Burn My Dread FES

By Iain R. Lewis

Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Nickelodeon, some of the concepts are similarly inspired by Persona 3 and Persona 4, property of ATLUS games.

"I never felt like -- so different now. It doesn't seem like we've been far apart. Turn me so jealous."

- When the Moon's Reaching Out Stars - Reincarnation -

Yumi Kawamura

Chapter 2: The Garden of Guilt

The Garden was lush and full of life. The white-washed fences were covered in creeping vines as they wrapped overhead in a long, winding passageway. There was something eerie about the sounds that hid in wait under the brush, and the eyes that seemed to watch them and vanish into the night glowed with a vicious ferociousness.

Azula took the lead, and looked only straight ahead. She did not turn around to look at her soldiers as they marched on.

"I'm tired," Katara muttered, "We've been walking for an hour and we've been following your stupid right-hand technique the whole time."

"This is getting us nowhere," Sokka agreed.

Azula bristled, but did not stop or turn around, "Your objections are duly noted, but this is the only way we'll be guaranteed to find the center."

"Let's take a rest, at least!" Katara protested.

"And waste valuable time?" Azula said, finally rearing on the group. "Katara, I'm disappointed in you."

"She's right, Azula," Sokka answered. "You can't just keep pushing forward. We need to rest."

"There's a clearing ahead," Zuko said, "Let's take a rest there and try and see if there are any clues or maps of this maze we can use. That way we rest but we keep productive."

Azula sighed. "Fine," she said, "We'll rest there."

The group approached the clearing a few minutes later, and much to Katara's joy, there were seats there. They were covered in vines and undergrowth, but she cleared off a place to sit down, and looked up at the sky overhead.

"That's a big moon," she said.

"I haven't seen the moon in a long time," Azula snorted. She steadied herself against the seat and looked around. "This is a large clearing. The rose bushes are quite pretty. I haven't seen plants like this in a good long time."

"Yeah?" Katara asked. "I didn't think you'd be interested in gardening."

"I'm not, particularly, but my mother kept a garden at home. You'd be better off asking Zuzu about it, since he was mother's favorite."

"Mothers don't have favorites," Katara said.

Azula rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Katara. Mothers are people too, they're not some incredibly perfect being like you think your mother is."

Katara laughed, "My mom was far from perfect. Dad told me about when they were dating, and she made a lot of mistakes, but he was clear that she never picked favorites. I'm sure your mother didn't, either."

"It doesn't matter. She imported plants like these from all over the world," she continued, "And she built it around a turtle-duck pond."

"I'd heard," Katara said, dryly. "Do you still try and murder the poor things?"

"Of course not," Azula said, cryptically, "I don't need to try anymore."

"You're a piece of work, Azula," Katara said. "Just when I think I see a new side of you, you just show off your ugly side."

"It's a gift," she playfully grinned. "Red roses, they're a rare treat. Their thorns are quite prickly."

Azula looked over to the others. Toph was holding onto Sokka's arm as Zuko walked them through a small orchard, where the apples were practically dripping. "Do you think they'll find a way faster than your path?"

"I suppose it's possible," she dsif, "I've heard that some mazes were designed to counteract that technique."

"You mean, it doesn't work?"

"Hardly," Azula said, "The very design of a maze makes that impossible. But, it's possible to make it the single longest path."

"Do you think that's what's happening?"

"Who can say," Azula said. "Without a map, I'd be guessing. We'll see."

"All right," Katara said. She sighed. "Well, if we can't find another path, we'll just have to grin and bear it, right?"

"Good to see you finally coming around."

"I don't like you, Azula, but I know you. You don't get any benefit being stuck here, so, for now, I guess we can trust you."

Azula smirked, and was about to retort when she stopped, and listened to a distant sound. It was as though someone was singing an old song, long forgotten. Katara turned to look for the source of the voice. "I know that song."

"You do?"

"My gran-gran sang it to me when I was very small. She was from the Northern Water Tribe, it's an old lullaby."

Down a long passage connected to the clearing, a girl walked, carrying with her a small watering can that, when she poured it, dripped out moonlight. The red roses underneath turned white, and she carried on in this way, singing the old Water Tribe words, as she went. As she came closer, they could see the intricate silks that made up her dress, white and blue mixed together, with pearls embroidered into the crest of waves.

She wore a diadem of platinum, with a large silver pearl on the forehead.

She was a goddess, walking amongst the flowers.

"Yue?" Katara blinked. "Yue!" she sounded elated, and ran over the girl. Azula grumbled, getting to her feet and following Katara. "What are you doing here, Yue?" she asked.

The girl looked over Katara, and furrowed her brows. "I'm sorry, mortal, but have we met?"

"Yue, it's me, Katara," she said, "Remember? From the Bending Club? We explored the Spirit World together. You even went to school with us for a bit!"

"Oh, Katara," Yue said, placing stress on the first syllable, "Yes, I remember you now. How is that being mortal work out for you?"

"Uh, fine, I guess."

Azula scoffed. "Where are we, Moon Spirit?"

"My, aren't you rude," Yue said. The way she talked seemed completely alien from the Yue Azula remembered. However, it had been some time since she last remembered seeing Yue. Had she really changed so much? "Speaking to a Goddess with such a tone."

She looked around, "More of the riff-raff found its way in here? This just won't do. Katya, wasn't it?"

"Katara."

"Whatever, would you be a dear and help your friends find their way to the nearest exit. It just won't do having common mortals treading in my garden."

"This is your garden?" Katara asked. "Well, that's great! Have you seen a boy run through here?"

"A boy? Hardly. Oh, but wait, yes, now that I think about it, I do believe I know who you mean."

"Well?" Azula asked, tapping her foot impatiently, "What is it?"

"Do tell that one, whatever her name is, to be quiet," Yue said, her eyes narrowing into angry slits, "If she disrespects a Goddess one more time in her own domain, she may find herself losing more than just her way."

"Azula, please," Katara said, "Be diplomatic for once."

Azula whispered, "To this haughty, stuck-up -- fine. For now."

"She's sorry, Yue," Katara said. "She's been asleep for a long time. You remember her, right, Azula?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"Well, yeah!" Katara said. "Don't you remember us, Yue?"

"I have to remember so much, Katarina, I hardly have time to remember the little people," Yue said, sticking her nose in the air. "That is why I'm asking you to leave. It just won't do should people of actual worth should appear to request a goddess's aid."

"Katara!" Katara shouted, "What happened to you, Yue? You didn't used to be like this!"

"Wasn't I?" Yue asked.

"Well, we can't leave, Yue. We're trapped here! How, how dare you just act like we're nothing after all we've been through together! I can't believe you!"

"You -- you dare speak to a Goddess like that?"

"Yes, we do," Azula added. "I know I have a reputation for being a bit stuck up, but I would hardly call your behavior befitting someone of a higher station. Learn some true class, Yue, before you dare act like you are better than us mortals."

"Yeah!" Katara agreed.

Azula wasn't sure why, but she did feel stronger for that, as if she'd made a bond with Katara, of all people, and it was fueling her. Yue just stared dumb-founded back. And then, she laughed. "Oh, I've misjudged you. You could prove entertaining for my pets."

"What?"

Yue smiled, "My pets," she added, "Who have been quite hungry for something more substantial than pelican-gulls."

"Is that a threat?" Azula asked. This was definitely not the Yue that she knew. "Who are you?"

Azula blinked, her eyes were starting to droop. "What are you doing?" Katara wondered, as Yue's eyes glowed a bright white light. "I, I feel like I'm about to --" she managed to squeeze out before she collapsed to the ground.

Azula stepped forward, "You're not Yue," she struggled to say before falling to her knees. "What sort of monster are you?"

"Wake up!"

That girl's voice again, that little girl from before.

"If you don't wake up, you're dead!"

Azula tried to focus on opening her eyes. They felt so heavy.

"Are you going to let that stupid moon girl beat you?"

No, Azula managed to think, she wasn't about to be beat by some cheap trick from some imposter moon spirit. She managed to blink open her eyes. The girl, she was nowhere to be seen. Not for the first time, she doubted her sanity.

She felt something wrap tighter around her leg. A vine, but it was moving, not from the wind or her squriming, but like it were some kind of tentacle. "What the --"

the vine was connected to a large creature, which, while a good deal larger, resembled old sketches she saw of a desert plant that got its nutrients from the large lion-bees that lived there. As she began to flail, the planta cted almost as if it could see her, its maw opening and viscous fluids dripped from each of its menacing teeth.

The vines around her became taut and slowly dragged her upwards, towards the plant.

Azula looked around, trying to find any way to break free. She made to reach for her thigh holster when the creature lashed vines out from above her, and wrapped them around her hands. "Let go!" she shouted.

Someone murmured softly, and Azula's eyes darted to the ground. Wrapped around the waist, and held tight, Katara remained unconscious, blissfully unaware of the threat nearby. "Katara! Wake up this instant!" she shouted.

The creature hoisted her clear into the air, inverted.

The gun in her holster fell to the ground, and landed softly. "Katara!" Azula shrieked, "Wake up!"

Somehow, in the back of her mind, she knew she wouldn't die like this. It was too unassuming, too secretive for her death. Azula knew, the day she died, the heavens would be alight with fire by the time she stopped drawing breath.

So, with that clear in her head, she knew that there was no reason to panic. "Katara Floes, if you do not wake up this instant, I will promise you, the moment I get free I will personally feed you to this creature."

Katara murmured some unintelligible words, and shook her head as she stirred. "Who? Who said that?"

Azula frowned. Katara was a morning person, yes, but the few minutes before she began her morning routine she was not precisely the most alert person Azula had known. "It's me, Azula," she said. "I'd appreciate it if you would hurry up and listen to me."

"Azula?" she managed, her eyes fluttering open. "I -- I don't know what happened. Was everything until now a dream --?" Her hands brushed the thick vines wrapped around her waist. And she shrieked in shock and surprise. "What is this thing?" she asked, now perfectly awake.

"Ah, good, already up to speed," Azula said, drolly. "Now, if you don't mind helping me down from here before I get eaten, this is not really the most dignified position I've ever found myself in."

"But, but," Katara stuttered.

"My gun, it's right there next to you," she said, calmly, "Now, pick it up, make sure the safety's off, take aim at the vine holding my leg, and shoot."

"I don't know how to fire a gun!" Katara said. She looked at the small firearm apprehensively. "Isn't there some other way."

"Can you bend yet?" Azula asked, triedly.

"No, I, I can't," Katara said.

"Okay," Azula said, "Then pick up the gun and listen to me. Pick the gun up, carefully, by the handle, make certain you're not playing with the trigger when you do. I don't know if the fall knocked the safety off."

"What's a safety?"

"This is going ridiculous. Okay, it didn't fire, so I'm going to guess it's all right. That said, it's a weapon, not a toy. Do not handle it without complete care."

"I'm not so sure about this," Katara said. She picked up the gun daintily and held it in her hand. "Okay, what now."

"Is the safety on?"

"I don't know! What's a safety!"

"It's over there, no, up a bit. There," she said. "Now, is it off or on?"

"I don't know!"

"Spectacular," Azula said as she was waved about by the hungry looking plant. "Look, Aim at something and pull the trigger. You know how to do that, right?"

"What do I aim for?"

"The plant, the vine, something, anything!"

"Okay!" Katara said, pointing the thing shakily at the large target of the soft insides of the plant's mouth as the teeth-like flaps flapped hungrily. "Here I go!"

She pulled the trigger, and nothing happened.

"Why didn't anything happen?"

"The safety's on," Azula said, tiredly, "Just flip it to the side and try again."

"Oh," Katara said. "Well, here goes nothing!"

She aimed again and fired, shutting her eyes ans shrieking in surprise at the recoil. A bullet tore through the air and struck the creature's insides. It made some strange, unearthly noises as the vines loosened their grip and Azula fell to the ground with no fanfare.

"Ow," she stated, matter-of-factly, after she corrected herself on the ground and brushed her skirt down. "That was unpleasant."

"Okay, do I, do I turn on the safety first and --" Azula grabbed the gun from out of Katara's loose grip, examined it, and with a few minor adjustments, replaced it in her thigh holster. "Oh, okay."

Azula fell into a firebending stance, and she took a deep breath, "Firebending should be easy enough," she said, and with a thrust, threw her hand out forward. To her dismay, the flames formed, but sputtered all too quickly. "This is ridiculous!"

"Uh," Katara said, "I think maybe you should be trying waterbending next."

"Waterbending, against a plant? Do you remember when you did that with that swamp spirit? Don't you think the same thing will happen with this thing?"

"Well," Katara said, "I'm not exactly an amateur waterbender anymore. Splashing water at it would be bad, yes," Katara said. "But let's say we dehydrate it instead."

Azula paused, and looked to her. "Do go on."

"If we can bend the water in the vines, we'll be able to control them, and pull the water straight out of it."

The vines lashed up from the ground, they moved to make a fence surrounding them while the ground began to churn beneath them. "So, how do I bend water, Katara?" she asked. "The Avatar needed a teacher, and you are, to be honest, my opposite element."

"Well," Katara said, swatting away a vine as it rose out of the ground, "First, you need to remember that waterbending is about harmony. You don't command the water, you move with the water. You merely nudge it in the right direction."

Azula looked a bit pensive at that, and then a little annoyed, "All right, how do I nudge?"

"Just, just respect the water and let it know that you're merely dancing with it."

"When did I have to talk to my element?" Azula asked, tiredly.

"You don't have to say it aloud, just don't act like you're the boss, because it won't take that sort of disrespect kindly!" She yelled as a vine wrapped around her. "Hurry it up, Azula, we don't have forever!"

Azula blasted the vines away with a cyclone of air, and concentrated. "All right, water," Azula said, "You lead, I follow." She remembered the old waterbending stances, and from what she'd seen of Katara, falling into those same motions.

The vines stood still, and started to wave in time with Azula, hypnotized. "Yes, that's right," Katara said. "Gentle, like that."

Azula opened her eyes, and smirked. "Gentle, sure," she said. She pulled her arms in and the water gushed out of the plants, leaving the vines withered and dried, and the plant let loose another strange noise as the brown husky color started to spread closer and closer to it.

"Azula, I don't think you should --" there was a loud splash and Azula shouted out angrily. "-- Do that. Oh well."

She was sopping wet. Her hair was clinging to her face and her left eye spasmodically twitched. "I hate your magic water techniques, Floes. I hate them so very much."

Katara sniggered, in spite of herself, "Oh, Azula, you look so pretty like that."

Azula turned her attention back to the creature, rolling her eyes as she shifted to face it. "Seems it's only partially finished. Normally, I wouldn't care, but this thing did try and devour me, and besides -- those vines creeped me out."

She reached her arms out, and pushed back, water draining out of the creature's maw slowly, leaving it a husk of its former self. Grinning confidently, Azula let the water fall to the ground as the creature writhed about. "Was that really necessary?"

"It hung me upside-down," she said, "I'm just lucky the boys weren't around here."

"Where are the boys, anyway?" Katara asked.

"I was asleep just the same as you. That faker did something to us," she said, "She must have done the same to the others. If that voice didn't wake me up, I think we'd both be monster-chow about now."

"I guess," she said, "We need to hurry and find them!"

"In this maze? Good luck," Azula said. "I'm just going to find an exit. If they're resourceful, they'll survive, if not, what's the point in dying to save someone else?"

"What? How can you even think that, Azula!" Katara said, her mouth hanging open. "That's the most heartless thing I've ever heard."

"Do you want to waste away in here, wasting our precious strength, and end up trapped but with our teammates, or do you want to find an exit and maybe some food and a way out of this maze?"

Katara frowned, "I'd rather have my friends than freedom."

"Then you're a fool."

"I'd rather be a fool than a heartless witch!"

"After I save your life, this is how you repay me?" Azula asked.

"You only did that because your life was on the line, too," Katara said, accusingly. Azula smirked and nodded. "You don't do anything for other people, Azula. There's something really, really wrong with you and Aang was just blind to it. If he were still here --"

"But he isn't, is he?" Azula asked.

"No thanks to you," Katara murmured.

"So? What do I care?" Azula said coolly, walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"To find a way out of here."

"Fine! I'm going this way, and trying to find my friends," Katara said, going the opposite direction.

"Do whatever you want, Katara," Azula answered.

"I will."

"Good," Azula continued.

Azula rolled her eyes as Katara headed deeper into the maze, while the garden spread out before her, and she looked for some way towards the center. Her intuition was telling her something was there, in that moonlit gazebo, that would answer her questions and find a way out of this maze.

And, she added wryly in a moment of smug superiority, she'd probably free those fools who got trapped in the maze at the same time.

"Oh good, you're awake," Yue's voice sweetly rang through the small clearing. "You were asleep when I found you, and I feared one of the monsters that lurk in this garden had found you before I did."

"Yue?" Sokka's voice said, dreamily, "You saved us?"

"Quite," the girl said, "But please, you mustn't be so familiar with me."

"Huh?"

"Oh, please, do not take this the wrong way, but it just won't do to have you acting like you and I are in the same class, Sokka."

Sokka winced. He was used to the Northern Tribe acting superior to his beloved South Pole, but Yue, he always figured, was different. "What happened? Is everyone all right?"

"Your friends are still sleeping," she said, "I hope they'll wake up soon."

Sokka paused. There was something off about Yue. Her eyes seemed different. The twinkle of moonlight was replaced by some inner darkness that reflected in her eyes, like a deep pool of emptiness. She did not seem herself.

She did not, Sokka reflected, seem like a complete person at all.

"What's going on?" Toph asked, pulling herself off from the ground. "One minute I'm conscious, the next I feel like I took a long nap."

"You did," Yue said. "Oh, and Zuko's waking up as well, very good."

"Where's Katara?" Sokka asked, looking around while Zuko regained his footing. "And Azula. They were over there talking while we looked for a way out of here. You didn't see where they went off to."

"Oh," Yue said, the air around her darkened, "They were most disrespectful, so I sent them to think about their lack of manners. To speak to a goddess the way they did? Foolish mortals!" Yue laughed, a cold, shrill sound.

"What -- what did you do, Yue?" Sokka asked, reaching for his sword. He pointed it at Yue, whose smile faded. She looked at the blade, and swatted it aside. Sokka's grip was not firm, and the blade clanged against the cold stone ground.

"How rude," she said. "And here I thought you would be more respectful than those girls."

It seemed for a moment as though the underbrush was louder, lights like eyes glowing and hungry seemed to appear between the branches of the garden, and the path seemed to dim darker as the moon overhead started to wane.

"How dare you! You come into a goddess's domain, you make demands of her, debase her with your wretched familiarity! Do you know who I am?"

Toph even seemed affected by the world around her changing. "What the -- what's with the cold all of a sudden?"

"I am the Moon! Your mortal lives seem like ants to me. You come to my garden, you will abide by my rules, do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Yeah --" Sokka stuttered, "Crystal."

The world around them grew lighter, the branches seemed a little less foreboding, and the air seemed to warm. And Yue smiled quite contentedly. "Very good. Though I simply must attend to matters of the gala! The gazebo is hardly in any shape for the other gods and goddesses to see it --" she seemed to think, then clapped her hands together, "How would you three like attending to my pets?"

"What --" Zuko paused, "Assuming we agree, what does that mean?"

"Oh, I like you," she said, sashaying over, "You know how to treat a Goddess. There's just one teensy detail you forget. You don't have a choice!"

"Okay, super," Sokka said, taking a step back. "So, what do we do? Play fetch for a bit, take it on walkies?"

"They'll take you for a walkies, I'm sure," Yue said, happily. "Your sister should have fed my lovely, and rare, Ping Mei Man-Trap, but the others may be quite hungry."

"Fed a man-trap?" Toph muttered, "That doesn't sound good."

"So, do treat them carefully, I'll be upset if I find out you've harmed them in some way," Yue said, turning and walking off with a confident stride. "Oh, and of course, have fun!"

When she was gone, they stared at each other. "That was scary," Sokka said. "I guess being in the Spirit World does things to you."

"There's no way that was really Yue," Zuko scolded, "That imposter -- why would someone do that?"

"I don't know, but I know where we can find out!" Toph said, excitedly, "Let's go to that gazebo. It's right at the center of the maze, right, should be easy!"

There was a roar, in the distance at first, but the lights in the garden grew low, and the eyes started to appear in shadows, watching them. "Uh," Toph managed to say, "Don't try and describe what you're seeing, I got a feeling it's real creepy."

Sokka managed to nod.

A small yellow flower lowered down, unfolding its petals and revealing a large, unblinking eye. The eye watched them, as they slowly moved down the passage back into the depths of the maze.

The rustling through the branches continued.

Azula carried on through the maze, shivering ever so slightly as the moonlight dimmed into a light trickle. "How am I going to find my way through this place in a light like this?" she wondered, aloud.

She nearly leapt out of her skin when someone responded.

"Oh, you're pretty resourceful, I bet you'll figure it out!"

Azula turned, slowly. "It's you again!" Azula cursed, "You tricked me! Trapped me in this -- this prison!" She about lashed out her nails at the little girl in black, who smiled undeterred by Azula's rage. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Whoopsie."

"Whoopsie?" Azula's ire raised. "How dare you!"

"How dare you!" the little girl laughed, "You sound like the pompous girl who controls this garden. Well, since it's you, I'll help you out, but only because it's you."

"Help me out?" Azula managed to snort out, "You got me into this mess, why should I trust you?"

"That's a good point, but you came for me, so that makes everything all better. You'll never leave me, right? Promise me!"

Azula thought through several responses, and realized that it was in her best interest to play along for the time being. Though she had no intentions of keeping her word, she said, with a smile, "Of course, how could I?"

"Naughty!" the girl said, "You're lying! You're lying!"

Azula paused. How could that girl tell, not even Toph's trained skills could see through her lies. She was so used to lying, she did it as second nature. This girl -- "I'm sorry," Azula said, scowling, "But there's truth there. How can I? You seem to find me no matter where I go."

"I guess that's true," the girl said, and Azula smiled as she nodded in agreement, "Okay, then. Since it's you, I'll tell you a secret. There's only one way through this maze, and that's the path of the Moon Lilies."

"Moon lilies?"

"That's right!" she said, "If you're smart, you'll know how to find them!"

"All right, I'll look for them."

That girl was more helpful than Lee ever was, Azula thought wryly as she continued down the darkening passageways. The passages led through overgrown trees that drooped long willowy leaves down in front of her, veiling it like a curtain drawn over a door. She pushed them aside. "Moon lilies, I've heard of those before. But it seems odd that they'd be growing in a garden like this, don't you think?"

She turned, and saw the girl had gone.

"Who are you talking to?" it was Katara's voice.

"What are you doing here?" Azula asked, accusingly. She tried her hardest to throw off the scent of embarrassment onto Katara. "Didn't you say you were going your own way."

"I was! They just happened to overlap," Katara said, evasively. "It's not like I was listening out for you or someone. I thought you were Sokka!"

"Oh, right," Azula said. "Keep an eye open for moon lilies."

"Moon lilies?" Katara said, quietly, "You mean those pretty flowers that glow in the dark?"

Azula's eyes widened. "Yes," she said, "That's exactly it. If only the moon wasn't so bright, we'd be able to find our way out of here."

"What gave you the idea to look for moon lilies, anyway?"

"A little girl told me," she said, "She seems to have wandered off again. A peculiar girl," she said, "A spirit, perhaps."

"A spirit, here?" Katara said, "No way! There's no way spirits are breaking out of the Spirit World. If that were the case, then Aang would have sacrificed himself for nothing."

Azula's ears perked. "Sacrificed?"

"Nothing, never mind," Katara quickly said. "It's none of your business anyway!" She gasped, "There! I see some moon lilies!"

She pointed at a faintly glowing white flower that peeked through the bushes and swayed in the wind. The moonlight seemed to enhance the white and turn it into brilliant silver, which lit the passage at their feet.

"Amazing," Azula said, "They seem even more radiant than I remember."

"Come on, Azula," Katara said, "We need to find a way to get a message to the others. I wish we'd been more prepared for being split up."

"We'll figure it out," Azula said. "Let's move."

The path led a winding way through the passages, turning into a small tunnel that led underground. The lilies shone brightly, and they became the only light they saw as they came deep into the tunnel.

Then, they stopped in front of a massive ornate door. The frame was carved from a dark wood that reflected the light from the flowers by its glossy finish. The door itself, however, was a slight bit confusing.

"It's floating in the middle of nowhere."

"But," Katara said, "The flowers seem to lead to it."

"Is this really the way to the center?" Azula asked. "Peculiar."

"We're not exactly in a land of normal things. Think of it like Yomi. That place never stayed the same. I saw the floors shift and change around me before."

"You're right," Azula said, "This is normal -- for us."

"So, what are you waiting for?" Katara said, "Open it. Leader."

Azula shot her a dangerous glance, and reached for the door. The handle, silver and curved, turned easily under her hand. She twisted it open and pulled it towards her. Katara gasped in surprise.

In front of them lay the Northern Water Tribe's capital city, its massive icy fortifications looming on the horizon.

To be continued.