Chapter 15: The Lost Warriors
It was with great disappointment and worry that Hakoda and Kya, leaving Kohana under Ivaneq's care and accompanied by a few servants, headed to the location of the emergency meeting that was to be held by Arnook, Fire Lord Iroh, and the Fire Lord's brother, Lord Ozai. The subject of discussion was obviously the incident with Princess Azula at the Multicultural Feast. Yet again, Sokka was the center of attention, but this time, it was not an incident that would be as easily overlooked as his near-brawl with Khasiq's assistants. Disabling the Fire Nation princess (though Ozai and his representatives would call it "attacking")— even for the purposes of saving another's life— was definitely not going to help reduce the existing tensions between the Water Tribe and the Fire Nation.
Another worry that loomed over the Southern royals regarding the wrath of the Fire Nation is the possibility that the Fire Nation might place sanctions on the Water Tribe. This would halt the Southern Revival Project, a huge chunk of which is in collaboration with the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. And if the Fire country pulled out of the project, it could taunt the Earth Kingdom into dropping the project, too, since both countries were industrial giants and held pivotal partnerships. And if the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom both dropped out, this would leave only the Air Nomads, who were not economically invested the way the other nations were, to begin with. The Nomads would further be rendered vulnerable to the Fire Nation's pressures considering the two countries' tense relations.
"Was Sokka even thinking all this through?" Kya sighed. "If the Spirits are not in our favor, then we could lose everything! Every chance at reviving the South!"
"Don't worry," Hakoda told her. "Remember, Avatar Aang is on our side."
Indeed, that was the only good part about the message they received and was guaranteed to be a major plus for them. Having met Azula while he was training at the Fire Nation, Aang was familiar with the Fire princess's behavior. Her actions frequently earned the disapproval of the royal family. Except for Ozai, that is; since he was in charge of Azula's upbringing, he was clearly the outlier.
"Avatar Aang supposedly stopped Ozai from going to war with his people," Hakoda said. "I hear he's very skilled in diplomacy. He will help us handle this."
The Southern chief and chieftess eventually stopped when they got to the sitting area in front of the corridor leading to the meeting hall. They saw Katara and Sokka seated there with Avatar Aang. Sokka had a scowl on his face.
"Aren't you three supposed to be in the meeting right now?" Hakoda asked.
"Well, we were," Aang answered. "But Ivaneq told us to wait here."
"Sokka here got a little too sensitive when they started jabbing at the princess of the North and her reputation," Katara said, explaining to them all that had happened before they were sent out. Sokka, too, relived the experience, anger coursing through his quietening veins.
"This oaf had the audacity to attack the esteemed Fire Nation princess," accused Admiral Zhao, one of Ozai's foremost allies as he glared at the Southern prince.
The room went quiet for a moment. With bated breath, those who were most concerned for the Southern prince's welfare, such as Katara, Aang, Arnook, and a few of his attendants, took a look at the prince, looking for a reaction, hoping it wouldn't be defiant enough to earn more wrath. And then there was Khasiq, who took his place on the right side of Arnook. Khasiq seemed to be enjoying the show; the Northern official was highly amused that the young prince was already in trouble again.
Sokka, on the other hand, didn't look up even once. In reality, he couldn't care less about this meeting. He could only think about the bending technique the Northern princess did to maneuver the lightning. Katara would know more about how the technicalities of that would work, but she wasn't there to witness it close-up and furthermore, she was really surprised to hear of how the "servant" managed to escape the lightning blast.
"You must learn to control your tongue, admiral," Iroh frowned. "You are to show respect to the prince of the South."
"We respected the members of the Water Tribe enough to come here in spite of our hectic schedules, Fire Lord Iroh," Zhao said. "We agreed to spend a few weeks of our time here in efforts to dissipate the tensions between both countries, and an attack on the Fire Nation princess is what we get in return?"
At this, Sokka jumped out of his thoughts long enough to retort, "Mind your words. It was not an attack. I'm a man of honor, and harming a woman is a boundary you'll never see me cross. Unlike your Fire Nation princess, who has no moral qualms against assaulting our tribeswomen and slandering against our princess."
"I see your parents have taught you no respect," Ozai glared. "You insult the esteemed members of the Fire Nation royal family, and you call yourself a prince?"
"The word 'esteemed' is not used to describe people who label other cultures as being savage when they themselves are the actual savages," the Southern prince said. "The correct term for that is 'hypocrite,' actually."
"You dare call us hypocrites?!"
"Don't mind him, Your Highness," Zhao barked. "He's just a lunatic who risked his life for a mere servant."
"Yes, I would," Sokka glared. "Because I acknowledge people as people, not tools or resources or objects to be labeled and deprived of dignity. The Water Tribe is not just gonna sit back and let you shoot your lightning at people and get away with it."
"Prince Sokka, you are to remain quiet," Arnook said, probably later than he should have. "Avatar Aang is handling the case on behalf of you, yes? Please, son, settle down."
Zhao turned to Ozai, knowing that convincing Iroh of anything contrary to "harmony between the nations" was not going to be possible. "We can't possibly still stay here and hail diplomacy, Lord Ozai. These people are accusing Princess Azula right in front of you, and the Chief of the Northern savages himself is in support of—!"
"Admiral Zhao, your input will no longer be needed if you fail to control yourself," Iroh stood up from his seat and glared in warning at the admiral. "This conflict will be resolved peacefully. Do not stoke the flames."
"Please, dear brothers, we can settle this once and for all," Arnook pleaded. "On behalf of what happened, I offer my most humble apologies—"
"That is not necessary, Chief Arnook," Aang piped in. "There have been several witnesses to Princess Azula's behavior. She was using racial slurs to humiliate the people of the Water Tribe, not unlike you, Lord Ozai," Aang raised his eyebrows. "She was also slandering against the Northern princess, also not unlike you. And she was blatantly shooting lightning at the prince of the South."
"Only because she was provoked," Ozai growled at the Avatar before he turned to Iroh. "You say Azula is like your own, but you fail to see the reasoning behind her actions. These 'Water Tribe brothers' of yours tell us not to hold onto past history and to look to an optimistic future, but then they treat us worse than their animal skins and expect to steal our every last resource. We did not sign up for this, Brother."
"And the people of the Water Tribe did not sign up for being heavily insulted this way when they stayed up many nights to make your stay here as comfortable and culturally welcoming as possible," Aang said sternly.
"Neither do they deserve false accusations for tending to our needs ever since our arrival," Iroh said. "The Avatar is right, Ozai. I advise you to drop the argument and summon Princess Azula to give her apology."
"The one who truly needs to apologize is that oaf of a prince standing over there," Ozai pointed an accusing finger at Sokka and turned to Arnook. "You will have him bow to my daughter in apology. Unless you wish to experience the feeling of having your daughter similarly humiliated in front of the entire tribe."
Khasiq held in a mocking chuckle that didn't go unnoticed by Sokka. The prince gritted his teeth. "If you have even an iota of leadership within you," he ended up snapping at Ozai but keeping his words aimed for certain others, "And if you dare to call yourself a man, then you will leave Her Highness, the princess of the North, out of this conversation and accept your failure in your parenting skills."
Everyone in the room was shocked out of their wits. Katara mentally facepalmed while Aang froze in place, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. Arnook glanced at Sokka, wide-eyed. Iroh was also visibly surprised by the remark whereas an enraged Ozai jumped from his seat, flames flickering at his clenched fists.
"Disrespect to the princess of the North will not be tolerated whatsoever," Sokka shot a brief glare at Khasiq. "This goes for everyone."
And in return, Khasiq scowled. He did not fail to see the light of interest that had peaked in the Northern chief's gaze.
"Prince Sokka, you need to calm down!" Aang said quickly, exchanging a worried look with Katara and wordlessly requesting her to tell Sokka to back down. Katara tugged angrily at her brother's sleeve, but that didn't seem to do anything to calm down the equally raging Southern prince.
"I'm not gonna back down. Someone needs to slap some sense into certain people," Sokka went on, blue fires blazing in his eyes. "The princess of the North did not take the measures she did to organize a feast fitting for the royal members of the Fire Nation just to be dragged into your conversation as a pawn. You will show respect if you want to earn it."
"You uncultured SNOW SAVAGE!" Ozai hissed but was barely held back by Iroh before he could launch himself out of his seat and aim his developing sparks of lightning at Sokka. "Forget Azula's motives. I will blast this imbecile's face open myself!"
"OZAI! Be calm!" Iroh commanded. "Avatar Aang, please escort Prince Sokka out of here!"
It was hard to fathom the depths of Hakoda and Kya's horror as they gawked at their son, giving infinite thanks to the Spirits for making sure he was still intact after hearing the words that flew out of his mouth. Kya buried her face in her hands, shaking her head slowly. "Oh Spirits, oh Spirits…!"
"Sokka, I can't believe you," Hakoda shook his head helplessly. "This is...this is beyond any diplomatic issue I can solve!"
Then again, the distressed parents knew they shouldn't be too surprised; Sokka was born into La's clan, after all, during the year of the Wolf Moon, and it was only expected from the results of his birth chart that a La-given son would be so stubborn and lacking in restraint. Like La Himself.
"Sokka did nothing wrong, Your Highnesses," Aang assured the Southern chief and chieftess. "Well, obviously he shouldn't have said what he said, but if we boil it down to the actual problem here, he was protecting someone from being unnecessarily shot by lightning, and he was defending the princess of the North. If anything, Princess Azula should be the one to apologize for her extreme behavior, and Iroh himself recognizes this."
"It does not matter who is in the wrong here. The Fire Nation has greater resources than we do, and it's obviously in a position of great power. And if the Fire Nation royals are not pleased…" Hakoda sighed, not bothering to finish. "I just don't know why my son gets himself entangled in these matters and messes it up further with that loud mouth of his. It was not his conflict to begin with."
"That woman is a psycho, Dad," Katara frowned. "She was being the extreme one here. I mean, who would shoot lightning at someone for accidentally spilling something? I'd like to see her put on a maid's uniform and serve people without spilling things—"
"Shhh," Hakoda silenced her. "Do you want someone to hear you and get you in trouble, too?"
"All I'm saying is that if the Fire Nation dares to call itself a powerful nation, then it would recognize this instead of using the situation against us. At least Fire Lord Iroh has the decency to accept Azula's mistake and—"
"I don't know about all that. All I'm saying is that there could've been another way to handle the problem instead of tripping the Fire princess," Kya insisted.
"By then, the servant would've been shot by lightning," Aang said. "There's nothing else Sokka could've done other than getting in front of the lightning and taking the blow for himself, and that would've ended really badly." The Avatar turned to the chief and chieftess. "Chief Hakoda, Chieftess Kya, I don't want you worrying about this. The Fire Nation may be powerful, and Sokka might have crossed the line a little bit by saying what he said—"
Sokka wasn't moved; he kept his glare on the ground intact.
"—but that doesn't mean Princess Azula will get away with doing just anything. Doing the right thing is not dependent on what nation a person is from. I won't allow a kind of system like that to exist. Avatar promise."
Hakoda and Kya were not entirely convinced considering all that they've heard regarding Ozai and his wrath, but they did trust the Avatar and were thankful that he was on their side.
"Fire Lord Iroh is a very understanding man," Aang added. "He knows about Azula; there shouldn't be any problems. Just trust me on this."
"Lord Ozai is furious, though, Avatar Aang," Hakoda pointed out.
"He might be Azula's father, but he's not the Fire Lord himself. Fire Lord Iroh has the last word. Although…" Aang looked over to Sokka, who had been strangely quiet all this time. Not sulking or anything, but just...quiet. "I will say that they might ask for an apology from Sokka's behalf. Knowing Ozai, he doesn't back out of something without being appeased in some way—"
The doors of the meeting room in the distance suddenly opened, interrupting the conversation, and out strolled several attendants, who were followed by men in sweeping crimson robes and golden regalia. Walking out with them was Khasiq, keeping his head held high, his gait stiff and commanding as if he was the chief himself.
Everyone got up from the pelts as the regal men passed by. Ozai was seething with rage as he saw Sokka, and he shifted his glare over to Kya and Hakoda. Iroh's look was more apologetic, but he didn't have the chance to interact with them as he was too focused on making sure his brother didn't explode over them in unbridled rage.
"Look at his face," Zhao huffed. "Not an ounce of remorse." He paused and jabbed his finger against Sokka. "This is your last chance, boy. Behave yourself, or you will regret it."
Hakoda began, "We offer our most humble apologies to the Fire Lord and Lord Ozai—"
But Zhao charged away and didn't bother standing around to listen to anyone acquainted with the "peasant-prince of the Southern savages," not even Hakoda and Kya.
"I'm telling you, Brother Hakoda," Khasiq shook his head. "It's the curse of the Moon Temple."
"That's ridiculous," Sokka spat, but Khasiq's remark only served to increase the agitation of the Southern chief and chieftess.
"But don't you worry. I will do what I can to make the prince appear more favorable in the Fire Lord's eyes." Khasiq cast a look at Sokka, who glared deeper in response. "But keep your hopes up, my friends. I told you before and I'm telling you again. The Great Temple of La keeps its doors open for you." And he followed along in the Fire royals' path but not caring to elaborate what exactly happened.
"I'm guessing this means they dropped the issue?" Aang asked two of Arnook's attendants.
"Yes, sir. Her Highness, the princess of the North, expressed her apology for the incident."
"The princess apologized?" Sokka asked, frowning. "But why?"
"Is she here?" Kya looked in the direction of the meeting room down the hall.
"No, ma'am. She conveyed her apology through correspondence. For security reasons, she's not allowed to step out of her quarters."
"But why did she apologize?" Sokka asked again. "It's not her fault!"
"In her message, she wrote that she is the one to blame for failing to recognize the problem of servant shortage. She said that many of the servants had hired less-experienced workers to help out with the serving because there were not many experienced workers. Though it's clearly not true. The princess was very meticulous in her orders and oversaw every possible—" he was nudged by another attendant to keep quiet.
"But never mind all that," the second attendant said with a forced laugh. "All is well. The princess said that when given the chance, she will apologize to the princess in person for all that happened."
"She also made a special request to pardon the prince for this misunderstanding," the first attendant pitched in, frowning as he added, "Which she also blamed herself for."
"But, uh…" the second attendant jumped back in, "The Fire Lord accepted the request immediately. To make it up to the Fire Nation royal family, she organized a very special banquet for them tonight separate from the Multicultural Dinner. I suppose that's another way for us to limit contact with the Fire Nation princess and vice versa, which is what everyone needs at this point in time."
"Her Highness also organized a ball tonight following dinner. The Fire Nation royals opted out of it, thank the Spirits, but everyone else is invited, including all of you." The attendants both bowed. "We hope to see you there. Security will be there to escort you."
Aang and Katara exchanged looks, and Hakoda and Kya looked concerned. Sokka, though, didn't like how the princess of the North took on the blame by having to literally make up a fault. "The princess didn't have to take the blame. Those ashheads are—!"
"Sokka, you've talked enough for one day," Kya snapped, turning back to the guards. "But yes, she really didn't have to take the blame for us."
"Well, ma'am, that's what happens when one doesn't have the guts to call out the Fire Nation's flaws," the first attendant sighed. "The Water Tribe is helpless when pitted against the Fire Nation. And it's not just that. From what we've heard about her so far, the princess is not one to place blames on others anyway."
"She was quick to defend him, too; she said that it was perfectly natural for him to hold that grudge. And yet it's child-like. As in an innocent individual's response to broken trust, especially by his own people...And for that, Brother Sokka, the princess asks for your forgiveness."
It was definitely true that the princess was not the kind of person to blame others. With a sigh, Sokka looked up at the attendants. "I need to talk to Chief Arnook."
Sokka sat through about an hour of his parents' frustrated rants, and with great difficulty, he tried to convince them (with the help of the Avatar, who vouched for him) that he would keep his mouth under control so long as he was in the presence of Arnook. As Arnook was also lenient on Sokka, they didn't feel like the interaction could go wrong. After making him swear that he wouldn't pick a fight with anyone, they sent him to the throne room with a group of attendants and two security guards, who were to leave Sokka to his privacy when he was in the chief's audience.
By the time Sokka made his way inside the throne room, he saw that Arnook was accompanied by a friend. It was a bearded Fire Nation man in mahogany-hued robes that flowed from beneath his red parka. His hair was pulled up in a topknot.
"You have a visitor, Chief Arnook," the Fire Nationer said.
Arnook, who had been preoccupied with a scroll, looked up at the Southern prince. "Sokka? You wanted to speak to me, son?"
"Yeah…" Sokka looked to the Fire Nation man, who looked back at him with curiosity.
"So you are Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe?" the man asked.
"Yes, sir, that's me."
"Sokka here is the grandson of Master Pakku, former chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe."
"Ah, so you are among the newest inductees to the White Lotus Society along with your grandfather," the man noted. "You're also the one who stood up to Princess Azula and the royal family earlier, aren't you?"
Sokka nodded in affirmation and expected an angry reaction from the man, but it never came. The man simply smiled and nodded. "You've got guts, I tell you. Fire Lord Iroh admitted that he was impressed with you as well. This is what we are looking for in our White Lotus inductees."
"Are you a part of the White Lotus?" Sokka asked.
"Master Piandao has been a member of the White Lotus for many years," Arnook said.
"You're Master Piandao?" Sokka recognized the name and bowed. "I was given a sword that was crafted at your institution, Master"
"By Arnook's daughter, yes," Piandao said, noting the softness that lined the prince's features at the mention of the Northern princess. "A sword crafted by a meteorite. Must be a valuable gift."
"Yeah, it truly is." Sokka's voice went soft, too. Piandao looked at Arnook and gave him a small smile, exchanging an unspoken message with him before he turned back to Sokka. "I'm assuming you met Kuzon? He's one of my best students and a good friend of Avatar Aang. He told me that you traveled around in your efforts to sustain your tribe through trading missions."
"Yes, I've traveled for a bit. Just to places where we were able to reach in a month's time. The farthest I've gone with my men is Omashu."
"Omashu? All the way from the Southern Water Tribe? That's rather impressive," Piandao nodded. "Kuzon also told me about your self-taught swordsmanship skills. Are you that good?"
"It's nothing much," Sokka said. "I just picked up some advice here and there and watched a few people. We don't have swordsmanship training down South, so everything I do basically comes from warrior training."
"You have a unique fighting style, then, I suppose? Surely you must be worthy of such a sword somehow."
"Well…" Sokka hung his head low. "I've never had actual practice or a master, so I'm not really that good either way. And as for worth...I honestly don't know. I've been fascinated with the way of the sword ever since I knew about it outside the vicinity of the South Pole, but training was not a possibility given the situation in our tribe. And now out of great generosity, Her Highness gifted me one." He sighed. "It's hard for me to tell if I'm really that worthy."
Piandao looked at the young prince of the South as if studying him, and a moment later, he spoke with a gleam in his eyes. "Well then, we'll certainly have to see about that." The master then stood up from his pelt. "If given the opportunity, would you like to learn the way of the sword?"
"If I'm deemed worthy enough, I would love to, Master."
"How long do you plan on staying here, Sokka?"
"Three weeks. One week for the conferences and two additional weeks for Southern Revival talks."
"Do you have any commitments tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" Sokka looked up. "Uh...not necessarily."
"Hm," Piandao nodded. "Alright, then. Why not come to our training grounds tomorrow at sunrise and give us a demonstration of what you know? You will be escorted from your estate to the western courtyard where we will be training."
Sokka blinked, his heartbeat pounding in his chest. "Wait...are you…?"
"I've decided to train you as much as I am able to these three weeks," Piandao said. "Would you like that?"
Sokka widened his eyes, a huge grin forming on his lips. "Really?"
"Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, you've proven your worth the moment you set forth on your very first mission. You've proven yourself again after sustaining your tribe in times of economic distress. And you've proven yourself yet again when you stood your ground against the Fire Nation royalty and spoke on behalf of your people." He smiled. "I know that you will prove your worth again once you formally begin your training."
The Southern prince bowed again, this time in the manner of the Fire Nation, and Piandao returned it with a bow of his own.
"I will see you tomorrow at sunrise, then."
"I would be honored, Master."
Piandao smiled. "Well now that that's settled, did you want to speak to the chief, Sokka?"
"Oh...yeah, I…" Sokka looked up at Arnook. " Her Highness…"
And they didn't even need the prince to elaborate on who the subject of his discussion was.
"I heard she took care of the situation earlier by apologizing."
"Yes," Arnook said. "What of it, Sokka?"
"It's just...I don't understand why she would...I would've been more than okay with me apologizing instead of her. She didn't have to…" Sokka found that he couldn't convey his words properly.
"I did not tell her to apologize, and I did not tell her to pardon you," Arnook said. "She did it herself."
"Arnook here has been quite taken aback with how vehemently you defended the princess of the North during the meeting," Piandao said.
"O-Oh…" Sokka stammered. "I just...I guess I just…"
Arnook eyed him warily. "Do you respect my daughter that much, Prince Sokka?"
The Southern prince, whose face had started to warm, looked back at Arnook, who was waiting earnestly for his reply. "Of course." Cautious but sincere.
It was only until after the prince left from lingering awkwardness and unspoken intensity that Arnook turned to his friend. "Of course, he says."
Piandao nodded. "Of course he would say that."
Hakoda and Kya felt a little better after hearing that their son scored a position as Master Piandao's student. It would be a healthy exercise in restraint, they said, and Master Piandao was one of the best people to hone that into any disciplined student. Taking advantage of this achievement, Sokka told them that he was going to introduce Katara to his new master and the rest of his students and took his sister along with him; he hadn't forgotten about their meeting with Daughter Sayen.
The siblings made it to the West Gates in time to see Kameli waiting for them. The woman bowed and formally introduced herself to Katara before leading the siblings out of the palace premises and away from the inner ring. Sokka was determined to know more about the mysterious Lady of the Mist. He was still holding onto his hypothesis that Lady and the princess, whether one and the same or not, were nevertheless connected somehow. The way the princess maneuvered the lightning with her waterbending earlier was an indication that she is much more skilled than she appeared, and Lady herself was known as a powerful bender and healer.
"How outrageous would it be if the princess was actually Lady?"
Sokka's musings were interrupted when Kameli led them to an estate. It was not as big as the Crescent Moon Estate, but it was still grand enough to display itself as a dwelling of an influential member within the palace court. Kameli took them through the front doors, into the main hallway of the lavish dwelling and then down an elaborate hallway. Several other people wearing the same uniform that Kameli was wearing bowed to Katara and Sokka as they passed by. Soon, Kameli stopped in front of the door.
"Lady Sayen, Prince Sokka and Princess Katara are here to see you."
The door opened, revealing a woman wearing dark blue silk robes. She bowed to the Southern royals in greeting. "Prince Sokka, Princess Katara, welcome! I have been expecting you. Please, come in."
When they stepped in, they were surprised to see several other people waiting in the same room. Lots of families— men, women, and children. They all beamed at the siblings; some of them stood up and bowed while some hollered out greetings that were frankly informal when addressing the prince and princess.
"It's good to see you, Prince Sokka and Princess Katara!"
"Welcome to the North!"
"Great to see you two!"
Sokka and Katara looked around and had to admit to themselves that some of the people seemed oddly familiar. And it was interesting how those familiar people all happened to be men.
It was then that a man who was also wearing silk robes stepped up to Sokka and Katara, and the siblings felt a strong sense of familiarity radiating from him as well.
"I'm Lady Sayen, as you know," Sayen said, gesturing to the man who walked up to them. "And this is my husband."
The man smiled at them— he almost seemed to be smirking at them— as he gave a low bow in greeting. He surprised them with his rich Southern dialect, "Tikilluarit." Welcome. "Do you recognize me, Your Highnesses?"
And that's when it hit them. Sokka's jaw dropped as he pointed at the man. "You…!"
"Kanguq?" Katara blinked, wide-eyed. "Is that you?"
"Yes, it's me!"
Sokka couldn't contain his joy. "Kanguq!" He gave his old childhood friend a hug, nostalgia washing over him. "You're okay!"
The people behind them were clapping and cheering by this point.
"They remember!"
"I knew they'd still remember us!"
"It's great to see you both! It has been far too long!" Kanguq chuckled warmly as he hugged Sokka and Katara. "Ever since we heard that you guys were coming, we knew we had to see you two. Sister Katara, look at you! I'm sure you're a master waterbender by now. And Socks over here pushing that height." Kanguq pat the warrior's shoulder. "I see you're also okay with giving hugs now. I suppose you've gotten over the manly half-hug streak?"
"Hey, I was always okay with hugs," Sokka defended with a laugh.
"Did you bring your little brother with you? Ko-bear was what, a year old when we left?"
"If we knew we were gonna be seeing you, we would have brought him along," Sokka said. "We'll bring him next time for sure." And he looked around at the other men again. These weren't just any tribesmen. They were the Southern warriors that had taken the journey up North five years ago and had not returned to the South to this day, but contrary to popular belief that a great danger fell upon them, they were safe and sound.
"You remember me, friends?" another man stepped up.
"Ujaraq, my man!" Sokka hugged him. "And...that's Muktuq, isn't it?"
"You bet, Socker!"
"And Siluk and Narujan and Aput!" Katara exclaimed as their old friends beamed in greeting. They also couldn't resist giving Sokka a hug and clapping him on the back.
"The gang's all here!" Sokka grinned, his eyes alight. "Is it really you guys? Or am I too far gone with Midnight Sun Madness?"
"No, this is real," Siluk confirmed. "It's so great to see the two of you again."
"Where are the other men?" Sokka inquired. "Uncle Shuqar? Uncle Khamingka? Old Man Ingimak?"
"You remember them well," Kanguq chuckled, and a few of the men then took Sokka and Katara to another room next to theirs, where the older men were waiting for them.
"Sokka! Katara!"
"Oh man, how you have grown!"
The reception was warm and wonderful, and as everyone crowded back in the first room, Sokka became overwhelmed from the nostalgia that was coursing through him. These were the friends that he grew up with, the uncles that he had raced and gone ice dodging with. These were the men that he had mourned for because they never returned. The painful realization that they went missing for good was what ravaged the South from the inside. But seeing them like this, settled down and leading what he could assume to be fulfilled lives, he was ecstatic.
But also very, very confused. Why didn't they come back to the South?
"We can't be more relieved and thankful to the Spirits to see that you're all okay," Katara said. "But I don't understand. Why didn't you guys come back to the South? To your parents and grandparents?"
And judging by the darkness that swooped into his close friends' eyes at the question, Sokka had an uncomfortable feeling about whatever the answer would be.
"Let's chat over some yak milk tea, shall we?" Kanguq said, his hand around Sokka. "We have a lot to catch up on."
The siblings were introduced to their friends' wives— all of them obviously being Northern— as well as their children. Sokka recognized some of his friends' children; they were among the group of children that the princess was babysitting earlier. This included Agent Green, whose real name was Nuraq, and Agent Yellow, whose name was Uki. Nuraq was the son of Muktuq and his wife, Amka, while Uki was the daughter of Kanguq and Sayen. Although Sokka tried his best to make friends with his friends' children and proudly proclaimed himself as their uncle figure, they kept giving him suspicious looks, likely still holding the grudge over Sokka's interest in the princess, who they knew only as their babysitting angaju. They trodded off to play with the other kids.
"Don't you worry, the kiddos will warm up to you soon," Kanguq said.
"Though instead of chasing after our little warriors, you should have a couple of your own," laughed Aput. "You and Katara are the only ones left in our group. And you're several years past the traditional marrying age—"
"Here we go," Sokka sighed.
"I can't believe Chief Hakoda and Mother Kya haven't found matches for you two yet. You'll have to find people outside of the Water Tribe, in that case, because the men and women here are most likely taken."
"Katara might be wanting to wait, but you're the prince, soon-to-be chief. You can't afford to wait so long; you need a nice woman and an heir, and the sooner, the better."
"We heard the princess has organized a ball tonight. You should try your luck there."
Meanwhile, Katara bonded with the women instantly and cooed over the babies. Sokka took it upon himself to reveal embarrassing childhood stories about his friends to their significant others, his stories resulting in boisterous laughs and raising other memories. Sokka's friends were eager to know more about their fathers and mothers and siblings down South and were able to catch up on the current revival efforts scattered through the different villages. In spite of these distractions, though, the prince still had several questions that he was desperate to get to. Why didn't his friends return to the South? Did they ever get a chance to tell Arnook about the issues in the South when they got here?
"Everyone thinks you've all been endangered or even killed," Katara eventually said in a somber tone. "There hasn't been a single day Auntie Ashuna doesn't talk about you, Kanguq. Uncle Khamingka, your children and grandchildren miss you terribly and haven't been the same without you...And Ujaraq, your little brother...he kept asking for you for so long. We were all so heartbroken and... I just...It's beyond me," Katara looked at everyone else. "Why didn't any of you come back?"
"We were not in a position to come back, Sister Katara," Muktuq told her.
"All thanks to Khasiq and his forces," Amka added.
Sokka then took the chance to tell them all the information he had learned thus far regarding the situation in the North as perpetuated by Khasiq and his team of extreme Nationalists. The weight of explaining everything to the Southern prince and princess was lifted from the tribesmen's shoulders, but they did explain to them the events of their voyage to the North.
It was five years ago when Sokka had sent his vehement letter to the North, and when he received no reply in a span of a few months, a group of young, unmarried warriors— benders, too, at that— ranging from fourteen to sixteen years of age, insistent on returning home with some kind of help, set off on the journey, accompanied by a few older men— widowers who felt as if they were ready to charge into the risk of an extremely long voyage with their bending and experience as powerful resources. Their boats couldn't possibly compare to the elaborate ships of the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom, but the men had left with an elaborate plan to make as many stops as they could in areas that they were familiar with from previous trading attempts to stock up on supplies, possibly borrow ships of greater strength and endurance for their long voyage. They had left in hopes of returning as heroes, when they would marry and settle down for good.
And they had succeeded in their voyage. After sending numerous letters from different checkpoints over a span of six whole months, enduring all kinds of struggles, establishing trade routes with places that were close enough for the South to travel to in the span of a month, being held up by extreme weather. Having only a few supplies intact, they had finally made it to the other side of the world and reached Northern premises after so long, and they had been elated at their achievement. That is, until they were torpedoed out of the water, their ships attacked, their supplies ravaged, their bending subdued by the Northern guards themselves. The Southerners never had the chance to write back to the South after that.
"Chi blockers," Kanguq frowned. "They all had tattoos of spears on their arms, which meant they sided with the Nationalists." Of course, the men wouldn't know that until later. All they could think of while they were in combat was if these Northerners were confused or if the Southerners appeared suspicious to them for some reason and if that's why they were being attacked. Even with their white flags hoisted and their Southern wave insignias raised up at their masts, even with their peaceful intentions and the lack of excessive weapons on their ships. They cried out that they came for help only to be made powerless with their bending blocked. The other nonbending warriors were clearly outnumbered and were quickly subdued.
"We didn't understand what happened, but the next thing we knew, we were ambushed and taken to a tunnel underground. We were closed in by layers of snow," Muktuq explained. "We were chained, so we had no way of escaping. We were left to starve."
"We were so confused," Ujaraq said. "These were our Northern brothers. And as far as we knew, we weren't aware of any extreme tensions between the two tribes."
"Well, not since the Nunalik resurgence, but it died down several decades ago," Uncle Khamingka said. "It did not make sense. There was no inquiry, no investigation. They just ambushed us."
"We didn't know what to do. We didn't think we would make it. And that's when Lady, Sayen and their Revivalist team found us," Kanguq said.
"Lady...I don't suppose you know her real name, do you?" Sokka asked.
"No one knows her real name, Brother Sokka," Amka said.
Turned out that Lady passed on the information about the Southern men being kidnapped, and she and the Revivalists broke them out overnight. Kanguq gestured to the women in the room. "In fact, almost all the ladies here are the original members of the Revivalist team."
What followed after Lady and her team helped the Southerners escape was a life of caution and secrecy for the tribesmen. Ever since Avatar Aang left the North after his completed waterbending training a couple of years before, Khasiq had wanted to rid the North of all external influence, and this meant preventing outsiders from coming into the tribe, even the members of the sister tribe. Apart from select officials from the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation, particularly those who were there for transactions and high-level trade and for no other reason, everyone else was forbidden from entering. If the Southerners were recognized by Khasiq's rampant men, they would be captured again, and this time, they would be immediately slaughtered.
Old Man Ingimak, the seniormost tribesman and guardian of the crew, also deemed it was best if they did not reveal the situation down South, having been intimidated by all that they found out about Khasiq. Apparently, Khasiq and his followers had seized control over the correspondence system and filtered out all messages to the chieftain, which explained the reason why the North wasn't able to send help or even know about the South's plight, but even if Arnook happened to find out about the South in some way or form, Khasiq would take charge of the aiding mission anyway and would not be very sincere in lifting the South back up to its feet. Furthermore, a tribe that was at the mercy of Khasiq's resources would be easily manipulated by him, and the terror and horror that were underlying the superficial bustle of everyday Northern life would creep into the culture of the South as well.
"The North was at a very terrible place when we first arrived," said Old Man Ingimak. "Seeing the women here be abused...it reminded us of the women down South. Sisters, mothers, aunts, nieces. I myself had my daughters and granddaughters to think about."
"I have three sisters of my own down South," Muktuq said. "I wasn't gonna let these cretins have the possibility of harming them in any way."
"As a culture, we haven't been giving our sisters the dignity they deserved, and Sister Katara helped prove this point when she managed to get Gramp-Gramp to cancel out some purity laws," Kanguq said. "But the inequality still exists, and it's worse here than down South in some ways. Yes, our people were starving, but they still had you and Katara. They had Mother Kya and Chief Hakoda and Gran-Gran and Gramp-Gramp."
"We knew you would look after the tribe and do everything you could," Uncle Khamingka said. "We just didn't want Khasiq's influence to spread. He didn't seem interested in coming after the South just yet. At least, not without taking complete hold of the North first. So why poke his blowhole?"
It made sense. Sokka wasn't sure how he would've been able to handle Khasiq's shit and at the same time watch his people be teased of prosperity and simultaneously starved of it from Khasiq's inadequacy.
"They didn't even tell us about it right away," Amka said. "They were unsure if they could trust us fully. And what made the situation more complicated was that as Revivalists, we were targeted by Khasiq's government. Keeping quiet was the only way they felt they could keep out of trouble."
"So you were stuck here, basically," Katara said.
"Yes," Kanguq nodded. "We couldn't come home. And we couldn't go out into Northern society like normal people without being familiar with the Northern dialects and the accents. Otherwise, the authorities would've caught us. That's why we learned the North Central Tongue and the cultural differences here."
The Revivalist ladies had taught them the minor differences and dialects of the North, which were not difficult lessons to teach or learn given the North and the South were essentially one culture and language group. And in the meantime, Lady exerted her influence and was kind enough to find local jobs for the men— how in the world, they would never know, as the Southerners never got to interact with her as much and the Revivalist women themselves were unaware of Lady's incognito network. And these jobs were nice, too, not half-hearted meager ones.
"And eventually you guys ended up settling down with each other," Sokka said.
The men beamed, brimming with affection for their wives and bringing their children close. Kanguq smiled, clasping his hand around Sayen's. "Well we can't stop the flow of time, can we?"
As Revivalist women and Southern men, they were both groups in hiding, so all they had were each other. They watched each other's backs, and in the process, they understood each other and developed great friendships. These friendships led to deeper conversations, which led the men to embrace Revivalism for good. Since the women were around the same age as the Southern bachelors, for the most part— maybe with two or three years of difference— their friendships and partnerships turned to love. The elderly Southern men gave their blessings for the unions in lieu of the men's parents back home, and coincidentally— interestingly— the Moon Temple bore witness to all of their marriages.
Sokka's ears perked up at the significant detail. Though he was interested in what his friends were saying, he still found it underwhelming that they didn't get to talk about Lady yet. The Moon Temple, of all places, was the backdrop for all of these weddings without a single exception. That had to ring a bell.
"We heard that there was an incident at the Moon Temple several years ago," Katara said. "Khasiq is going around telling people that the temple is cursed."
"Of course he would," huffed Sanka, Aput's wife. "He's the one trying to get rid of Tui worship."
"He mentioned the story about a baby being born there."
"We don't know how much of that story is true."
They reverted back to their experience in the North, skipping ahead to the last few years that had gone by and earned their group a prominent position in society, especially with their social service missions.
"We decided to finally spill the truth about the South last year. Revivalism was gaining more ground with the people, and we thought this would be the right time to at least address the issue and possibly secure an audience with Arnook," Aput said. "We thought we finally might have a chance against Khasiq's influence. But before we could tell Lady about the South, she had stopped coming to the meetings altogether."
"Her last visit was a year ago," Sanka said, dismay in her voice. The others appeared downcast as well.
"Wait, what?" Sokka looked up. "Zhi told me that she gives speeches every new moon day."
"That was before. We haven't seen her for one whole year," Amka said. "She wrote to us twice over the last year, but that was it. It's not like we could contact her in any way."
"So you have no idea where she is?" Katara asked. "No idea what she looks like?"
"Would you believe me if I said that we don't?" Sayen said. "Even though we knew each other for so many years, studied under the same master and led the Revivalist group?"
"It's crazy. We claim her to be our good friend, our sister," Aput said. "And we witnessed the kind of person she is. We are thankful for all that she did to help us settle down and raise families, but to this day, we have never seen her face. We know nothing of her real name or where she lives or who her parents are."
It was hard for Sokka to swallow this. Was it possible to be so close to one's team and yet maintain such secrecy and radically steer clear from certain truths?
"Anyhow, we're really glad to hear all the good things that are happening for the South," Sayen said. "The advent of the princess certainly seemed to shake the Water Tribe all at once."
"It has made a tremendous impact on us, that's for sure," said Uncle Shuqar. "Our Daughter Sayen was chosen to be a key representative for the princess's council. Though there are also several traditionalists in the council as well, and to this day, the princess hasn't chosen a war minister…" he trailed off with uncertainty.
"But what gives us much hope and relief is seeing the ports open up again," Kanguq said. "The princess has opened up travel for the first time in many years."
"You can come home now!" Katara said. "All of you can come to the South and see your families again!"
"And we will," Kanguq said. "But some of us have to come back here."
"There is so much we still have to do, and we sense a great danger ahead of us," Aput said. "The only reason why things are calm right now is because the Avatar is here with his allies, White Lotus members and otherwise. Khasiq would not dare to step out of line during this time."
"Our mission right now is to obtain Avatar Aang's support," Sanka said. "And that, too, without Khasiq's forces finding out. But it will not be easy. We haven't seen Lady in a while, either."
Why would she stop visiting anyway? Sokka wondered. Did something happen? Did someone find out?
"Well lucky for us, Gramp-Gramp and Sokka are being inducted into the White Lotus Society," Katara said. "And Avatar Aang is a good friend of ours now. Together, we can all make something happen."
"This is perfect!" Kanguq smiled, and the others whooped and hollered in good cheer.
"And as for the Revivalist mission," Sokka gave his sister a knowing look before he said, "Count us in, too."