A/N: I am so sorry for the long wait! Life got in the way and I just couldn't find the time to sit down and get all my thoughts and ideas typed up. Since my last update, which documented the fact that Korra got a release date, the show has concluded for the time until Book 3 picks up. That, more than anything, is insane. I can't even believe how long its been! Anyway, here you go! The intro to Sokka and a short teaser intro to Zuko! I hope you enjoy! God bless!
Warmth was the first thing she registered upon waking up the next morning in the ice hut. Despite the chilled skin of her nose, heat wrapped comfortably around her body just like the thick quilts her mother used to cover her with when she was young. She kept her eyes closed wishing to enjoy the moment for just a bit longer, her breathing slowing as she tried to will herself back into unconsciousness.
That's when she heard a loud cough coming from the doorway.
Silver eyes flying open, her gaze fell on the source of the cough and the unwanted sunlight. Standing in the doorway was a young man of only about nineteen, a stern look upon his face as he gazed into the makeshift hut at the sight in front of him. It was only then that Katara realized that she wasn't alone under the stack of pelts that covered her body.
Sitting up quickly, the girl accidently kicked her companion in her haste, causing Aang to wake with a start.
"Katara! Wha – "
That's when he noticed the Water Tribe man standing in their doorway, glaring at the two of them as if they were his next set of prey. He wore a thick blue jacket that barely concealed the outline of his arm muscles, his neck thick and strong and his facial expression incredibly intimidating. Katara was already on her feet.
"What's the big idea?" The young woman demanded, brows furrowing as she matched the man's stare perfectly. The boy looked right back at her, arms crossing over his chest in an attempt to gain the upper hand in the stare down.
"I was sent to wake the Avatar. I didn't realize he had a guest with him," The man's voice was steady, but Aang could hear the slight frustration that lay beneath the surface as he spoke his next words, "The elders need to speak to you immediately. They assumed you would be up with the sun."
"I'm sorry we have been traveling for days," The young airbender grabbed his coat off its place on the floor, sliding his arms into it, "I didn't mean any disrespect towards the women who are housing me."
"The sleeping they wouldn't be upset about," The man glanced sideways at Katara, his brows raising, "However they did give you two sets of pelts, they would expect you to respect their traditions and remain in your own bedrolls."
Both airbenders blushed at the comment, not meeting the others' eyes.
"What would they like to speak to me about?" Aang continued on, as though the man had never said a word beyond his entrance, "I had a meeting with them yesterday."
The Water Tribe warrior shrugged, the tenseness in his shoulders remaining,
"Our patrol returned last night. The women just gave us a brief summary of what you had told them. They believe we need to hear the entire story before we make our next move."
"Whoa, what move? We are leaving in a few days for the North Pole."
"Yes, they told us that," The man turned on his heel, letting the flap of the door fall back into place as he walked off, "But there are still strategies that need to be discussed."
Aang and Katara sat in silence for a few moments, both unsure of what to make of their rude awakening.
"Kanna told me yesterday that men in the Water Tribes are known for stealing hearts," The female airbender's grin became wry, "I must say I do not see it."
The Avatar laughed, grabbing for his tanned boots as he shook his head in amusement, "I must say, I'm not getting heart palpitations either."
An hour later, the two airbenders were standing in the presence of the elders. Instead of the room being full of only women though like it had been the night before, men also stood beside them as well. The eldest only seemed to be nineteen, the rest ranging from thirteen to sixteen, barely men at all. Katara's eyes rolled when she saw that the man who was obviously the oldest, was the same one who had woken her from her sleep. He stood behind Kanna, his eyes and posture radiating his mindset of dominance.
"We have come to a conclusion after a brief meeting we held this morning with our patrol," The woman began, her clear blue eyes shifting to those who sat beside her as she voiced their cumulative opinion, "That maybe it isn't the safest idea for the two of you to be traveling alone. Especially with the Fire Nation so intent on the destruction of the Avatar."
The women all nodded their heads in agreement with their head elder, the boys also seeming to agree with her statement as well. Katara though, made sure she spoke up right away of her dislike for the idea.
"For all they know though, Aang's already dead," The airbender reasoned, her glance drifting to her companion's before returning to the elder's, "He's going to grow his hair out to cover his identity and you've already given us Water Tribe clothing. The Fire Nation set the temples in flames to make sure Aang was out of the picture, they can't have any idea that he's escaped."
"Young airbender," Kanna's hand came up to stop the girl's rebuttal, "There are some things that cannot stay secret for long. There are sages who live purely to study and serve the Avatar. They will know if the object of their affection continues to live on and the Fire Lord will know as well. When an Avatar dies, the entire world feels it. Until that happens, hope continues to live on undisrupted, and so does suspicion."
The girl didn't know exactly what to say to that, closing her mouth tightly with a grim look. She wanted to mock the idea of the world being able to feel the presence of the Avatar, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She was sitting right next to him, but she would be able to feel the light that lived on inside of him even if she was halfway across the world. Surely others felt this too, including the Fire Nation.
"So," Kanna continued on, her eyes falling on the eldest warrior who stood behind her, "We have decided to give you a guide to help you on your way to the North Pole, to protect you and offer a good sense of direction. Sokka is the captain of our patrol and has volunteered to accompany you."
The room went quiet, all looking towards the airbenders for their reactions. Aang rubbed the back of his neck nervously, trying hard to ignore the glare and anger radiating off of Katara.
"Wow," The Avatar spoke up, shrugging, "I mean, I think this is kind of unnecessary – "
"It's very unnecessary," Katara interjected, her glare directed at the boy who had oh so graciously offered himself up to travel with them, "Aang's the Avatar, he doesn't need anyone to protect him."
"Well, I wouldn't say that – "
But Katara wasn't done, "Especially someone who is only a few years older than him. You can't be more than nineteen!"
"This is a very nice offer – "
"But he is not needed," The female airbender finalized, standing up from her cushion on the floor, "Aang and I are capable of traveling on our own."
Sokka, who had been silent up until then, stepped in front of the elders at the girl's words. He stood in front of the defiant bender, rising to his full height as to cast an intimidating shadow over her small form.
"Excuse me, miss, but do you know how to find the North Pole?"
"No," Katara snapped, her chin lifting as she tilted her head up to meet his gaze, "But I am perfectly capable of reading a map."
"Where do you planon obtaining a map?" The man asked, his brows raising, "Because all of our's were taken by the first group of men who went to fight in the Earth Kingdom. And since then, the Fire Nation has done their best to rid the world of maps that would offer any guidance of the seas."
Katara's mouth transformed into a grim line, her eyes turning to slits.
"If that's so," She retorted, her arms crossing over her chest, "Than how do you navigate the seas?"
"Pure instincts."
Katara snorted, "I bet you can't make it a mile past the next glacier."
"Whoa," Aang sprung up from his seat, stepping between the two, "Let's not fight over this, please."
Ignoring him, Sokka continued while blissfully ignoring the outspoken girl's previous comment, "Besides, how do you plan on traveling to the North Pole? The last time I checked, the only people to have air bison are the Air Nomads. If you're trying to cover up your identity, you're not doing a very good job of it."
"I think Aang and I have managed just fine! We flew Appa from the Western Air Temple, to the Southern one, and then to here. No Fire Nation ships followed us from any of those places!"
Aang gripped Katara's shoulder tightly, urging her to calm down for a moment, "Hey, he's on to something there though. We do need to consider how dangerous it is for us to be traveling on Appa. Maybe we should use something else."
The young woman scoffed, her silver eyes rolling into the back of her head, "We're fine. An air bison can't be seen from a boat very easily anyway, or the ground for that matter."
"Really?" Sokka challenged, "How do you think we saw you two in the air yesterday while we were on patrol? That's why we returned last night."
Aang turned back towards Katara, his eyes pleading with her to just let the subject rest and to not reply back to the warrior. Though he could see her jaw was clenched and that she wanted to say something, he released a sigh when she turned her head to the side silently.
"Would you be able to supply us with a boat?"
Sokka nodded, his eyes still hard as he met the gaze of the Avatar, "That's another reason why I need to accompany you. My boat is the only one that is large enough to make a journey across the ocean."
The Avatar addressed his companion, his voice soft, "Katara, this may actually be a better idea than us trying to do this on our own."
The girl huffed and didn't answer.
"We wish to assist you any way we can, Avatar," Kanna spoke up, her voice low and truthful as she stood from her spot, "We may not have many resources, but we do have good strategy. Please, accept this offer."
Aang looked back at Katara once more, but was met with no response. The boy sighed heavily; he wasn't going to win either way.
"We would love to have you join us, Sokka."
With the Avatar's words, Katara left the hut with her dark curls flying behind her, stamping her feet all the way out the door. Aang cringed every time he heard her loud stomps sound off of the snow covered ground, her anger clearly shown through every step she took.
"I will be back in a moment," The elders watched as the Avatar too, exited the hut to follow after his frustrated friend.
Sokka turned to his grandmother, "When you asked me to volunteer, you didn't mention the girl was sassy."
"She's finally someone who can match your wit."
The man laughed, shaking his head, "That's impossible."
The old woman smiled at the boy, patting the back of his shoulder, "Sokka, I have strong reasons to believe that she has ties to this tribe. To you and to me. You need to protect her. When the time comes, I think you will see what I see."
"A brat with hair loopies?"
Kanna rolled her eyes; "There may be no hope in you after all."
Sokka chuckled at his grandmother's wry statement, "Don't worry, Gran. I'll help them out. Who knows, we may just walk out of this being each others' best friend!"
"Baby steps, Sokka. Baby steps."
In the Fire Nation, another man was being faced with the choice of companionship. Unfortunately for him, instead of choosing to leave his home, he was being forced.
The sun was high in the sky, casting shadows across the ruby colored room. A shuffling sounded off the walls as items of clothing were thrown into a travelling sack. A man of only about twenty stood with his back to his elder, a patch concealing one side of his face from the harsh reality of the world.
"Uncle, why are you so insistent upon coming with me?"
"My nephew," The older man spoke, his voice low and gruff, "You are being tasked with a near impossible task. I'm not allowing you to face banishment alone."
The young man's back straightened, his face tilting in the direction of his uncle, his visible amber eye burning with determination, "This task is not impossible."
"Capturing the Avatar after the Air Temples have been destroyed is a highly difficult task, Zuko."
"I don't care," The man responded, tying his traveling bag at the top with a sense of finality, "I will find him."
"We don't even know what gender the Avatar is," His uncle reasoned, grasping his nephew's shoulder, "We don't even know if the Avatar is alive."
"I know he is."
"Zuko," The man's voice was stern, his matching set of amber eyes hard, "You do not know that. My brother is sending you on a wild hogmonkey chase."
"My father wishes for me to restore my honor," Zuko turned to face his uncle, his dark ponytail swishing to the side with his quick movement, "I will not let him down."
His uncle is about to speak again when a servant enters the room.
"General Iroh, the ship is ready for you and your nephew's departure."
The two stare at each other for a long moment, the sound of the door closing the only noise between them.
"Come with me if you want," Zuko conceded, throwing his bag over his shoulder, "But I will not allow you to change my mind. I will capture the Avatar and I will return home the prince I was always meant to be."
With that, the banished prince exited the room, ready to take part in what was sure to be his grand destiny and his gateway to the throne.