Haida, as a village, was always small. For forty-five years, the Fire Nation had been making systematic sweeps of the coastline. Each year their expeditions drove further into the interior, and so the soldiers hit the coastal villages on the way out for good measure. Thus Haida got smaller.

As fewer and fewer Waterbenders were found, the raids occurred more and more infrequently. Still, there was very little rebuilding. Waterbenders were necessary for shaping roads and buildings. There were fewer men in the village to hunt or fish. Haida withered and her villagers became dried husks in the ice and snow.

When Katara showed her abilities as a Bender, the people of Haida spent three days in silence. The Elders met with Hakoda and Kya, to try and figure out what to do.

Waterbenders were vital, and so they swore to protect her. But they knew word would spread. They knew it was only a matter of time before someone said something to the wrong person.

So a roughshod sort of training was enacted. Anybody related to a Waterbender was called in to assist to cobble together some sort of rudimentary learning. An aged mother recalled a long dead cousin who had practiced every day. A brother could recreate the motions he had mimicked of his older sister, but only if his eyes were closed. A man with sad eyes corrected Katara's small hands as he remembered his wife.

As with their stories, Katara learned her bending from the passed down wisdom of her tribe. Her hands moved through memories, and they were not perfect. But within a year, Katara could call the water and move it as she wanted.

On the day of the black snow, Katara had been out practicing. Standing in a circle she had marked out, she turned snow to ice, to water, to steam, and back to snow, breathing in a rhythm specific to each form. When her ring of water was streaked with black, Katara looked up. At first, she did not understand. Children younger than her knew snow was white, or red after a hunt, or yellow in the animal pens. Snow was never black.

"Katara!" Her brother's voice, already high in youth, was shrill as he screamed. She knew, at that moment, what was happening.

The secret had finally been revealed.

Katara ran, her mittens attached to her sleeves flapped like penguin flippers. She had to get to the tent. She had to find her parents.

The village was small, the outskirts were just as restricted. Katara clambered over a low wall and went half tripping toward the tents. Pausing at one, Katara tried to catch her breath, but she could see bursts of fire erupting from near the coastline. Gulping in air, Katara continued to run.

When she reached the tent, she ripped back the flap and tumbled inside. Kya caught her, bringing her in toward her chest. After kissing her hair quickly, Kya pulled Katara back, cupping her face.

"Grab your bag." Her mother said and Katara nodded before breaking away. There had been a plan. A sled was kept behind the village, half a day's walk from the wall. If her father and brother survived this raid, they would all meet at the sled. If a day passed and they didn't show up, Kya would lead the sled down a carefully marked path to another village.

They moved around the tent in frightened silence. So when the flap was torn away, both Kya and Katara screamed.

Even before she could hope the large figure was her father, Katara saw the sharply curved shoulders of the Fire Nation uniform.

"A woman of Hakoda's tent. Now, which of you is her?" The man asked, sounding hateful and condescending.

"I don't know what you mean sir." Kya said, keeping her eyes downcast even as Katara rushed to her.

"Which one of you worms is the Waterbender?" The man demanded and Kya flinched.

"Please sir, where is my husband?" Kya asked. The man didn't respond but kicked snow at the pair. Kya squeezed Katara's arms, keeping them pinned at her side. It was one of the easiest tricks to expose a Waterbender. As the icy slush hit Katara's face, she felt her skin burn.

"Which of you," The man hissed. "Is the Waterbender?"

"Sir, there has not been a Waterbender in Haida for twenty years." Kya said and the man now laughed. His laughter was acidic and burned through Katara's head. Two more soldiers, masks gleaming, walked into the tent. The man raised a hand.

"Grab the girl." He said and the soldiers moved forward.

"KATARA!" Kya screamed just as one soldier wrenched Katara away with a fistful of her jacket.

"MAMA!" Katara screamed in return as her arms flailed to reach her mother, who was restrained by the other soldier.

It was in this flailing of limbs, both Kya reaching and Katara fighting, when a spear of ice was jammed through the leg of the soldier holding Katara. As he screamed, he let Katara go, but before she could run back to her mother, the man grabbed her.

"The mother then." He said, his voice low and almost gentle.

"Please sir, let my daughter go." Kya said through her sobs. Holding her up by her arm, her toes barely touching the ground, the man examined Katara.

"I suppose she doesn't need to see this." He said and then tossed Katara bodily out of the tent. "Go get your father child."

Katara scrambled backward and she saw Kya's face, serene and tear streaked. Gulping in the frozen air, Katara turned and pushed herself up. She ran to the coast, yelling for her father.

A good distance away from the shore, a large metal boat had sheared through the snow and grounded itself. Four soldiers were working on melting the ice around the bow while a group of villagers stood in a huddle. Three soldiers stood guard a few feet away and they held up their hands as Katara came running into view.

"She's my daughter!" Hakoda yelled as one soldier advanced. Katara, crying, only saw the large blur of her father and nothing else. Hakoda grabbed her, picking her up and crushing her in his arms.

"They have mom." Katara said through sobs and hiccups. Hakoda's squeezed tightened till Katara yelped and then he released her. Sokka came to her then, wrapping his arms gently around her shoulders.

"Then you're safe." Hakoda stated, his tone strained.

"But-" Sokka started but Hakoda cut him off with a look.

"She's gone Sokka." He said severely and both children started to cry. Minutes after Katara had made it to the group, the unmasked man came walking up. One of the soldiers held up the wounded one and the pair hobbled quickly after him.

"The fugitive Waterbender has been executed." The man said to no one in particular. He looked directly at Hakoda for a moment, as if challenging him. Instead, Hakoda only pulled Katara and Sokka to his legs. With a smirk, the man turned to the soldiers.

"Let's go." He said and they all moved to ramp that had been disgorged from the bow. Katara and Sokka howled as the ramp was pulled in and the villagers began to stand closer together.

"I will grab the bags." Someone said.

"Someone find Kanna." Someone else added.

"The sheets are in the trunk. Get them. Now!" A third said sharply.

"We'll see to her burial Hakoda. But as soon as the ship leaves the ice, run." A fourth voice whispered and Hakoda scooped Katara back up.

"Why do we have to leave?" Sokka asked as they moved to the fishing boats. They had stores of dried food for their journey already packed away, but fresh fish would help in the beginning.

"If someone told them the Waterbender was of my family, someone will tell them it was a child and not a woman." Hakoda said and jostled Katara up so she wrapped her arms around his neck. Hakoda's jaw clenched before he continued. "They'll be back."

They moved quickly, grabbing the stores they had dispersed among various families. When they found Kanna, she was holding Kya's necklace in a tight fist. Sokka and Katara both had ceased crying, but Katara could feel something break inside of her.