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Within minutes of receiving the letter, Hahn and two high ranking military officials were in their home, plotting a course to the coordinates Zuko had sent them.

"We knew running into Yao was a risk," Sokka said, slipping into his warrior's garb, "This is a rescue mission, not a fighting one. We are retrieving who we can and getting the hell out of there."

His heart was pounding in his ears, all he could think of was that his only blood family was on those ships, and both his father and his sister were too sharp-tongued for Yao's taste. He witnessed first hand what had happened to Zuko and Noelani; he would be damned if he let the same thing happen to Hakoda and Katara.

"I'm coming with you," Noe was at his arm, her nimble fingers tying his chest plate down for him.

"Absolutely not," Sokka's voice was sharper than he had meant it to be, but that was the least of his concerns, "You're going to be needed here. Appa will be returning any moment carrying the injured and elderly. You will need to be here for them."

Rage sparked in her eyes, "You've got to be kidding me. My family is under attack, Sokka!"

"So is mine!" He barked back, "Hakoda and Katara are on those ships, too. This was my plan, so it's my responsibility. You will stay here, and that is final."

Sokka walked away, unable to meet her eyes. He knew she was fuming, and under normal circumstances, he would have been backpedaling his harsh words, but he did not have the time to cater to her fragile feelings. They had made good progress, judging by the coordinates that Zuko sent. Sokka chalked it up to having a ship full of benders. Even with the Northern benders, it would be at least an hour before he reached them.

Hahn, for once, had the decency to keep any snide remark to himself, "I can only spare you two vessels and six benders. I will make sure Noelani is guarded safely."

Sokka nodded, grasping forearms with the Chieftain, "Thank you, Hahn."

They swiftly made their way down to the lower harbor, where a canoe was waiting to ferry them to the outer wall.

"Noelani, I told you to stay here." Sokka climbed into the canoe, pushing Noelani back by her shoulders when she tried to follow.

"At least let me accompany you to the outer wall. I can watch for Appa from there." Her face was tear-stained, and her voice was strained. Sokka felt his stomach drop; when had she been crying? He was in such a mad rush to armor up and get out of there that he hadn't realized she had been quietly crying the entire time.

Without answering, he offered his hand and helped her in. The swift journey to the outer harbor was silent and tense. Stopping at the final gate, a guard assisted Noelani out of the canoe. Turning back, she took Sokka's hand in her own before he could board the battle-ready ship, "I refuse to be widowed for a second time. Come back."

All Sokka could do was nod and watch as she ascended the staircase up to the top of the wall. Making his way up the gangplank, the benders posted up top began the movements to lower the gate, and the vast expanse of the arctic ocean opened before them.

Clamoring to the top of the wall, Noelani saw the benders had begun to lower the gate for the ships to pass. If she was going to help, now was the time. As fast as she could, she shed her outer layer, kicked off her boots, planted her feet in the ice, frozen her ankles in place, and closed her eyes.

Matching her breathing to the ebb and flow of the ocean, she let her body relax into its pull and imagined the frigid water flowing over her limbs. She unfroze her ankles and let herself step forward once, twice, bringing her arms forward, she urged the tide to rush with her. Opening her eyes, she saw a swell of water raise the ships and propel them ahead from the gate.

This was her element. The world fell away, and it was her and the ice and the ocean below. She had done this movement millions of times when the winds died out at sea, and when she was racing with Haku and Jiang, she knew how to move the ocean but now more than ever begged La to lend her their strength.

Step once and then again, call the ocean to your Spirit, and urge it forward. This chant echoed in her brain. Another swell began at the base of the wall and surged forward. The ocean was all she could hear, crashing waves in her mind's eye blurring her vision of reality. It wasn't until she was quite literally pulled from her trance that she realized she had stepped off of the wall, spires of ice pulled from the ocean below to support her steps.

"They're past the horizon now; you've done your part." The soldier said, draping a cloak around her shoulders.

Noelani was silent, cold settling in, causing her to shake violently. Only an idiot would strip down to a threadbare tunic and pants and walk barefoot on arctic ice, and today she was that idiot. When she was bending, the world faded away but pulled from her trance, she was now all too aware of her surroundings. Shaking too much to walk correctly, the unnamed soldier scoped her up and walked the final few steps back to the wall. A bender swiftly dissolved her additional ice, and the outer gate was once again one smooth semicircle of ice.

Inside the watchtower, she was dumped in front of the fire. The room was small, round, and barren. A heavy pelt served as the door, and an entire window facing the sea was cut out. Weapons lined the walls, and a small table and chairs were it's only decor.

"That was Southern bending," The soldier sat beside her, offering a steaming cup of tea, "It's been a very long time since I've seen it."

Taking the cup, Noelani greedily sipped the warming liquid before finding her voice, "You're from the Southern Tribe?"

Removing his wolf-headed helmet, the older man smiled, his pale eyes crinkling, "Sure am. My name's Bato, I'm a good friend of Sokka's father."

"I see," Noelani felt her face flush, knowing that this man most likely stayed behind to look after her, "I'm Noelani...but you probably already knew that. My grandfather is from the Southern Tribe, he taught my mother, and he and my mother taught me."

"It's been a very long time since I've seen true Southern bending, though I don't quite remember being stripped down to under garb and bare feet being part of it."

Averting her gaze, Noelani chose to study the flames in hopes they would tell her the right response. She had no such luck. "It's not so cold out at sea, so my grandfather took advantage of being closer to the water. In this case, I guess it handicapped me. It's hard to bend in so many layers, I can't feel the water at all."

Bato was studying her with an intense look in his eye, "Your grandfather must be a resourceful sifu. I'm sorry, what did you say his name was again? I didn't quite catch it."

"Hanu, son of Eska and Bato." The words left her mouth before she could stop them, and internally she cursed herself. Keeping her eyes on her tea, she watched the steam curl up from the cup and prayed to every Spirit that would hear her that this man wasn't privy to Southern Water Tribe history. When he remained silent, she dragged her gaze to his face and was shocked to see him sallow and trembling.

"Bato, are you ok?" her tea forgotten, she leaned forward and reached out to Bato, but he recoiled from her touch.

"That is a cruel joke," his voice was low with controlled anger, "That is not funny."

Her mouth had dried up, fear turning her throat to sandpaper, "It's not a joke. Hanu us my grandfather, tall man with eyes like yours and a scar above-,"

"His right eye," Bato finished her sentence much to her surprise, "Hanu was, is, my elder brother. He was taken during a bender raid decades ago."

"He was, and then he wasn't."

Bato rose, offering her his hand, "Let us continue this discussion at home. I promised Sokka I would keep an eye on you and the safest place for you is at home."

That ice hut was not her home. Rage once again entered her headspace. This man dared to speak to her as if she was a child who needed babysitting? "Not a chance, I'm staying right here until Appa returns. You can go back to the house if you wish, but I am staying here."

Taken back by her sharp tone, Bato dropped back into his seat and turned his weathered eyes to the horizon, "If you wish. You inherited Hanu's temper."

Now it was her turn to be taken back, "Excuse me?"

Bato laughed, "I was tiny when Hanu was taken, but tales of his revenge rage were legendary."

Noelani nodded, scanning the horizon for any sign of the air bison. Minutes were passing like hours, and eventually, she grew restless and began pacing the small room. Bato did his best to keep her occupied with small talk, but she found the more he spoke, the less she wanted to reply.

"It is odd, though, how you're Hanu's granddaughter, yet you're close in age to Sokka and Katara." Bato mused, hoping to shed more light on what had happened to his brother.

"Hanu was only twenty when my mother was born, and my mother was only twenty when Haku and I were born."

Bato sat forward, "Haku?"

"My brother. We're twins."

An alarm horn cut their conversation short, and Bato rushed to the window with a telescope raised to his eye, "Appa is on the horizon. He's closing in fast."

Noelani wasted no time diving back into her anorak and boots, and another guard tumbled into the small space, "Bato, the bison is heading for the healing huts."

Bato nodded, dragging Noelani out onto the wall and down the stairs. "We're going straight for the healing huts."

"I heard the guard the first time, I'm not deaf." she snapped, her heart was pounding in her ears, and she needed everyone to stop talking at her as if she were a child.

The canoe ride to the healing huts was quiet and awkward, but Noelani didn't care. Before the canoe could even dock, she sprung from the canoe allowing the water to lift her the several remaining feet to the icy platform where the huts resided.

Appa was already preparing to retake flight, soldiers hurriedly replenishing bandages and ointments in his saddlebags. Bato caught her arm and fell into step with her. Together, they pushed aside the heavy pelt at the entrance of the hut.

The first thing Noelani noticed was the stench. Burned human flesh, vomit, and sweat. Bato scrunched his nose while Noelani found the nearest bucket and watched breakfast make a reappearance.

"If you're going to puke, go puke outside. I don't need more of that stench in my hut." Katara's voice was sharp.

"I'm done now, sorry. How can I help." Noelani dragged the back of her hand against her lips, swallowing down the remaining bile in her throat.

"Take a bed and get to work." Katara was curt, not looking up from her patient.

Noelani scanned the room; it was all elderly from her village. She registered every face she saw, San, Meng-Meng, Baatar, Desna, and Hanu.

"Grandfather!" Noelani rushed to his side, sending a sharp glare to the healer working on him, "I can take it from here. Move on to someone else." her words were icy.

"Noe, that's no way to talk to someone who's lending a hand." Her grandfather's voice was just as sharp, "I apologize for my granddaughter. She's just worried. You can leave me in her hands, Noelani is a skilled healer."

The woman huffed away, and Noelani took her time to examine her grandfather's injuries. A large burn from his right shoulder down to his thigh; several shallow lacerations across his chest and forearms. No major arteries were hit, and for that, she was thankful.

Gloving her hand in the water, she started on the lacerations. "What happened? Where's Haku? Did Sokka reach you in time?"

"Haku is fine; those firebenders had no interest in him. They must have been watching the island and followed us when we fled. When I left, they had taken Kaya, Kuyu, Roan, Mana, and Bamin on a ship that had departed. One of ours was sunken. We were not in good shape. No crying, Noelani."

"Why were Kaya and Bamin even on your ship? They were supposed to go with Aang."

"Yao got to Kiyoshi village before we could."

Noelani felt her heart sink and allowed the water to drop back into the basin. Leaning on the bed, she bit her cheek to stop the tears. The village of Kiyoshi was like their second home. They welcomed them with open arms and always made sure they were taken care of, and now they had been repaid with destruction. Hastily, she pawed at her face wiping away tears and rearranging the hair that had fallen loose from its braid, "Hanu, I have a surprise for you."

Hanu's brow furrowed, "I don't think now is the time for surprises. You still have work to do."

Grumpy old man Noelani thought but pushed aside the sentiment. She waved to Bato, who had taken residence in a dark corner of the hut and stepped aside to witness the reunion.

Hanu turned as pale as the snow outside when he saw Bato. The two men stared at each other for what felt like eons before Bato lunged down and caught his brother in a tight hug, "I thought you had died."

Hanu choked out a laugh, "No," his voice was shaky, "It would take more than a ship of firebenders to take me down. Not much of a crybaby anymore?"

Stepping back, Bato motioned for Noelani to resume her work. He pulled up a stool and took his brother's hand in his own, "I was five when you were taken away, five-year-olds cry over everything."

The brothers bickered back and forth, each asking other pointed and detailed questions about their lives. Noelani was grateful that Hanu was distracted enough for her to continue her work. She had yet to tend the burn, and she could see it was beginning to fester. Calling the water to her, she set to task quelling the infection and inflammation as much as she could.

Katara had made her way over, watching her work with a critical eye. "That burn will take several sessions to heal properly, and there will be more wounded coming in any minute."

Noelani bristled at Katara's icy tone, "Are you telling me to leave my grandfather half-healed?"

"I'm telling you there's a limited number of healers, and there's more wounded pouring in any minute. Conserve your strength."

Bato jumped in, "I can watch Hanu, Noelani. He and I have a few decades to catch up on."

Throwing her water in the bucket, she fixed Bato in her own icy stare, "Fine. Call me if anything happens."

She stalked after Katara, irritated at having been taken away from her family. Katara seemed just about as pleased, but Noelani chalked it up to stress and helped herself to an apple from a small pile of fruit.

"You didn't leave with Appa?" Noelani picked at her apple skin

"No, I'm needed here. Other benders can give emergency treatment on their way over."

Noelani's hand floated to the gem that sat at the base of her throat, "I hope Sokka and Haku are OK."

Katara's voice was deadpan, "They're fighting a monster. They won't be."

"I know exactly who they're fighting," Noelani bit back, shuddering at the memories she'd been fighting hard to repress.

Katara's gaze softened, "I'm sorry," her voice was tired, "We have a long evening ahead of us. I'm going to be tense. You should nap while you can, marathon healing takes a lot out of you." Katara slid to the ground, pulling the hood of her anorak over her eyes.

With a sinking feeling, Noelani realized she was speaking from experience. Settling next to her, she fell into a restless slumber.

Katara was not lying when she said it was going to be a marathon. Barely twenty minutes after they had settled down to rest, Appa had returned, and the battered cutter ships had limped back into the bay. Battered and burned bodies were pouring in, and soon all five healing huts were full to the brim. They set up a triage outside and made makeshift tents and huts, but the small sliver of ice was quickly filling up.

Noelani frantically worked through patient after patient and scoured the crowd for Haku, Sokka, and Zuko's faces. It wasn't until well past midnight that she caught a glimpse of a familiar scarred face in a triage tent. Zuko was lying on the ground with Katara at his side, working over the burns that ravaged his torso. Sokka was at his side, his chest and arms tightly bound. Noelani nearly fell over several patients on her way to them and collapsed by Katara's side.

"Katara, let me help." Without waiting for consent, Noelani pulled water from the basin and began working on Zuko's abdomen.

The two women worked in silence for several minutes, until Zuko began to sputter. Reaching up, he took Noelani's wrist, "I'm sorry, Noelani. Yao took about a dozen of your people."

She felt her heart twist, "You did your best. We'll get them back, but right now, we need to get you healed."

Katara returned her water and bent her head to Zuko's chest, exhaustion written across her features, "Just a little more, and then we can rest."

Squeezing her shoulder, Noelani mustered up as best a smile as she could, "We can do this, Katara. We can have some soldiers move Zuko and Sokka to our lodgings for now."

Zuko grunted, forcing himself to lean upon his forearms, "Absolutely not, my men are here. Sokka wouldn't want to be moved either. We both stay here."

Katara cut off Noelani, "There's no use arguing. We can do what we can and then let them rest. They won't move, and if you try, he'll breathe fire at you." Katara spoke bluntly, as if from experience.

With a sigh of resignation, the two waterbenders took up their practice and worked diligently over the wounded Fire Lord. They were well into the dead of night, and no one would be getting a proper rest any time soon.

Zuko's body was on fire. His skin screamed with every breath he took. Katara and Noelani had worked until the sun began to color the predawn sky, and he was still in agony.

"Zuko, you need to wake up." Katara's voice floated to him, "I know it hurts, but you need to fight through it."

Cracking open his eyes, the splitting pain eased only slightly with consciousness, "What time is it?" he croaked.

"It's mid-morning. Drink this." Noelani shoved a steaming cup of tea into his hands. He wrinkled his nose at the pungent odor.

"It tastes like shit." Sokka's tired voice floated over to him,

Turning, he saw the inquired man propped up against a pile of tigerseal pelts sipping his own cup of mystery brew, "What is it?"

"Turmeric, black pepper, and olive leaf. Good for circulation and blood pressure." Noelani's response was short and sharp.

"Apparently, Noelani is a wealth of herbal knowledge." Katara quipped, sliding behind Zuko and helping ease the cup to his lips.

If he weren't in a state of massive pain, he would have blushed at the close contact. As it stood, all he could do was wince and choke down the vile concoction Noelani had the audacity to call tea.

"Iroh would roast you alive if you served this to him as tea."

"Iroh isn't here." Noelani glared, obviously tense.

Zuko cringed. The shocks of an infirmary in the aftermath of a battle had long since worn off for him, Katara and Sokka, but Noelani was as green around the gills as they come. Of course, she would be disturbed and on edge. Zuko had managed to burn away another piece of her innocence.

and there was nothing he could do to restore it. "Stop stewing," Katara's mouth was at his ear, whispering gently, "You did the best you could."

Zuko reached up and gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "I needed that."

"I know." Katara leaned back and smiled, lifting the cup once again, "I suggest you do quick work of this before Noelani waterbends it down your throat."

Shuddering, he took another sip and forced the vile tasting liquid down, "Who would've thought such a sweet girl would have such a violent side?"

"I can hear you." Noelani's voice was pointed, but her eyes held a spark of humor, "Look, not everyone on the island is a waterbender, so we got creative. You'd be surprised how common herbology is in the Earth Kingdom. A lot of the original earthbenders on the island knew it."

Across from Zuko, Sokka rolled his eyes, "So not only do you have magic water, but you have magic plants? Did I marry a swamp fairy?"

Zuko felt Katara bite back a laugh, and he watched cautiously, but all Noelani did was laugh and throw her arms around Sokka's neck in a hug. Sokka shot Zuko a bewildered look, and all Zuko could do was shrug. This wasn't the first time he had seen Noelani driven to the brink of insanity only to react with humor.

"If you're cracking jokes, then I know you're ok. Your burn was superficial, but I was still worried." Noelani disentangled herself from Sokka and turned to Zuko, "You were burned, very badly."

Zuko nodded, handing off his empty mug. Katara slid out from behind him and gently guided him back down to a lying position before loosening the bandages around his chest. He felt his stomach twist as they fell away to reveal a roadmap of burns that engulfed his entire torso.

"I can help with the scarring," Noelani's voice was soft, almost a whisper, "But I can't do it here."

"What do you mean?" Katara sat back, her hand already gloved in water.

"I can use bloodbending to help heal the injuries," Noelani spoke quietly.

Katara recoiled, "Absolutely not! I won't allow it."

"Katara, please." Zuko reached up and took Katara's wrist, "I can't be scarred like this. I can't."

After several tense moments of silence, Katara yielded and moved to the secondary healer position. Kneeling over Zuko, Noelani directed Katara to use her healing water as a cover, and Noelani splayed both of her hands over Zuko's chest. After a few moments, he felt an odd cooling sensation on his body, as if his blood were literally running cold. He felt his chest squeeze and his breath began to come in huffs.

"I know it feels unnatural," Noelani soothed, "Try not to fight it."

Zuko grunted in response, and he felt his body begin to twist and turn in an attempt to move away from her hands. Pressing firm, Noelani didn't relent. He felt his flesh crawling under her direction, the smallest twitch of her finger directing the blood flow and his tendons and muscles following suit. He took deep breaths, squeezing Katara's knee for support until his vision blurred and his head began to swim.

"Stay with us, Zuko!" Katara's voice echoed in the chasm of his mind, "Zuko, stay with us!"

He wanted to stay, but he was tired. He was tired, and his body wasn't listening to him, and his blood was screaming in his ears, and his skin hurt so bad, so he was going to go to sleep. A nap was what he needed. He tried to remember the lines of Katara's face, but he was too tired. He would remember when he woke up.

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A/N - Expect once weekly updates between Friday - Sunday Eastern Standard Time (United States). Thank you for the love and support!