The Avatar Strikes Back

by MegaBob452

A contaminated world, a menaced empire, brought together by mutual interference. A year has passed since the saiyans departed, their actions still leaving their mark on the galaxy at large and one little blue marble in particular. Earth is unprepared for the nightmares ahead, while the Empire finds wonders in an unexpected place.

47. Snow Day

Chapter 47: Snow Day

While his nephew's mission took him north, Iroh's mission brought him south.

Traveling with Suki through the southern lands of the Earth Kingdom, they avoided the roads and travelled by water instead. The rivers were narrow and deep, the currents fast and treacherous, carrying their small canoe quickly toward the southeastern coast. There were the occasional rapids and waterfalls that needed to be avoided, and even an earthen dam or two, but nothing that was insurmountable on this journey. The river grew larger as they traveled downstream, joined by several other rivers flowing together, approaching the wide river delta flowing into the southern seas.

Suki was sitting in the front of the canoe, and she took a break from rowing when she saw the open sea up ahead. "I forgot how long it's been since I've seen the ocean."

"We have been landlocked for some time," Iroh admitted. He was sitting in the back, hand on the rudder and steering the canoe. "It is nice to sail the sea again."

They continued onward and crossed the threshold between fresh and salt water, watched the shoreline pass on both the left and the right, and went out into the open ocean. Fortunately they arrived while the tide was going out, allowing them to continue riding the currents with minimal effort. Iroh turned the canoe to the south, and Suki rowed against the current now, keeping the shore on the right-hand side, heading further south. It wouldn't be long before they reached the southeastern corner of the continent, and they could see the ancient worn-down mountains on the horizon.

"Our contact should be up ahead," Iroh said.

Suki stopped rowing and took out a spyglass, but she didn't see anything in the distance. "I'm not seeing anything yet. Do you think he might be late?"

"Just wait," Iroh said. "He'll be here."

They had to wait about another hour, and by then the continent was just a speck of land on the northwestern horizon. That was when the water swelled upward in front of the canoe, as if the ocean was about to swallow them whole. The water burst like a massive bubble, and a wide platform of ice formed at the bottom of what used to be a large air pocket. Standing on the ice was a tall old man, half bald with long grey hair hanging from the back of his head, wearing the thick blue furs of the Water Tribe.

Iroh stood up and bowed to this old man, surrounded by other waterbenders standing on the ice. "Pakku, it is good to see you again."

Pakku made the ice mold around the approaching canoe, catching it without damaging it. "I see you are faring well Iroh. Shall we get underway?"

"Of course," Iroh said. He looked at the dozen waterbenders standing around Pakku. "I hope your students are up to the task."

"They are," Pakku assured him.

The waterbenders sprang into action, melting the ice and riding on the waves with waterbending. They surrounded the canoe and enveloped it with water, recreating a large bubble of air, and forcing it beneath the surface of the ocean. From there the waterbenders made the underwater bubble move southward, faster than many naval ships on the surface, and completely hidden from aerial view. The only drawback was the need to breach the surface regularly to replenish the air supply, but that was worth it to travel quickly across the sea without being detected by imperial patrols.

"This is very strange," Suki said, watching the water pass by all around her. "Is anyone else feeling a little seasick?"

He wouldn't admit it, but Iroh was looking a little queasy. "You will be fine."

The trip across the southern seas took a couple of days, with periodic rest on small islands, once or twice on manmade icebergs instead. The further south they went the colder the air and water became, but Iroh's firebending helped mitigate that discomfort. Soon they were seeing natural icebergs, far more impressive to see from below than above, and quite the obstacle to underwater travel. It forced them to surface at the edge of the icebergs, and from there they would have to walk the rest of the way to the Southern Water Tribe.

After half a day's walk they arrived, and Pakku did not like what he saw. "They have been quite busy since I was last here."

Suki looked ahead with the spyglass, not liking the sight either. "Of course they have…"

The Empire had taken over the Southern Water Tribe some time ago, having set up an outpost around the frozen villages at the bottom of the world. Civilization here had been on the road to recovery after the Hundred Year War, with assistance from the Northern Tribe and the Earth Kingdom, built to the size equal to that of a small Fire Nation city before the Empire arrived. Now the settlement was being rebuilt in the imperial image, one building at a time, limited only by the amount of resources dedicated to this part of the world.

"We will need to be careful," Iroh said.

"Fortunately, our contact is outside those walls," Pakku said, eyeing the fortifications built around the southern tribe. "We should be able to avoid detection by taking the long way around."

Still they needed to be careful when traversing these lands, for imperial patrols crossed the sky regularly. When those patrols passed overhead the waterbenders would create new snowdrifts to cover them, the change in terrain unnoticed as the ever-shifting snow constantly altered the appearance of the landscape. After getting around the outpost they travelled toward a glacier in the distance, though they didn't need to go all the way there. Halfway across the tundra they came across a cave carved from packed snow, virtually invisible when view from above.

"I take it this is the place?" Suki assumed.

"Yes, it is," Pakku answered.

For a second there, Suki thought the old man looked uncomfortable. Put that was a passing moment, and Pakku led the way into this snow cave. Iroh and Suki were right behind him, and the waterbenders followed, closing the entrance to the cave behind them. Deep inside they found a barebones settlement beneath the tundra, with rooms carved right out of the snow. Lots of young people were going about their business, and they quickly got of the way of the new arrivals. At the back it looked like there was an igloo sticking out of the wall, and the waterbenders stayed outside while everyone else went in.

They were greeted by an elderly woman, short from age and with some of her gray hair in loops around her ears. "Pakku… Iroh… it's good to see you arrived safely."

Iroh gave a polite bow. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kanna."

Hearing that name reminded Suki of the person that once described this woman to her. "So you're Katara's grandmother."

"I am," Kanna said, smiling at the mention of her granddaughter. "She has been looking forward to your arrival. Staying cooped up at home has never sat well with her."

"We're told that she's not the only resistance fighter stuck down here," Pakku said. "I believe Sokka is here as well, and someone that your messenger would not identify."

"Yes, he is," Kanna confirmed. She turned and started walking deeper into this home away from home. "Come now, and be quiet please."

Kanna led them further in, going through frozen hallways, and entered a large and warm room at the back. In the room there was a narrow bed, several chairs around it, and a table with basic medical tools on it. Sitting in one of those chair was Sokka, having dozed off and was still sleeping when his grandmother came inside. In another chair, leaning over the bed with hand coated in water, Katara was at work healing someone. This patient of hers was lying face down in the bed, the burn on his back having become an ugly scar over the year.

Katara was almost finished with this healing session when she saw familiar faces coming in. "Master Pakku, Suki, Iroh, it's good to see you all again."

"It has been quite a long time," Pakku said. "I was surprised when we heard you had returned home."

"Well we didn't have any other option at the time," Katara said. That was when she noticed her brother was still sleeping, and she gently shook him by the shoulder. "Sokka, wake up. We've got company."

It took a few shakes to wake him, and Sokka's head turned toward each person in turn. "Wha… oh, right, we got that message out. Hi Suki, sorry we took so long to get back."

"You went to space without me," Suki said. "I knew I should have gone up there with you guys."

"It got a lot weirder than you would have imagined," Sokka said. He looked at the two old men beside Suki. "Pakku, Iroh, I presume you're our ride out of here?"

"You can put it that way, yes," Pakku said.

Meanwhile Iroh had walked over to the opposite side of the bed, looking down at the young man in it. "Who is this?"

Katara turned back to her patient, placed a hand coated in water on the side of the man's head, and a moment of healing glow roused him from deep sleep. "Luke, we're done for now."

Slowly Luke got up and sat on the bed, ignoring everyone else and looking at Katara. "How long was I out this time?"

"Only half a day," Katara answered. She put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him, and held up a shirt in her other hand. "It's getting better. You're getting better. We just need to keep at it."

Luke put on the clean blue shirt, covering the scar on his back, and stood up next to Katara. "I take it these are your friends?"

"Yes," Katara said. She held her hand out to the others. "Luke, they are Suki, Pakku, and Iroh."

Walking over the shorter old man, Luke held out his hand. "I take it you lead the local resistance?"

"That would be Kori," Suki said. "We're just here because she couldn't make the trip."

"Did something happen to her?" Sokka asked.

"Yes, but she's recovering," Suki answered. "I'm sure she'll be back on her feet by the time we return."

Now that the reintroductions were complete, there was a problem Kanna wanted to address. "Now you all saw what the invaders did to our home, yes?"

"We did," Iroh said. "It looked like they built a fortress around it."

"And they're keeping many of our families trapped inside," Kanna said. "We only managed to escape because of my grandchildren here."

"It was mostly Katara," Sokka said.

Kanna ignored that remark. "If we're going to survive for much longer, we need to get our families out of there. Will you help us do it?"

"Do you really need to ask?" Pakku said. "Of course we'll help."

"Now that you're here, we have the firepower to do something," Katara said.

"Let's get to it then," Suki said. "I assume you have a plan."

"I've been working on one," Sokka said. "It's a little crazy, but I think it will work."

"Let's get going," Luke said. "We're not going to get it done sitting around here."

So the group set out to do it, heading back out into the frozen tundra. They emerged from the frozen cave, and once everyone was outside the entrance was closed by waterbenders. It was getting close to sundown, the moon rising from the horizon, promising good waterbending this night. There was a blizzard on the horizon, still a few hours away, which would be useful cover in addition to the night. In the light of the setting sun everyone could see imperial patrols keeping their distance from the blizzard, many trying to land as soon as possible.

Watching the patrol ships vanishing behind the walls of the settlement, Sokka was pondering possible scenarios this presented. "Hmm…"

"Getting any ideas?" Katara asked.

"A few," Sokka said. "They really don't like the weather. The storm is grounding their air support."

"We still need to get past those walls first," Suki said. "And then we still have to deal with their ground forces inside, and arrange to get everyone out safely."

"Never said it would be easy," Sokka said. "Let's get to it. The storm isn't going to last forever."

The blizzard finally hit the settlement, and the group got to work. The waterbenders manipulated the falling snow around everyone, creating a white veil that concealed them and erased their tracks behind them. Even the spotlights on the walls couldn't penetrate the thick snow, the intense lights scattering halfway through the veil. Of course, the people inside the snow veil couldn't see either, but they just needed to move in a straight line and not drift off course. Still, they got far closer to the walls than they would have otherwise, nearly walking straight into them.

Katara threw a rope of water to the top of the wall and pulled herself up, landing on the wall behind a pair of stormtroopers complaining about the snow. She snared both of them in a waterwhip and threw them off the wall, their screams quickly silenced by waterbenders that caught them. Pakku made the climb up next, and with help from his students they ferried up everyone three at a time. They still couldn't see more than a few feet in front of them, and were thankful that it kept them from being spotted.

Climbing down the inner side of the wall was much simpler, for the snow on the ground cushioned the drop. Once everyone was off the wall the waterbenders dispelled the veil of snow, needing sight more than cover now. Visibility was still shot, but at least down here they could see corners of two closest buildings, and the void in between was an alley. In single file they walked down the alley, letting the falling snow fill in their footsteps behind them. As long as each person stayed close enough to whoever was in front of them, they wouldn't lose anyone along the way.

Fortunately there weren't any patrols in the streets of the settlement, the severe weather having forced the imperials to take shelter. Heading further in, it became clear that the imperials had taken a minimalist approach to the settlement. They had simply constructed their buildings around what was already here, and then put up the walls around that. So after passing by a few rows of imperial buildings they came across traditional Water Tribe architecture, though by now there was already a foot of snow covering everything and growing thicker by the minute.

"We need to get out of the storm," Suki said. She was stumbling through the snow, breathing into her hands to try and keep warm. "Pretty sure my face is numb."

Iroh was faring better, able to keep himself warm for obvious reasons. "We've gotten past their defenses, but the storm is too much to work in, even for waterbenders."

"We do need to look for the civilians," Sokka said. "Let's go inside one of these houses and ask around."

"In here," Katara said, going for the closest house and opening the front door. "We should be… fine…"

Opening the door revealed a detachment of stormtroopers inside, having appropriated the house for shelter from the storm. They were quite surprised to see anyone barging in, having been enjoying a respite at the moment, their blasters holstered with safeties on. As such they were unprepared when Katara melted snow and flooded the room, hitting all of the stormtroopers and then freezing them to the far wall. She was finished before she even stepped inside, and she took a moment to tidy up the mess she made.

"Okay, inside, quickly," Katara said, ushering in everyone one by one. "And someone make sure they can't call for help."

Sokka and Luke got to that, being the most qualified to do so. They got to work removing the helmets, which were exposed in the ice. Some of the stormtroopers tried to complain or make threats, but one of the waterbenders silenced them with ice over their mouths. The radios were built directly into the helmets, and without them there would be no calling for help. Luke did some tinkering with one of them, discovering which imperial frequency was being used here, and allowing them to listen in on enemy communications.

"-ere goes the weather sat," some older imperial's voice complained. "Nothing is getting through this storm."

A younger imperial's voice responded, though the static suggested he was further away. "Hunker down- -til it's done. Make the- -clear the snow- -useful for once."

"If we had enough to go around," the first voice continued to complain.

By then the rest of the house had been checked out, and Katara was pulling back a large rug on the floor. "Okay, this one's connected. That will save us some time."

Iroh spotted a trapdoor she had uncovered. "Crude, but simple."

Pakku watched Katara open the trapdoor and access the hole in the ground beneath it. "You had an underground tunnel network this entire time?"

"It doesn't extend very far," Katara said.

"We'd only just started making it before we had to leave," Sokka said. "Hopefully people are taking shelter in there."

"Let's find out," Suki said.

One by one they dropped into the hole, entering the meager tunnels beneath the settlement. The space was small and cramped down there, requiring almost everyone to crouch to avoid hitting their heads on the ceiling. Iroh was in front, short enough to stand comfortably, and holding a flame in his hand to provide light for everyone. Despite the walls being made of frozen dirt and ice it was warm in the tunnel, the permafrost being surprisingly effective insulation. It was not a long walk before they saw more light up ahead, and the tunnel opened up into a wider space.

It looked like a small frozen cavern, barely larger than any of the houses above. A couple dozen people were inside, most of them children, watched over by the handful of adults carving into the walls to widen the place. At first they were scared to have been discovered, but were relieved when they realized it was not imperials entering their little shelter. The children rushed the people entering the cavern, glad to see someone coming to their rescue. They were made to part ways to let the adults through, and there was one in particular that Katara and Sokka cared about.

"Hi Dad," Katara said, waving when she saw her father coming through the mob of children.

Hakoda finally got through, and the first thing he did was hug his daughter and son. "It's good to see you both. I'm glad you could come to our rescue."

"Well we couldn't leave you behind," Katara said. "Gran-Gran would never let us hear the end of it if anything happened."

"We should be able to get everyone out safely," Sokka said. "We just have to do it before this storm quits and the imperials get their air support back."

"My students are ready to get your people out," Pakku said. "Prepare them for departure so that we may be on our way."

"Yes, of course," Hakoda said. He turned toward the other adults in the cavern. "Get the coats out, make sure everyone's eaten and used the restroom. There are no stops until we're long gone."

Everyone got to work preparing for departure, making sure that the children knew exactly what was going on so that they wouldn't cause any problems. Emergency supplies were retrieved from elsewhere and put to use, including heavy duty parkas for everyone to survive in the cold. Children were gathered together in groups of five, paired with two adults each, and escorted through the tunnels to reach the exit closest to the walls. The cavern was steadily emptied out, and everyone ventured outside to brave the storm.

The blizzard was raging just as fierce as ever, and the snow was piling up in the streets of the settlement. Snowdrifts were threatening to swallow buildings whole, both local and imperial alike. Waterbending was essential to make any headway whatsoever, and even then it was difficult to see where they were going. But now that they were on their way out stealth was less of an issue, needing to get people out as quickly as possible. Everyone had to stay close to one another on the way out, lest they lose someone in the thick snow.

Luke was with the first group to reach the wall, and he still had the stormtrooper helmet with him. "Something's moving out there. All patrols check in."

"They see us," Luke said, warning everyone nearby while pulling out a blaster. "We're going to have company real soon."

"Delta patrol is not responding," another voice responded. "And they're supposed to be patrolling the streets, not the wall."

"Go, go, go," Luke said, nearly pushing the last of his group down the outer side of the wall. "Get down before they see you."

"I don't care about the storm, get out there and check it out."

"Here they come!" Luke yelled.

He saw shapes in the veil of snow, unable to make out exactly what they were from here. Luke didn't fire just yet, wanting a better view of the targets and letting them get closer. At several meters away he could make out stormtrooper armor, and they could see him as well, so it was time to shoot. His first few shots took them by surprise, and he struck down two of them before the rest could react. When they fired back Luke took steps backward, getting further into the snow to make it harder for them to aim at him.

The noise of flying blaster bolts attracted attention, which had Katara climbing up ahead of the second group of people. With whips of water she flung herself over the edge, and she ambushed the stormtroopers from their right side, snaring three of them in water before they could even see her. She landed on the wall, flung the snared stormtroopers into the ones she missed, and knocked all of them off the inner side of the wall. But more were sure to come, as Katara saw indistinct shapes in the falling snow, likely coming from a guard tower somewhere beyond the veil.

"They really should just stay home," Katara said. Surely those stormtroopers she threw off the wall would be reporting the presence of a waterbender. "I mean, they'd need to have-"

The falling snow started to swirl in unnatural ways.

"Waterbending…" Katara grumbled.

The air above the wall was cleared of falling snow, redirected into a swirling tunnel that stretched from one end to the other. Katara could now see the waterbenders responsible, wearing the variant of stormtrooper armor with the blue highlights, three of them bending the snow and three more yet to act. Behind them were a dozen regular stormtroopers, holding their blasters over the heads of their waterbenders, able to see their targets now. Katara pulled some of the snow from the swirling tunnel, creating a thick shield of ice just in time.

Luke got behind the ice wall, taking cover as it absorbed the blaster bolts. "We're going to have to take them out."

"Cover me," Katara said.

She pulled more water from the snow, creating a tall ring of water around herself, just as the ice wall crumbled under blaster fire. Katara charged with that water, absorbing blaster bolts with it along the way, and hurled a portion as a long tendril of water. The enemy waterbenders tried to seize control of that water, but Luke was shooting at them, wounding a couple with hits to their arms. Katara snared the wounded with her water tendril, tossed them off the wall, and swung again to snare some of the stormtroopers.

One of them tossed a thermal detonator at the last second, and it exploded inside the water tendril, splattering the water everywhere. It also blew a hole in Katara's ring of water, and she reacted quickly to mend it, but some blaster bolts got through. A few grazed her shoulder and inflicted plenty of pain, and the enemy waterbenders seized some of her water. But then more water swept in like a wave, crashing into the water controlled by the enemy, all of it going off the edge to splash into piles of snow below.

Having come up the wall with the third group of people, Pakku was reinforcing Katara's defensive line. "I see you could use some help."

"Never said I didn't want it," Katara said. With her defense restored, she returned to offense with more tendrils of water. "Glad to have it."

The partnership of master and student got to work, overwhelming the attempts of enemy waterbenders trying to stop them. They seized control of the water used by their foes, turned it against them, snaring them in water and throwing them off the wall. Once all of them were dealt with their bending of the storm ceased, and the tunnel of swirling snow collapsed, returning the wall to white-out conditions. In the last few seconds of visibility Katara and Pakku struck down the stormtroopers, tossing them off the wall with all the others.

Still, more were sure to come, now that the enemy knew they were here. Not one to dismiss a good idea just because the enemy used it, Katara started waterbending the falling snow to clear the air, making an arch instead of a tunnel for the people scaling the wall. The fourth and fifth groups were coming over, but there were still a dozen more that needed to cross. Pakku focused his efforts on helping his students move people up and down, and the next group up was accompanied by their only firebender.

"I see you're having fun," Iroh said.

"It could be worse," Pakku said. "The waterbenders they have aren't very skilled."

Elsewhere on the wall, spotlights were turned on and directed their way, but the falling snow dispersed most of the light they cast on the wall. From the wall it was like having multiple suns in overcast sky, enough to tell the light was there but not enough to be much help. Turrets on towers took aim and fired, but their shots went wide since they couldn't acquire target lock. Still, some of the shots were getting close, and ice walls weren't going to cut it against larger blaster bolts. Most of the shots hit the wall at several points, burning deep holes into the metal.

"We need to take out those guns!" Luke yelled, firing blindly at the spotlights.

"Don't have the reach," Katara admitted.

"Or the sightline," Pakku added.

"I'll handle this one," Iroh said.

He moved his arms in circular motions, and electricity built up around his fingertips. Everyone else on the wall got some distance from him, not wanting to get caught in an accidental discharge. Once he had enough Iroh pointed his fingers at a spotlight, unleashing a bolt of lightning through the storm. On impact the lightning overloaded the spotlight and it exploded, damaging everything around it with shrapnel, including the turret directly beneath it. Iroh repeated his lightning strikes as many times as needed, only stopping once he had destroyed all the spotlights and returned the wall to darkness.

A few turrets were still firing, but without the spotlights they had no chance of hitting anything without blind luck. The light was replaced with deafening sound, an alarm alerting everyone in the settlement, telling all stormtroopers to respond to intruders. The roar of the storm only muffled the alarm a little, but it was still long enough to tell everyone to move even faster. Over half of the people being evacuated were on the outer side, the rest at the base on the inner side, their pace limited by the number of waterbenders able to move them.

By then Suki had gotten up the wall, just in time to see smaller lights appear in the storm. "Look out!"

The lights were moving toward them, and blaster bolts were fired from the ship attached to the headlights. It came dangerously close to crashing into the wall, close enough for people to see a TIE Fighter flying through the falling snow. It was struggling to stay aloft in the storm, ice and snow freezing to its wings, the extra weight threatening to bring it down. More of them were coming from the nearby landing pad, deployed in these conditions only because of the emergency, for they could be replaced should the storm destroy them.

Iroh was shooting lightning at the TIE Fighters, struggling to hit a moving target. "We need to hurry."

"Trying to!" Sokka yelled, now coming up the wall. "Just a few more groups need to get over."

Katara and Pakku switched tactics, making the snow above the wall swirl faster and faster, creating a tornado of snow that stretched up into the air. TIE Fighters flew right into it, and were promptly thrown off course. They were still shooting all the way down, and chunks of the wall were blasted apart, the rubble falling into snowbanks below. A few people fell off the wall as a result, only to be caught by waterbenders at the bottom, who gently set them down on the ground. The pace was quickened again, with waterbenders almost throwing people over the wall.

Hakoda finally made it up, and no one came up after his group. "That's the last of them!"

"Okay," Suki said. "It's time to go!"

Then a TIE Fighter crashed into the wall.

The impact shattered part of the wall, the part that everyone was standing on. Twisted fragments of metal fell freely, and everyone fell with them, with only a moment to react. Katara and Pakku made deep pools of water beneath themselves to break their fall, and then dried themselves off immediately. Iroh shot flames from his hands and feet, slowing his fall to a safe descent. Luke, Sokka, Suki, and Hakoda fell face first into deep snow, which softened the fall somewhat, but it still left them all very sore.

"Ow…" Sokka groaned.

The snow around them was pulled away by waterbenders, and Katara was at her brother's side immediately. "Come on."

Everyone was back on their feet, and they started running as fast as they could. Blaster bolts were following through the collapsed part of the wall, stormtroopers on the other side shooting through it. Waterbending was needed to clear a path through the snow, now well over a dozen feet deep in snowdrifts, and getting even deeper with each minute. Katara and Pakku filled the snow back in behind everyone, preventing pursuit on foot, until the stormtroopers could get their own waterbenders out here.

It did not take long to lose sight of the settlement, and only slightly longer to lose all signs of pursuit. TIE Fighters didn't dare go far beyond the walls, not in this weather anyway. Still, everyone ran for as long as they could, and some of the children needed to be carried part of the way. When they couldn't travel any further they stopped to make shelter, carving it directly out of the largest snowdrift nearby. Once the impromptu igloo was ready everyone huddled inside, needing to rest and recover after the hasty evacuation.

There wasn't much to work with for tinder, but Iroh was able to get a fire going and sustained it with his firebending. Those that needed the warmth the most huddled around him, and for once the Water Tribe was grateful to have the former Fire Nation general with them. No one bothered to stand watch outside, the shelter was bound to be buried in snow within the hour, and would be virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the land. All they could do now was wait out the storm, and meet up with the rest of the tribe later.

After taking the time to warm up by the fire, Sokka walked over to one corner of the shelter, where Luke was sitting and cleaning his blaster. "How are you holding up?"

"I've been better," Luke said. He finished cleaning, examined the blaster, and decided to clean it again. "Wish I could have done more…"

That brought up a sore point, something Sokka had noticed over the last year, something he had hoped would heal naturally. "Still not working, huh…"

Luke placed the blaster on the ground, held out his hand while closing eyes, yet no matter how much he focused, nothing happened. "I don't know what's wrong. I'm doing everything Yoda taught me, but I still can't feel the Force anymore."

Sokka figured there had to be more than just the physical injury responsible, and there was only one possibility he could think of for a spiritual solution. "Luke, now that we can leave the South Pole, there's a place we can visit on the way to the resistance. Aang got some help there with his Avatar powers a few years ago. Hopefully the old man is still there."

"If you think it's worth a shot, I'll give it a try," Luke said.

Periodically waterbenders would take turns ascending through the snow to the surface, checking on the storm's progress and measuring the depth of the snow. Hours passed before the storm began to pass, and the rate of snowfall began to slow. Once it was safe enough to travel the waterbenders escorted everyone out of the shelter and across the tundra, heading for the glacier in the distance. The landscape was nothing but vast snow for miles around, the ground buried under a dozen feet of fresh snow with a light dusting still falling.

Eventually the group came across the cave where Kanna waited, and they nearly missed it before someone inside waterbent open the entrance. Said entrance needed to be widened considerably to accommodate everyone, so that it could be closed again as quickly as possible. The children immediately found their families, and there were many happy reunions to be seen here. Katara and the others returned to the buried igloo at the back, eager to report their success to the matriarch of the tribe.

Hakoda went in first, and he was greatly relieved to see Kanna safe and sound. "Hi Mom."

Kanna was grateful to receive a hug from her son. "My boy you do find any excuse to come and visit."

Katara and her brother came inside next. "We finally got the family back together."

Sokka was smiling as they shared a group hug. "Shame we're going to have to break it up again now."

"Don't be such a spoil sport," Katara scolded.

"Can't help it," Sokka admitted.

When the moment was over Suki entered the room, wanting to get back to business. "Well we got the families out of that place. Do you have everything you need to take care of them from here?"

"Oh yes," Kanna answered. "There is territory that the invaders haven't bothered with yet. It won't be easy, but we can make a new life for ourselves there."

Overhearing that, Luke came inside. "It's a shame that you have to leave at all."

"It wouldn't be the first time," Hakoda said. "Back in the war, the tribe had to relocate several times after Fire Nation raids. We'll survive. We always have."

From just outside the room, Pakku leaned slightly through the doorway. "I will leave some of my students to assist."

"Thank you," Kanna said. She turned her attention back to her guests. "What will you be doing now?"

Suki gestured toward her friends. "Well we came down here to pick them up. Once we're ready to leave we'll be heading back toward the Earth Kingdom."

Luke nodded. "That's where we need to be. There's not much we can for you guys here."

"You've already done all we need," Kanna said.

"Still, I wish we could have done more," Luke said. "I owe you so much for helping me recover."

"Consider us even," Kanna suggested. She gave him a bright smile, the kind that reminded Luke of his caring aunt. "You've let me see my family one more time. That's all an old woman can really ask for."

By then Iroh was entering the room, with some news that everyone wished had waited. "We have favorable weather, and the invaders haven't restored their air support yet. If we're going to leave, now is the best time."

"Way to kill the mood," Suki said. "Okay, let's get going."

Sokka gave his grandmother another big hug. "Thank you for letting us stay here again Gran-Gran."

"It was no trouble," Kanna said. "You really should visit more often."

"I wish we could," Sokka said.

"We'll try," Katara promised.