Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender, its world, or its canon characters.

Chapter: The Siren

Happily isolated on the western coast of Oolong Island, Katara settled into her job at the Singing Unagi. She tended bar during every other lunch shift-never spilling a drop because waterbender- and began performing her music nightly. The word was out all over the town that there was a new act at the seaside inn. Each night she played to larger and larger crowds, entrancing them with her music. The locals had even given her a stage name, the Siren. Stories of her strange and beautiful music spread to the neighboring villages on the island drawing in wanderers from farther and farther like the mythical creature she was named for.

Initially, Katara was careful to pick only Water Tribe music that could easily have been written by any group of people who lived by the sea. She went as far as rewriting portions of ballads to replace water symbolism with that of fire. As the weeks passed and not even the soldiers drifting through the inn expressed suspicion of the mysterious musician, Katara became more daring in her song selections. While not specifically naming them, she sang of life in the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes. Slowly, she introduced her audience to more and more subversive themes, hoping to subtly open their minds to people and concerns beyond the Fire Nation.

Even with her disguise, Katara played in the darkest corner of the already dimly lit room. She did not need to be recognized by anyone until the man she waited for appeared. She knew he would come eventually. She had heard too much of his love of music from a source close to him to doubt his eventual arrival.

Katara became a creature of the night. Once the sun set, she would begin with her performance, followed by bending in her secret grotto and finish by sneaking about the inn healing any guests who had visited the spring that day. In the nights following the full moon, she had focused on the most gravely injured. As the moon waned her endurance for multiple intensive healings in a given night decreased. By the new moon, she barely had the energy to heal a handful of sore joints and a burn before collapsing into her bed.

With such nocturnal escapades, Katara began sleeping in late. It was a luxury she had rarely experienced outside of the long polar nights. Partly due to her odd schedule, she did not socialize much other than the infrequent music lessons with Ying and her lunchtime shifts. She preferred to keep to herself during her down time, luxuriating in the feeling of freedom and solitude.

It was not that there were not plenty of people who wanted to spend time with her. While her identity as the Siren was kept secret by her employers and Ying, her appearance and natural warmth drew the inn's clientele. Just as Sokka had some indefinable attraction for most women, Katara received more than her fair share of admirers among the men of the town. Both siblings had been gifted or cursed with allure. Several young men asked to take her to dinner or to escort her out. Some of the women wanted to include her in their outings as well, if only occasionally for the same reason. She amiably and politely declined all offers at first. She knew inevitably her character would kick in and she would build relationships here, just not yet.

Even Ying was more of a friendly acquaintance as fishing sometimes kept him away for days on end. When they were together, she focused their time completely on music. Part of her was aware that he was the only person who was in a position to question her invented history having found her on that trackless beach.

Katara threw herself into her composing, finding it a therapeutic way to examine the turmoil of her thoughts and emotions. She wrote music to and for every person in her life, including the traitorous firebender. Nothing seemed to soothe the anger and hurt that flared up in her when she thought of him more than converting those feelings into a new song. She had not forgiven him, but maybe she was beginning to forgive herself.

To give herself more privacy when practicing music, she carried a couple instruments out to her cave in the cliff one night. She had determined that the water only rose high enough to submerge the first quarter of the cave. The rest remained quite dry. In this seclusion, she began to play nature as she used to do at home; the music of raindrops, of sea breezes, of plants growing, or of sunshine dancing on water. She found herself again in her music. Her true self.

Gaining in self-possession, she grew more confident in her interactions with patrons at the inn. She listened attentively to their stories and complaints. She offered sympathy when needed and advice when asked. Growing up, she had often watched her mother counsel and console members of the tribe. At first, it had felt odd stepping into the role of public confidant and advisor to these strangers. As time went on, she grew to enjoy it.

These interactions and some concentrated eavesdropping kept her well informed about the progress of the war and any news. The day after her first performance and subsequent night spent healing the other occupants of the inn, the lunch crowd was all abuzz about the mysterious musician. Suddenly, a guest came rushing down the stairs, crying, "It worked! Thank Agni, it worked!"

It took a moment for Katara to recognize him as the man whose badly set leg she had healed the night before. The man had previously needed the assistance of Fei-Fei and her husband to reach his room. Completely worn out, he had slept late only to awake to find his leg mended. "That spring's a miracle," he was now telling the eager folk gathered around him. "I thought I'd never walk again without help." As the afternoon wore on, more guest appeared proclaiming their astounding recoveries.

Fei-Fei startled Katara by saying, "It's all thanks to you, Kuma, my dear." Before Katara could panic about being found out, Fei-Fei continued, "You brought good luck with you. Good things, good things are happening. I've just been up to the spring with some of the others and it is full again! That pool hasn't been full since Avatar Roku's death according to my grandmother. A Spirit must have blessed it. All those guests recovered, it's amazing. I've a feeling we're heading for better times."

At the end of her second week, Katara overheard gossip about a massive prison revolt that had taken place not too far away. There was much muttering about the possibility of some of the convicts escaping and causing trouble in other parts of the Fire Nation. She was glad she had arrived before the prison break to avoid being accused of being a felon on the run. From the sound of it, this Boiling Rock housed some truly dangerous criminals, not just innocent war prisoners.

After three weeks of this happy if secluded existence, Katara made a friend. Well, two friends actually.

On one of her days off, Katara relaxed in her grotto idly playing the music of the tides when a voice began to sing along. It so perfectly blended with her music and was so appropriate to the subject that at first, she did not realize it was not the sea singing back to her. Moments later, a flute of some sort joined her strumming and she knew that she was not alone.

Immediately, she stopped playing and hid as far back as she could. But the voice and the flute continued on until a sort of conclusion was reached. Then there was silence.

Katara was almost holding her breath hoping that the disembodied minstrels would move along and not look too closely for the original musician. The silence stretched for several long minutes. Finally, a deep and musical male voice floated down to her, "We didn't mean to disturb your music, nymph, but Ren and I could not resist its call. Might I have the pleasure of addressing the Siren?"

Another voice, possibly this Ren person laughed. "Never fear, enchantress of the waves, we will not approach your cloister. Aro and I merely wished to join in. Yours is a rare gift and therefore should be guarded. What would you like to play next? The seafoam or the gulls circling overhead or perhaps an unwanted intrusion? Give us the tune and we will follow your lead, oh wary mermaiden."

At first, the voices seemed too fantastical, she sat in shocked silence. Then their music echoed in her mind and for no other reason, she trusted them. She took up her instrument and began to play a hopeful introduction between chance met travelers.

A deep musical laugh responded then the music began. The three played together unseen for several hours, slowly becoming acquainted. By the end of the session, she knew the two were a couple who roamed the earth for their music. They were of no nation and were delighted to have met someone else who interacted with the world through song.

All three had taken turns singing and playing. Their voices had such range and variation, their styles so eclectic, Katara felt that she could have played with them like this forever. Unfortunately, as the shadows lengthened toward evening, she knew she needed to return to the Singing Unagi for her nightly set. Deciding it was time to actually face her new friends, Katara climbed up the cliff to greet the wanderers.

Both men were tall and exceptionally handsome. One was olive skinned with shining brown hair, gray eyes, an angular face, and a taller, broader build than his companion. The other was dark, darker than any person Katara had ever seen, with exquisite bone structure, warm brown eyes, and a truly arresting smile.

"With eyes of skies and seas, you truly are a siren singing souls from men's bodies. If it pleases you, lady, I am Ren," the dark skinned gallant elegantly bowed before her, speaking so formally it made Katara's ears flush.

"As beautiful as her music, enchanted to make your acquaintance, mistress of melody! My name is Aro," the tall grey-eyed flatterer also bowed.

She bowed in return, "It is an honor to meet such masters of music and blandishment. My name is Katara although in these lands I am called Kuma and I am your humble servant." Humorously, she tried to match their ludicrous style of speaking.

"Silver-tongued too, I see," chortled Ren. "Now that we are all duly introduced and complimented, may we escort you to your next port of call this evening?"

"That would be great." Katara smiled dropping the affected speech. "Would you join me for an early dinner before my shift at the Singing Unagi?"

"A pleasure."

Each young man offered her an arm. The three set off together laughing, teasing, and talking as though they had always known each other. It became obvious that the two minstrels recognized both her appearance and musical style as Water Tribe. It was a relief after maintaining her assumed identity for weeks to once again acknowledge her Nation and heritage. As they walked, she acquainted them with her assumed history as a lost colonial girl.

Over dinner, she learned that Aro had met Ren while traveling with a troupe of free-spirited very familiar sounding performers in the far-flung islands beyond the Earth Kingdom. The troupe had been engaged to perform for Ren's father, a noted patron of the arts. "When I first heard him play, I knew I would follow him to the ends of the earth. And I have," Ren reminisced, giving Aro fond look. "Our relationship caused quite a scandal on my island, a nobleman's son seduced by a handsome roguish minstrel. We left the very next night and have never looked back."

"Well, that is not quite the way I remember it. I believe you were the rakish seducer and I, the besotted innocent. I still remember the song you sang me to lure me from my room. Something about my alabaster brow and nightingale's tongue, wasn't it?" Aro rejoined, smiling indulgently at his boyfriend. "I was helpless to resist."

"You seem far from your frozen wonderland; from which Pole do you hail?" asked Ren in a lowered voice.

"The South. I left home more than two years ago following a young nomad on his quest, dragging along my reluctant brother. We've traveled from one pole to the other, enjoying adventures and, in my brother's case, food along the way. Recently, I struck off on my own to find my music again and, apparently, to meet you."

"Did your nomad run off with your heart as mine did?" Ren asked, winking at her.

Katara laughed, "No! My nomad, Aang, was eleven when we met, a playful child made of games and sunshine. He's now more like a younger brother to me." Her time alone had clarified her feelings on that point, at least. "I leave the romance to my brother, Sokka. Despite his unusual sense of humor, he does seem to have a gift for attracting all sorts of women."

"Well, I imagine we will be able to watch you break a few hearts yourself tonight. Shall we to your performance?" Aro stood offering her his arm. As they walked towards the inn, the three laughing foreign youths turned many heads in their wake.

That night, Katara played the happiest music she had to date with only a few ballads thrown in to appease some fans. After her shift, the three went dancing on the remote beach where she had first come ashore, each taking a turn playing while the other two danced and sang. Katara was not sure if she had ever had such a glorious and carefree day. None of them observed the silent figure of Ying who paused on his way home to watch them from the shadows.

Aro and Ren took a room next to Katara's at the inn and from that night forward the three were almost inseparable. Katara delighted in their company, the joy of friendship without dependency or discord. They began taking alternate shifts, performing in the evenings separately or together. Fei-Fei was enthused to have such an abundance of musicians for entertainment. Ying too quickly warmed to the jovial musicians. At first, he had worried that Katara would ignore him now that she had such outgoing and engaging friends. To his surprise and delight, their presence only made Katara pay him more attention. She seemed brighter less lost in her own thoughts now that she was building relationships again. When Ying had a day off, he began taking them on long walks showing them his favorite spots on the island. Through Katara, he now had his first group of friends, all untroubled by his silence.

The frivolity of the three musicians sometimes pulled in some of the other villagers and Katara got to know more of the people living around her. By now, most of the townsfolk suspected that Katara was the Siren, but no one ever said a word. They seemed to regard it as a communal secret. Each passing day made it harder for her to view any Fire Nation citizen as the enemy, even the soldiers. By the middle of her fourth week on the island, she thought she would never want to leave.

She still spent her days off playing her feelings and experiences. They now seemed less snarled and complicated due to her time spent with her new friends. Occasionally, she felt pangs of homesickness for Aang, Toph, and Sokka but it was in her nature to adapt to change.

One late afternoon while drinking Fei-Fei's excellent tea, Aro asked Katara how she had come to choose this island for her stop over. Leaning closer, she confided that she was there to meet a man who currently lived on this island. "I have some news for him and a question to ask him. I took the performing job so he could find me through my music."

"When your mysterious knight arrives, what then?" asked Ren with a devilish smile for Katara and a wink at Aro.

"Then he and I will talk, and depending on his answer, I'll rejoin Sokka and my other friends. Speaking of things to come, would you two consider coming back with me?" Katara was hopeful that she would not have to abandon these new friends in favor of existing obligations. She thought they would enliven everyone at the air temple. She had yet to mention that one of her friends was the Avatar but she doubted it would sway them one way or the other. In particular, she wanted to see their interactions with Toph and her brother. Ren's tendency to tease would make him Toph's natural ally and a good sparring partner for Sokka's sarcasm. Aro's dignified assurance made him their perfect foil.

Katara could sense by now that her brother had long since returned safely to the Western Air Temple. She was relieved that Zuko had not stabbed him in the back or pushed him out of the balloon.

"We've been hoping you would ask." Aro warmly accepted.

"How could we pass up the chance to meet the mythic meat eater, Sokka?" agreed Ren, eyes twinkling.

"Excellent!"

Any further discussion of future plans was put on hold when a loud drunken voice interrupted their conversation. "Th' Earth Kingdom won't know what hit 'em!" The speaker was a brutish soldier who had arrived that morning. He now sat with a group of other soldiers drinking and discussing the war. "Admiral's new toys'll have those rebels roasting in their beds. People should know when they've been beaten. And when we're done with those dirty rock movers, the Water Tribes'll be next. Not that there's much of 'em left, filthy savages."

Katara felt her hands tighten into fists. This slurring oaf had brought with him the reminder that not all Fire Nation citizens were mere bystanders in this war. Controlling her temper, she listened to the group more closely. The others were not nearly as loud or as drunk so she only managed to catch, "...shipment should be passing by tonight…" and "... sets even the water on fire…"

Both Aro and Ren looked worried. They had traveled as widely as Katara and had seen the devastation brought by the war. They watched Katara's tension grow as she listened, then just as suddenly her hands relaxed on the table. Her eyes narrowed and she did not appear to be seeing them. Clearing his throat, Aro asked quietly, "Planning something?"

Refocusing on her friends, Katara replied with a question, "Could you play tonight's set on your own?"

"Of course, are you sure you don't want any other assistance?" Ren asked, no teasing in his tone any longer. Katara had told them she was a waterbender but neither of them had seen her in action.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself," Katara said emphatically.

The full moon reflected brightly off the water around her as Katara propelled the small boat she had 'borrowed' from Ying forward. She wished it was a cloudier night. While the moon filled her with energy for the work ahead, it also made her approach far more dangerous. As she got farther out, the waves increased in size. Had she not been a waterbender, her boat would have capsized.

Off in the distance, she spotted the three large ships sluggishly crossing the moonlit wave-tossed sea. Two of the ships were standard Fire Navy patrol vessels. The third was a monstrous ungainly looking barge, dwarfing its escorts with its bulk. Whatever it was carrying was either quite large or quite numerous.

She slowed her approach positioning the small craft slightly out the ships' path. Dropping anchor, she slipped on a stolen naval uniform deciding to swim the rest of the way for cover. As the first patrol ship neared, she dove under it forming an air bubble around her head. The uniform was cumbersome and heavy as she swam. She could feel the larger ship's engines vibrating through the water as it got closer. Concentrating hard, she increased the waves' heights until they washed over the sides of the deck. Riding the next swell, she washed aboard the bulky cargo ship. The crew was all below deck safely out of reach of the waves. Neither patrol ship had noticed a thing.

Thinking back to her time aboard the Fire Navy cruiser after Ba Sing Se, she dried herself off and made her way below deck. She held the layout of the previous ship in her mind, hoping this ship only differed in its scale. After ascertaining that the shipped was manned by only a skeleton crew who were mostly engaged in drinking and gaming in the mess, Katara began searching the hold.

Its contents fell into three categories: weaponry, tanks, and many carefully secured barrels. These last gave off a noxious gaseous smell. She uncorked one to find some liquid that looked partially congealed inside. It did not respond at all to her bending, leading her to think it was some chemical cooked up by scientists like Teo's father. It was clearly dangerous and unnatural. Recalling the comment about burning water, she had a fair guess as to its purpose.

Retracing her steps, she passed the engine room. She paused contemplating the cargo and the details of the ship. If she slipped away now, she could easily avoid detection and return safely to her friends. Then in a few weeks, she would hear news of some new Fire Nation victory. That was unacceptable. It would not be enough to merely stop the ship, she needed to sink it. But how to do it without killing all the crew? She was still staring at the door of the engine room when the obvious struck her. These ships were powered by steam.

The crew's first indication that something was amiss was a loud boom reverberating up from the belly of the ship followed closely by an odd shuddering movement that had nothing to do with the dip and roll of the ocean. Two or three of them hastened out into the hallway to find it filling rapidly with steam seeping up from below. With cries of alarm, they made for the deck none of them wanting to be scalded to death entering the hold. The ship halted. Halfway up the stairs, they met their captain, clearly just arisen from his bed. "What's going on? Why aren't we moving?" he demanded.

"Steam pipes burst below," one of the engineers replied. "No way to get near it until it vents. We'll be fine as long as nothing else goes."

As if in rebuttal to his blithe assurance, they heard the awful groan of metal giving way under great pressure echo up the passage. Then another sailor came pounding up the stairs drenched and wheezing. She called out to her fellows as she climbed, "The hull's breached, we're taking on water fast! She's gonna sink." Panicked cries broke out from several sailors in response to her announcement.

Blowing his whistle to regain the attention of the crew, the captain barked out sharp orders, "Ensign, get on deck and signal our distress. You four, go make the lifeboats ready. The rest of you get down there and try to salvage anything you can. Move!"

Unhappily, the remaining crew turned back down the stairs knowing that the captain would see them arrested for mutiny if they did not follow his orders to the letter. Still drenched and now in the lead of the group, Katara cursed the captain roundly under her breath. She had used her bending to slice into the sides of the ship at strategic points similar to the way she and Aang had once disabled the drill besetting Ba Sing Se. Now she was going to have to find a way to get these sailors out alive before the ship sank with them trapped inside.

Running ahead out of sight of the rest of the crew, she created a sheet of ice on the floor on the other side of the next door. She slipped through and quickly made her way two passages farther along. Here she found one of the holes she had created now gushing water, steadily filling the passage to her knees. Bending as much water with her as she could, she ran back a passage. Closing the door to the passage behind her, she held the wall of water against the entrance from the other side. The rest of the crew caught up with her then, having been delayed by falling over each other on the ice. She pretended difficulty with opening the door she had just closed. Two of the others pushed forward to help her. As she stood back, they opened the door to have the wall of water come crashing down on them. The call went up from those just behind her, "There's no way down! It's completely flooded!" Gratefully, Katara turned back with the others after closing the door hurriedly.

When they reached the deck, the lifeboats were waiting to be lowered. Katara offered to replace one of the four sailors manning the lowering ropes. Both long boats were in the water and the other three sailors were clambering down a rope ladder when she caused a large wave to pull them into the sea. "Men overboard," the captain cried. She sent them bobbing up not far from the boats. Crouching down, she made sure all three had been plucked from the ocean. Then she raced back across the now rapidly sinking deck and dove into the waves on the other side of the ship. Hopefully, the crew would not spend much time looking for their supposedly drowned companion.

She shed the heavy uniform as she swam back in the direction of the waiting fishing boat. Hauling herself aboard, she lay for a moment dripping and panting before a wide smile spread across her face. Looking out at the convoy, there were now only two ships circling an empty expanse of water. As she slowly sailed back to Oolong Island, she congratulated herself on preventing a disaster without injuring or killing anyone. Aang would have been proud of her.

To her surprise, Katara found Ying waiting for her on the dock. Apparently, the draw of Aro's and Ren's music had not distracted him from her absence from the inn. He looked her over carefully, then glanced about the boat perhaps looking for fish or even gear. Katara felt a frisson of fear creep down her spine as he spotted the wadded up uniform in a soggy bundle on the floor. It was obvious to both of them that she had not been out for a night time fishing trip. After another moment of staring at her, Ying offered her a hand up to the dock.

Standing next to him as he securely tied up the boat, Katara felt both guilt and worry. She really should have asked before taking his boat. This odd outing coupled with her unusual arrival must have seriously roused Ying's suspicions. When he finally turned back to her, he did not look angry or accusatory. Instead, he smiled at her and indicated a case laying nearby. Opening it, Katara found a worn pipa. Lifting it free of the case, she stroked its cords experimentally, surprised to find it in tune.

Looking up from the instrument, Katara asked wonderingly, "Where did you find it?"

Ying was looking very pleased with himself. He gestured to a large boat moored nearby. Then, he pointed to the instrument then to Katara.

"A gift? For me?"

He nodded shyly in response. Standing there wrapped in her lies, Katara did not feel deserving of such a thoughtful gift. Ying was looking at her with such an unguarded hopeful expression, that she wanted to come clean with him then and there about who she was and why she had wandered into his life. But she could not. With a twinge of heartache, she remembered seeing his expression's twin on a very different boy's face under very different circumstances. After pushing the memory back into its box as she carefully lay the instrument into its case, she turned to Ying and wrapped him in a close embrace. Katara was determined not to doubt her friend again.