Chapter 7: Moon Girl

The world he was in made no sense. A defiance of science.

He was surrounded by majestic icy cliffs, but his feet were nestled in soft tufts of grass. The zephyrs that flew above matched the fierce winds of a tundra, and yet, there was a small, warm pond branching out with a wooden bridge arching near it. It was like an oasis in the middle of a desert— an icy desert, in this case. Not to mention the strange air this place carried…which could likely be explained by the Spirit Gate that was seated in the grass a little ways away from the pond.

Sokka was not the only one here, though. This he realized as he stepped closer to the pond. The pond was rippling with the harmonic dance of two koi fish— one white koi fish with a black spot on its head and one black koi fish bearing a white spot on its head. They circled each other with great fervor, lit up by the light of the moon. A full moon, he noted as he cast a look at the sky.

The koi fish were not the only life forms he saw; kneeling by the pond with her back to him was the woman— girl?— who always frequented his dreams, her fair hand idly wading in the water. Her exquisite white hair was woven into twin braids, which flowed in the harsh breeze. She wasn't wearing the usual white dress that she always sported in his dreams; rather she was sporting a regular tunic that had tints of purple to it (which was intriguing as purple was the color of royalty). Despite the lack of white, she still appeared to glimmer beneath the light of the moon. He did not see her face — he never did in his dreams and had no expectation of that happening if he never even saw this woman —girl?— lady in real life— but he could tell from observation that she wasn't glowing (well, not Avatar glowing) for once.

He felt a strange pounding in his chest. He hadn't been this close to her before in any of his dreams thus far. "H-Hello?"

She did not turn to see him. She only continued swishing her hand under the water. He frowned to himself; could it really be that she was still angry with him? Her glowing eyes always seemed angry every time she reigned the skies with her swishing robes.

"Are you Avatar Yue?" he tried again.

She lifted her head then but still did not turn around. At any rate, she was listening. There was now a faint, light blue glow that was emanating from her hand as she continued to swish it around the koi fish. And although she did not speak, that by itself was enough of an answer.

"And you're real? Like, really real?" But before he could inch forward, the pungent odor of smoke stopped him in his tracks. He looked around but did not see anything. A sudden blast of fire, however, swooped in from Spirits-knew-where and raided his face.

"AAAAHHHH!" He screamed and toppled back, tumbling into the grass before the flames could incinerate him. He cautiously turned back, finding that there was no one there. No firebenders, no fireballs, no enemies. No other person other than the girl, who was now standing by the water, her head raised as she looked at the sky. Sokka followed her line of sight, finding that the moon he saw earlier was no longer there. The world he was in suddenly became dark and dreary, void of the gentle drape of moonlight and the playful wink of the stars.

Did the moon disappear?

"Excuse me!" he called out to her, rising to his feet and continuing to look around, "I think there are firebenders here! We need to go!"

She did not move, continuing to look at the moonless sky.

"Hey! I think we need to get out of here!" he called again. "Come on, we don't have much time! I can still smell smoke!"

When she still did not budge, Sokka huffed and began running toward her. The closer he got to her, however, it seemed he was going farther and farther away from her.

"What the heck?!" he stopped running, finding himself back in the same position from where he started. He looked up at the woman in panic, seeing her bend back down by the water and run her hand atop the white koi, which now lay dead. The koi that was boisterously swimming around earlier now lay burnt atop the water, devoid of life, its ashen scales exposed to the thick air. The black koi fish circled its mate, its rhythm frantic and panicked.

Sokka did not understand, but he nevertheless felt a strange burden in his heart. A faint kind of… disruption, almost, in the flow of his blood through his veins.

Despite knowing her to be an Avatar, Sokka was seized by the values of his village and the ingrained instinct to bring women and children to safety. He tried running towards her again, and this time, he managed to succeed. He didn't care to make eye contact at that moment, simply reaching forward and managing to grab her arm, tugging at it, "We need to go! It's dangerous!"

But it was then that the woman, whose face he still could not see, began to glow. The glow of her eyes lit up a significant portion of her surroundings. It was a blinding kind of glow that made him stagger back with its intensity, but he was fierce in his hold of her hand. What if something happens to her?

Her hand, too, began glowing wildly at that point, forcing him to let go. He fell back against the grass, caught by awe as her entire body began glowing at this point. She stepped into the water, her touch making the entire pond glisten, including the white koi. Before he could process what was truly going on, he saw to his horror that she was suddenly sucked into the water.

"HEY! HEY, WAIT!" He pulled himself back up and scrambled to peer into the pond, horrified to see that despite the shallowness of the pond, he found no trace of her body, no sign of a struggle or a swim. The white koi suddenly began flailing before flipping back around and joining its mate. They both nuzzled each other's gills in an odd gesture of affection before continuing their harmonious dance. The world around him suddenly grew bright with rich moonlight once more.

And sure enough when he looked up, the woman returned to the sky, taking the place of the moon and shimmering with just as much intensity. Her hair was let down, flowing behind her like a flaming white halo, and her tunic had morphed into her signature white dress. Stars blinked across the sky as if paying a tribute to her radiance as she glared down at the world, the rest of her face eclipsed by the darkness surrounding her.

He was back where he started…although the more he stared at her glowing eyes, the more he pieced in the fact that she was drawn into the water… the more he wondered if it was really anger that she was displaying. What if it was distress? Sokka remembered how Aang nearly blew them off the mountain in the wake of his devastation, but the monk had been in a state in which he did not have control over himself, overcome by a strong enough emotion that jutted the power of all the Avatars through him. The monk, normally kind and gentle, had in that moment been consumed by the power more than anything else. Could it be the same for this woman right now?

He did not have the chance to find out, though, as he staggered back, feeling as if he was falling, falling, deeper and deeper into Spirits-knew-where…

"Gaah!" Sokka panted out of his sleep, finding himself staring into the early dawn. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at the rays of sunlight raiding his face.

Did she…did she just turn into the moon in his dream? Or rather, take the place of the moon? And what did the death of the fish have to do with the moon's disappearance?

You know what? Forget this, he huffed. There is no way a celestial object in outer space can simply disappear without some sort of collision impact that knocked it out of the way or something. There was no connection among moons, white koi fish, and women with beautiful white hair—

"Oh good, you're up!" Aang chirped excitedly, cutting off any and all of his trains of thought.

"No, no," Sokka rubbed his eyes, "I think I'm going back to sleep—"

"Nonsense! We have some giant elephant koi waiting for us!"

Widening his eyes, "Koi?"

Aang said nothing to spoil the suspense, only grinning and running off to help Katara with her sleeping bag. Sokka, meanwhile, wrestled between pursuing this koi matter and giving up on the dreams altogether, accepting them as nonsense. This girl. Why would she come to his dreams? If Avatar Yue really was trying to communicate with the group, wouldn't she be visiting Aang's dreams?

Then again. That poor girl. Sucked violently into the water like that. He shook his head, overcome by a feeling of…strangely helplessness. Years of envisioning himself as a protector in a tribe bereft of capable men cemented the words of his father deeper within him.

"Being a man is where you're needed the most, and for you that means being here, protecting your mother, grandmother, and sister. Protecting the aunts and sisters of the tribe. We lost many already, and we nearly lost your mother. We are not losing anyone else. That's why I need you here. That's why I need you here, Sokka. The lives of our women and children are in your hands.

Sokka sighed, yet again expressing bitterness over the fact that the Avatar Spirit apparently had no qualms against "possessing" the souls of vulnerable people.

Women were most certainly not vulnerable people.

It took a group of capable, fan-wielding women who lived by a giant, carnivorous eel and protected justice in overbearing green skirts, silk threads, and rugged armor to kick his ass and impart this wisdom. The warriors of Kyoshi Island quickly instilled within him humility, and a rapid undoing of his misconceptions followed suit. He had even become their student: "I would be honored if you would teach me."

And his training had dispelled his belief that power was limited to the mythical goddesses of the Arctic. Excitement pooled within him as he began to think more about this powerful woman frequenting his dreams. More and more, this woman appeared to him as a symbol for all things "unorthodox." What if she was a warrior? He hadn't seen her fight in his dreams yet, but she was the Avatar, and she could very well be physically powerful if she already had unbelievable power coursing through her.

What did not change about him, though, was his attachment to the moonstone.

"That rock is getting in the way of your uniform," said Suki, the leader of the warriors and Sokka's sifu at the moment.

Keeping his hold over the stone, "It's a special moonstone. I need to keep it safe."

"For what? Is it a religious thing?"

"I'm not exactly religious, but I still gotta keep it safe." The strange physics of the stone were left unspoken. "By the way, you don't happen to have a spirit gate anywhere near here, do you?"

"A spirit gate?" she asked, bewildered.

"What about any black and white koi fish? Regular kois, not elephant kois. Oh, and not just any black and white kois. The black one's gotta have a white spot over it, and the white one's gotta have a black spot over it."

Shaking her head, "I've never seen any koi fish like that. I didn't know koi fish existed in those colors."

"I didn't think so, either, but…" he trailed off, looking away. Was he being ridiculous about this?

"You're so specific with what you're looking for. Why are you looking for all of these things? Is it to help Aang?"

"Yeah, I guess…But really I'm looking for that girl."

Blinking, "What girl?"

"Well…I know she has white hair and that she's Water Tribe. I haven't seen her face, though."

"When did you last see her?"

"In my dream."

And Suki's seriousness deflated, "In your dream?"

"Yeah, I always see her in my dreams." He looked up, "I'm guessing you don't know anyone like that around here?"

And based on the incredulity in her expression, he knew her answer.

"Are you sure about this, Uncle?"

Iroh gave his nephew a swift nod, "It is about time you gathered important allies, Prince Zuko. Having the Admiral of the Dragon Division on your side will be advantageous. At the moment, you are not allowed into mainland waters, and you are not allowed to interfere with any Fire Nation conquest operating under direct orders of the Fire Lord. Our resources are also depleting at a rapid rate, especially with Zhao's influence over the supply chains. But joining hands with the Admiral is bound to help you in all kinds of ways."

Zuko's scowl persisted, "I don't buy for one second that he's not after that monk. Who wouldn't want to capture the Avatar?"

"It is indeed very surprising to me," Iroh mused.

"We need to keep an eye on him. He could be trying to undermine us. There's nothing to suggest that he is not like Zhao."

"And we can do that if we work side by side. That is why I think it is best if we invite him to join our raid on Kyoshi Island." Placing his hand over Zuko's shoulder, "We will see what he does, and we take our next steps carefully from there."

Faced towards the setting sun, Azimaz lost himself in meditation. He was interrupted, however, by his assistant, who told him with surprise and enthusiasm that Prince Zuko was here with his uncle to see him. A brush of Azi's hand told the assistant to send the prince to his chambers. General Iroh was the first to step in, followed closely by the young Fire prince.

"It is an honor to have you on my ship, General Iroh," Azimaz bowed, turning to Zuko next, "And you, Prince Zuko."

"It is an honor to be here, Admiral Azi," Iroh bowed in response. "I apologize. I did not mean to interrupt your meditation. I was not aware that you practiced meditation, actually."

"It calms the mind," the admiral said. "Fuels your inner sun. It's a good practice."

"You are absolutely right," Iroh smiled. "My nephew here meditates as well some days. To calm his mind."

Azimaz was no stranger to the prince's silence, but there was something different about him, he could tell. Leading them to a seat, "What can I do for you both?"

Iroh, though holding a cautious look, turned to Prince Zuko, who took a deep breath and said with a softer voice than last time, "I thought about what you said, Admiral. About converging our missions. You have a legitimate purpose for capturing those peasants. I understand that it is very important to you."

"Yes," Azimaz nodded, "It is a blow to my honor to see them roaming the world with no consequences for the actions of their village."

A blow to my honor. "And as you know, capturing the Avatar is very important to me. It is a blow to my honor to see him unrestrained as he plots to destroy our nation." Zuko finally made eye contact, "I think you are right when you say that we should help each other."

"Prince Zuko says he is willing to do everything he can to help you catch those tribefolk," Iroh said. "You have our word that we will help you track those Tribal siblings. So long as you extend your support."

The corners of Azi's lips curled knowingly. He bowed low to the ground, "I would be honored."

"Then allow us to invite you to our first stop," the general said. "We just received word that the Avatar is on Kyoshi Island."

Azi raised his eyebrows in interest, "Kyoshi Island?"

"We readied the rhinos," Zuko said. "The monk is mine. The peasants are yours."

The admiral leered, "Perfect."

"GRAB THOSE PEASANTS AND DRAG THEM TO THE SHIP!"

Azimaz proved by his vehement actions that it wasn't just the bald kid who was hunted with great fervor around the world. Zuko and Iroh were surprised to see the admiral charging straight after the "waterbending savage" and her "incompetent nonbending oaf of a brother." The said "oaf" was disguised in a Kyoshi Warrior uniform, and it proved difficult for Azi to recognize him in the layers of all that paint. That is, until the tribesboy charged ahead and pulled his sister out of his way, whacking Azi with a flaming fan. Azimaz dodged the blow, grabbing Sokka by the neck.

"WHERE IS IT?!" Azi hissed, "Hand the moonstone over to me, Water peasant!"

But the admiral's hand was frozen thanks to the tribesgirl's water whip that iced over his appendage. Azi reached for the tribesboy with his other hand only to get struck in the head with the boomerang and left to the chaotic rhinos' mercy.

It had shocked Sokka out of his wits to know that the moonstone was also being hunted. Who was this man and how did he know about the moonstone? He wondered if Azi's knowledge and obsession were such that he knew of the stone's magical properties and was thus trying to capture his person rather than the stone itself.

And it was quite an obsession indeed. Through his blurred, bloodshot vision, Azi pulled himself up and noticed that the escaping savage wore the moonstone on him. He narrowed his target to Sokka's neck. Fire sputtered from the enraged admiral's knuckles and kicks, but Sokka proved to be not as incompetent as Azi expected; the young warrior had dodged and ducked the blows that came his way in the wake of the rhinos' stampedes, simultaneously defending the Kyoshi Warriors that were moments away from having their faces incinerated.

Azimaz eventually succeeded in grabbing hold of his wolf tail, but Sokka sent a kick near the lower half of the man's body, pain paralyzing the Fire officer for a moment. Azi roared and let out a breath of fire that the warrior narrowly escaped, jamming the burnt fan into the man's mouth. Before the Dragon Crew knew it, the bald monk, who had once again evaded Zuko clutches, showered his prowess and promised protection by steering the Unagi's water blasts over the city, trampling the fires and driving the rhinos more restless. And before any fireball could knock him away from the sea monster, the Water Tribe siblings grabbed hold of the monk, pulling him atop Appa as they flew away.

Azimaz hissed, considering the throb of his head from the boomerang blow to be his greatest failure yet as his line of sight followed the bison nearly into the clouds.

It was in the aftermath of that chaos that Sokka tightened his hold on the moonstone at his neck. It wasn't wrong, he realized, to still seek to protect people who don't need protecting. The tribeswoman who frequented his dreams might be more powerful than he could ever be, but this moonstone was rooted to her in some way.

He didn't know what exactly drove his motivation. It was irrational and void of coherent reason. But he swore nevertheless he was going to protect this stone no matter what it took.

For several days, Sokka did not have any dreams of that tribesgirl. The trio was lost in the chaos of their journey, dodging every fireball that the Fire prince and his admiral ally threw their way. They had stumbled across various villages. Sokka had even tumbled into the Spirit World once — a world that escaped every law of physics he could think of. A world in which trees disintegrated at will, monkeys swam without paws and legs, boarcupine-humans yelled in his face to get lost, and a group of "cherries" that he sought to eat turned into ladybug-flies that expanded to the size of gorilla-chimps and nearly chopped his legs off. When he wasn't busy trying to keep himself alive, he spent his time searching for fancy koi fish, spirit gates, and bathrooms (though not necessarily in that order of priority).

It was through these uncertainties that the trio discover a much-needed opportunity to converse with Aang's predecessor: Avatar Roku, whose temple was on Crescent Island, which for their utmost convenience was seated right in the Fire Nation (he was a firebender, so Sokka didn't argue with that logic).

It wasn't exactly a walk in the snow park, and the trio had entered the island toasted and left the island toasted, but Aang did get a chance to meet someone who gave him guidance on his journey. Sokka also felt it was worth it when he thought he felt vindicated by what Avatar Roku apparently told Aang.

"But rest assured, Aang. You will not be alone in this endeavor. There will be another."

"Another? Who's that, Roku?"

"She will help you along the way. When the time is right, she will reveal herself."

"I told you, I told you!" Sokka jumped up and down, "It's her!"

"Who, that Moon Girl?" Katara snorted. "What, did she have a sword for a hand, too, recently?"

"It's not funny! That's what happened!" Sokka said, exasperated. "And don't make fun of my folk tales!"

"If it really is this girl, why hasn't she visited Aang? She's clearly more connected to him than you."

"I don't know the answer to that, but I do know that—"

"Maybe you should just stop dreaming about girls and get your priorities straight," Katara folded her arms, unamused by her offended brother, "Can't expect anything else from a voice-cracking tribesboy, can we?"