot as he stood there in silence, almost gaping at her. Malina herself had once believed that the South Pole was undeserving of using their resources, but after seeing how skilful Katara was and what she had been able to achieve, Malina found herself envious of the young girl for having the freedom that Malina had so longed for. Being a woman in the North Pole was hardly easy by any means, but Malina never had a problem with her upbringing until she realised just how differently things were done in the South Pole.

"That's different, Malina," Maliq finally found his voice.

"It really isn't brother. If you are so convinced that the South Pole is undeserving of using their own resources, then you are implying that I am undeserving of having the knowledge to use my own abilities as a waterbender. You are a non-bender, yet you would be given more freedom to do as you please and learn how to fight than what I would be able to," Malina said.

"Are you going to go home with me now or not?" Maliq sighed with frustration.

"I think that I will stay here," Malina replied with a small smile to herself before she looked back up at her brother. "Let me know if you ever do change your mind and realise just how wrong you have been."

Their goodbye was hardly pleasant, and as much as Malina hated to leave things with her brother on a sour note, she was proud to have stood up for herself and what she believed to be right. The only regret that Malina had as she watched her brother depart the South Pole was that she hadn't been able to convince him to understand her way of thinking. Of course Malina hoped that in time her brother would realise that she was right, but from now on things would be strained between the two siblings as they clearly had very different views and outlooks on life.

If there was one thing that Malina had learned during her time at the South Pole, it was that every nation had very different views and ways of life. Despite initially believing that her way of life was superior, Malina had come to respect those who viewed things differently than what she did. So that was why Malina had decided to accept the invitation to the dinner that she had been invited to.

"Malina!" Hakoda brightly exclaimed upon seeing her. "I was beginning to think that you weren't coming."

"Well, I had almost considered declining your invitation, but then I figured that I had nothing to lose by learning more about the different cultures," Malina replied.

Hakoda smiled, "I have to ask, how long do you plan on staying?"

"As long as you want me to," Malina returned his smile.

So hand in hand, Hakoda and Malina headed into his mothers hut for what would be a wonderful meal with all kinds of company. It was this company that Malina had grown to love, which was what made the South Pole such a wonderful place to her. And if things worked out with Hakoda like Malina hoped they would, it was this company that she would get to spend more time with.

This might be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I like Hakoda and Malina's relationship, and it's something that I might revisit in the future here. In some ways, I would compare Malina to Zuko with the Harmony Restoration Movement since it was what he initially believed in before experiencing the lives of the people whose world he would be changing. North and South is probably my favourite comic, just because it doesn't come across as poorly written fanfiction like the Search or Smoke and Shadow does, even though I actually like the Search cause it finally answers the question as to what happened to Zuko's mother, lol.