"Nothing today either?" asked Katara, when the warriors had reached the fire that stood in the middle of the village.
"Nothing at all," replied Kattan, sinking on his seat and digging straight into the dish that sat closest to him.
"I'm starting to suspect they're not going to do anything…" said Yuro, who had been Kattan's companion on today's shift to keep watch on the settlement. "It's been months now. If they were waiting for reinforcements, wouldn't they have arrived already?"
"Maybe," said Hakoda, frowning. "But dropping our guard wouldn't be wise. Our sentries will have to continue watching the settlement, no matter if they try to strike at us or not."
Katara nodded at her father's decision, agreeing with it wholeheartedly. Aang, who was trying to eat sea prunes without grimacing noticeably at their taste, listened but didn't intervene in the conversation.
It was a tribal tradition to hold open feasts once a week. It was a way to keep their community as prosperous as it could be, since all families cooperated in order to make enjoyable meals for everyone. Aang loved the kinship between the members of the Tribe; he often engaged in conversation with whoever spoke to him, and he also played with the children… but as of yet, he still hadn't found a dish of Water Tribe food to his liking. Seaweed noodles were the one thing he could eat without making faces, but they only cooked them on rare occasions. Therefore, he was left to eat prunes during the feast, trying to ignore the scent of the meat cooking above the fireplace.
Aang had revealed his abilities to the settlement's soldiers several months ago by now, and while everyone in the Tribe had been bracing themselves for the Fire Nation's imminent counter-attack, it never came. Aang had decided he would fight for the Tribe, and he would find a way to send the Fire Nation people back where they belonged… yet he had expected to have a genuine fight ahead of him, instead of months of tiresome waiting for the enemy to attack.
No one from the tribe had asked him to attack the settlement out of his own accord, for everyone knew Aang was too much of a pacifist to do such a thing. He only resorted to violence if he had no other choice, and he wasn't about to start any fights with the Fire Nation himself. Even so, Aang was perplexed by this sudden period of tense peace that had suddenly settled over the South Pole. To Katara's surprise, he actually seemed uncomfortable by it. She would often find him mulling things over, resting on Appa's saddle and asking his bison friend about his thoughts on the matter. It seemed as though the creature understood him, but if his deep groans were words of advice, they didn't seem to have helped Aang in the least.
"So… who'll be up for tomorrow's shift?" asked Kattan, raising an eyebrow as he reached out for another fish he would soon devour.
Nobody answered, since the job of watching the settlement was beyond tedious. Usually Hakoda would have to pick someone from the Tribe himself, because nobody would willingly put themselves through such a boring task. The Chief looked around the fire and sighed when he found everyone else had suddenly decided to dig into their meals hungrily, to avoid answering Kattan's question.
"Any volunteers?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
As expected, there was no answer. Hakoda rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Well, then, I guess I'll have to choose…"
"I can do it."
Everyone looked at the Avatar in surprise. He usually was spared from the daily activities the rest of the Tribe had to take care of, a privilege he was awarded both for being the Avatar and for not actually being a member of the Tribe. Aang still felt as a guest to the Tribe members, even though it soon would be a year since Katara had found him. He didn't mind being spared most the hard work, for he had never liked overexerting himself… but he did feel guilty about getting special treatment, so at times he would decide to join the Tribe's activities even though nobody expected him to. Katara assumed this was just another instance in which Aang's guilt had gotten the best of him, and thus she smiled when he volunteered for the sentry job.
"Then if Aang is going…" said Hakoda, his gaze flickering towards his daughter. Katara raised an eyebrow.
"You're making it sound as though Aang and I came in a set…" she said, at which Aang blushed.
"Well, don't you?" asked Hakoda, and nearly everyone around them laughed.
"Sure, sure, I'll go with him," said Katara, chuckling. "It should be fun, right?"
"Right," said Aang, smiling as well but biting his lip.
Katara didn't miss out on his strange behavior. She raised an eyebrow and regarded him with confusion, but it seemed he wouldn't disclose whatever he was thinking just yet.
The feast proceeded smoothly, and everyone headed to their homes eventually, save for the warriors tasked with keeping vigilance around the Tribe for tonight. Katara and Aang returned to Hakoda's igloo along with the rest of the waterbender's family, and they helped Kanna into bed. The woman was still quite strong in spirit, but not so much in body anymore. Katara worried a lot over her grandmother, but she did her best not to seem pessimistic about Kanna's health.
"Say… did you decide to take up that shift for a reason, Aang?" asked Katara, before Aang made towards his own room, the room that had once belonged to Katara's brother.
"Huh? Well…" said Aang, looking somewhat nervous upon the question. He flashed Katara a smile before saying. "I did, but I'll tell you why tomorrow."
Katara stared after him as he entered his room, and she kept frowning in confusion before moving towards her own room. That kind of mysterious behavior was odd, even for someone as mysterious as Aang…
Yet she had no idea just how odd it was until the next day, when they were already watching the settlement from afar, sitting next to each other behind the mounds of snow that concealed them from their enemies.
"You want to WHAT?!" Katara asked, scandalized. "Are you nuts, Aang?!"
"Oh, I do miss nuts…" Aang sighed, looking into the sky with a dreamy gaze.
"Aang, we can't just go up to the settlement and ask for a word with a soldier!" Katara exclaimed. "They'll kill us!"
"They can't kill us, you know we're stronger than they are," said Aang, matter-of-factly. "We're both great benders, after all. And I'm sure if we tell them we mean no harm they'll agree to cooperate with us no problem…"
"Aang, quit being so naïve. You can't walk in there and hope you'll survive just because you happen to believe in the good will of people!" said Katara, shaking her head. "Imagine what would happen if they knew you're the Avatar… by walking in there you'd be handing yourself to the Fire Lord on a silver platter!"
"Well, then, fine, I won't go inside the settlement," Aang said, sighing in resignation. "But we need answers. And I'm sure we can get them if we just try, Katara."
"How?" she asked, frowning.
"Well… we could seize one guard," said Aang, pointing at a man who was performing his round of vigilance by the settlement's metallic enclosure. "And we can coax answers out of him."
"Huh? You want to question a soldier?" asked Katara, dumbfounded.
"W-what of it?" asked Aang, surprised by her reaction. "It's not like I'm going to hurt him…"
"It's just… a bit more aggressive than your usual style, that's all," said Katara, smiling weakly. "I didn't see that one coming from you."
"It's the best idea I can come up with that won't involve getting us into serious danger," said Aang, shrugging and looking out towards the settlement, where a single guard was pacing outside the walls right now. "And I'm sure any of those soldiers would be willing to cooperate with us… so long as we isolate him from the rest, for starters."
"How?" asked Katara, raising an eyebrow. "What's on your mind, Aang?"
"You're about to find out," said Aang, licking his lips and smiling excitedly, rubbing his hands together as he got ready to bend the snow around them.
Katara frowned as she sensed what Aang was doing through his bending. She raised an eyebrow as he bit his lip, moving his arms steadily. On the surface, it seemed as though Aang's movements weren't affecting anything… but Katara knew better, for she was a waterbender all the same as the Avatar was. And she felt the ice shifting a few feet below them…
"Aang, this isn't a good idea," she muttered, and he simply looked at her with skepticism before smirking a little at her.
"You're right, it's actually a great idea!" he declared, chuckling as he made the last movement of his sequence…
And the ice underneath the single soldier by the settlement suddenly cracked open.
The man hardly realized anything was happening when he was quickly enveloped by the snow under his feet. He disappeared as though he had been swallowed by the polar casket itself, and he went down with a scream that was quickly muffled when Aang used his bending to cover the hole with loose ice again.
Aang proceeded to push the man through the underground ice sled he had created, and in no time, the soldier had popped out of the snow mounds next to them, still screaming. Katara had been impressed by Aang's capacity to bend at such distances, but her admiration was soon replaced by annoyance upon the soldier's irritating wailing.
"Hey! HEY! Quiet down!" said Aang, waving his hands before the man as an attempt to get his attention.
The soldier had kept his eyes shut tightly while he shouted, and it seemed he hadn't even noticed he was in the surface already. He opened his eyes now and looked at Katara and Aang with utter surprise before jumping back and falling atop another mound of snow.
"S-savages! Savages! G-get away from me! Y-you don't know what I'm capable of!" he exclaimed, a hand reaching down his waist for a weapon…
But Katara used the snow to slap his hand away from his body, binding it down to the ground through ice. And her movement prompted the soldier scream unbearably loudly yet again.
"Spirits, he's got some lungs!" said Aang, before stuffing the man's mouth with snow in hopes to shut him up.
The soldier found himself coughing up the snow after a moment, and he made a few faces as he grimaced upon the unpleasant feeling of cold against his teeth.
"W-what are you…?! Leave me alone! Let me go! We haven't attacked you savages in ages now, so leave me be!" he exclaimed, shuffling away from the pair. "I wasn't asking for any trouble, I was just doing my routine vigilance round! So let me go already…!"
"Well, at least he's talking now instead of shrieking…" said Aang, while Katara glared at the soldier with irritation.
"Hey! I don't shriek!" retorted the soldier, twisting against the ice binding that kept his hand in place.
"You were shrieking just a moment ago!" said Katara, before turning towards Aang. "Aang, this one won't do. Maybe you should send him back and get someone rational instead."
"Huh… it's tempting, but I don't think we should get picky about the soldiers we seize…"
"Seize?! Don't sugarcoat it! You're abducting me!" exclaimed the soldier. "You're taking me prisoner! HELP! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"
"Oh, damn it, SHUT UP!" Katara exclaimed, yelling so fiercely that both Aang and the soldier stared at her in utter shock. She looked back and forth between them for a moment before settling her gaze on Aang. "Well? Didn't we borrow this guy for a reason, Aang? Get it done quickly before he starts making noise again. The other soldiers might notice he's gone."
"Oh, uh, right," said Aang, turning towards the soldier, who seemed a bit sad now.
The man in question had brown eyes, and his head was covered by a helmet. He wore no mask, which Aang found unusual, but thanks to that the Avatar could tell this soldier was narrowly Katara's age. The soldier's youth wasn't that surprising, though, for those screams would have made a five-year-old proud.
Aang had no idea how to do what Katara asked him to, though. He had never questioned anyone in his life… how was he supposed to do this? He guessed the best way to get answers would be by being nice, though…
"Hello there," he said, with a grin. "Uh… what's your name?"
"My name? What'd you want my name for?" asked the soldier, staring at Aang with distrust.
"What, your mom told you never to tell strangers who you are?" asked Katara, condescendingly, and the soldier blushed.
"W-what's your problem?! Didn't your mother tell you the same thing?! Y-you know what, I don't like you! I'm just going to talk to…! Wait, I don't like you either," he realized, as he looked at Aang
"You sure shouldn't, you would still be performing your rounds if it wasn't because Aang had the brilliant idea to pull you here," said Katara, at which Aang smiled apologetically at her.
"Still, see, we're not going to hurt you," said Aang, smiling at the soldier now. "We just want to ask you a few questions. I figured we'd be attacked by the soldiers if we just walked up to the settlement…"
"Yeah, you sure would have been," said the soldier, smiling proudly. Katara raised an eyebrow, and the gesture made the man swallow his confidence.
"Which is why we decided to do it this way," said Aang, still doing his best to be friendly. "So we mean you no harm, alright? We just want to know a few things, that's all there is to this."
"So you're extorting me for information? That's what this is about?!" exclaimed the soldier, glaring at Aang accusingly. "Well, I won't talk! You're not getting anything out of me!"
"But it's just a few questions…!"
"I'll say nothing!" exclaimed the soldier, at which Katara huffed in annoyance and dropped on the ground, her arms folded.
"You just had to seize the most unreasonable soldier in the settlement, huh?" she said.
"Well, I had no way of knowing Soldier would be like this," said Aang, shrugging.
"W-what do you mean, 'Soldier'?" said the man. "I've got a name, you know! It's Kino!"
"Kino?" said Aang, looking at him with curiosity before smiling. "Well, he's answered the first question already, Katara. See? He's not as bad as he pretends to be…"
"Huh…" was Katara response. Had Aang planned on coaxing the soldier's name out as he had?
Yet, even if Aang had gotten his name by chance, Kino was now writhing and shaking his head in utter disbelief over what he had done.
"I'm such an idiot…" he sighed.
"Well, it seems we can all agree on that, at the very least," said Katara, smirking.
"H-hey!" he squealed again, blushing and glaring at Katara, who simply laughed at his reaction.
"Okay, okay…" said Aang, chuckling as well. "Let's try to be calm, alright, Kino? We're not going to ask you for the Fire Nation's royal secrets or anything, so there's nothing wrong with cooperating with us."
"You're the enemy! There's nothing right with cooperating with a pair of savages!" exclaimed Kino, angrily.
"Hey, that's really offensive, you know?" said Aang, frowning. "Katara isn't a savage, and neither am I!"
"Well, that's what Fire Nation people are like, Aang" said Katara, shrugging. "I told you they treated us this way, but you never listened to what I said…"
"I'm sure Kino doesn't really think of us like that, though," said Aang, smiling at Kino. "Don't you?"
"W-why wouldn't I think this way? And why are you smiling like that…?" said Kino, gulping.
"Well, I'm just thinking you don't want to make enemies out of two waterbenders, do you…?" said Aang, shrugging innocently.
Kino looked at Aang and Katara in utter disbelief before he realized that the man spoke the truth. Kino hadn't tried to make sense out of how he had suddenly cracked through the ice and wound up with these two, but all of sudden it seemed the answer to his unasked question would be waterbending… they were the waterbenders. The Water Tribe's two waterbenders…
"Feeling a little more cooperative now?" asked Katara, smirking.
"I… n-not as much as you'd hope, I'm not going to betray my nation because of you two," said Kino, gulping.
"Nobody's asking you to betray anyone, Kino," said Aang. "We just want you to answer our questions, as we already said."
"Y-yeah, well…y-you're delusional if you think I'll feel like helping the waterbenders that have ruined everything we've worked for," was Kino's bravado, as he folded a single arm across his chest… for when he tried to fold both he found the other one was still held down by the snow. "Hey, could you please do something about this?"
"Only if you promise not to run," said Aang. "We'll let you go back no problem once you've answered our questions."
"But if you try to run, we're going to stop you" Katara declared, at which Kino flinched. "And since we are the waterbenders who ruined everything for you guys, then I think you should be well aware of what we can do…"
"Heh, well, it's more like what HE can do," said Kino, jerking his head towards Aang. "You're not that tough, you're the same one we've been fighting since about two years ago, so…"
"Hey! What do you mean, I'm not that tough?!" Katara exclaimed, offended, and Aang leapt towards her to calm her down.
"Now, now, Katara…" he said, grimacing. "It's okay! He's just trying to tick you off, you know you'd beat him in battle no problem!"
"I sure would… him and his entire settlement of cowardly Fire Nation jerks!" Katara shouted.
"Yeah, yeah, sure thing," said Kino, waving a hand towards her. "About the snow, though… My arm's going to freeze off, you know?"
"Right, right," said Aang, nodding and allowing the snow to soften so that Kino could move at ease again.
Kino rubbed his arm to regain the warmth he had lost… and then he promptly crossed both arms over his chest stubbornly, as he had planned on doing earlier.
"Alright, then! What do you two want?" he said.
"Uh… to ask questions," said Aang, blinking. "You're going to answer us now? Because you'd just said…"
"Oh, right," said Kino, freezing for a moment before returning to his former attitude. "I'm not going to tell you two anything about…!"
"Ugh, for crying out loud!" said Katara, a hand going to her forehead. "This guy is an idiot, Aang! He's useless! Send him back already, he's not going to give us anything because…"
"Hey…" Kino said, with a pained look on his face. "I'm not… useless"
Both Katara and Aang were paralyzed upon that. Kino's behavior had changed drastically… and was it for the better or for the worse? Now he looked genuinely depressed…
"K-Katara didn't really mean that," said Aang, smiling and kneeling beside Kino. "Though if you don't want her to insult you, you could try and not insult her for a change, you know? She's not a savage, just as you're not useless…"
"Uh… well, I suppose not…" said Kino, scratching the back of his head.
"So nobody's going to insult anyone here," said Aang. "We're all going to talk calmly and that's all there is to this, alright?"
"What do you want to talk about, though?" said Kino, raising an eyebrow. "You people have never wanted to talk before…"
"If we had wanted to talk before, would you guys have listened?" asked Katara, skeptical.
"Eh… probably not," Kino confessed, with a goofy grin.
"Either way, we're going to talk now, and we're asking you to please answer our questions, if you'll be so kind…" said Aang, smiling.
"Fine, fine, so what do you wanna know, then?" said Kino, staring at Aang warily now. "I'm not guaranteeing you'll get an answer out of me, but if this is what you captured me for, the sooner I've answered you, the quicker I'll be back in the settlement…"
"Well, we want to know why you guys haven't done anything ever since I revealed I was a waterbender," said Aang. "You could have tried to attack the Tribe and strike back, or you could have gathered reinforcements… but you didn't. Why?"
"Heh… that's not really your concern, is it?" exclaimed Kino, lifting his head in stubborn demeanor.
Katara huffed in annoyance and Aang frowned. Apparently, Katara's reaction wasn't a big deal… but seeing the male waterbender growing irritated made Kino rethink his choices.
"U-uh… y-you don't have to look so mad, you know?" he said, gulping.
"As you just said yourself, the sooner you've answered us, the quicker you'll be back with your people. So if you'd just talk, you'd be on your way!" said Aang. "Come on, Kino. Don't make this more difficult. It's just a simple question."
"Well… I guess," said Kino, sighing. "Fine, fine… we're not plotting another attack on your Tribe. Nope. That's in the past."
"In the past? What the… what do you mean, in the past?" asked Katara, frowning. "You guys attacked us just a few months ago and now you're making it sound as though you want to strike a bargain of peace with us?"
"Eh, I'm not the one who makes the decisions here, so don't look at me like that!" said Kino, lifting his arms up in gesture of defeat. "We informed the mainland of the discovery of another waterbender, and we all expected the Fire Lord to respond by sending his entire army here to blow your huts to smithereens… but instead we got a notice telling us not to attack you guys anymore."
"Not to attack?" asked Aang again, surprised. "Why…? But that's…"
"That makes no sense," said Katara, frowning. "Either he's lying or he's keeping something from us!"
"Hey, I'm not lying!" said Kino, looking at her earnestly. "This is what I know! It's the message we got at the settlement! I was the last one to read it, yeah, but it's not like the other guys would alter it just to tease me or something…"
"I guess not, they're your comrades after all" said Aang. "It'd make no sense for them to try and mess with you like that, would it?"
"Eh, I wish they would, though…" said Kino, sighing, a gesture that surprised Katara and Aang. "At least if they picked on me they'd acknowledge my presence, you know…?"
"They don't acknowledge your presence?" Katara asked, surprised.
"Half the time it's like I'm not even there," Kino whined. "I wish they'd pay me some attention, you know, just to greet me, or to tell me about the weather, or to complain about the lack of toilets… but no! I'm always the last one to find out about everything and nobody notices it. I was the last one to hear that the Captain had an affair with the old Lieutenant's wife, and I'm always the last one who gets the menu for the day. I'm always stuck with the leftovers because nobody calls me for dinner, and I had to stick with the bottom bed on the bunk even when I wanted the upper one…"
"So… it's not like you're briefed about the more important stuff, then…" said Aang, thoughtful.
"I get briefed about what I need to know, along with the rest of the soldiers," said Kino, shrugging. "I'm not anywhere high on the authority pyramid, if anything I'm at the base. I'm just a regular private, nothing more to me than that."
"Well, that doesn't really work to our favor…" said Katara, folding her arms over her chest. "Seems like you don't have a hectic life, then."
"Yeah, I guess not… being abducted by you two has been the most exciting thing to happen ever since I got here, you know? Though, wait, I shouldn't have said that…" said Kino, gulping.
"Hey, that's okay," said Aang, smiling. "But see, thanks to us, you'll have something fun to tell your fellow soldiers."
"Come on, Aang, you can't just encourage him like that," said Katara, looking at the Avatar in disbelief. "He's not going to cooperate just because…"
"You're saying I'll be the one in the spotlight…?" said Kino, his eyes gleaming with excitement now. "T-they'll want to hear what I have to say… haha, yes, they will! I'll be a celebrity, almost! Nobody else has been abducted by the two waterbenders! Though well, from what I heard, you people took someone once, but that was about three years ago, so…"
"You took someone?" asked Aang, surprised, turning towards Katara with a look of utter confusion on his face.
"It was back when… when we lost my brother," said Katara, at which Aang's expression softened. "We questioned a soldier, but he had nothing to tell us. He didn't know what had happened to him."
"Right…" said Aang, turning towards Kino again while hoping not to look too troubled. Yet Katara's facade had darkened noticeably after speaking aloud about Sokka. "Well, then, Kino… this is the full extent of your knowledge? You don't think you'll attack the Tribe any time soon?"
"Not unless the Fire Lord suddenly changes his mind, we won't," said Kino. "I have no idea why he would tell us not to attack, to be honest. The Captain thought that, since you're such a nasty waterbending threat, we would get tons of firepower and we'd hunt you down with it, but… nope. None of that. Instead, we're even being told we might even have to change locations and return to our old station at Whaletail Island…"
"What? You'll… you guys will leave the settlement?!" Katara exclaimed, shocked.
"Well, that's not definitive yet," said Kino. "But we were told we might have to leave the Pole altogether…"
"Why?" said Katara, dumbfounded. "W-why, all of sudden, after all these years of fighting…?"
"I don't know, and I wish I did," said Kino, shrugging. "But if it's an order by the Fire Lord, we'll have to comply. Not that I'm too fond of the idea, really… but I guess at least we won't have to eat stale food in Whaletail Island."
"Stale food?" repeated Aang.
"Yeah, it's awful, you know?!" exclaimed Kino, grimacing. "We get ships bringing us food like every ten weeks, and the food's already all old and musty when it gets here. I miss natural, yummy, fresh food…"
"Seems like being Fire Nation in the Water Tribe isn't easy," said Aang, smiling weakly.
"Tell me about it" said Kino, sighing "How do you guys cope, seriously? Nobody brings you food…"
"Well, they hunt for it themselves," said Aang, gulping. "That's how it works in a Tribe like this one. I don't hunt, though, I just have prunes and seaweed…"
"Just prunes and seaweed?!" asked Kino, aghast. "How can anyone live on that alone?!"
"It's what everyone asks, but… it's, uh, my way of life, you know?" said Aang, growing nervous. He had made quite a blunder there, and Katara had noticed as well. If he was to pretend he was Water Tribe, all the same as she was, he couldn't be so careless, so he'd better make up for it… "I just love going against the rest of the Tribe… you could say I'm a rebel of sorts."
"A rebel? Hey… that's seriously cool!" exclaimed Kino, nodding approvingly. "So that's why you don't even look Water Tribe! Ever since you were born you've been a rebel! That's so cool!"
"It is, huh?" said Aang, smiling awkwardly while Kino nodded approvingly towards him.
"It's a great way to get people's attention, I'll give you that…" said Kino. "Still… I don't want people to be mad because I'm rebellious, you know? I'd rather they like me instead of thinking I'm a freak."
"H-hey, they don't think I'm a freak!" Aang said, surprised. "Yeah, I may not hunt nor fish, but…"
"Fish?!" exclaimed Kino, interrupting Aang brusquely. "Y-you guys… you Water Tribe people go FISHING?!"
"Uh… yeah?" said Katara, raising an eyebrow. "It's pretty much what we do most, actually."
"Y-you guys…" Kino said, his eyes gleaming. "I, I… I've always wanted to go fishing, you know?"
"What…? Are you serious about that?" said Katara, frowning. " Why would you want to do that? I mean, fishing is just… it's just catching a fish! And that's not what we got you here for anyways!"
"Well, I already said everything I know, so what're you gonna get out of me now?" Kino said, frowning.
"I… I don't know, but this really can't be everything you know," said Katara, in denial. "The Fire Lord must have had a reason to do this…"
"I suppose I could try to find out if he did or didn't, you know?" said Kino, shrugging. "If you guys want, I could ask over at the settlement. I doubt they'll know much more than what I've told you, but still…"
"You're willing to do that for us? Just like that?" asked Aang, surprised.
"I'm doing this as an exchange, actually," said Kino, with a mischievous smile. "You'll get what you want… so long as you take me fishing!"
"Take you… fishing?" Katara repeated, with a grimace.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Kino, beaming. "I really want to give that a go! I get the feeling I'd be good at it!"
|"Uh… so you're saying we're going to meet again?" asked Katara, raising an eyebrow. "And you're asking your worst enemies to take you fishing?"
"Well, if it's you two then sure thing," said Kino, smiling and standing up. "While the two of you are stuck with me, you won't be able to attack the settlement. And without the power of their waterbenders, your tribesmen won't risk attacking us."
"How could you be so sure?" asked Katara, frowning now. "For all you know, they just might."
"Heh, well, if you pull some sort of ploy like that on me, I won't tell you whatever I learn about the Fire Lord's orders… or about your brother."
Katara's eyes widened and she looked at Kino with disbelief. Kino looked at her with raised eyebrows, his arms folded over his chest.
"W-what did you just…?" said Katara, stepping forward. "What do you… what do you know about my brother? Answer me!"
"Woah, woah! Calm down, water lady!" exclaimed Kino, grimacing and moving away from Katara. "You mentioned you'd lost him, and I've heard about some trick your Tribe tried to pull on the settlement around three years ago. I don't know much about the details, all I know at the moment is that most the warriors escaped… except for one."
"Sokka…" said Katara, breathing heavily. "That was… that was my brother!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought," said Kino, nodding. "I don't know for certain what his fate was, though. Still, I can figure that out for you, if you really want me to…"
"Y-you… you could tell us if he's alive?" asked Katara, eyes wide as she stepped towards Kino. "You'll know where he is? You…?"
"I can't promise I'll find out everything about what happened to him…" said Kino, grimacing uncomfortably as she came closer to him. "But I can still try. The Captain surely knows a lot about it, he keeps the records of everything that happens in the settlement. So I can ask if he knows how things went that day, with your brother. I doubt he'll have any reasons not to answer my questions…"
Katara's eyes now gleamed with a very different expression, something that bothered Kino slightly. The girl's blue eyes were hopeful, and that worried Kino. Nobody had ever placed any hopes or expectations upon him… until now. And even though he had wanted to be important for someone, one way or another, this was something bigger than anything he'd had in mind, and he wasn't sure he was mentally prepared for it… what if he had to tell the hopeful girl that her brother was dead?
"Can you really do this?" Katara asked him. "C-can you…? You're not going to trick me with this, are you?"
"W-well, why would I trick you?" said Kino. "I don't think your brother's fate is some state secret or anything… I don't think I'll have a reason to lie to you about it."
"Then… then do this. Please," said Katara, gritting her teeth. "Whether he's… whether he's dead or alive, I need to know. I need to… please find out, I beg you."
"Y-you're begging now?" asked Kino, raising an eyebrow but knowing better than to use her pleas to his advantage. Clearly, the girl was very emotional when it came to her brother. He knew that wasn't something to mess with. "Okay, okay, I already said I'd do it… but you're taking me fishing! Both of you!"
"B-both?" said Aang, grimacing. "Do I have to…?"
"Yes, you have to," said Kino, smiling happily. "You'll teach me how it's done, and I'll have my first fresh meal in over a year!"
"You will," said Katara, nodding solemnly, her eyes on the ice under her feet. "You will. Just… be here by tomorrow again, with the information you've promised."
"Tomorrow?" asked Aang, raising an eyebrow. "They'll get suspicious in the Tribe if we come out here tomorrow as well…"
"Then what? Should we wait a week?" asked Katara, grimacing. "That's too much, don't you think?"
"I take the outside shift every three days," said Kino, tapping his chin with a finger. "Come back by then, and I'll have all the information I can gather, both about the Fire Lord's orders and your brother. So… make sure to bring fish rods with you! And whatever you guys use as gear to catch fish!"
"Can you just walk out of your watch as if nothing, though?" asked Aang, surprised. "It's a miracle they haven't realized you're gone right now…"
"Nah, they won't," said Kino, waving a hand. "As I said, they hardly notice I'm there at all. So if I'm not there, they won't tell either. Don't worry, we can go fishing no problem! And if they find out I walked off, I can make up excuses for it. I can make an excuse for my disappearance just now, too. I could say the stale food took its toll on me…"
"Yeah, surely that'll keep them from asking questions" said Aang, grimacing before smiling kindly. "Well, then… I guess we're doing this."
"Three days, then," said Katara, taking a deep breath.
"You don't have to be so eager to meet me again, you know" said Kino, winking at Katara. "Sorry, but you Water Tribe gals aren't really my type."
"Wha…? Yuck!" exclaimed Katara, shuffling away from him. "What makes you think Fire Nation morons are mine?!"
"Now, now… we were all finally getting along" said Aang, sighing. He couldn't help but feel somewhat angry at Kino for his attempt at flirting with Katara, though. Even so, Aang was relieved that Katara's rejection towards his advances had been as blunt as it had. "Come on, we can all leave this meeting without any hard feelings whatsoever, can't we?"
"If he behaved like a decent man, we could!" exclaimed Katara, frowning.
"Heh, you just can't deny I'm attractive no matter how hard you try!" said Kino, laughing happily as he walked towards the hole he had popped out from. "But never mind, I know better than to steal someone else's girl after all."
"W-what?!" exclaimed Katara, though this time she blushed, all the same as Aang, whose feelings of irritation seemed to disappear at that. "That's…! I'm not someone's girl!"
"Yeah, yeah" said Kino, rolling his eyes. "Whatever you say, water lady. Now, are you going to send me back or not?"
Aang bit his lip and nodded, getting ready to shoot Kino through the ice tunnel again once the soldier had settled himself inside the hole.
"Don't forget about meeting with us in three days, alright?" said Aang.
"You guys really think I'm that forgetful?" said Kino, raising an eyebrow. "I'll remember alright. I'll see you both by then… uh, Aang, was it?"
"Yeah," said Aang, smiling. "And she's Katara. We'll meet again"
"Sure thing!" said Kino, smiling and waving before Aang cracked the ice wider so that Kino could fit into the tunnel more comfortably.
To their surprise, Kino began screaming again as he was sucked into the tunnel, but this time he seemed to shriek excitedly instead. He appeared on the very spot he had been standing at before, and Katara and Aang watched him as he looked around himself, probably wondering if someone had noticed his absence… but it seemed no soldier had taken notice of Kino's disappearance, even though he had been gone for quite some time.
"I guess he wasn't lying about his fellow soldiers not paying him any attention, huh?" said Aang, grimacing.
"Well, that's better for us," said Katara, sighing. "If they really don't take him into account much, then they probably won't believe him if he tells them about what happened today."
"We're playing a weird game here, I'll say," said Aang, biting his lip. "But I think we can trust this guy. He seems nice"
"Heh, nice for a Fire Nation soldier, maybe" said Katara, frowning "You can't trust them, Aang. When they thought they could get the better of our Tribe, they attacked it in the most cowardly way. Now, because you're too powerful for them, they're huddling in their settlement in fear… and they'll probably stay there until they get reinforcements. By then, you might think twice that about trusting Fire Nation soldiers…"
"I don't know, Katara," said Aang, smiling. "You saw how this guy was. He wasn't what anyone would expect from a Fire Nation soldier, is he? If anything… you could see he's a normal human being. That he's a soldier doesn't make him evil…"
"How can you say that when they destroyed your people, Aang?" asked Katara, looking at Aang in disbelief "How can you still believe in the good within them when they've done so much wrong…?"
"Because I want to believe the world can change," said Aang, sighing. "And if Kino turns out to be a good man, if he keeps his word and promises, then maybe you'll start to see things as I do. The wrong the Fire Nation has done can't be erased, but we can hope the new generations will be able to mend the damage caused by the previous ones."
"I still think that's very gullible of you…" said Katara, sighing. "How do we know it's not some trap? How do we know the Fire Lord really said they shouldn't attack? And… why would he say that, for starters? It's so confusing…"
"Well, hopefully we'll find out in three days," said Aang, smiling and patting Katara's shoulder.
Katara sighed and nodded at that. He was right, of course. For now, she needed to be patient…
Hours later, they returned to the Tribe again, and all the while, Aang watched Katara worriedly. Knowing she might soon discover what fate had befallen Sokka made her anxious, far too anxious. She was afraid of knowing the answer to that question, for she would dread to hear her brother was dead… but what if he lived? What if…?
Everyone in the Tribe noticed Katara was acting strangely, but she kept from saying anything. Aang and Katara had decided not to reveal what they had been up to until they had gotten results from their deal with Kino, and thus they both remained silent about it during the three days they had to wait before meeting Kino again. Whenever they went training, Katara would begin asking questions nervously, and Aang could only laugh before telling her not to worry, for everything would work out well in the end. And if things didn't work out on their own, they would make them work somehow. Katara would only sigh at that, and she continued practicing her forms, her mind still lost in thoughts of her brother.
Eventually, the eve before the chosen day came, and Aang and Katara volunteered for the watch again. Hakoda had been rather surprised by their quick response, for nobody had ever seemed enthusiastic about taking a shift to watch the settlement before… but he came to his own conclusion soon enough. After agreeing with letting them take this shift, Hakoda made the firm decision to keep tabs on his daughter's relationship with the Avatar. For even if he didn't mind having Aang as his son-in-law one day, he would need the young man to abide by tradition and ask to court Katara properly if he meant to take her as his wife eventually…
"Your dad started leering at me last night after we asked for this shift," said Aang, as he walked with Katara towards their vigilance site on the next day. "I don't know if he suspects something about what we're up to…"
"Well, it's not that big a deal if he does," said Katara, breathing heavily as they reached the snow mounds. "Because once we're done with this today, we'll be able to tell them whatever Kino tells us…"
"You think they'll take it well?" asked Aang. "That we're getting information from a Fire Nation soldier…"
"They won't, but it's too late to worry about that now," said Katara. "Besides, whatever they think isn't that important. What really matters right now is… he's there, Aang."
Aang glanced over the snow towards the settlement, and just as Katara had said, Kino stood by the metallic wall, looking around himself as though he were searching for them. Aang couldn't help but smile before proceeding just as he had during his original capture of the soldier.
Kino was startled again when the ice cracked underneath him, and soon enough he was screaming again as he moved under the ice. Katara rolled her eyes at the sound and wondered just how was it that the Fire Nation soldiers didn't pick up on Kino's shouting. Either they weren't too smart, or they were really set on ignoring this particular comrade of theirs…
"AAAAAAH…!" Kino was squealing by the time he appeared before them. He opened his eyes and stopped screaming when he came to a halt, and he found Aang smiling down at him while Katara looked at him in disapproval. "Oh… hey there!"
"Hello," said Aang, smiling kindly and extending a hand towards Kino to pull him to his feet.
"You don't have to scream every time you go through that tunnel, you know?" said Katara, looking at Kino skeptically.
"But it's fun!" exclaimed Kino happily, beaming. "Good to see you both again!"
"Why so enthusiastic?" asked Aang, surprised.
"Because we're going fishing, right?!" said Kino, smiling brightly.
"Oh… yeah, sure, but first," said Katara, stepping forward towards Kino. She had almost forgotten all about the fishing trip by now. "Tell us what you found out. Please… tell us."
Kino looked at her in surprise before clearing his throat and nodding solemnly. Both Aang and Katara looked at him expectantly.
"Well, first of all, nobody knows why the Fire Lord gave the command," said Kino, his hand going into his armor to pull out a sheet of paper. "This is the official notice, in case you guys still don't believe me… the guys told me I could keep this one, we've got a few of them after all. And well, as you can see…"
Katara took the sheet of paper in her hand, and Aang peeked over her shoulder to read the letter along with her. They both frowned as they read the content, and the looks on their faces were those of utter confusion.
"How can this be?" asked Katara, looking at Aang in disbelief. "If this is real…"
"It looks real," said Aang, blinking a few times. "And it says just what Kino told us, so…"
"See? I said I was serious about it," said Kino, folding his arms over his chest. "It's why we haven't attacked you people lately. Not to mention that your waterbending prowess had us all very scared, Aang… how do you do it? This girl can't make half of what you…"
"Hey!" Katara exclaimed. "I'm getting better at waterbending with every passing day, I'll have you know!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" said Kino, waving a hand carelessly.
"And well, even if this were true…" said Katara, leaving the letter in Aang's hands. "What about… w-what about Sokka, Kino? Did you… did you find out something?"
"Well…" said Kino, gulping. "I found out a few things. It took me quite a while to get ahold of the Captain, and he was so busy that I had to tail him for a whole day before he finally had time for me! So, well… the Captain wasn't here when the incident happened. He was still in the mainland, apparently, but there were rumors about what happened. According to what people were saying, General Chan had defeated the Water Tribe warriors when they attacked the settlement, and he had saved Princess Azula… afterwards, the Princess stopped at a village before returning to the Capital in order to drop a slave there, and…"
"A… a slave?" said Katara, her eyes widening. "Y-you don't mean…"
"Yeah, well… and that's not really all of it," said Kino, biting his lip. "Thing is, apparently they'd caught a Water Tribe warrior indeed, and he became a slave… but rumor says that the Princess decided to take him as her personal gladiator not long ago."
"What?!" Katara exclaimed, looking at Kino in disbelief. "Y-you're saying… the Fire Nation Princess enslaved my brother and turned him into…? He's her slave?! How can that…? That's impossible! Sokka wouldn't let something like this happen to him! He… he's too stubborn, too hot-headed, too…!"
"He's alive," said Aang, looking at Katara gently when she stopped talking suddenly.
The realization brought tears to her eyes, even though it was what she had wanted to hear for years now. It was almost as though her numb heart had been revived by the news, and it was starting to beat as powerfully as it had back when her brother had still been here, when he had been around to annoy her and goof around in the village…
"He's alive, Katara," said Aang, smiling and placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's alive."
Katara couldn't hold back the tears anymore. She turned towards Aang and held onto him tightly, crying on his parka as he surrounded her with his arms. Kino watched them with slight discomfort, feeling out of place completely. Were they really going to fish if she was so upset about the news he had given her? And here he had thought she would be happy to know her brother was alive…
"B-but he's in the worst situation, Aang…" said Katara, pulling away after a moment, with a pained look on her face as tears streamed down her cheeks. "He's… he's the Princess's gladiator? What sort of…? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well… if I may," intervened Kino, earning himself their attention again. "It was just a rumor. I have no idea if he's really with the Princess or not… I'd need confirmation of some sort, but this is just what the Captain has heard. Maybe she got herself another gladiator, one that has nothing to do with your brother, and people are mixing both stories up."
"That's likely the case, truth to be told," said Aang.
"W-well, but even if that were the case, we still can't leave Sokka in their mercy now that we know of his situation, Aang," said Katara, looking at him with despair. "We have to do something, somehow…"
"Do what, exactly?" asked Kino, frowning. "You're not expecting to cause trouble in the Fire Nation just after we decided to leave you guys alone, are you?"
Katara froze upon that. The soldier was looking at her judgmentally, a silly pout on his face. She gritted her teeth and shook her head.
"I can't just stand by and leave my brother in some ashmaker's control…" she muttered.
"No, I guess not," said Aang, nodding. "Still, there's little we can do as we are. We'd have to travel to the Fire Nation or so to discover if what Kino told us was right or not…"
"And how do you plan on doing that?" asked Kino, raising an eyebrow. "You guys wouldn't make it ten minutes through Fire Nation waters, anyone would know you don't belong there. Especially her, since she's got Water Tribe written all over her face."
"Ugh, true enough, but we have to do something, I don't care what, but we do!" said Katara, pacing nervously.
"Uh… how about we go fishing and then we figure out what to do?" said Kino, biting his lip. "You guys promised, after all…"
Aang was taken aback by that, and he looked at Katara with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, we did promise," he said. "And while he fishes we could decide on how to find out the truth, I guess…"
Katara looked at Aang in dismay before sighing loudly and shaking her head.
"Fine, fine, let's take him fishing now… but we're going to figure out how to rescue Sokka!"
"The guy might just be living as a royal and you're insisting on bringing him into this frozen wasteland… you know, if I were your brother, I'd be mad at you if you did that to me," said Kino. "But never mind, it's your brother and your problem! I say we should just go catch some fish!"
Katara swallowed hard as she and Aang started towards the fishing area together, with Kino treading beside them enthusiastically. Aang smiled at Katara and placed a hand on her shoulder, and she lifted her gaze towards his.
"See, you could believe in your brother after all. He's still out there, Katara," he said. "And if he's been strong enough to survive this long, I'm sure he'll survive until we find a way to bring him back home. Believe in his strength, Katara."
"I… I will," said Katara, gulping again and nodding. "I will. It's Sokka, after all… he wouldn't just let the Fire Nation kill him. He's too stubborn for that, isn't he? He's…"
Aang smiled when she suddenly chuckled, as more tears she couldn't hold back poured from her eyes.
"He's alive, Aang," she repeated, laughing in relief. "He's alive!"