Okay, I've written a lot considering the time I've had! I have to leave for another tournament in 2 days, so the next chapter will probably not be posted until not the coming, but following Monday. I'm terribly sorry, but this will be my last tournament for a bit and then posts will resume on schedule.

Flashbacks are in all italics

After three days of walking and no sign of civilization, Yue's small pack had thinned out and her water skin was nearly empty; she had taken to picking up the black walnuts falling from the ancient trees overhead and eating the sweet meats on the inside. By doing this, her hands had turned a deep brown color, giving her an idea for the problem posed by her hair.

When the sun reached its peak on the third day, she wandered into a small stream that branched out into small gullies and eagerly drank the sweet, fresh liquid until her thirst was flooded away. With a sigh, Yue laid back and stared at the giant puffy clouds forming in the sky; her eyelids shut slowly of their own accord…

"Ohhhhhhhh…" Yue woke to a sky filled with moon-reflecting clouds and stars peeping in between. "What a waste, I could have gotten so much more done!" She mentally kicked herself again for falling asleep and went to go get more water. Her cloak kept her warm in the slight chill and swift breeze.

The trees' leaves whispered and hissed; the darkness had the older girl starting at every sound. Before, she had had an escort everywhere and never had to worry about protection, but now she had to protect herself. Another idea popped up. Her white hair bobbed from the bank of the stream, to her supplies resting at the base of a large tree, and back.

She unrolled the large scroll and read the first set of stances, memorizing them with her unnaturally accurate photographic memory. Slowly, Yue untied the sash at her waist and removed the cloak, hanging it with care on a large rock and out of harm's way. She stood slowly and assumed the first stance, memorizing the feelings of her body in this position, then moved on to the next stance until she had the first set committed to physical memory.

"The key is to have all of the steps in mind before you try the movements;" the Ocean Spirit said in his voice that sounded like the depths of the sea, "that way you can flow from one to another."

Yue was lying out on a seal rug; she stretched out her arms into the positions of the Spirit's and mimicked the fluid wrist movements. Her hands drooped downwards, flicked upwards to form a circle with her first finger and thumb; slowly, her digits relaxed and rotated out to finish the motion.

The Ocean Spirit grinned, "Good! You know, Avatar Kyoshi used this exact same motion, but with fans to increase the flow."

Yue took a deep breath and slowly passed through the motions to find the rhythm of the kata, then returned to the original and sped up. Her second attempt produced no effect though, and she tried to vary the speeds of the movements. Every change produced failure. With a sigh, she flopped down onto the mossy ground and stared upwards in frustration, raising an eyebrow at the slivered moon.

"This is insane, I did what that stupid scroll told me but I still can't…" Another idea popped in her head, Yue stood quickly and caught herself on the slippery bank. She kicked off her shoes and stepped into the water, wet up to her ankles. She breathed in slowly and let the air out as she flowed through the motions, feeling the water as her medium, moving in time to the spiritual pulse of the liquid.

Again and again she passed through the form, until it felt like an old friend; then she was ready. Yue focused on the water and took the first stance, setting her arms out correctly and drawing them to her side as she stepped to the side in the second stance. The water flowed upwards to her hands in the third stance, arms and legs ready for attack; and then into her palm in the final stance, a "catching" stance with her legs bent and touching at the heels- one palm turned to the sky.

Yue sipped at the water resting in her palm and started to study the next series of stances.

Dawn rose to find a very tired Moon Goddess panting as she sat against a large rock that sat in a small stream. Yue had been practicing all night, learning, but not quite perfecting several moves; there had been the palm water move (useful when water was behind your enemy), the water-whip, the ground water kata (which could be used to extract water from wet ground), and the most difficult so far, the ice shield.

"It's not wise to lie around streams; platypus bears are common in this area."

Yue sat up at the slightly cynical voice, "I didn't…I mean…thank you?" She looked to her left and saw another girl, about her age, carrying a set of armor. Her eyes were dark from unremoved kohl; a light scar cut her otherwise flawless face from the bridge of the nose to her right cheek.

"Forget it," The girl dropped her armor and reached into her robe for a roll of linen, "Now let me see your feet, downstream is quite bloody, and waterbenders who practice in the dark usually end up with cut heels." She dropped to the ground and examined Yue's feet. "What are you doing here, so far away from the Pole?"

"I'm…I could ask you the exact same question!"

The warrior smiled as she splashed Yue's feet with cooling water, "I'm Suki, of Kyoshi Island. I came to help the earthbenders in the war, but they sent me away because I'm a girl. So I'm seeking the Avatar; he doesn't mind having girls who fight."

Yue nodded, remembering to not use her true name, "I'm Tsuki, of the Northern Water Tribe. My father sent me here to…negotiate a treaty with the Fire Lord. Wait, you know the Avatar?"

Suki smiled, brilliant white teeth showing, "Yes, and his companions; that's why I know so much about waterbenders. The Avatar's female companion was one."

Yue hadn't gotten as well acquainted with Katara as she had her brother, and couldn't remember the girl's face that well, though she did remember the fierce soul of the southern waterbender. The white-haired girl winced slightly as the warrior tightened the bandage on her foot. 'Suki has the exact same fighting spirit.'

"How is the war going for the Earth nation?" Yue asked as the other girl sat on a nearby rock.

"Not so good," Suki said with a sigh, "The Fire Nation is so without morals that they risk huge armies—ones made up mostly of new recruits—as bait to lure us in and wear us down. It's terrible…kind of makes me feel bad for them."

Yue sighed, "When I was in the North Pole, a boy came after the Avatar from the Fire Nation; I believe his name was Zuko…"

A loud splash sounded; Suki had heaved a large stone into the stream, "Oh…I know him. He came to Kyoshi Island following the Avatar…halfway burned our village. If not for the Avatar he would have destroyed it all!" Suki laid back and winced as a loud rumble emerged from her stomach. "That reminds me, do you have any food?"

Yue smiled as she stood and went to retrieve her bag of supplies, "Give me one second to go get it…"

As the sun moved in its circular trek through the sky, the two girls constantly followed the moving shadow of the black walnut tree, keeping out of the bright sun. Suki stripped off her remaining armor to bathe and get the remaining grime from battle off of her, while Yue washedthe other girl'sclothes (and spares) clean with a helpful move from the water scroll.

"It feels so good to not be dirty anymore…" Suki sighed as she lied back in a niche formed by the ancient roots of the walnut tree, her face finally free from the makeup that had been plastered to her face since the tender age of eight, "but my hands will never be cleaned again, not after what they've done in battle. And my eyes are tainted red with blood from the carnage I've seen…"

Yue stared sadly at the ground, she had nothing to relate to the girl opposite to her, but since she was here, maybe another problem could be solved.

"I was wondering, Suki, if you could help me with a problem," the warrior-girl looked up from studying her palms, "But I got my head dunked in a barrel of bleach by one of the boys I knew, do you think I could get it back to its normal color?"

"Brown, right?" Suki sat up for a moment to get a better look before slumping back, "I suppose you could use anything; I know red dyes mostly, but…" she studied her hand again, "this walnut's nut shells are very dark…and they made my hand turn black," she held it up as proof, "It we could mix it into a paste we could probably dye it back."

Yue held back her smile in favor of an expression of interest; Suki could prove to be quite useful in her expedition.

Zuko kicked the giant ostrich underneath him with his soft boots, "Go faster you ugly fowl!" he growled, desperately wanting to reach a village where he would be able to trade in the 'stupid chicken' as he called it, and get a true traveling steed, like a horse or even perhaps an Elkul, a shaggy deer with two spiraling horns. Ahead he saw nothing but brush. It had been two days since he had parted ways with his uncle, even more since he and the retired General Iroh had cut their hair to symbolize their part from the Fire Nation.

The great fowl squawked in exhaustion as it treaded onwards, its pace slowing. Zuko kicked it in annoyance; then his thoughts turned to his sister. Azula had grown very little since he had seen her last, and she wore her crown with the same flaunt. Her skills however had improved greatly. How she had managed to summon that bolt of lighting from her fingertips, her brother had yet to find out.

The ostrich leapt over a small stream, jolting the banished prince sideways, but he didn't notice the dark brown hue of the water or the soft impressions of a warrior's boot in the bank that were several hours old.

Please review, if you review, you get delicious smoothies made of your choice of fruits, syrups, and tofu! (actually, silken tofu is REALLY good in smoothies) ha…I'm a health nut…and fresh figs, frozen raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, see…reviewing is rewarding! But there's also the promise of more chapters…please review…………