A koala otter glides through the icy northern waters, its dense coat protecting it from the chill. A shadow passes over it and startled, it dives into the water. Sky bison hadn't been seen in the North Pole for over a hundred years until Appa dipped lower, brushing his feet against the waves.
"I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka complains. Aang twists around angrily.
"I have an idea, why don't we all get on your back and you can fly us to the North Pole?"
"I'd love to!" Sokka replies sarcastically. "Climb on everyone, Sokka's ready for takeoff!" He shakes his butt at his companions. Momo jumps up onto Sokka's back and chirps, seemingly awaiting takeoff. Sokka glares at the flying lemur. Perhaps Sokka should climb on his back, seeing as he's the only one of the pair that can fly.
"Look, we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight," Katara says, trying to calm the waters.
"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here." He points out, rolling his eyes. Ice. A spiky ice wall shoots towards Appa. Aang yells and steers Appa well away, nearly dumping his passengers, who are holding onto the edge of the saddle for dear life. A similar icy protrusion spikes up out of the water, managing to slam into Appa's stomach, pushing him off course. He falls and hits the water. The surrounding water solidifies and lifts Appa out of the water.
"They're waterbenders! We found the Water Tribe!" Katara exclaims. The trio's eyes are wide as they marvel at the benders who surround them on water tribe boats. They found the Water Tribe.
Water flows smoothly around the canoe thanks to Dorak, the bender who often accompanied Yue on her excursions through the city. Yue takes a deep breath and gives a long exhale, knowing it wouldn't be entirely lost on him. He wouldn't ask or give much of an indication that he had noticed, since he knew the answer to her worry. It was her birthday. Her sixteenth. She was to be engaged soon, and pregnant as well. The daughter of the chief had responsibilities. Yue plucks at her fingernails nervously. They are hidden underneath her heavy fur coat. Mekana, the fish merchant, smiles at Yue. Yue smiles back. That was the reason for these excursions. To see her people.
An air bison cuts through the water ahead of Yue, and she knows that Dorak sees it as well as the canoe falters slightly in the water. The avatar. He must be in search of a waterbending master. He would have fun with Pakku. If he liked endless drills and negative reinforcement, that is. The avatar, Yue guesses, must be the boy with the blue arrow tattoo and the yellow and orange clothing that was foreign to the north and other nations that had survived the last 100 years. The clothes look way too sparse for such a small child, but he doesn't seem to be chilly in the slightest. The avatar has large round eyes and an innocent face that makes Yue's heart drop. A child. Perhaps his innocence will save us all. A flying lemur curls around his neck. The other two humans look to be brother and sister and from the Southern Water Tribe if she recognizes the patterns on their clothes correctly. The boy is cute. He has a wolf tail and a boomerang, Not the most common weapon but perhaps that was something else that the South did differently. After a moment Yue realizes that he is staring at her. He didn't even know who she was yet. Yue lets go of picking her fingernails and covers her face with her hand and giggles. The boy follows her as the canoe glides past, sliding down the broad tail of the sky bison. Before she blushes, she turns her gaze ahead of the canoe. Her mouth still curved in a slight smile, she lowers her hands.
Father will be pleased. Yue knows that he had hopes that the Avatar would come here to master waterbending if he was really alive. He had not been sure of the truth of the rumour, unlike Yue. Yue could feel it somewhere deep inside her that the Avatar was back. She drifts through her thoughts about the implications of the Avatar's arrival until she delves too deeply and the weight of the war begins to weigh on her.
"Dorak, it is time to return. Father will most likely want me to be around well before the banquet tonight."
"Of course, princess." He answers, already turning the canoe around slowly.
"Thank you."
"Winter, spring, summer and fall. Winter and spring, summer and fall. Four seasons, four loves, Four seasons, For love." Iroh's singing carries through the night air, wafting on the breeze. The fire flickers brightly, casting a warm glow on the makeshift band of crewmen and the pair that dances around the ship. Metal clangs on metal, making a painful sound as Zhao boards the ship. The musicians end on a twangy note as they all turn to look at Zhao and his men. Zhao wears an ominous bone-chilling grin as he approaches Iroh. Iroh straightens, not quite the Dragon of the West, but Zuko's proud uncle.
"I'm going to the North Pole." He announces, looking down at Iroh, who keeps his features intact as he worries about Zuko's reaction. "And I'm taking your crew with me. Everyone, non-soldiers as well." The crew gasps quietly. Zhao is not known for being a good commander. Successful, perhaps, but miserable to deal with. Not like Iroh, or even Zuko, who had just saved one of them during a storm. Zhao was sadistic and wanted to see each and every member of his crew break if they did not behave perfectly for him. Zuko was angry, yes, and rarely gave out praise, but was not cruel, even when he occasionally managed to push a soldier off the ship when sparring. That was for the benefit of him and the soldier, though mostly for him.
"May I ask the reason for needing our crew?" Iroh places emphasis on the word "needing" as he knows that Zuko will be very angry once he tells him.
"I want your crew so I'll have it for capturing the Avatar. Capturing the Avatar with Zuko's men. Where is Zuko, by the way?" He says, narrowing his eyes.
"I will take you to him." Iroh bows, but his eyes do not reach the floor
"General Iroh, I would like to extend an offer to join my mission. I think you could have valuable knowledge that would serve me well as a military consultant." Zhao attempts to take Iroh from Zuko as well. Iroh shakes his head.
"I thank you for the offer, but I think that I will stay with my nephew. I will not leave him alone." Zhao frowns at this but doesn't press further. Iroh would not be that much help anyway. Despite being the Dragon of the West, he had given up at Ba Sing Se and cost the Fire Nation that great city. Fool. Zhao's spirits return as Iroh slows at Zuko's chambers.
Iroh leans into Zuko's chambers. Zuko leans against a wall, arms crossed, glaring at the opposite wall.
"For the last time, I'm not playing the tsungi horn," Zuko repeats.
"No, it's about our plans. There's a bit of a problem." Zhao clunks into the room.
"I'm taking your crew." He announces with a corner of his mouth twisted upwards in delight.
"What!?" Zuko springs to his feet. His palms heat up but no fire appears, to Zhao's dismay.
"I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole." Little was not the right word. It would be huge if Zhao thought the Avatar was there. Which Zuko knew that he was.
"Uncle, is that true?"
"I'm afraid so. He's taking everyone," he says sadly. "Even the cook!" He cries, throwing his arm over his face.
"Sorry, you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar. But I can't have you getting in my way again." Zuko growls and charges Zhao, who does nothing as Iroh grabs his nephew, holding him back. Zuko is tense, eyes watching carefully as Zhao approaches his wall. The wall with his broadswords that he used as the Blue Spirit. Zhao is shocked, and angry as he remembers how the Blue Spirit stole the Avatar, his prize, from right under his nose.
"I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko," Zhao accuses with thinly veiled subtlety. Zuko narrows his eyes.
"I'm not," he denies sharply. "They're antiques. Just decorative."
"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit, General Iroh?" Zhao changes tactics, smoothly running his hand against the flat part of the sword he had taken off the wall.
"Just rumours. I don't think he is real."
"He's real all right. He's a criminal, an enemy of the Fire Nation." Zhao places the sword in Iroh's hands. "But I have a feeling that justice will catch up with him soon. General Iroh, the offer to join my mission still stands if you change your mind." Zhao leaves without a glance at the wound-up prince. He closes the door shut behind him.
"Father, will the Avatar be at the banquet?" Yue asks though the answer is quite clear. Why wouldn't the Avatar be at the banquet?
"Yes, he will. It is a great gift that he shall honour Northern Water Tribe, and you, of course, on your birthday." Chief Arnook holds her head in his hands. "My beautiful daughter, sixteen. I can hardly believe it."
"Neither can I." Her mother, Kellora, smiles beside him. "Such a brave and strong young woman you've become over the years." Yue's eyes become misty and she throws herself into her parent's arms. Her heart feels full, full enough to carry out her duties to her people with no complaint.
"I love you both so much," she says, nuzzling her face into the fur of her mother's jacket.
"Come now, the feast is starting." The family pulls away from each other and makes their way through the ice palace to the banquet hall.
Yue glances around as she waits to be announced. Ukoni and Kunadu stand patiently behind her. Ukoni was the oldest of the pair of attendants and stood on her right. She was a kindly woman who taught Yue much about patience and understanding. Kunadu was younger and had much less patience. She thought that anything that was worth needing to be done, ought to be done quickly. Yue never finished a homework assignment from a tutor the least bit late thanks to her endless nagging. Despite Ukoni and Kunadu's differing life perspectives, they had managed to be wonderful influences on the young Princess Yue.
"Tonight," Yue hears her father begin, "we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe, and they have brought with them someone very special, someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now." Everyone held their breath for Chief Arnook's next words. "The Avatar!" He announces. The crowd cheers for Aang, who is a bit embarrassed by the attention. "We also celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday! Princess Yue is now of marrying age." Yue smiles and walks forwards to address the crowd, Ukoni and Kunadu in step behind her.
"Thank you, father. May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times." Tui, La, thank you for all you've done for me and my people. I can never repay you enough.
"Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!" Master Pakku begins his impressive display of bending along with two of his students. Yue gazes wistfully at them as she approaches the table. Bending was a versatile art form, being used for both healing and war, but Yue had always thought that waterbending looked at its best when used artistically, with the bender just having fun with it, carefree. Carefully, Yue sits beside the Southern boy. He quickly swallows a large bite of sea prunes and strikes a pose.
"Hi there. Sokka, Southern Water Tribe." He smiles at her.
"Very nice to meet you," Yue says, bowing. Kundadu's lessons on proper behaviour run through her head.
"So... uh... you're a Princess! You know, back in my tribe, I'm kinda like a Prince myself!"
"Ha! Prince of what?" Katara scoffs jokingly.
"A lot of things! Uh, do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!" Sokka glares at his sister for ruining his mojo.
"My apologies, Prince Sokka." Katara bows over her left arm with a touch of dramatic flair.
"So it looks like I'm gonna be in town for a while. I'm thinking maybe we could... do an activity together?" He says lamely.
"Do an "activity"?" This boy was so very different than the elaborate political relationships Yue had been a part of in the past. No one here would dare ask her out without a few rehearsed lines that would most likely include horrible poetry. This boy... Sokka... was refreshing. Yes, refreshing. Sokka, the refreshing boy, stuffed his mouth with even more sea prunes.
"Very smooth," Katara says, her voice loaded with sarcasm. The rest of dinner goes quietly, with the occasional roar from the sky bison that Yue hoped was enjoying its food. She would have to ask its name later.
Yue sees the Avatar bow to Master Pakku. It appeared that he had agreed to train the young Avatar. Glancing at the others, she wonders if they were benders. She knows that the South supposedly didn't have any more benders, but bending could always be hidden. The girl —Katara— couldn't be a bender. She is a girl, though perhaps she could heal. Yue has a gut feeling that she could. The boy carries a boomerang around. Waterbenders rarely chose to learn other weapons alongside waterbending so Yue guesses that he was a non-bender. Just beyond Sokka, she sees Hahn trying to catch her eye. She smiles and gives a small wave. Hahn is the son of one of her father's advisors and is pleasant enough. A bit arrogant and brash, but as a warrior, he needed to be.
After the banquet, when Yue had bid farewell to all the guests who had just left, Ukoni comes up to the princess.
"Princess Yue." She bows. Yue inclines her head gently. "Your father wishes to speak with you," she says, eyes glittering. Yue frowns lightly, curious about what it was about.
"Where is he?"
"He is in the throne room. He wishes you to go at once." Yue nods at this and makes her way to the throne room. Ukoni follows her. Kunadu has gone home already. Yue ponders what "activity" she could do with Sokka. Even talking alone would be fascinating. He had travelled all over the world on a sky bison with the Avatar! He must have seen much of interest.
Yue steps into the throne room. Her parents stand with Orrah and Zivraq. Zivraq is one of the Chief's council members. Orrah is his wife. Yue doesn't know much about her, other than that she is quiet and does the most beautiful beadwork. She had had one conversation with her about it and it was the only time she had ever seen Orrah come out of her shell like a lobster octopus. Hahn steps out from behind his parents. Yue's eyes widen as she guesses the reason for this meeting. Hahn has one hand in his pocket.
"Yue, my beautiful daughter. Come here." Her father motions for her to come closer.
"Hello, father, mother." She says, bowing towards her parents. She turns and bows towards Orrah, Zivrak, and Hahn. "Hello."
"You are sixteen, my daughter."
"Yes," Yue says. "Marrying age." Her father chuckles.
"Always so bright, Yue. Yes, marrying age. We have come to an agreement with Zivraq and decided that you shall marry Hahn, if you are in agreement?" Her father confirms her words. Yue thinks of Sokka stuffing his mouth with sea prunes. She thinks of the Avatar bowing to Pakku and learning to waterbend and saving the world. She thinks of herself as a princess of the Northern Water Tribe and her place in the world. Responsibility. Duty. She looks just beyond Hahn and she can see a scene of the Winter Solstice and her people celebrating carved into the ice wall. Yue thinks of her people.
"I am in agreement." Her eyes shift back to Hahn.
"Excellent!" Her father claps his hands together. Her mother looks at her with misty eyes and Hahn's parents —her soon-to-be in-laws— smile proudly. "Hahn, you know what to do." Zivraq elbows his son. Hahn steps forwards, smiling, and fishes the betrothal necklace from his pocket. He holds it out to her and Yue turns. Hahn moves her hair to one side, his fingers cold on her neck. Yue tries not to shiver. The betrothal necklace slides around her neck and presses into her throat. She gently fingers the carving. Perfect, polished, rehearsed. She turns and smiles at her new family.
A/N: Soooooo, slow first chapter. I'm trying to add some more context in-between scenes that are shown in ATLA as well as more characterization for Yue so that it's less of an abrupt transition later on when I completely deviate from canon (in terms of Yue not dying and Zuko not escaping the North Pole, everything else is still the same don't worry). More stuff happens in the next chapter and we get some more Zuko POV!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender nor am I profiting from this story.