Extraordinary: Fanning the Flames

Summary: The word 'extra' is defined in the dictionary as something additional to what was expected. In the story we all know, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. He popped out of an iceberg, and the balance was restored, through blood and loss and trial. In this story, he has something a little… extra on his side. Zuko/OC

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. - Winston Churchill

Chapter Two: And the Fighting Will Rage (revised)

It was only a few short months after that when the Fire Nation attacked. A small fishing canoe had nearly crashed into the dock, the men on board shouting of a Fire Nation fleet just off the coast. The Waterbenders and the Warriors had moved into action, getting into formation and stance, while the children, the elderly, and the civilians were brought together at the center of the city.

They Water Tribes had declared war on the Fire Nation several years ago, but this was the first time ships had come to the South Pole. They had heard news of the Northern Water Kingdom being under attack, but it had not fallen; and considering the strength of its military, it was not likely to. There was a martial character to their culture; the men were the leaders, and the women followed them and were protected by them. The South was more socially relaxed, but perhaps the blooming of culture and arts, the focus on songs and tradition had left them militarily weaker than their sister tribe.

They didn't have many Benders, for one, Hama thought to herself in annoyance. And the ones they did weren't exactly all Masters. Hama was one of those few, and so she was to be at the center of the imminent fighting. Before that, though…

"Kanna!" Hama gasped, leaning against the catching her breath against the poles of Kanna's tent. "Kanna, need to tell you something important."

The young woman, who had been burying some food into the ground beneath the floor mats, stopped to look at her guest. "Hama, what, you're supposed to be leading your squad!" She stood up, arms akimbo and lips turned down in a frown.

"No time," Hama forced out – Kanna had always been too chatty. She placed her hands on the younger woman's shoulders, and looked her steadily in the eyes. "The Avatar's sister lives," she spoke slowly and clearly, "There's information written on a scroll, hidden in my spare dagger sheath. Look under the nest of that penguin you play with all the time, it's buried seven feet under the snow. You must read it, and do exactly as it says, do you hear me, Kanna? Lives depend on it, all right?"

Kanna was shaken, and rightly so. Hama was generally an easy-going person, and it took quite a bit to make her as serious as she was being. Of course, things were serious. They were at the beginnings of a War.

"Yes," she said breathily, shocked and afraid and anxious and worrying, "Whatever it is, I'll do it. I swear it by the light of the moon."

"Good," Hama said, and then she hurried to help lead the fight. Kanna was left to hide the rest of the valuables and the food, with only the terrible sense of danger, that things were only going to get worse.

Though the raid hadn't gone off without losses – at least ten Waterbenders and several soldiers had been taken or killed, though it was much the same, as they had no way of rescuing them – Hama hadn't been one of them.

She rose through the untimely-emptied ranks, taking the place of her Master to help lead the fighting. The Waterbenders and the Warriors strategized, planned, and trained. They had lost some of the best, though, and things weren't going to be easy. The Fire Nation sent more and more ships, and while they'd been able to hold them off at first – they were better prepared, now, and could form the lines as quickly as anything – they were being picked off, bit by bit, until it was obvious who was going to win.

They'd had a falling out with the Northern Water Kingdom, who'd refused to send help. It was too far, they'd said; We would not send our men to die. However, here are some scrolls on military strategy and Waterbending techniques –

Useless. By that point, they'd lost so many that there were only a dozen Waterbenders left, nowhere near enough for the strategy to take out a fleet of Firebenders and well-trained soldiers. There were more Warriors, but the Fire Nation soldiers had come wearing impeccable armor, the likes of which spears and boomerangs could not pierce. Apparently they had learned about the Water Tribe's fighting techniques, as every attempt and every plan to get the better of the Fire Nation failed.

While Kanna hadn't had to use Hama's hastily informed secret that first time, it wasn't long before she did. The final raid had been painfully quick; Fire Nation strategy seemed to be something along the lines of strike fast, strike hot, because they came, and they saw, and they conquered. They left flames burning down homes and melting away walls, they lashed out with quick, furious spears that cut through skin and veins. They killed, and they pillaged, and they kidnapped.

It was a small, desolate village that Hama looked out on, the Southern Water Tribe's Last Waterbender. Her hands and feet were in hot iron chains, but even without them she didn't think she'd have been able to move. What had once been the great, flourishing city of a bright and beautiful culture was melted, vaporized with the burn of hate and heat. There were no more Waterbenders, and if there were to be any more, they would be taken as well.

The last face Hama saw as she boarded the Fire Nation ship was Kanna's, eyes filled with unshed tears and lips quivering – no, Hama thought with fond surprise, Kanna was stronger than that, she was mouthing something…

'I won't forget.'