disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

okay. story, go!

Katara shivered and pulled the hood of her parka up over her head. She was once again atop Appa, flying high above the ocean, high above the world and all of its petty problems. At least, that's the way it should have been, the way it used to be. Now-a-days it seemed that even the joy of flight could not eradicate the negative thoughts that plagued her mind.

Sokka sat on the other side of Appa's saddle, hugging his knees and facing away from the rest of them. He was still obviously upset over Yue's departure. However, Katara was not agonizing over her brother's condition. It had only been two days since the event and his feelings were natural; they were all still a little heartbroken over the loss. Though Sokka had refused to speak about it, she knew he would be okay. He was strong; it would just take him some time.

However, as usual, Katara was agonizing over Aang. The boy say atop the bison's head, reigns gripped in his hands. Momo, his ever faithful lemur, sat close to him, thinking whatever it was that lemurs think. She believed in Aang but that did not stop her from worrying. He was so very young, and they only had such a short time to do so very much. Though they had already found their waterbending master, she had mastered the art before him. It always struck her as strange that when Aang did have the opportunity to learn bending, he never took it very seriously until it was almost too late. Didn't he realize that their time was running out?

'Don't be stupid Katara, of course he does. Aang knows it better than any of us.'

Now, it was her responsibility to help him master water while they searched for two other bending masters. She sighed and turned her eyes away from the young avatar to the expanse of the ocean far below her. At least they hadn't seen any sighs of the Fire Nation following them. It made sense though; Zhao was probably still recuperating. Zuko on the other hand… Sokka had pointed out that Iroh's actions involving the moon spirit probably made him a traitor to his nation. Where did that leave Zuko? Was he a traitor as well by association? Katara wondered if they'd be seeing the hot-tempered prince again.

'No matter, if we do, I'll be sure to give him another beating.'

She almost smiled. She was now more than a match for the Fire Nation's prince. She had really come far. She could really help Aang now.

However, her musings stopped when she caught sight of something small in the distance. Was that a rowboat? She squinted. Normally she wouldn't think anything of boats passing by underneath them (unless they were flying the Fire Nation flag), but a rowboat this far out to sea, in this cold?

"Aang!" she called over the sound of the wind. Aang turned to look at her.

"What is it Katara?" he asked, also near shouting.

"I think I see a boat." His eyes immediately widened.

"A Fire Nation ship? Where?"

"No, no," she replied, "Just rowboat. There looks like there is something in it. It might be a person. I think we should check it out. It's just down there." She pointed to where the little boat was floating on the waves. There time was limited, but if there was a person in that boat, Katara knew that they couldn't just leave them. A rowboat would take a long time to reach land either way it was going, a long time that not many could survive exposed to this weather. Besides, the detour would not take very long.

Aang nodded his head and signaled for Appa to start making the descent. Sokka appeared beside her and surveyed the situation. He offered no protest.

As they neared the boat it became apparent that the 'thing' inside the small boat was indeed a person, a seriously injured person.

"Hurry up, Aang." Sokka spoke for the first time in hours. They all hoped that they would not find a corpse.

When Appa stopped next to the boat, Aang immediately jumped into it, aided by his native element. He checked for vitals while Katara and Sokka stared on anxiously.

"Katara, quick! She's still alive but I don't think we have much time." Aang was holding onto some of Appa's fur, keeping the little boat close to the shaggy mammal's side. Katara removed her gloves and using a combination of Appa's saddle, fur, and Aang she made it into the boat safely.

The girl in the boat was badly burned on all of her right side. She had a gash across her forehead and dried blood was caked all around the wound and down the girl's face. Katara was afraid of how pale her skin looked in the fading sunlight. Shaking off her momentary shock, she quickly bended the ocean water into the girls wounds and set to work. She was glad the girl was unconscious, lest the salt in the water cause her more pain before she was healed. She concentrated and sweat and gritted her teeth and nearly cried in relief when she felt the last of the girl's afflictions heal.

At the North Pole, she had learned to fight. Her experience with healing was very minimal. Perhaps this was something she was going to regret. She only knew how to heal the girl's burns because she had done so to herself when Aang lost control while learning to firebend. Suddenly feeling very tired, she collapsed to her knees, rocking the boat.

Recognizing that Katara had finished, Aang spoke.

"Will she be alright?"

"Yes. I've healed all her burns and cuts, but there is something wrong with her leg that I can't quite figure out." Katara responded breathlessly.

"We'll have to bring her to the next town we find," Sokka asserted. Again using airbending, Aang jumped with the girl to Appa's back gently, following shortly with Katara. No one spoke, but Katara could read the dark look in Sokka's eyes: Fire Nation. Aang went back to the reigns and soon they were flying again. Despite being healed the girl did not wake up, and soon Katara felt her eyes closing. Her last thought before she joined the girl in the dark abyss of sleep was of her own mother and her body burned black.

Okay! chapter 2! I realize that this chapter was dull but things will pick up from here. the gang was pretty quiet, but I figure they need time to recuperate from the events at the north pole. please review! criticism is greatly appreciated. I'm still looking for a beta reader.