A/N. So, I feel like a lot better! I think it reflects on the quality! Hope you enjoy it!

I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

When his daughter got out of the tent, Hakoda sighed, and looked at the still and silent boy on his sleeping furs.

Katara had kept his torso naked, but she had found some trousers that fitted the boy. Looking at the Air Nomad, the chief was actually intrigued by the tattoos snaking down the boy's arms. That first night, Hakoda had seen that the same kind of tattoos adorned the Avatar's legs, and his back. And the prominent tattoo on the pale forehead was hard to miss.

What had she said? The youngest master ever.

If that was the case… Just imagine what that could mean… If he really was that good at bending, he would be a valuable asset.

No Hakoda. He is valuable because of himself. Not because he can be a good weapon.

He had to nearly slap himself. Of course this boy shouldn't be treated like a weapon, even though he was the most powerful being on the planet. The shallow breaths coming from the boy made him remember. A mortal, with feelings like any other.

"Hey… I know we hadn't had a chance to talk since that day… And of course, you can't answer, or even hear me I suppose. But I wanted to apologize. You have my permission… Aang."

It felt weird to talk to the Avatar like this. It was weird to talk to the Avatar in general. In a whole century, no one had seen or heard of the Avatar. And now, that all powerful being… Was lying on the furs in his tent. He was friends with his children. He was important to his daughter…

"I apologize for thinking you were naïve. I believe you have a good heart. Your actions proof that at least. And the loyalty my children have to you… Well, I wish they felt that towards me. I envy you… Well, not for your current state… But you know my children better than I do… So yes, I envy you."

Looking over his shoulder, to check if there wasn't anyone at the entrance, Hakoda bend towards his own bedside table, at took the pouch. Opening it, he turned it over and felt a cold small object fall into his hand.

A circular stone, just two or three inches in diameter, yellowish with small gray and blueish flecks in the stone… It was beautiful. Hakoda had to admit it, the stone was perfect for what its purpose… He could respect the Avatar. Even after his rejection, he had taken time at this temple to find this.

And it made Hakoda think… When he had gone to Kya's father and mother… He had been rejected the first time. Not because of his character, or because there wasn't mutual attraction. Kya's father, Otaluk, hadn't gone into detail why he had been rejected.

And Hakoda hadn't given up. He and Kya had still met in secret, and after a year, he had gone back to Otaluk. And this time, he had been accepted. The old man had never explained why he had rejected him the first time… But it had hurt.

And now, he had done the same to the Avatar…

Putting the stone back in the pouch, and placing it on the table, Hakoda saw how the flame of the candle burning there was… Going up and down. Like the flame was breathing…

"Ka…tara"

Hakoda's heart froze. The Avatar's voice.

Turning his head around, he saw the boy's face, contorted in pain. His eyes were still closed, but this was the first sign of life Hakoda had seen or heard from the airbender…

And… of course, the one thing he had said… Was Katara's name…

Quickly standing up, he ran to the entrance of the tent.

"KATARA!" He shouted from the top of his lungs. If this meant the boy would wake up… And she wasn't there… Well, he wouldn't like to be anywhere near her in that case. Because he suspected she was quite capable of impaling him on an ice spike just for being the first to greet the airbender.

He quickly went back inside, but was greeted by the sight that had become normal. A very still and silent Avatar on the furs… Nearly disappearing into them, because of his small and lean frame…

"What?" He heard from the entrance, accompanied by huffing and panting. Turning around, Hakoda saw a very worried looking Katara, with those big blue eyes… Kya's eyes…

"The Avatar… he spoke. Didn't wake up, but he said something." He answered, trying not to look at her. It would be better not to tell her that the Avatar had said her name. She was just becoming a bit more stable, emotionally… If she heard this… Well, Hakoda suspected she wouldn't like it.

"He… He spoke?"

Spirits, that hope in her voice…

"Yes"

His daughter nearly leapt at the bedside, falling down on her knees next to it. Hakoda took a step towards the entrance of the tent, but when he heard her talk softly… His body disobeyed, and he stayed, listening to what was being said.

"Aang… can you hear me? Please, wake up… Last night, I saw all the stars in the sky. It is not like the city here, you can see all those stars. If you wake up, we can go look at them, like all those weeks ago."

The chief tried to walk away… But to hear the soft words… It was as if Kya was back… Her voice… saying the things he and her had done… But it was Katara.

"And Appa and Momo miss you… Sokka does too, and Toph, even if she won't admit it. And… I miss you. So, so very much…"

Finally, his body obeyed, and Hakoda exited the tent. But before the canvas fabric that served as a door obstructed his daughter from view, he heard something… Something that he supposed she wouldn't have said if she knew he could hear her.

"We could sneak away, and do that thing we did in the barn…"

Alright, that was his cue to leave. Very quickly.

What did she mean? That thing… Hakoda knew perfectly well what that thing could mean. If he wasn't mistaken, the blind girl had been right. The relationship of his daughter and the Avatar was… very advanced.

And what did that mean? Traditionally, in the Water Tribes, you had to wait for marriage to do… that thing. But Hakoda wouldn't judge them. It wasn't as if Kya and he had… waited.

But… This was different. This was not only two young people, loving each other… This was the one threat the Fire Nation still faced… And his daughter…

And now, Hakoda could see the conflict arise in front of him. He had promised his daughter the Avatar would get his permission, and he wanted to, because the boy seemed very decent. But that was his heart speaking, trying to give his children everything they asked for, to make up for the lost years…

But his head? Oh, that one was quite clear : That this was the craziest, most stupidest idea two people had ever come up with. How could this ever end well? The Avatar had a year worth of training… He wasn't the invincible force yet… And Katara? These last few days had proven to him that she would do anything for the young man… So, if he was killed during the war, for real this time…

She would die too.

And his heart and head were at war over this dilemma… Follow his emotions, and bless this relationship, or try and stop them, so to save his daughter in case of them losing the war?

"Hakoda, there you are. We have news." Bato's voice made him snap out of his thoughts, and he looked up. In front of him stood Sokka and his old friend, followed by several tribesmen.

"What is it?"

"The scouts you send out… They have spotted the Fire Nation ship… You know, the one that nearly wrecked our boats. And it is searching." Bato said. Looking at his face, Hakoda saw the worry edged in the lines on his forehead. It was grim.

"We are on one of the two sea routes to Ba Sing Se… The Western, the Fire Nation has controlled it for years… This one, however…" Hakoda began, but was cut short by his son.

"A scout. They are here to confirm how many soldiers there are, and how any ships they are going to need to wipe us out." Sokka spoke, matter of fact. It still surprised the chief how… mature his son had become. And how insightful in these kinds of matters…

"We can't fight it yet again, not with the state of our fleet… But Sokka has a plan…" Bato began, hesitantly. It sounded like he thought it was crazy.

"If we can't beat the Fire Nation… Let's join them!"

Several of the men who had gathered around them began to murmur angrily. But Hakoda understood. He saw the small smile on his son's lips. He always had a kind of mischievous streak that totally lacked in Katara. No, his son was not only clever, but he was also cunning. A dangerous cunning at that…

"Oh, don't worry you guys! We are not going to swap sides. Just ships." Sokka began to grin.

"But Sokka, they will notice one of their scouts disappearing. They will send a message to their fleet when we attack! And then, their whole fleet will attack us." Bato exclaimed, shaking his head. As much as Hakoda respected his friend, strategy wasn't in his strong suits. But the chief had understood what his son was getting at.

"Oh, don't worry. They will only find a wrecked fleet of Water Tribe ships." Sokka continued to grin.

"Alright young one, you lost us, I think. I'm beginning to believe your cactus juice story." One of the older men, Aqulak, spoke.

Hakoda had understood, and begin to smile. This was crazy. But he liked crazy, in a fight, crazy was a good trait to have. And they could use every advantage they had.

"We destroy the ships, and the scouting ship will report back that the Water Tribe fleet has been destroyed. The Fire Nation fleet has rewards for brave deeds. So they will stay here, to guard their 'victory'. Normally, scouting ships are six hours ahead of the main fleet. We destroy the ships, wait until the message has been sent from the scouting ship, and then, we ambush them. That gives us six hours, tops, to put our people in the ship, and sail up the Jasmine River, towards the Lakes of Ba Sing Se. No one will suspect a thing, as long as we keep the main fleet informed of our progress."

That was… brilliant. Infiltrate the Fire Nation fleet, using their technology against them… And escaping to the western side of the continent… From there, they could go wherever they wanted…

The men around them began to nod, and to mutter in agreement.

"The ship will be here in less than two hours, we spotted it on the horizon from our spyglass." Bato spoke up, and Hakoda mind began to race. That meant they had just half an hour before their camp would be in sight of the ship.

"Sokka, take as many people you need, and burn the ships. Iqaluk, take three men and begin to gather only the most essential things! We will find supplies on the ship! Bato, when Iqulak gathered the things, you put fire to the tents!" Hakoda began to shout. This. This was what he was good at. Quick thinking, sharpened by years of guerrilla fighting with the Fire Nation.

"I can put sand on the fire after a while, but we will need Katara to put out the fires quickly without arousing suspicion from the ship." A new, feminine voice spoke from his left. Toph had joined them… Without the king.

"Where is Kuei?" his son asked, and the blind girl just shrugged her shoulders.

"He wanted to meet his people and travel around a bit. So he left. But he promised to send regular messages so we can keep taps on him." Toph said, as if it wasn't important.

Had the king just… left? Like that. What. An. Idiot.

And he could have been a rallying point for Earth Kingdom rebels. But no! That man had the brains of an otter penguin!

"Well… That was stupid." Sokka sighed, but he seemed resigned.

"More than that. But we can't worry about that. Go!" The last word, he shouted, and the men began to quickly go to their tasks.

He himself turned around and marched back to the tent. Katara needed to know, and could probably help with the ambush part… Spirits, putting both his children in the line of fire. He was really the best dad in the world…

Hakoda entered the tent, and saw how his daughter was undoing the bandages on the Avatar's torso. He didn't slow down, and quickly made his way over to her.

"Come on, we need to go." He spoke, before realizing it probably sounded like they were being attacked and they would flee.

But to his surprise, his daughter just looked up, and he saw the same fire in her eyes as he had seen the first night, when she had claimed that she would kill the Princess Azula.

"How many?" It was the only question, while she stood up.

Spirits… How many times had she fought against Fire Nation soldiers, to be so calm under threat of battle?

"None, for the moment. We are going to ambush a scouting ship, by pretending we have already been defeated. We need to move the Ava… Aang. We need to move Aang." He explained, while grabbing some fresh bandages and handing them to her.

Katara grabbed them quickly and pulled them around the young man. As she was doing that, Hakoda began to scan the tent. His belongings were already outside with the supplies, so those were in safety. But in the three days, he remarked, his daughter had begun to make this tent her own. That chest that she had under her arm the night they arrived stood open in a corner, with scrolls laid around it.

He quickly made his way over to the chest and began to put the papers back. Quickly glancing at them, Hakoda realized he wasn't able to read the words… Another language… Sokka had been right. The Avatar had been teaching Katara his language…

When the scrolls were back inside the chest, he quickly grabbed the pouch on the table to put it inside the chest. But before he was able, he felt a hand on his forearm.

"That doesn't belong in there." His daughter stated, before keeping her hand out. Spirits… If she knew what she was asking to hold… That would be awkward. But he gave it back. The pouch wasn't his, so he couldn't explain why he didn't want her to look inside it.

At that moment, Bato entered the tent, with a stretcher under his arm.

"We are going to burn the tent Hakoda. Aang needs to be moved." He spoke, quickly.

Turning to his daughter, the chief wanted to smile. She had finished bandaging the Avatar, and now, Katara was pulling her hair back, with her eyes closed. At that moment, he finally realized who she looked like. Without Kya's eyes and voice… She was the spitting image of a younger version of his mother.

"Can we move him?"

He knew what he was asking. The first night, Katara had refused that he moved the Avatar, insisting it was Sokka and Bato.

She opened her eyes, and he saw the flicker of hesitation in Kya's eyes. Katara's eyes. But she nodded.

"Grab his legs! I take the arms." He spoke to Bato, and they moved. His friend put the stretcher next to the bed, and Katara quickly pulled one of the pelts from a chair, putting it on the stretcher.

"He would hate it. But it is better." She didn't explain what she said. Why would this boy hate a fur?

Bato grabbed Aang's legs, just underneath the knees, and Hakoda put one arm under the young man's shoulder, and the other, just on his back. He would try to limit the strain on the wound.

They lifted him, and quickly put the Avatar down on the stretcher. Then, bending his knees, Hakoda grabbed handles near the boy's head, while Bato did the same at the feet. Lifting him up, they left the tent, followed closely by Katara. And, behind her, the bison followed, growling softly.

"Where are we going?" She asked him, while she put a hand on the bison's cheek, who calmed down visibly. But still kept those big brown eyes fixed on his master on the stretcher.

"We'll need to hide him and the bison. In case we needed to flee, we had a rendezvous point in the jungle. We'll take him there, and wait for the rest of the men to finish destroying the camp. And then… We'll need your help." Bato spoke from behind him.

"Mine?" Katara answered, her eyes clearly on the airbender. Oh, she would hate this part. It meant leaving the Avatar again, in his care…

"Katara, listen. When the fires are burning, they need to be put out, otherwise the scouting ship will suspect we did it ourselves. We need you to do that."

He didn't know if she was capable of that. Sokka had told him about Katara prowess as a bender, and he had seen the healing part for himself. But he had never seen her… Well… really waterbend. But if Sokka had confidence in her, then he would also.

They passed the tree line, and behind him, he heard the creaking and cracks as the big beast followed, stomping down on branches and making trees bend dangerously to the sides.

"Alright. But if something happens to him…" She spoke, while the emerged in the clearing that had been their destination.

"I'll take care of him." Bato spoke, with his eyes on Hakoda. Katara nodded, and turned around, making her way back to the camp, from which the smell of ashes and smoke were being brought in the wind. The bison lay down next to them, with his eyes on the Avatar, and the small lemur flew down, sitting down next to the hand of the boy, pulling it up, and letting it fall down. The animal looked so sad…

"What are you waiting for?" Bato asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Oh come on, you are curious. You want to see what she is capable of. I saw it written on your face." His friend laughed, waving in the direction of the camp.

"Oh… Thanks." Hakoda quickly began to run back to the tree line, and while going that ways, he crossed paths with most of the tribesmen, going to the clearing.

"Where are my children?" He asked to last one man, who looked over his shoulder.

"I… I've never seen anything like that Hakoda… Tui and La, it is beautiful. Scary. But beautiful." The man whispered while waving in the direction of the beach.

He passed the man, and emerged from the trees. And what he saw… Well, it made him want to weep, and shout of joy.

The weeping part on the fact that most of his lifework, the boats, the camp… Were going up in flames. He saw how his own ship was nothing more than a charred hull and how his tent… Kya's and his… It was gone.

But the joy he felt overwhelmed the sadness.

In front of him, just several yards away, stood Sokka, also looking at the scene in front of him. Katara was… Hauling big bubbles of water out of the bay… And dropping them on the fires. As if it was nothing. And with such graceful movements… It… It was waterbending. For the first time in his life, he saw what it looked like.

His mother had told him what it had been like. Great masters, moving the water as if it was just another part of their body, and making building from it. Fighting with it. Healing with it.

And now, he saw just what that meant. What his daughter was capable of…

Spirits, in a fight, she would be terrifying…

"Impressive, isn't it?" His son suddenly spoke, not taking his eyes off the scene.

"How did you know it was me?" Hakoda asked in surprise, standing next to Sokka.

"Your breathing." He answered, as if it was normal. The chief had always tried to be as stealthy as possible, even when there were only friends around… And now, his son just guessed it was him.

"Yes, it is impressive… I… I didn't realize…"

"Didn't realize how accomplished she actually was, heh? Yeah, many people make that mistake. Pakku in particular. She nearly beat him in a duel, without any training."

His son had told him about Pakku, and his mother had also talked about her ex-fiancée. She had always insisted that he was the best waterbender in the world, but also the stupidest. He didn't answer for the moment, preferring to watch what was happening on the beach. The fire that Katara had put out, was being covered in a small layer of sand by the blind girl, who was walking behind his daughter, whistling and just moving her hand about, as if it was nothing… Spirits, both were prodigies…

"You should see Aang in action. He can do all of that." Sokka continued, still not taking his eyes off the beach. Hakoda looked at his son, and realized he was not only looking at the bending. But was keeping an eye on the horizon.

The Fire Nation ship could be in range by now, and if they saw a water bender, the only one outside the North Pole, they would probably realize who it was. So, Sokka was keeping watch.

"The Avatar is capable of doing all of this?" It seemed… Impossible.

"More. He also has his airbending, and he can combine the three bending arts he knows. That is the scary part. But he never unleashes what he is truly capable of. Something about restraint he always says. But I have seen him when he abandons restraint. You don't want to be near him then."

His daughter put out the last fire, and Toph covered it in sand. What was left was a several days-old battlefield, from which the corpses had been carried off by the animals in the jungle. Or at least, it looked like that to Hakoda.

Sokka spoke again, while Katara and Toph walked towards them.

"There they are." He pointed to a small black spot on the horizon.

Time for battle. Time to show the Fire Nation that they hadn't won. They would prevail. And he would make sure his children and their friends were safe. At least, he could do that.

Answers :

Kalaong : I don't know, but I considered here they already had enough problems, and a teen pregnancy wouldn't help matter lol!

Bay45220 : Yeah, imagine Sokka shouting about oogies while they are getting it one lol!

Dividedbyzero-0: Oh, they will be different! There will still be problems of course, otherwise there wouldn't be a story to tell! But thanks for the compliments!