Hama took us outside of town the next morning, beginning her instruction once we were out of sight from anyone and could speak freely without fear of being overheard or seen. "Growing up at the South Pole, water benders are totally at home surrounded by snow and ice and seas. But, as you probably noticed on your travels, that isn't the case wherever you go." Hama began as we walked together.

"I know, when we were stranded in the desert, I felt like there was almost nothing I could do."

"That's why you have to learn to control water wherever it exists." Hama instructed, though I wasn't entirely sure what she meant.

"I've even used my own sweat for water bending."

"Ew, gross Katara." She shoved at me playfully so I ruffled her hair as Hama turned to Katara approvingly.

"That's very resourceful, Katara. You're thinking like a true master." She praised before she came to a stop. "But did you know you can even pull water out of thin air?" Watching closely, I observed as Hama drew her hand over her head and literally pulled the water from the air around her, making our eyes widen in awe. "You've got to keep an open mind, Katara. There's water in places you never think about." As the water collected at her fingertips, Hama then threw out her hand to direct the water, now turned to icicles, directly at a tree and lodging them in the bark. "Now, you two try."

Katara got the hang of it almost instantly whilst I took a little longer, nervous at first until I could begin to feel the water in the air, the moisture materialising as I gathered it together in small pockets at first until I was twirling on the spot, gathering more and more at my hands like billowing sleeves with a playful laugh. "You've got it Kayo! Great job." Katara said as she dispersed with her water. "Though a little excessive right now." She added with a grin as I too dispersed the water, rubbing my head bashfully.

"Sorry, I just got carried away. So what's next?" Chuckling, Hama continued on her way and both Katara and I followed her like eager little turtle-ducklings. She led us to a field bursting with vibrant fire lilies, one of my most favourite flowers from the Fire Nation. I touched one, running my finger over the velvety petals as Katara admired them with audible awe.

"Wow, these flowers are beautiful."

"They're called fire lilies. They only bloom a few weeks a year, but they're one of my favourite things about living here, and like all plants, and all living things, they're filled with water." Hama said to us as I stood back up and returned to them, planning to come back later and pick a bunch of the lilies to decorate Hama's home later.

"I met a water bender who lived in a swamp, and could control the vines by bending the water inside." Katara supplied as Hama hummed.

"You can take it even further." Swirling in a rounded motion, Hama pulled the water from the flowers all around her to create a dead, blackened circle of dead lilies as the water gathered to her will before she sliced her hand in order to cleave a rock directly in two with the water, making me gulp. Imagine if that was someone's head. Scary.

"That was incredible!" Katara breathed before she looked down at the dead patch of flowers. "It's a shame about the lilies, though." Hama shrugged it off easily, nonplussed about a few dead flowers.

"They're just flowers. When you're a water bender in a strange land, you do what you must to survive. Tonight, I'll teach you the ultimate technique of water bending. It can only be done during the full moon, when your bending is at its peak." Hama informed us as I began to practice pulling water from the flowers, catching on quickly though I stopped after a few, not wanting to ruin too many flowers.

"Haven't people been disappearing at night though?" I questioned as I started to pick flowers to take back to Hama's house.

"Won't it be dangerous? If people have been disappearing around here during the full moon, maybe we shouldn't go out." To our concerns, Hama just laughed with a crackle in her voice like aged wood.

"Oh, Katara…Kayo…three master water benders beneath a full moon? I don't think we have anything to worry about." She assured us though I quickly raised a hand.

"Whoa there, wait a minute, I'm definitely not a master. Katara is still teaching me and I have a long way to go before I'm anywhere near her level." I protested, not wanting to get too far ahead of myself though Katara considered me for a few moments.

"Actually, your bending is coming along faster than I can teach. You pick things up just like that and I only have to show you something once for you to remember it. In a month or so, you could probably hold your own against most of the water benders up north. I'd like to introduce you to Master Pakku someday, I know he'd like to meet you." She said to me so I laughed weakly.

"Okay maybe, but for now let's focus on today and Hama teaching us. Come on, I need to get these lilies into water and I'm starting to get hungry. When it got dark out and the moon was high in the sky, I could already feel the power rising within me as the three of us headed out into the woods in order to learn Hama's final technique. I'll admit, I was pretty excited. Although Katara was a great teacher, it felt different being taught by someone who was actually older than you, and Hama was way older.

"Can you feel the power the full moon brings?" She asked as she inhaled deeply. "For generations, it has blessed water benders with its glow, allowing us to do incredible things." Bathing under the moonlight as Katara and I watched her, Hama let out a rather unnerving smirk. "I've never felt more alive." Once she had revitalised herself through the moonlight, Hama turned back to us. "What I'm about to show you, I discovered in that wretched, Fire Nation prison." She informed us, making Katara and I look at one another in alarm. "The guards were always careful to keep any water away from us. They piped in dry air, and had us suspended away from the ground. Before giving us any water, they would bind our hands and feet so we couldn't bend. Any sign of trouble was met with cruel retribution."

"That must have been horrible for you. I'm so sorry." I apologised without thinking, frowning sadly as Hama inclined her head towards me before continuing.

"And yet, each month, I felt the full moon enriching me with its energy. There had to be something I could do to escape. Then I realized that where there is life, there is water. The rats that scurried across the floor of my cage, were nothing more than skins filled with liquid. I passed years developing the skills that would lead to my escape, controlling the water in another body." Katara gasped audibly in horror as I hardened myself against Hama, growing stiff and suspicious as to where she was going with this. "Enforcing your own will over theirs. Once I had mastered the rats, I was ready for the men, and during the next full moon, I walked free for the first time in decades. My cell unlocked by the very guards assigned to keep me in." It was then Hama looked at us both, anger, rage and utter hatred flaring in her eyes for the people who had imprisoned her. "Once you perfect this technique, you can control anything...or anyone."

"But, to reach inside someone and control them? I don't know if I want that kind of power." Katara admitted, backing up slightly as I naturally stepped to the side to cover her, already thinking that perhaps we had been too quick to accept learning from Hama. After all, 'quirky' was not far off from 'crazy'.

"The choice is not yours. The power exists, and it's your duty to use the gifts you've been given to win this war. Katara, they tried to wipe us out, our entire culture, your mother!" Hama directed at Katara, probably seeing her as the closest to kin she had in this world.

"If Katara doesn't want to do it, then you have no right to force her." I spoke up, my arm steadily raising to shield Katara who looked at me as I glowered at Hama. "Don't you dare bring her mother into this."

"You should understand what I'm talking about! We're the last water benders of the Southern Tribe. We have to fight these people whenever we can. Wherever they are, with any means necessary! And you! You were born of your father, a man from the Water Tribes, it is your duty to honour him by continuing where he left off, fighting against those who would suppress and destroy without restrain or hesitation!" Hama then turned on me, but I held firm, unmoved by the mention of my father, a man I had never met.

"My father may be of the Water Tribe…but my mother is of the Fire Nation, and she is a fire bender. I will never turn away from one part of myself to favour the other, because both are a part of who I am!" I declared furiously, my words only making Hama's expression darken with hatred.

"It's you. You're the one who's making people disappear during the full moons." Katara realised and I blinked, catching on as well. It all made sense. Every full moon when Hama's powers were greatest, she used this blood bending technique to take Fire Nation citizens captive.

"They threw me in prison to rot, along with my brothers and sisters. They deserve the same. You two must carry on my work!" Hama cried out, but both of us remained resolute.

"Never!"

"I won't! I won't use blood bending, and I won't allow you to keep terrorising this town." When Katara pointed at Hama, I had started to take up a defensive stance but then her arm twisted suddenly, making her cry out and I jerked up in alarm.

"Katara! What's…!" Suddenly I felt a painful pull as my back arched, making me shout in pain as I was forced to one knee as Hama used the blood bending technique on the both of us to force us to submit.

"You should have learned the technique before you turned against me. It's impossible to fight your way out of my grip. I control every muscle, every vein in your body…" This was bad, really bad, and scary. I couldn't move my own body, Hama had literally taken away my own willpower, taking control of my body for herself like…like…like a puppet. Katara was thrown off to the side and I cried out her name before I too was tossed like a ragdoll, slammed against a tree with sheer brute force. Katara was crying, begging Hama to stop so I struggled against the bond that was holding me, taking deep breaths before closing my eyes and seeking my connection to the moon.

I had to be stronger than this old crone, I can't let her overpower me. What would Zuko say if he saw me now, being controlled by someone else? He'd probably say that I was never one to listen to anyone but myself, so why would I let this crazy old lady take control? Thinking of him seemed to help, as when I thought of Zuko and pictured him in my mind, a rushing mixture of feelings and emotions swarmed through me. There was so much there that it was overpowering, enough for me to take back control of my own mind and body as I felt the moon strengthen me, reaching its peak in the sky.

Releasing the breath I'd been holding, I felt for the water in the tree behind me, slowly rising up before all at once, I dragged it out into the open and launched it at Hama in the form of a whip, striking directly at Hama who quickly turned her head towards me in order to deflect my attack, pulling water from the air to defend herself which allowed Katara time to clear her head and regain control of herself. "You're not the only one who draws power from the moon." Katara declared as she rose up to her feet, water at her hands. "My bending is more powerful than yours, Hama. Your technique is useless on me!"

"Pretty badass Katara, let's show this relic how water bender's fight these days!" I called to her as we both circled around in the exact same pose, moving to trap Hama between us before Katara struck. She'd bended a ring around her before casting it at Hama as I drew more water from the air around me, building up my supply with quick hand movements as my body flowed with the water. As Hama exchanged water blows with Katara I formed ice needles and directed them towards Hama who quickly responded, defending herself as Katara and I fought against her together.

It was clear that Hama was outmatched and outnumbered, especially when Katara took on a three folded water attack and simply stopped it with her hand, causing the water to dome backwards which Hama did not see coming, staring with slight fear and shock as Katara remained deadly focused on the fight. With another water whip in hand I lassoed Hama's right hand, engulfing it in water in order to hold it down before catching the other, holding two water whips to try keep her from bending any further.

Holding her down, Katara was above to take out her feet and once she was uprooted, I used the whips to sling her into the ground as I then backed up to stand beside Katara, both of us mirroring the other in our stances since she'd been the one to teach me how to fight like a real water bender. As Hama began to rise back onto her feet, the boys rushed towards us, clearly also knowing that Hama wasn't exactly the kind old lady she made herself out to be. "We know what you've been doing, Hama!" Sokka yelled as I leaned my head towards him.

"How'd you find out?"

"We found villagers trapped under the mountain who told us the crazy old lady at the inn kidnapped them." He told me quickly but bluntly, keeping it concise as I hummed.

"Huh. She told us herself."

"What? No fair. Way too easy." Smiling quickly at one another, we returned to focusing on Hama as Aang stepped forwards.

"Give up, you're outnumbered." In response, Hama started to cackle, lifting her hands upwards.

"No. You've outnumbered yourselves." Almost immediately Sokka and Aang stiffened, like a shock had just gone through them before they started to move against their will and were flung directly at Katara and me. I squeaked before vaulting over Sokka, pushing against his shoulder to lift myself over him before landing back on the ground in a crouch, quickly turning as Sokka was forced to draw his sword and swing it wildly at me.

"AGH! Dodge it! Dodge it! Left, right, left, left, I SAID LEFT!"

"You don't even know what you're doing right now!" I yelled back at him as I stumbled backwards, dodging his sword before I pulled water from the grass and blasted it into Sokka's face, surrounding his arm and sword in ice so that it became a stiff icy block. For a moment he sighed in relief, but when he suddenly continued moving and turned to attack Katara instead, he yelled out fearfully as I tried to lunge for him but out of nowhere, a geyser of water slammed against my side and swept me clean off my feet from Hama's sneak attack. Damn it, didn't see that one coming.

"Katara, look out! It's like my brain has a mind of its own! Stop it, arm, stop it!" Sokka wailed as Katara knocked him aside before facing Aang as I got back up onto my feet, shaking off the daze.

"This feels weird." Slamming water against Aang, Katara froze him against a tree so that he couldn't move, apologising for the act but Aang was fine with it. I helped freeze Sokka against a different tree so that both were safe, the both of us turning to face Hama who was still smirking with smug satisfaction, getting some kind of sick kick out of all this.

"Don't hurt your friends, girls, and don't let them hurt each other." Realising what she meant, I turned my head in alarm as Hama broke the ice trapping the boys and sent them flying at one another with Sokka's sword pointed at Aang's chest. Katara and I both screamed as the boys yelled and both of us reacted upon instinct. I water whipped the sword, pulling it from Sokka's hand so that he was unarmed whilst Katara went directly for Hama.

She stiffened and twisted, groaning under the pressure as Katara pulled at the flow of blood in her veins, making me look at her in alarm as Katara blood bended Hama. It was successful, I'll say that at least. Whilst under Katara's control, Hama was unable to continue controlling Sokka and Aang, freeing them, but at the cost of Katara having to go against her own conscience to take control of another person. For a moment I didn't know what to do, staring at Katara as tears rolled down her cheek before I finally shook it off, reaching to touch her shoulder as I stretched out the other to direct it at Hama, focusing on her blood flow.

"You can let go now Katara. It's okay." I murmured to her gently and she looked up at me with frightened, wide blue orbs. "I'll hold her. Let go." Breaking into a sob, Katara let go and I felt the momentary release that surrounded Hama's blood before I took it, closing my eyes and focusing. Think of her as a flower. She's just a flower, and you're controlling the flow of water in her body. Hold her, do not let go. Keep her from hurting your friends, that deadly…poisonous flower…

I was glad when Toph arrived with the villagers and help, which meant that with so many people here, there was no way Hama could hope to escape so I released her, sucking in a deep breath as I let go. Hama was put into iron shackles, becoming the prisoner to the prisoners she had once kept. "You're going to be locked away forever." Before she was taken away, however, Hama looked back with a look of victorious satisfaction as I held Katara in my arms, glowering at her darkly.

"My work is done. Congratulations, Katara, Kayo. You're blood benders now." This last remark did Katara in, making her break down and sob against me out of despair so I held her close and let her cry all she wanted as Aang and Sokka also tried to comfort her, but when Aang started to say something I shook my head. Katara needs to cry this out. It's been a horrible night, and I think it'll be best if we can put it behind us as soon as possible. Gazing up at the moon, I once more felt the instinctive pull towards it, the rush of serene power that it gave me before I turned away from it. I'd tasted what that kind of power could achieve, and quite honestly…

It terrified me.