Water
Progress
Less than halfway through healing lessons, Katara began to grow impatient. It wasn't that she was looking forward to her meeting with Yugoda. She really wasn't. But she couldn't seem to think about anything else, and in her struggle to find a balance between remaining optimistic and not getting her hopes up too high, she'd managed to settle into a general feeling of unease. Which wasn't pleasant.
She wanted her meeting with Yugoda done. That was what it really came down to. She was tired of waiting and wondering what this could possibly be about, especially with all of yesterday hanging over her head. She knew that Pakku couldn't kick her out of healing lessons, but practically anything else seemed possible. Katara just wanted to get this over with so that she could meet with Aang for waterbending practice and do her best not to pull out her own hair in frustration.
It didn't help that an unfamiliar woman had slipped in partway through the lesson and taken a seat along the far wall, right on the edge of Katara's vision. And what made it even worse was the fact that the stranger kept watching her. Why was she doing that? It wasn't like Katara had done anything wrong.
Well, not really. People probably were upset about her fight with Pakku yesterday, but it seemed more likely that one of Chief Arnook's men or Pakku's students would confront her about that if anyone was going to. It was hard to see what some unfamiliar middle-aged woman had to do with anything.
The rest of the lesson dragged on, and Katara did her best to stay focused. Whatever was coming, she had to at least pretend to be unbothered. If she couldn't, then she was never going to last through the rest of the lesson. There was only so long that she could sit still and listen to a slightly dull—though probably useful—lecture on different types of bruises and how to mend them all properly.
But finally, finally, the lesson came to an end. As the other girls got up, Katara stayed in place, watching as half of the class swarmed over to the stranger by the far wall. Maybe that was a good sign. At least they all seemed to know and like the woman.
After a long pause and a sigh, Katara stood too, and wordlessly began helping Yugoda clear away the lesson supplies. The sooner they could get to their meeting and get this over with, the better.
"Thank you, Katara," Yugoda said when they were through, and the last cluster of little girls trickled out the door. "You wouldn't have needed to do that."
Katara shrugged. "I had to wait around anyway. It's better than doing nothing."
"Ah." Yugoda looked back over her shoulder as she tucked one last scroll into a shelf. "So you did remember that."
How could she have forgotten? Katara could hardly think about anything else. It wasn't as though she had anything else to do today. There was her normal healing lesson to attend, then her meeting with Yugoda, and then—well, training with Aang. Which she waslooking forward to in a way, but she still hadn't forgotten about last time. She couldn't forget how upset she had been the last time Aang had outstripped her own waterbending abilities, and they still hadn't ever talked about it. It felt as though the air had cleared between them, but it was impossible to know whether that would last if the frustration bubbled back up. Nothing had actually been resolved. There had just been a lot of time and space for the irritation to die down.
"Well, then," Yugoda said pleasantly, with a nod toward the unfamiliar woman. "I would like you to meet your new healing instructor, Katara. This is my daughter, Imiq."
Katara looked back and forth between the two women. Now that she knew that, she could see the resemblance. Though Imiq's hair was dark while Yugoda's was white, and Imiq's face was a little sharper, a little longer than her mother's, they were both small women, and their eyes were precisely the same shape.
"Um—did I do something wrong?" Katara asked. "I know for a fact that I'm not a good enough healer to move on from beginners' lessons." She'd have to figure out how to actually pay attention through a whole lesson in order to make it that far.
Yugoda laughed and shook her head. "No, it's nothing like that. I've just realized that a different approach might suit you better. It can't be easy to progress when you're bound to a class full of girls so much younger than you." She nodded toward Imiq. "And if you work with my daughter, you will be able to learn in a more hands-on fashion."
That did make sense. Katara felt her shoulders relax a bit.
"And," Imiq added, "since I work in the main healing huts with plenty of others, we should be able to arrange your lessons at almost any time. I imagine that will be important once your mornings are otherwise occupied."
Katara's brow furrowed. "Otherwise occupied?"
At that, Imiq crossed her arms and turned toward Yugoda. "You didn't tell her?"
"It isn't my place to tell."
Katara looked back and forth between the two of them again. "What are you talking—"
Rather than answering, Imiq shook her head. "Mom, you're starting to turn into your mother."
With a smile, Yugoda patted Imiq's cheek. "And I can say the same for you. That's much worse news, isn't it? Now." She turned back toward Katara. "Come along, and we'll show you around the healing huts where you'll be working. After that, it'll be up to the two of you to arrange the rest of your lessons."
"Okay." It did still feel a bit like Katara was being kicked out of the class, but Imiq seemed nice enough. A bit less playful and smiling than her mother, but nice. And though Katara still didn't care that much about healing, it would be nice to learn by doing something useful rather than sitting through seemingly endless lectures. She managed to smile.
"Wonderful." Imiq motioned her toward the door. "If I understand the situation correctly, I should be able to introduce you to some of your relatives too."
"Really?" Katara fell into step beside her while Yugoda followed just a step behind. "Are they—I mean, are there other waterbenders in my family?"
Imiq nodded. "A few. Kanna is your grandmother?"
"Yes."
"Mostly distant cousins, then. Your nearest relatives are all nonbenders, but one of our apprentice healers, Kriisax, is your grandmother's cousin's descendent."
Katara nodded slowly. She still wasn't used to the fact that she had relatives outside of the South Pole. Back home, everyone had felt like family, but almost no one was related by blood. Being in the opposite situation—having blood relatives who she'd never met before—felt weird. But weird in a good way, she thought. Mostly. It was strange to think that she had connections she'd never heard of before—family she might never have met if not for the fact that she'd been forced to leave home. It was as though the world was still opening up before her, slowly revealing hundreds of places where she could find a way to belong if she chose to stay.
As the Avatar, that was probably good. She would always be from the Southern Tribe, but she was meant to belong to the whole world. If she could somehow fit in to the Northern Tribe, maybe it would be easier to find her place in the other nations as well.
"I'd love to meet her," she said when the stunned feeling finally receded. "I keep forgetting that part of my family is here. It's still hard to picture my Gran-Gran growing up at the North Pole."
"I imagine it must be quite an adjustment after—"
They stepped outside, and Katara stopped short. Just beyond the door to the healing hut, Aang leaned against the wall, chatting excitedly with—Pakku? With his mustache trimmed short—apparently he'd tried to cut the ends even, though he hadn't been very successful—and a few jagged bits of hair still sticking out where Katara had lopped bits off during their fight, he looked odd. But that was definitely him.
Katara just couldn't understand why he would be here.
"And then we got this other waterbending scroll somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, and Katara and I tried—oh, hi Katara!"
She stared straight at Pakku, and her hands clenched into fists. "What are you doing here?"
Aang grinned. "Master Pakku said that—"
An icy glare from the old man silenced him, and both Yugoda and Imiq stepped up beside Katara, arms crossed and watching Pakku closely.
He cleared his throat. "Miss Katara. You must understand that I do not and will not tolerate tardiness."
Katara raised an eyebrow. "Am I supposed to be surprised that you're a stubborn old snow goat? Because you made that very clear yesterday afternoon."
Pakku turned red and splotchy, and his mouth pressed into a line so tight that it almost disappeared completely.
She crossed her arms. Why should she care if he was offended? Pakku hadn't exactly made an effort to hide his contempt for her. She shouldn't have to pretend that she cared what he thought of her.
Unless—oh no. Her stomach turned over. What if he'd changed his mind? Was this his weird, roundabout way of telling her that she could join his lessons after all?
She set her jaw. If that was what this was all about, it was too late to hide what she really thought of him. Katara wasn't going to be cowed into attempting flattery. If Pakku couldn't handle her real opinions, then she'd find another way to learn waterbending.
"Is there a reason you're telling me this?" she demanded.
With four different pairs of eyes watching him, he looked positively constipated. "Tomorrow," he said. "If you are so much as a minute late, then—"
Spirits, she could see why Gran-Gran had left him. He was utterly incapable of admitting that he'd been wrong.
"Are you letting me into waterbending lessons or not?"
"Yes," he finally snapped. "But you will be given no special allowances or privileges. You will be expected to follow the same rules as all my other students, and you will not be allowed to progress until you have demonstrated the same skill as the boys."
She stared at him for a long moment. "Okay? Are we done here? I'm supposed to be visiting the rest of the healing huts and meeting some of my long-lost cousins."
"After all the trouble I've gone to, I thought—"
"Well, after I had to fight you and cut off most of your facial hair to prove that I'm strong enough to waterbend, I thought that it was obvious that I was never looking for special treatment." Katara squared her shoulders. The rage buzzing at the back of her skull pushed the words out of her in a rush, and she had to clench her fists tighter to keep herself contained. "I'm certainly not stupid enough to think that you would ever give it."
Pakku's face turned more uniformly red, and he opened and closed his mouth a few times. He looked a bit like a dying fish.
"I'll be there on time," she finished. "And if that's all you wanted to say, then I'm going with Master Yugoda and Imiq to see the rest of the healing huts."
Yugoda took hold of Katara's arm, her voice bright with barely contained amusement. "This way, dear. Your friend may join us too, if he likes."
Half numb as the fury began to ebb, Katara let the two women usher her away. Her eyes remained locked on Pakku a little longer—long enough to see that the shock hadn't faded by the time they reached the corner—but then she turned forward again. Aang trotted along beside her, but she didn't look his way. She decided that she didn't want to see his reaction. Not yet, at least.
Once Pakku was out of earshot, Yugoda turned to face the others, smiling. "Didn't I tell you that it would be more satisfying to hear the news from the man himself?"
Imiq shook her head. "Not in so many words."
"But I was right."
"Mmm. You're becoming a menace, Mother."
"I think we both know that I've been one for a long time already."
Of all the dangers Zuko expected to encounter in his journey across the freezing sea, boredom wasn't one of them. This was a grand, dangerous mission. He was supposed to be stealthily weaving between icebergs in a desperate attempt to reach the North Pole, not getting so restless in his lifeboat that he considered getting out and walking every time he passed a moderately level patch of ice.
Logically, he knew that he had to keep rowing. There was still too much water left between him and the city, too many places where he would be stranded without his boat. Still, the frozen shoreline crept by impossibly slowly, and Zuko was convinced that he'd make faster progress on foot.
He let out a slow breath. He had to pull himself together. He'd only been out here for two days. There were still miles to go before the sky grew dark again, and several days left to go after that. Boredom wasn't a good enough reason to stop.
Still, he'd gone a bit stir-crazy when he'd been stuck in Uncle's cabin. The lifeboat was significantly smaller than that, and Zuko was actually feeling well enough to move around by now. How could he not have realized that he'd drive himself slightly mad when he was stuck on a rowboat by himself?
Vaguely, he wondered how much time he had left. The city was only two or three days away now, and Zhao was going to stay at Kokkyo Island until the rest of his reinforcements arrived. That could take weeks. Zuko might have a month or more to find Katara and prepare for the fleet's arrival. Or Zhao could be ready to leave within a few days. Zuko did have a head start, so he would undoubtedly get to the North Pole first, but if he only had a few days, it might not be enough.
Still, he had to try. If Zuko had anything to say about it, Zhao was not going to get another chance to harm her. Especially not over some asinine claim that Katara was to blame for the explosion. One way or another, Zhao would have to take the responsibility for that.
Maybe Zuko would be able to convince Katara to help him with that. If they could confront Zhao together, then maybe they could give him the fright of his life and expose what he'd done at the same time. It would be the only time he could remember when he'd found something like justice against someone who'd harmed him.
No, that was nothing more than wishful thinking. No one really cared what happened to Zuko, except for possibly Uncle. There wouldn't be any great reaction if anyone else discovered that he had survived. They might be shocked, of course, but he couldn't imagine that anyone would celebrate his escape. No one would leap at the opportunity to punish Zhao. Zuko couldn't pretend to understand it, but people respected Zhao.
They probably wouldn't even believe that the explosion had been Zhao's work.
Which was exactly why Zuko had to get to the North Pole, he supposed. No one else would fight for him. No one else would care that the explosion wasn't Katara's fault. If Zuko wanted to find anything close to justice, he would have to do it himself. He had to stop the pointless attack on the North Pole. He had to make sure that, even if no one believed Zhao's guilt, they at least knew of Katara's innocence.
That was the least he could do.
With the sky blanketed by heavy gray clouds, it was difficult to judge the time, but Zuko thought that it was past noon before he finally took a break. After steering the lifeboat into a narrow shelf of ice, he clambered out, then dragged the lifeboat far enough up onto the ice to keep it from drifting away.
Heaving a sigh, he flopped back into the snow and stared up at the sky. It was cold out here. Not quite as bitter as he'd expected, but still colder than he liked. His clothes really weren't suited for the weather this far north—when he was busy rowing, it didn't matter so much, but the moment he stopped to rest, he had to focus harder on keeping himself from losing too much heat.
Uncle had been right about one thing. His bending kept him warm, but after a while, it became tiring to maintain his focus like that. Rowing was good because it kept him warm and moved him closer to his destination. Firebending, on the other hand, was a little easier but didn't get him anywhere. And resting—when he gave himself the time for it—just made him cold. No matter what he did, Zuko was going to be uncomfortable for the rest of his journey.
After a few minutes of stillness, the cold began to seep through his clothes, and Zuko grudgingly pulled himself up again. He did wish that he had some kind of shelter to retreat into when he took a break—at night, he could really only pull the lifeboat up on shore and wrap himself in all the blankets he'd smuggled off the ship—but at least he wasn't losing much time this way. Zuko was many things, but lazy wasn't one of them.
He dug through his supplies until he found some food, then paced around the icy ledge as he ate. If Uncle were here, he'd probably be cajoling Zuko into drinking absurd amounts of tea, and for the first time he could remember, Zuko almost thought that tea sounded good. He still didn't like tea, but it was warm. If he was ever going to gain an appreciation for the stuff, that would probably be why.
Not that it mattered. Zuko didn't have any tea with him, and even if he did, he didn't know how to prepare it without making it taste like soggy ashes. Zuko didn't care for tea, but at least Uncle's was drinkable. But he didn't want any tea. He was perfectly fine with his mostly frozen provisions. It didn't bother him at all that the flavor was practically gone, and that it took ages to chew.
He gave up on pacing and leaned gingerly against the edge of the boat. Just a few more minutes and he would have to set off again. And after that, there would only be a few more hours before the sky grew too dark for him to continue.
He was making decent enough progress toward the North Pole. He had to remember that. And once he got there—well, people in the city couldn't be freezing all the time or there wouldn't be a city. Even if Zuko had to remain in hiding, he ought to be able to find someplace relatively warm to spend the nights. Even if it was just a sheltered nook behind a house somewhere, he would make do.
A small scuffling sound caught his attention, and Zuko tensed. He couldn't have gone that far yet, could he? If the Water Tribe patrolled this far from the city, then he was in more trouble than he'd realized.
But before he could decide what to do, whether to fight or to flee, the scuffling intensified, and a bit of snow and ice broke off from one of the slopes circling the ice shelf. And just behind it, a small, roundish bird came toppling downward.
Zuko blinked at it, and the bird clumsily righted itself, shaking out its feathery feet and fluffing itself up into a sphere.
"Very graceful," he commented dryly. "Nice work."
The bird hopped around to face Zuko and gave a rather pitiful squawk. He couldn't tell exactly what type of bird it was, but it was white with soft grayish speckles, a flat, owl-like face, and vaguely crossed eyes. Zuko felt a slight pang. The poor, stupid little thing was probably just looking for food. It probably couldn't find much to eat out here on its own.
Zuko tore off one last bit of his frozen komodo chicken jerky and tossed the rest toward the clumsy little bird. "There you go. Enjoy it, you frog-faced weirdo."
Though the scrap of meat was nearly the size of the bird's face, the odd little creature hopped over to it, wedged the entire thing into its mouth, and somehow managed to close its sharp little beak around the bit of jerky. Then, while Zuko continued watching in horrified fascination, the bird's eyes closed and seemed to sink farther back into its skull as it swallowed.
A chill ran up his spine, and Zuko made a face. That was more than a little disgusting.
With a shudder, he straightened and turned back toward the lifeboat. If he needed another reason to stop wasting time and get moving, getting away from a creepy little bird that could swallow things half the size of its own body would do perfectly well.
At first, Sokka had thought that it was a good thing that he'd had so much time to prepare for his flight with Yue. He'd trimmed the hair on the sides of his head, and brushed his parka clean, and still managed to pick her up by the front of the palace first thing in the morning. But she did seem unusually quiet as they headed off toward the building at the edge of the city where Appa was staying.
That didn't necessarily mean anything. Yue was sweet and kind, but she wasn't an incessant chatterbox, unlike some people who Sokka could name. Still, Sokka couldn't help but glance back at her as they walked. He'd barely seen her since Katara had that big fight with Pakku a few days ago. He hadn't actually talked to her since a few days earlier than that.
Since then, things had been busy. Katara had gone through her first few days of formal waterbending lessons—and was currently lounging at the house, complaining bitterly about the fact that she 'had' to take a day off—and Aang was constantly inventing new waterbending games to play with Katara, and Sokka had his hands full with trying not to strangle Hahn over all the vague, insinuating comments that he kept making during warrior training. And if the three of them were busy, then Yue probably had just as much to do at the palace. It was only natural that it had been a few days since they'd spoken.
But something did still feel a little—off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it was like something was bothering Yue.
Sokka stuffed his mittened hands deep into his pockets. "You know, clear days like this are really the best for flying. You can see everything once you get up off the ground a little bit. But it does get pretty cold up there too, so you'll have to tell me if you need a blanket or anything."
No response. Sokka snuck a glance back at her again. It didn't even seem like she was listening.
"Princess Yue?"
She jumped.
Yeah, there was definitely something of the not-normal variety going on.
"Is this a bad time or something? I can always walk you back to the palace if it is."
"Oh!" Yue shook her head. "No, certainly not." She sighed, and her breath hung in soft, silvery whorls on the air. "I apologize. I've been rather distracted recently."
He'd noticed. Fortunately, Sokka had the presence of mind not to say it. "Haven't been sleeping enough or something?"
"Something like that," Yue agreed. She smiled, but it was the smallest, saddest smile he could remember seeing in a long time.
Sokka had to make her feel better. The trouble was that he wasn't quite sure how.
"If you want, I can tell you my secret for getting a great night of sleep."
"Really?" There was a slight, smiling lilt to her tone.
"Yeah." He peeked at her from the corner of his eye. "But I'm not sure how you feel about soaking pickled eel squid in sea prune broth."
Yue giggled. "I'm not sure how I feel about that either."
"What's your first thought?"
"That it would probably give me nightmares."
"Hmm. Yeah, that can happen sometimes too. But on the bright side, you can sleep right through any nightmare with that stuff. I've fought an ice monster with nothing but a sewing needle while fully nude and won because of it."
She laughed. A real, warm laugh this time.
Sokka's heart skipped. Wow. He had to be pretty great if he could get her to laugh like that.
"And," he added, "the smell is enough to scare off most animals, so when you wake up, you can defeat a real monster just by breathing in its general direction."
She was still laughing, and she looped her hands lightly around his elbow. Yes, he could definitely get used to this.
"I appreciate the advice," she said between the giggles. "But I'm not sure I need to defeat any monsters with my breath."
"That's fair," he conceded. At least she seemed happy now. He took the last corner toward the makeshift stable where Appa was waiting. "Princess Yue, I'd like you to meet Appa, the world's biggest flying ball of fluff."
Her breath caught, and she stopped in the middle of the path. "He's—goodness, he's enormous."
"Yeah, he is. When we found Aang, I was pretty much convinced that Appa wanted to eat him."
Yue's eyes widened, and she turned toward Sokka, looking alarmed.
"He didn't," Sokka corrected himself in a rush. "Appa definitely doesn't eat people."
"Right." Yue's smile returned, but it was a little smaller, a little more tense than it was before.
"Oh! Here." Sokka dug through his pockets until he found a seaweed roll that he'd snuck out from breakfast. "He'll love you forever if you feed him."
Yue hesitated, but then she accepted the roll and approached Appa slowly and cautiously. Sokka followed a step behind, just close enough to reassure her if she got scared. But she didn't turn back, and aside from a slight hesitation when Appa raised his head, she didn't show any signs of fear.
"Hello, Appa," Yue said softly. "I'm very happy to meet you."
The bison rumbled and puffed through his nostrils at her.
"It's almost like he understands me," she said through a light laugh.
"Yeah, sometimes I think that he does understand," Sokka answered. He reached up and patted one of the bison's ears. "He gets a real attitude when I say things he doesn't like."
Yue glanced back over her shoulder, smiling. "He seems like a sweetheart to me."
Appa puffed again, and Sokka shook his head. "He's a big, happy lump most of the time, but if you're sarcastic with him, he has no sense of humor." When the big, saucer-ish eyes turned his way, Sokka added. "For some reason, its only ever me."
Yue giggled. Then, "Here you go." She held the roll out for Appa. She flinched almost imperceptibly when Appa sniffed at it, but then held perfectly still as he plucked the roll from her hand. She gave Appa's nose a pat. "Good boy. Thank you for being so gentle."
Appa rumbled appreciatively.
With a smile, Yue turned back to Sokka. "And thank you for taking me here. This is lovely."
He found himself staring at her lips. "Yeah. It really is."
She looked a bit confused, and Sokka dragged his eyes away and cleared his throat. "So. Uh—flying, then. Do you know which way you want to go? Anything you really want to see?"
"Sokka, I—"
"Because we can take you almost anywhere. And I'd love to show you something really beautiful, but I haven't seen enough from the air around here to know where to go."
"Sokka."
"But I figure that you might have heard of a good place—" He trailed off. "Okay, I'm done. Sorry."
Yue smiled. "I don't mind. It's endearing." She paused, stroking Appa's forehead. "Sokka, I don't think that I should go flying with you."
Oh. Sokka wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but that wasn't it. Not at all. He tightened his jaw and suddenly became very interested with a small, matted clump of fur on Appa's shoulder.
"It isn't that I don't want to. It sounds incredible. It's just that—"
Sokka snuck a glance at her. Was she blushing a little? It seemed like it. Unfortunately, she also looked fairly unhappy. "It's just that what?"
"Going for a flight on a sky bison together sounds like a very romantic thing to do, doesn't it?"
His face warmed, and she focused back on the matted clump of fur. "Um—yeah, that was the idea."
Yue's cheeks turned pink, and she focused on Appa too. "I guess we had the same idea after all."
His heart skipped, and Sokka turned her way. Really? She liked him too?
"And that's why I can't go with you, Sokka. I like you very much, but I can't—"
He waited a second, and when she didn't continue, "I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I'm very lost right now."
"I supposed you would be." She sighed. "That night when you came to visit me—do you remember the ceremony I mentioned?"
He nodded. "Some coming of age thing, right?"
"Yes. For most girls, that's all it is. That's all that I was expecting it to be. But sometimes a match will be made at the same time, and—" she drew a shuddering breath. "I've always known that I was more likely to be married off early. I have no siblings, so my tribe is relying on me to continue the royal line."
There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was pretty sure he knew exactly where this was going. It was a wonder that he'd never considered the possibility before.
"I've always known that I probably wouldn't have the opportunity to choose my own husband. I just—I never thought that my father would choose Hahn."
He felt his eyes bulge. "Hahn? As in—Hahn the slimy bastard? Hahn, the guy who was hitting on you and my sister at the same time? You're married to him?"
She gave a small, strained smile. "Betrothed. And yes. Hahn, son of our most skilled warrior and my father's closest advisor."
"Still." Sokka scratched Appa's leg. It was disappointing. Worse than disappointing. But Yue didn't seem happy about it, and she hadn't chosen Hahn for herself. As much as this sucked for him, at least he wasn't stuck with Hahn for the rest of his life. "I'm sorry. Hahn's—he's not great."
"Thank you. But—maybe it won't be so bad. There is still time left before the marriage is official. Perhaps things will change before then. Hahn's father is a good man, and my father will be mentoring Hahn until we are married. In time, he'll likely learn from their example."
Sokka made a face, then hastily tried to cover it up. He was going to be the mature guy here. He couldn't sink to Hahn's level.
"I hope so. You deserve—so much better than what he's like right now."
Yue gave another sad, soft smile. "Thank you, Sokka. You're very sweet."
He couldn't quite bring himself to meet her eyes. "Yeah, well—I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous. But it's not like you planned any of this. I can't blame you for doing what your tribe expects you to do." He was upset about it. He'd probably stay upset for a while, but not with Yue. Maybe with Hahn, though. Yeah. He could be angry at Hahn.
"I would still very much like to be your friend," Yue said quietly. "If you don't mind, that is. I don't think I can join you for any romantic flights, but I do enjoy spending time with you."
Sokka didn't take any time to think. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that too."
Author's Note:
Pakku is a sore loser. That's the best possible take on the whole "Pakku agrees to train Katara because of Kanna's necklace" thing that I can think of. He's a sore loser, and in an attempt to save his pride after being proven wrong about Katara's bending abilities, he uses Kanna as an excuse to take Katara on as a student rather than admitting that Katara was right in the first place. And because I'm me, Yugoda had to be there to judge Pakku for it in that way that only nice old ladies can :)
Plus, Katara is staying in healing lessons because a) it's useful, and b) she respects the healers even if she's not crazy about the idea of becoming one for real. I like being in charge of stuff like this. It's fun. (Plus, I can give characters like Yugoda's daughter super original names like Imiq which is... wait for it... an Inuit word meaning 'water'. Such creativity, I know!)
I am so unreasonably excited to post the next chapter that I can't think of much else to say on this one. I hope you enjoyed this one, reviews are always appreciated, and I'll see you in two more weeks!
