Unfortunately for the people of the Northern Water Tribe, Aang's return from battle wasn't as jovial as they had hoped.

Despite the best efforts of the young airbender, his skills alone weren't enough to combat the huge invasion force approaching ominously on the horizon. Dozens, possibly hundreds, of Fire Nation warships, all converging upon the point that was the capital city of the North Pole. He had done his best with Appa, the pair of them managing to demobilise and disarm the first by tampering with its catapults and launching them at one another but chose to return to the safety of the tribe after the horrifying sight of the Fire Navy fleet met them.

The first ship that had arrived into the harbour, the very first ship taken out by Aang, lay stranded against the icy cliffs of the North Pole, propped up by icebergs. It had been pulled towards the wall to allow waterbenders to land on deck and imprison any remaining Fire Nation troops for interrogation. The ship had long been deserted once the soldiers were on board however; it was evident by the state of the ship and the prominent lack of escape boats that the crew had fled the ship upon sinking.

It scared Aang to imagine how much damage just one of these ships could wreak. The mighty wall of ice was already beginning to crumble, with large dents in the exterior marking the points of impact from large fireballs. Waterbenders scampered over its surfaces, frantically trying to rebuild the wall before the inevitable next wave of destruction by bending seawater into the gaping holes. Aang saddened at the thought of their valiant but futile efforts of rebuilding, knowing full well that this wall would be completely torn down by the armada converging just out of eyeshot.

Along the wall, Aang spotted Yue. She still donned her think purple coat and was standing atop a watchtower overlooking the wall, giving Aang a concerned look and beckoning for him to come down to her. He guided Appa down towards the balcony of the tower and, once they were right above, Aang jumped down off of Appa's neck and landed gracefully with a gust of air.

Yue's arms were crossed neatly across her chest and her body language conveyed that she was relaxed, but her facial expression and the tone of her voice gave away her calm aura. "Aang, what's going on?" she questioned as soon as Aang approached her. "Why is there a Fire Nation ship here?"

Aang shook his head. "I'm not sure, but they're probably looking for me or your dad. I don't want to stay here and put everyone in danger, but right now I should stay so I can help and fight."

Yue was confused. "What do you mean, stay and fight? There's only one ship and you took care of it already!"

"Uh, not exactly," Aang nervously chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "Is your father around? I kind of need to speak with him."

"Aang, are you certain?" Yue asked the young airbender.

She and Aang had gathered in a room along with Pakku, Arnook, Ren and a number of other people. Inside the room, Aang had been introduced to Hahn, Yue's fiancée and immediately Aang didn't like him. The room a large table whose surface displayed a map of the Northern Water Tribe and the surrounding oceans, where hundreds of little red markers were placed out in the water. Aang had to emphasise just how many Fire Nation ships he had seen by not only putting down all of the red markers indicating Fire Nation, but by putting down some blue ones to illustrate his point. "I'm certain, Yue. Hundreds and hundreds of them, going as far back as I could see. I know I'm hardly a military strategist, but I don't think we can take them."

Arnook stroked his beard. "We've held off many Fire Nation attacks over the past hundred years. Our wall is sturdy, and the cliffs surrounding our city will help to protect us, but I fear you are right. Nevertheless, we can only stay and fight back. I refuse to surrender and allow them to subjugate my people without resistance."

Pakku turned to the Avatar. "Aang, you've got to go out there and try to take out that fleet. You're the only one of us powerful to do so. I know how much the airbenders hate fighting but you don't have a choice here."

Aang grit his teeth and clamped his hands onto his glider, nodding in acknowledgement. "I ran away from the Air Nomads when I was younger, and I wasn't there to protect them. I won't make the same mistake again." He turned his gaze to Arnook. "I'll do whatever I can to slow that fleet down, but I won't be able to hold them off forever. We need to get the citizens to safety and make sure none of them get hurt."

Paku smiled off to the side. Spoken like a true Avatar, he thought to himself. Maybe this boy isn't as much of a lost cause as I thought.

Arnook nodded gravely. "Thank you Avatar." He turned and beckoned towards one of the men standing beside him. "You! Make sure all the citizens are evacuated from the city." The man curtly nodded and dashed out of the room. Arnook's gaze turned to the rest of strangers in the room and beckoned them towards the door. "He'll need help. It won't be long till the Fire Nation arrives. May the Moon and Ocean Spirits bless and guide you all."

Pakku was next to leave. "I'm going to prepare the men for battle," he told his superior. "Our best hope against the firebenders is to defend our wall. If they manage to break past that, then…" Pakku trailed off. "Good luck to you all. And Aang," he said over his shoulder as he left the room, "please try not to die. I don't want to have to train another Avatar."

"So considerate," Aang snorted under his breath.

"I heard that, Avatar."

Arnook cleared his throat to stop the banterous back-and-forth between master and student. "Hahn, gather a group of non-benders with you. I want you to try and infiltrate the warships and find whoever's in charge, and take them out."

Hahn nodded. "But how will we know who he is?" he asked.

"His name is Zhao. Tall, insane, really long sideburns," Aang responded, pointing down his cheeks as if to demonstrate Zhao's facial hairs.

Hahn raised his eyebrows before pointing a suspicious finger towards Aang. "How come you know so much about the Fire Nation? Are you a spy sent by this 'Zoo' guy to infiltrate our tribe? Are you trying to trick us into losing?"

"Stop it Hahn, you know he's not a spy. He's the Avatar," Yue scolded her future husband. "Just go and do your job."

"Okay babe," Hahn replied, wiggling his eyebrows in a way that made Aang uncomfortable. "I'll see you later." He winked, and Yue rolled her eyes, clearly disgusted by his actions. Why him? Yue thought distastefully. I get that it's to bring unity to the tribe, but of all people, why does it have to be Hahn?

Once Hahn had left, Yue then turned to her father. "What about me? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Arnook sighed, and shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I'd advise you to go and hide somewhere, but knowing my daughter, you're hardly going to do that." He smiled. "Just stay safe. Ren will accompany you at all times as a personal guard." He then turned to Aang. "I suggest you leave now though, boy. We need as much time as possible to face this army so I need you to go out there and slow down the Fire Nation as much as possible."

"I won't let you down!"Aang exclaimed and promptly ran out the door to where Appa was sitting.

"Father, I want to help," Yue said, once Aang had left. "I know you said you need me to stay safe and all, but I don't want to be a liability."

Arnook stroked his beard again, and sighed. "I cannot turn down such endeavours for leadership. It is promising for our future leader. Fine. I am headed to the wall to organise our forces and to provide support. You are more than welcome to accompany me."

Yue gleamed. "Thank you Father," she said with a bow. "You won't regret this!"

Although Katara, Sokka and Bato had every intent of remaining in the town for a few days, they left almost immediately after hearing the news from the salesman.

After their discussion with the salesman, they quickly went about further preparation for their sudden, but necessary, mission. They donned their Earth Kingdom garb and packed their old clothes within their packs, which they left with their mounts. A nearby cabbage merchant was more than willing to look after their rides while they were gone once he had learned of their mission. He hoped that through this stealth operation, the town could finally be rid of the bullies that had pestered them for money and food ever since their arrival. Although, he quickly regretted his decision to watch after the ostrich horses after Beaky quickly took a liking to his cabbages, much to his dismay. Katara had heard him screaming, "My cabbages!" when they were walking away and leaving town, and laughed a little to herself.

Word had spread like wildfire of their plans within the village. Sokka had learned that the encampment they stayed at was approximately half a day's walk north of the village and that there was 3 Fire Nation soldiers, Katara found shelter for them for the night before they would embark from a gracious old woman who owned an inn, and Bato found out from the village elders about increased Fire Nation activity near the Northern Water Tribe and plans of an attack on Ba Sing Se. That last piece of news had shocked Bato and he wasn't sure how to handle this information. Of course, their priority was to re-join Hakoda, but if Ba Sing Se was to fall it would mean the end of the Earth Kingdom for sure.

That evening, there was an unspoken tension between the three as they prepared themselves for the next day in the inn. For Bato, this signified his return to combat after months of being sidelined after his arm was horrifically burned after a firebender attack, a wound that had scarred him permanently. He didn't speak to either sibling, preferring to mellow in his own preconceived confidence and plan out their attack for the following day. He figured, since that there were only three Fire Nation soldiers, a sneak attack would work well. If they could isolate one of the group the rest would be outnumbered and they should be able to claim victory. He smiled to himself. He had always had a knack for strategy and he was glad he was able to implement his skills for the first time in months.

On the contrary, Katara and Sokka were much more conflicted with the plan. They were, first of all, slightly scared. This was the first time that they would properly attack the Fire Nation, rather than the other way around. And neither sibling was sure if they were willing to go to the same lengths as Bato to retrieve the prisoner. Bato was a man of war, who had been fighting for over 5 years before his injury. He would surely feel less remorse if the situation required taking one of the soldiers' lives than either Katara and Sokka.

The predicament kept them both awake well into the night. Neither party could sleep after Bato recommended they both rest before dozing off himself. It must've been around midnight when she heard Sokka whisper from across the room.

"Psst. You awake?"

"Well I wasn't, until you just woke me up," she lied.

"If you were asleep, then you wouldn't have heard me."

"Fine. I've been awake this whole time. You got me." She rolled over on her bed to face Sokka who was lying on the other side of the room, Bato sleeping in between them on a thin mat.

"You thinking about tomorrow?" she asked Sokka.

"Yeah. It just feels weird, y'know, to actually be fighting back for once. I know that this is what I've wanted to do ever since Dad left 6 years ago, but still, it feels strange."

"I know what you mean." She paused. "Do you think this person is worth it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know… like are they worth switching our attention for? Should we not just focus on finding Dad first?"

Sokka paused. "I think this is the right thing to do. They're from our tribe and if they stay with those Fire Nation troops, spirits knows what will happen to them. And besides, it's only a day out of schedule. We'll be fine."

"I guess so." Katara rolled back over, facing the wall, trying to go to sleep yet something still nagged at her. "Hey Sokka?"

"Yeah Katara?" She was almost surprised to hear that he was still awake. Maybe the same thing is bothering him, she thought.

"Do you think we'll have to… kill them? The soldiers I mean."

Sokka took a sharp intake of breath and hesitated. She had unwittingly struck Sokka exactly where he was most conflicted, where he was most torn. Between Sokka the kid and Sokka the tribal warrior. On one hand, he wanted to prove to Bato and Hakoda that he could be one of them, that he had the capacity to take a life during a war. But on the other hand, fifteen-year-old Sokka didn't feel ready. It was only a year ago when he had first built up the courage to kill a seal for jerky, and even then he had spent a good day or two mourning. He had built a façade of a willing and budding hunter during this time but he recognised that it was just that: a façade. He didn't have the same guts his dad did.

Hakoda had always been brave. Sokka thought back to the day the Southern Raiders attacked their village and took Kya from them, when his father had fought firebenders singlehandedly with nothing but his bone club. Sokka was awestruck, overcome by his father's adversity in the face of utmost danger so much that his desire to live up to Hakoda's legend became of paramount importance to his very own existence. But since that day, Sokka had been unable to do that. Kanna had led the tribe in Hakoda's absence rather than Sokka, adult women began to lead the hunts instead of Sokka, Katara even began to fish to make up for Sokka's self-imposed incompetence.

Killing one of these firebenders could give Sokka a chance at redemption, though. This proof, this undeniable piece of evidence, that Sokka had grown into a man of his own accord, and Hakoda would have no choice but to accept him not as a son, but as an equal. Sokka would become a soldier of the war, a proper man, the sort of guy that maybe a girl like Suki would be proud of. He could return home with all the accolades a man could muster, and he would, maybe one day, be pronounced Chief, not because of his heritage with Hakoda but because of his own merits, his own achievements and accomplishments, his own qualities of leadership, his own identity as a man.

But then again, was he a man if he took a human life? Since when had his rite of passage to adulthood resulted in having to take another's life? Wasn't it wrong to kill? If that was the case, Aang was more of a man than he could ever be, despite being three years the Avatar's senior. All his hullabaloo about never taking life had begun to rub off on him just as he had begun to feel that his mask of bravery was finally settling itself down into his personality, but what if it was right? A firebender might be objectively evil, yes. But they're still human. Their opinions and worldviews were likely corrupted by distorted Fire Nation propaganda, their agendas forced, their actions ordered to them by higher ranking units who were ordered to order by someone higher up. Even those, at the top of the positional ladder, were still human and held their own lives and families. Was it right for Sokka to justify taking something so unique and precious off the face of their world just because they had different opinions, just because he felt it would make him a man? Or was it more manly to give mercy, to allow repentance for mistakes, to be the better person and turn the other cheek?

He didn't know. After all, he was only fifteen. He should just be worrying about girls, not the philosophies of warfare and adulthood. I'm beginning to sound like Aang. But I suppose that's not quite a bad thing.

"Sokka? Sokka, are you still awake?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry sis, just lost in thought. What was your question again?"

"Do you think we'll have to kill them?

"I don't know, Katara, I really don't know. But you should get some sleep, there's no point worrying now. Night, sis."

Katara yawned. "Good night, Sokka. See you in the morning." She closed her eyes and Sokka could hear her breath slow to a regular sleeping pace, indicating Sokka's isolation in the night. But he was tired himself, and he knew that he was bound to have an eventful day tomorrow. There was no use fretting.

But just before he dozed off to a troubled sleep he whispered, not really to anyone or himself, in response to Katara's question.

"I really hope not."

Aang returned to the wall that evening not with the honour of victory but with the burden of failure upon his shoulders. He had fully exerted himself, yet he seemed to only have dented the numbers of the armada.

After leaving Yue, Arnook and Ren at the meeting room, Aang had immediately flown off alongside Appa to confront the Fire Nation armies converging upon the North Pole. By this point, the boats were well within sight of the tribe and panic was ensuing along the main wall as troops scrambled about to make last minute preparations. Aang knew that these soldiers were not trained to deal with such a huge force and he felt determined to prevent them from coming into harm's way.

But try as he might, his efforts against the fleet were in vain. He had managed to take down about a dozen or so of the ships but the flaming maelstrom of hurtling fireballs became too much for the bison and rider alike to cope with. Aang's airbending clothes had been badly burnt, and he was frustrated by his lack of progress. It had seemed that every time he dismantled one of the boats, another three would come to its place.

So he returned to the wall, battered and disappointed, to the concerned figure of Yue and Ren, who stood stoically behind her. He glided Appa down towards the wall and cautiously climbed off of his back, too weak and tired to try jumping down from above. As soon as he had clambered down off his back, Yue had run up to him and squatted down slightly so that she was on eye level with Aang. She placed her hand on his shoulder and asked, as a concerned sister would ask her brother, "Aang, are you okay?"

Aang panted, still trying to regain his composure after battle. "I can't do it… I can't do it."

"What happened?" Yue inquired, trying to keep the urgency out of her voice. Ren had caught up with the pair by now and stood over Yue, a frown plastered across his face.

"I must've taken down at least a dozen Fire Navy ships but there's just too many of them. I can't fight them all," Aang replied dimly, his voice devoid of energy or willpower.

"B-but you have to! You're the Avatar!"

"I'm just one kid." His face was solemn, and it was clear to Ren that the young Avatar was completely drained. He placed his hand on Yue's shoulder causing her to turn her head and face him with pleading eyes.

"There's no use dwelling on the past. Right now, Aang needs to rest. The other warriors can hold down the fort until tomorrow morning. There's no way the firebenders risk attacking us at nightfall."

"Why not?" Aang had been helped to his feet by Yue and his staff when he had asked the question. He was curious, as night time would have seemed to Aang the most logical time for the Fire Navy to attack.

Yue jumped in before Ren could reply. "The legends say that the moon was the first waterbender. Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned to do it ourselves. Our strength comes from the spirit of the moon and our life comes from the spirit of the ocean. They work together to keep balance."

Ren stepped forward. "That's why the Fire Navy wouldn't dare attack us at night. Waterbending is more powerful and enhanced during the night, due to our spiritual affinity with the moon. We'd wipe them out easily if we fought them at night."

Aang paused, as if contemplating in his own thoughts before he beamed and exclaimed euphatically, "Maybe I can find the moon and ocean spirits and get them to help!"

"You can do that?" Ren and Yue asked, in unison.

"I'm the bridge between the Spirit World and the physical world. I'm able to talk to spirits!." But…" he reconsidered. "I've only been into the Spirit World once, and it was only by accident. I don't know how I'm going to get in there again."

"I have an idea. Follow me." She stood up and beckoned for Aang and Ren to follow her as she began to walk back to the main palace.

The Spirit Oasis seemed both so familiar yet unlike anything Aang had ever seen. It was nothing to marvel at; a small garden with a quaint little pond, surrounded by grass and streams with footbridges crossing over them, yet the fact that flora was simply growing in the North Pole had him in awe. Not only that, but he was confused as to how such a place in an icy tundra could be so warm. It didn't affect him; he always kept his body temperature regulated no matter what with his airbender breathing, but it was warm enough for Ren and Yue to shed their thick fur jackets.

Yue had led the pair here once the moon had risen, and Appa and Aang had had their share of rest after their valiant efforts earlier that day, although not much recovery could actually be afforded with the non-stop chattering of Momo in their ears. The lemur was clearly concerned with the burn marks on Aang's clothes and the weariness of his bison comrade, but Aang waved him off with the incentive of food. After food and a small nap, Yue brought Aang and Ren to the back of the palace, where a hidden courtyard and a circular wooden door appeared. Ren was amazed by the sight; he had always dreamt of visiting the Spirit Oasis, the most sacred place for any waterbender in the world and he was dumbstruck by how he had never in all his years alive seen where the oasis was.

Aang ran to the back of the oasis, where the waning gibbous moon cast shadows of the tree onto the limber blades of grass. He flopped to the ground and simply rolled, laughing with glee. "I never thought I'd miss grass this much!" he exclaimed.

Yue smiled. "This is the centre of all spiritual energy in our land. That's also why it's so warm in here."

Aang stood up and walked towards the pond, where he could see two koi fish circling one another in a seemingly endless dance. "You're right Yue, I can feel a lot of spiritual energy coming from this place," he said passively, entranced by the two creatures below him. He sighed contentedly after watching them for a few moments more, and sat down in a lotus position by the waterside. He closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply, and Yue and Ren could only stand and watch in awe as the Avatar's tattoos began to glow with a brilliant blue light.

After a few moments of stunned silence, Ren broke the quiet. "Well, that was easy. What do we do now?"

Yue paused, not taking her eyes off the ethereal sight of Aang. "I'm not sure. I guess we wait?"

Ren nodded. "Understood, Princess. We'll stay and keep guard over Aang. I'd imagine that his spirit will need to return to his body once he's done so we probably shouldn't move him."

"Seems fair enough. Maybe we should get someone else to watch us?"

"That won't be necessary Yue. I'm the best bender this tribe has to offer spare Pakku. I think I can handle this."

"Good. That way I only have to deal with one of you." A raspy, hateful voice emerged from the shadows, jolting Ren into an immediate defensive stance with a stream of water curled around his arms and shocking Yue into a stifled scream. Ren was on razor's edge, crouched down with his knees bent as the vessel of the voice slowly strode out of the darkness. He wore plain, insulating clothes with a rope tied around his chest but what really caught Ren's attention was the face. It was ridden with black and blue, clear markings of a recent scuffle, and a hideously disfiguring burn mark was scarred over his left eye.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Ren demanded, his icy blue stare meeting the boy's piercing golden stare.

"I want the Avatar," the assailant responded. "Hand him over and I won't have to hurt you."

Ren glowered. "Yue, get out of here. Find help immediately!" he roared over his shoulder to her frightened figure, who took the opportunity to bolt to the wooden door for Appa and Momo. "Now, where were we," Ren growled, turning back to face the man. "Who are you? What do you want with the Avatar?"

The attacker scowled. "Filthy peasant, I am Fire Prince Zuko, heir to the throne of the Fire Nation. Now hand me the Avatar or else!" With that, his hands balled into clenched fists and small daggers of flame spurted out from within his grasp. He bent his legs and took a fighting stance, fire blades pointed towards Ren.

"Over my dead body."

The corner of Zuko's mouth twitched into a smile. "As you wish."

Zuko released his fists and kicked up his leg, sending a fire blast hurtling towards Ren who conjured up a water shield to absorb the attack. As soon as the shield was lowered, Zuko was on the offensive again, firing scathingly hot fireballs from his fists towards Ren who used the water wrapped around his arms to disorientate some of the projectiles launched towards him. Ren found an opening as Zuko readied himself for a larger, more ferocious attack and sent forth a surging stream of water at Zuko's chest, knocking him off balance and sending him hurtling onto his back a few metres away.

"He's mine, filthy peasant. Get out of my way!" Zuko roared, jumping back to his feet in a swift, acrobatic move. Before he could get any closer however, Ren froze the water surrounding Zuko's feet, immobilising him. He proceeded to wave his arms around wildly to form a sphere of water around Zuko and as the firebender desperately launched fireballs to try and escape the vortex, Ren froze it, trapping Zuko inside. Zuko stared at Ren through the translucent ice, glaring at Ren with such fury his sight was almost burning holes through his makeshift prison.

"The Avatar's found himself a waterbending master, hasn't he?" Zuko mumbled through the ice.

Ren grimaced. "He has." He was still undecided on his thoughts about joining Aang after the invasion, but he supposed now wasn't the time to contemplate this.

The ball began to glow with an ominous orange hue and the surface of the globe began to hiss and melt, small tendrils of steam faintly rising. The light continued to increase, changing colour to yellow then to a blinding white, before the globule shattered and Zuko emerged, sending flames flying around the oasis. He fired attacks at Ren, who either dodged or blocked Zuko's attacks with a water shield. Before Ren could make a counter-attack against Zuko however, he had slipped aside and tried to grab Aang by the collar with the intent of stealing him.

"Don't touch him!" Ren screamed, whipping around, firing a waterblast with such throttle Zuko was slammed against the icy wall of the oasis. He summoned a hefty sum of fluid from the pond and just as Zuko staggered back to his feet, Ren sent a miniature tidal wave crashing against Zuko and freezing upon impact, leaving him encased in solid ice against the wall apart from his face and arms, which dangled limply from his unconsciousness.

Seeing Zuko's imprisonment, Yue re-entered the Spirit Oasis and gingerly walked up to Zuko's limp form. "Is he… you know…"

Ren responded harshly: "He's breathing. Don't go near him." Yue looked slightly taken aback by his tone, and Ren immediately felt apologetic. "Sorry, Princess, he's just a very dangerous firebender. You should go get some sleep. I'll keep watch."

Yue eyed him cautiously, but nonetheless walked over to the tree near Aang's seated lotus position, its bark scathed with burns. "Okay. Wake me if you need anything," she yawned, stretching her arms above her head and almost immediately falling into a deep sleep.

Zuko remained there for the rest of the night, while Ren sat, attentive, staring down Zuko and making sure he didn't try anything else to escape. The night was long and arduous, and Ren couldn't help but marvel at his predicament.

How in Tui's name had this happened? Only a week ago, he had every intent of finally being granted the title of waterbending master from Pakku and setting out to defend their nation in the war. Now, he was protecting a strange twelve-year-old kid with glowing arrow tattoos, a princess with hair blanched whiter than sea foam, and an angsty firebending prince that had half his face burned off. Why him?

Ren must've been thinking for a while because as night slowly but surely turned to dawn, he had been gradually falling asleep. He was exhausted from fighting Zuko who, he had to admit, was a powerful firebender despite his younger age and from constantly fretting over Aang. His eyelids were drooping when the first rays of sunlight caressed the frozen prince's face.

Zuko felt the heat, felt it course through his veins, felt it fuel his heart with desire and power. "You rise with the moon," he whispered to himself, his body charging up with newfound energy, "I rise with the sun."

His face scrunched and whipped up, taking in the sight of the still-sleeping princess, the glowing Avatar and the drowsy waterbending lazily guarding him. Determined, he breathed steam from his nose and melted the ice suddenly before Ren could react. He dropped to the ground and fired a powerful blast at Ren, who was sent flying towards a pole marking the entry to the oasis.

Ren's vision tunnelled, his mind losing consciousness. He flopped to the ground sprawled on his side, the impact of the fire blast hitting the nearby ground sending him flying. He could see and hear with his last moments of thought Yue squealing in fright and Zuko trudging over to Aang and holding him up by the collar. He limply raised an arm out, trying to reach Aang desperately but only received a disapproving frown from Zuko.

Then all went black.

Katara woke with two hands firmly shaking her shoulders and the sounds of "…get up, Katara! It's time to leave" ringing throughout her ears. Sokka was standing over her, dressed in his Earth Kingdom clothes and a holster for his boomerang dangling from his shoulder, and had painted his face with the same black, grey and white hues he sported during Zuko's raid. Bato stood beside him, wearing a similar complexion and with a club dangling from his belt.

Katara rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Alright, I'm up, I'm up," she grumbled, her hair messily done after the night's sleep. She walked over to the bathroom, yawning as she did so, and got ready as fast as she could. To be fair, it didn't take her as long as it did Bato and Sokka, probably due to the fact that she didn't need to wear the same warrior makeup. She, as a woman, had never been considered a warrior and was expected to take on more 'womanly' duties like motherhood. Of course, she hated this but these tasks were pretty much forced upon her after the loss of her mother. What she would give, to have her back…

She slid into her Earth Kingdom garb, nothing more than a pair of pants, a long sleeve undershirt and a vest and slung to water skins around her body, which she later filled up from a communal well within the village. She tied her hair back into a single ponytail and returned to Bato and Sokka, who had finished packing their bags. They were going to leave them with the ostrich horses in the time being, and were only packing essentials like food, water, and first aid supplies.

"Okay, I'm all set," Katara exclaimed, distracting Sokka and Bato from their work. "What's the plan?"

Sokka stood up from his cross-legged position on the floor, where he had been packing his few clothes and personal belongings away into a woven sack he planned to carry with him on the small journey. "I think we should leave as soon as possible. Get there, scout the place out, see how many firebenders there are, figure out strategy." He pounded his fist into his palm, and spoke with a forceful tone, "And then when night time comes we take them out." But Katara could see the flitter of fear and fright within his eyes that gave away his hidden feelings on the ambush.

Bato, again unaware of the unspoken communications between the two siblings, headed for the door with his own small bag hung over his shoulder. He turned the hand and the first rays of the morning sun splayed onto the wooden floorboards "Then we haven't a moment to lose. Let's get going."

Author's Notes:

I don't really like this chapter that much and I feel like in some of the earlier scenes in the Northern Water Tribe it was kind of stale so I apologise for crappy writing. Hopefully the next few chapters can run more smoothly because they'll be diverging a bit more from the regular storyline, that way I have more freedom for my narrative choices.

I actually really enjoyed writing that bit about Sokka in the middle. I think that his character is one of the most complex in the show, and I think his aspirations to be like his dad weren't explored nearly enough for my liking. Because we already know that Sokka wants to impress his dad but I wanted to go into more detail about how he maybe feels as if he's living in Hakoda's shadow. I got some inspiration from it from Zuko's relationship with Ozai in regards to trying to impress their paternal figures, and I think the two different father-son bonds are actually kind of similar, minus the whole Ozai-tried-to-kill-Zuko-in-an-Agni-Kai-and-banished-him thing. I'm thinking of exploring it more later, but probably more about the aspects of Sokka becoming a man in his own right rather than living up to Hakoda.

Also, I apologise if this chapter took a while to come out. I've been loaded with schoolwork lately that's given me little time to write and edit, and I wanted to release the whole story of the Northern Water Tribe at once rather than splitting it into a two-parter. It wasn't the greatest writing either and I apologise, I promise I'll try and make it up to you all.