A/N: Changing things up a bit this time, we'll be back to normal next chapter.

See you at the end!

Chapter 8: Sister

The silver moon glowed brightly overhead. Powerful. Intoxicating.

But even that wasn't enough when the enemy had the same power.

Nukka stood just behind Panuk and Osuk on their riding wave as they hit the grass in the Fire Lord's royal gardens. They surged forward, and her eyes scanned the shadow of the low stone wall on the far side. She raised a hand, sharply cutting down in the prearranged signal.

Tulok with his lanky frame emerged from the foliage, hands raised toward the nearby pond. He was the only one Nukka had felt would have the discipline to wait for them without drawing attention to himself. Ujurak had a tendency to play around too much, while Osuk would probably save his own skin at the first sign of trouble. And Panuk—well, Panuk was Panuk.

Amka had insisted on being careful, on their having a getaway plan. She was good at thinking ahead like that. She hadn't been able to come with them herself, of course. As a nonbender, she would be a danger to them—because the Fire Lord had one with their power as well.

The water beneath their feet suddenly jerked back, and Panuk and Osuk both gasped in shock. Panuk looked around in confusion, but Nukka spun her head to look directly behind them. Her eyes rose—and there she was.

A dark figure stood on the wall, framed in silver moonlight. Both hands raised.

Nukka made a slicing motion toward the others, hissing, "Run!"

She launched herself forward, sprinting across the ground toward Tulok, who had now formed the water from the pond into a hard disc of ice beneath his feet, large enough to carry them all over the wall. Tulok had worked as an outer wall guard for Chief Arnook, and he was more suited to the larger feats of bending than the minute control of Master Hama's technique. But of course it was hard to say what would happen if someone else tried to wrest away control of the pond water—he was nearer to it for now, and they'd just have to hope that would be enough.

Nukka had not wanted to believe it, that one of Master Hama's former students could have joined the new Fire Lord. But now she'd seen the proof with her own eyes.

Up ahead, Ujurak, an unconscious Kanaak over his shoulders, hurtled toward the ice. Tulok raised his arms, and the disc began to rise, like a bucket hoisted from a well. He couldn't afford to wait, or they might all be caught. Ujurak's feet found the edge, and he collapsed, letting Kanaak fall beside him.

Nukka ran, heart pumping. She had always been fast growing up. Now was the time to use it.

The disc had now risen to above her waist, and as Nukka came within range, she coiled the muscles in her legs, and leaped. She hit the ice with both feet, and stumbled forward, collapsing on hands and knees. She turned her head in time to see Osuk land beside her, breathing fast.

Nukka, still breathing hard, turned her head, ready to help Panuk—and froze.

She had thought Panuk was right behind her. Instead he was far back, halfway to the ashmaker shrine at the garden center near a sprawling willow tree. His eyes were white discs of terror in the moonlight, his feet flailing beneath him as he tried desperately to run, but held suspended above the ground.

The girl was there, standing in the shadow of the tree. She wore light Water Tribe clothing, the blues and whites faded in the silver light. Her dark hair was left long and free flowing, yet she had still fixed beaded loops in a common Southern Tribe style, the same way Amka did. Her hands were extended before her, eyes hard with determination.

Panuk was in a panic. He kicked wildly, hands clawing at the air. The girl had stretched out her hands as far as they would go, fingers crooked toward each other. Like a wolf-shark, with its teeth in its prey.

She began to draw her hands backward, and Panuk moved with her, feet kicking, mouth opening and closing as though he were trying to scream, but couldn't. They had practiced casting off the power, but Panuk had never been able to do it properly, and even if he had, the girl had proven strong enough to cast off more than one of them working together—something even Nukka, the best of them at Hama's technique, had never managed. Master Hama had warned them that, if they met her, she would be powerful. Only now did Nukka fully understand what she meant.

Nukka's heart pounded, the tips of her fingers trembled as time seemed to slow to a crawl. Maybe if she had been a better waterbender, she could have distracted the girl by pulling some whips of water from the pond water to strike at her. But Nukka knew next to nothing except what little Hama had taught her in the last few months. It was the bloodbending she was best at, what she had concentrated on most. But this was a power she couldn't compete with.

How proudly the girl wore her Water Tribe adornments—as though she hadn't betrayed her own people to the ashmakers. As though she hadn't chosen to forget all the Tribe blood spilled. How unfair it was—that power came to traitors, to those who would use it against their own.

Panuk slipped backward another inch, eyes wide with fear.

With a hiss of defiance, Nukka hurled herself down from the ice, feet striking the ground hard. As the disc rose above head height, she wasn't sure she would be able to get back up, but it didn't matter. While they couldn't afford to play hero if most of them wanted to make it out, Nukka figured she would hold up better under interrogation than Panuk. Besides, she couldn't let them just get what they wanted—not without a fight.

Racing forward, she shoved both hands out in front of her, with all her might.

To her surprise, the girl stumbled back a step, the air escaping her in a rush. Had the girl been ready for it, she might have fended off the attack with ease, but all her strength and concentration were on Panuk. Her arms fell a fraction, fingers briefly going slack.

Panuk fell forward, knees digging into the grass, but in an instant was up and running again. However, the platform was now nearly three quarters up the low wall, and there was no way he would make the jump. Nukka, thinking fast, reached out behind her and, with a pull of her fingers, hoisted Panuk up high into the air. The others must have caught him, because the tug of his weight hovering in the air slackened, and she let go.

The girl was still bent double, yet she raised her head to meet Nukka's gaze. The brief twitch of surprise and pain was quickly smoothing back over to concentration. A hunter's focus.

Nukka took a step back—she knew how this fight would end. The question was how many seconds she could buy the others, if it would be long enough. Stupid way to go, sacrificing herself for other people. But she'd known she might die tonight, that any of them might die—this way at least, with Amka's help, they would have a chance to strike again.

The girl had not yet fully straightened when Nukka suddenly felt something cold seize her around the middle, yanking her backward. The ground disappeared from beneath her feet, and the night air rushed around her, whipping her loose hair about her face.

Her back struck ice and, momentarily dazed, she looked up to see Osuk kneeling there. His mouth was twisted in his usual slightly sour expression, which the others said made him look like the grumpy waterbending master he had once studied under. His fingers were still twisted in a waterbending form.

Nukka blinked. She would have assumed if anyone would have voted to leave her to distract the enemy while the rest of them made it safely away, it would have been Osuk. Ujurak and Panuk both glanced at her with relief, before turning back ahead.

Nukka sat up quickly, shifting to a crouch, eyes flashing back down to the garden. Osuk, his eyes narrowed, without any of his usual snide comments, followed her gaze.

However, she did not see the girl again as they crested the wall, already sinking back down toward the ground below on the opposite side. Beyond the sight of the Fire Lord's guards, and the girl.

Nukka turned her eyes to gaze out at the maze of ashmaker buildings ahead, where they should be nearly impossible to follow. She allowed herself the barest breath of relief.

The disc suddenly bucked backward, like a crazed buffalo yak, and Panuk yelped as they all slid, the disc threatening to rise and hurl them back where they had come. They weren't safe yet.

"Jump!" Nukka hissed at the others. Nukka seized Panuk and Tulok by the collars and, with all her strength, dragged them over the edge of the platform. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Osuk throw himself forward as Ujurak seized Kanaak, who was only just beginning to stir, all springing forward in wild desperation, a moment before the water from the pond twisted back, catapulting the ice platform back over the wall.

They were now plummeting through the air in a wild freefall, without water. As the hard stone rushed up toward them, Nukka let go of Panuk and Tulok, stretching out bent fingers instead. Both twitched and jerked in pain, but slowed, and beside her Osuk gritted his teeth as he extended a hand toward the combined weight of Ujurak and Kanaak, his eyes bulging with effort.

They all struck hard, rolling and spinning, limbs tangling. At last they skidded to a stop on stone.

Nukka leaped to her feet first, ignoring the throb in her shoulder and side, eyes darting everywhere. Fire Nation nobles' homes spread out from where they stood like snaking spiderwebs, and among them she picked out gardens with ponds. They would do.

"Tulok!" she hissed.

Tulok grimaced, holding his elbow as he forced himself to his feet, but immediately reacted, waving both hands as one, drawing a mass of water from the nearest pond. It froze into another disc in front of them, and Tulok leaped upon it, soon followed by the others, Nukka last. Tulok swept his arms and they began to move, the water continuously freezing and unfreezing to form an ice slide beneath them, pushing them forward. Ujurak, leaving Kanaak with Panuk, soon joined him, maneuvering them down into the darkest alleyways, twisting this way and that, while Osuk took up the rear, sweeping his hands side to side to wipe away every last drop of any trail they might leave.

Nukka stared out into the darkness behind them, every moment expecting the girl to appear on their trail, on a blazing ice path of her own. Without the Fire Lord's other guards around, they might have been able to take her if they all worked together. But that would mean stopping, wasting time, and more of these rich ashmakers with all their guards could decide at any moment to come out and join her. Even if they didn't know what was going on, the ashmakers would love any excuse for a battle, that scented of the war they missed.

But the girl never appeared. Even as they made it out of the caldera, and they raced along the secluded rocky landscape skirting the edge of the capital's port town, as the sky began to lighten by degrees. Nukka felt the pounding of her heart slow, bit by bit.

You're a good runner, Nukki.

Nukka blinked once, then gripped her hand over the edge of the ice. Her older brother used to say that. It was one of the only vaguely nice things he used to say about her, even if it did have a backhanded bite to it.

Their parents, both merchants, had died when she was barely old enough to begin her waterbending training, in a Fire Nation raid on a small Earth Kingdom village they had approached about a trade agreement. Her brother, saddled with taking care of her and with a penchant for spending his nights running around with friends and getting money without having to work for it, he'd made it clear she'd have to learn how to sneak around and run fast in order to earn her keep. Which she had, until she was old enough to take off on her own, and only had to worry about taking care of herself. In some ways, this raid reminded her of the old days. And yet—

Her eyes flickered unwillingly to Osuk, who was sitting back now, now that they were out of the city, arm resting on bent knee. In the same circumstances, her brother would have left her behind in a heartbeat, she knew. She'd always taken Osuk especially to be the pragmatic one, and leaving her to play the decoy could have helped ensure the others would get a clean getaway.

Osuk caught her eye and, as though reading her mind, said, "You're more useful here than there. You're a good fighter—for a girl."

"We wouldn't have left you, Nukki," Kanaak, still standing at the front, put in. "Never leave a brother—or a sister—behind."

Osuk snorted. "Easy for you to say, you were out like a torch. First and only one to go down. When she finds out, Amka will make you train like a wolf-hound."

"Cheap ashmaker tricks," Kanaak protested.

Nukka watched them in silence. The banter wasn't new—her brother and his friends always talked like this after a job, with all the easygoing bravado of something that could have gone so completely entirely wrong, but somehow miraculously didn't. Yet it felt different. Maybe because when they said they wouldn't leave someone behind, she now knew that they meant it. Amka would be disappointed in their failure—but she would also be relieved they had all made it out. Strange that a bunch of ragtag waterbenders tied together purely by such a likely forbidden waterbending technique and vengeance would feel more like family than her own.

The makeshift elevator of ice stopped just before the choppy waves of the sea. It only took Nukka a second of scanning to locate the small jagged hole at the base of the cliff, which led to the hidden sea cave beyond.

A shelf of stone formed a path inside, but they didn't step down onto it—Amka had warned them that the Avatar had ways of detecting those who made contact with the earth at a distance. Instead, Tulok and Ujurak sent the ice sliding over the stream inside, until they settled on the edge of the cavern lake.

Not far from the lake's shore floated a mass of ice, where a single figure sat motionless on a pile of furs. However, at the gentle sound of the ice disc splashing in the water, she rose to her feet, and turned to face them. Amka's face looked even paler than usual in the silver light filtering in behind them, her night-black hair stark against it, eyes gleaming their distinctive golden-amber.

And, in spite of everything, Nukka felt a flicker of uncertainty.

"...Because she's Princess Azula of the Fire Nation."

"I would guess from your faces you weren't successful," Amka said, tone calm.

Panuk stepped forward anxiously, slipping slightly on the slick surface. "That girl was there—the one Master Hama told us about. We... couldn't beat her."

"All six of you?" said Amka in a careful, measured voice. There was no judgment in her tone—just a question. And yet Nukka felt herself tense anyway, fists clenching at her sides.

Panuk hung his head in shame, while Osuk said, "Even if we'd all been there at the same time, which we weren't, we'd have needed at least three or four of us to keep her pinned down—and it might not have been enough even then. And there were the guards. There was nothing we could do."

Amka regarded them all for a long, silent moment. At last she said, "Of course, you're right. And I suppose there wasn't an opportunity for a more… permanent solution."

For a second, Osuk looked uncomfortable. He glanced away.

Amka sighed. "I know," she said. "We didn't come here to harm our own. But such treachery, after all our people have been through… It's hard to forgive."

Osuk rubbed his wrist, and his usually snide features were oddly conflicted. "Girl probably thinks she's doing what she's supposed to do," he said. "A lot more of the Tribe thinks like that now." He hesitated, then added, "I knew her a little. Before. She studied under my master while the Avatar was in the North Pole. Girl never wanted to follow the rules, but—I think she was always… well meaning."

Amka blinked in surprise. "You mean she didn't—try to use the technique against you?" A flash of something odd in her eyes—almost like disappointment.

Throughout the conversation, Nukka had been watching Amka's face carefully. She agreed with everything Amka said, as she almost always did. The girl deserved no special consideration, Tribe or not, after what she had done. And yet, Nukka's thoughts were racing. Amka claimed to be half Water Tribe, but other than her clothing and the way she fixed her hair, there was not a single distinctively Water Tribe trait about her. And her claim of being raised on a southern island of the Earth Kingdom—it would be the perfect cover story to explain why she had little knowledge of Tribe customs.

Nukka gritted her teeth. No. No, she had spent months with Amka. Amka had even let them practice their bloodbending on her, so they would know how it felt to control a human body, so their skills would be sharp as possible. She couldn't possibly believe a traitor over her, Amka, who had only ever been their ally, friend, sister. Yet—

Nukka glanced at Panuk, who, like her, had felt the girl's use of the power on them first hand. However, Nukka heard herself say instead, "The girl knew about you. She said there would be a nonbending girl who brought us together. She said you were really—"

Nukka felt the eyes of the others, staring at her in scandalous disbelief, that she was really going to bring up such a nasty lie. Panuk was mouthing wordlessly, making an almost frantic gesture with his hands as though to stop her, while Osuk had gone still, regarding her like he might the town gossip, only trying to stir up trouble. However, Nukka ignored them all, and completed in a whisper, "...Princess Azula. Of the Fire Nation."

The cave was quiet for several seconds. No one spoke, no one breathed.

Then Amka chuckled.

For a moment, Nukka's mind flashed back to another time, another place—another laugh in the face of her accusations.

"Nukki, no one is going to look out for you. Not me, not the gang. Until you finally understand that, you're always going to be a little idiot."

Something seized in her gut. And, without thinking, without bothering to untangle the logic of the sudden strange certainty that fell into her stomach, she raised clawed hands.

The laughter immediately ceased. Amka bent forward, teeth gritted against the sudden pain.

Hama had often complimented Nukka on her fine control—keeping an enemy from moving at all was a far more difficult feat than seizing a limb and throwing them around. Nukka was good at bloodbending—it came more naturally than anything else ever had.

The others flinched back from her, startled, faces quickly turning to horror.

"What are you doing, Nukka?" demanded Kanaak. "You don't really think—"

"Nukka!" gasped Panuk, eyes round. "No, you can't—please don't—"

Nukka's heart was pounding, ignoring Osuk's critical stare of accusation, the way Ujurak backed away from her as though from something diseased, Tulok's arms rising as though ready to grab her to stop her. She only stared at Amka's face, waiting for her mind to catch up with her instincts.

"You made us face her on purpose," Nukka said slowly. "You're the one who scouted out around the palace the evening before—and you said before that we might not strike tonight after all. But then something changed your mind—it was because you saw the Avatar's bison. You knew she would be there. You wanted us to fail."

There was little basis for what she was saying. Only that momentary flicker of dissatisfaction, disappointment, which Nukka could have well imagined. But she felt it. That old familiar condescending, derisive laugh echoed in her ears, and in this moment, Amka's voice sounded just like his.

Nukka waited for the color to drain from Amka's face, as she realized she was caught, that she was surrounded by enemy waterbenders with a power she couldn't fight. The moon would soon be gone, but it would last long enough.

However, Amka's face didn't change. If anything, the hint of amusement had only grown more pronounced. "Will you—" she began calmly, forcing out the words in spite of Nukka's hold. "—let me—speak?"

Nukka hesitated. The moon was fast fading behind them, and if Amka really was—well, she would want to stall them until its power ran out. Yet Nukka couldn't act until they were certain. And—maybe a part of her still held out hope she was wrong. They were all her new siblings, but if she was being honest, it was Amka who had felt like her sister most of all. Like her, living and breathing revenge, together.

Without turning, Nukka said, "Ujurak, Kanaak—bind her arms and legs."

The two glanced at each other.

Nukka was about to repeat herself more forcefully, when Osuk, eyes watching Amka with an expression hard to interpret, said, "Do it."

Kanaak stared at Osuk in disbelief. "Not you too. Nukka's gone crazy. She's letting that girl get to her."

Osuk's eyes hadn't moved from Amka. Amka, whose arms were now stretched out to either side of her where Nukka held them, said, straining for every word, "Do—as they—say."

Kanaak hesitated a moment longer. Then, he and Ujurak both raised their hands. Tentacles of water rose from either side of the ice on which Amka stood, and they froze in pillars over her arms, holding them in place. At the same time, ice spikes erupted from the ice float, cutting through the furs next to Amka's feet, before assuming a new shape over her lower calves. A firebender could probably burn their way out—but not before any one of them put an ice dagger through her heart. Nukka might not have had enough fine control for that, but she hoped Osuk would.

Nukka finally opened her hand and Amka sagged in her ice restraints, breathing freely again. At last, she took one final deep breath, then raised her eyes to theirs.

"It's true," Amka said. "I did know the Avatar would be there. Because the truth is—I want us to have revenge on that girl, almost as much as on the Fire Nation."

Nukka clenched both fists, triumph and disappointment both spiking through her. So, she was right. "You wanted us to fail," Nukka said again, with force. "You're an ashmaker, you've been working for them all along."

Amka sighed. "Well, I've certainly made a mess for myself. If I can't clear it up, I'll only have myself to blame. Don't worry about losing the moon before I'm through—I'll be quick about it."

She shifted slightly, settling back as though, with ice holding her arms and legs, she could somehow make herself comfortable. "From all I've heard of the Princess Azula, she's supposed to be clever. While I'm sure she would want to get rid of her brother if she could, does joining forces with enemy benders she couldn't fight sound clever to you?"

This made Nukka stop. She didn't know much about the ashmaker princess, it was just a name she had heard bandied about, like Fire Lord Ozai. But it was undeniable that, though such a person might want to depose her brother and become Fire Lord herself, surely she would be able to find other ashmakers to fight with her. Who would follow her orders without question, who she wouldn't have to worry about discovering her true identity. Surrounding herself with enemies, who every full moon were granted a power against which she could not defend—Nukka's brother wouldn't have done that in a hundred years, he always surrounded himself with friends who were weaker fighters than he was, who couldn't betray him even if they wanted to.

Amka continued, "But, I think I can hazard a guess as to why the girl would have jumped to that conclusion. I heard a rumor that she was there, during the fight the current Fire Lord had against his sister to determine who would inherit the throne. And that, when the princess was taken, she was covered in water. Her interference, likely. So then, with the princess having escaped, I imagine she's paranoid. Every threat must seem to her a plot by the princess."

Nukka was trying to think—trying to find the angles she might have forgotten. "Why did you want us to fight her?" she demanded. "We could have been captured—killed. She almost did catch Panuk."

Amka's eyes dropped to the ice for the first time, looking away. "I… have no excuse. As I said, that girl—I wanted her to pay for what she's done. I wanted her to be forced to see those of us still willing to fight after what has been done to us. That she would turn out to be so powerful—you are right, I put you all at risk. I will never be able to apologize enough. If you killed me, just for that, it wouldn't be unfair."

Amka had bowed her head, and now Nukka stared down at her. Her brother's voice echoed again—that gut instincts were for people without brains, that hers wasn't as smart as she liked to think. For an instant, she had been so sure—now it just sounded like the frenetic ravings of a small, naive child, swayed by whatever fresh lie happened to pass her ears.

Nukka didn't turn, didn't look at Kanaak, or Ujurak or Osuk. She didn't speak. Instead, she raised both hands toward Amka, fingers extended. Panuk let out a sharp breath as though to say something—but then Nukka breathed out carefully, and the ice around Amka's forearms dissolved into a splash back into the lake. Her arms collapsed back to her sides, and a moment later, Nukka reached for the bindings at her legs, and they too turned to water, leaving Amka free.

Nukka spun around, facing the cavern exit, where the silver moon still glowed. Her face burned with furious shame—Amka may have almost gotten them captured or killed, but she didn't doubt that was just because she had been overconfident in their abilities. She believed in them too much—and in spite of the danger of it, there was something that felt good in that. But even after all Amka had done, all the time they had spent together, Nukka had been so quick to turn, to believe some traitor over her.

Nukka had never had a real family before, not since her parents had gone and been taken away from her. Maybe now was the time to learn how to be a part of one again.

The ice disc on which they were standing shifted and bobbed slightly beneath their feet, and Nukka didn't have to turn her head to recognize Amka's quiet, light footsteps as she approached. Amka said nothing, but Nukka felt a hand touch her shoulder briefly.

"So, um," Panuk said into the silence. "Now what? Now that the Fire Lord knows about us…"

Amka hummed in thought, and as Nukka half turned her head, she saw Amka had turned away from them. "Yes. Well, I will understand if none of you trust me again, and want to have nothing to do with all this—but I think most likely the Fire Lord will try to come after us. He and the girl, along with the Avatar and his other most powerful allies. They will try everything they can to find us before the next full moon."

Nukka turned in time to see Panuk's eyes had gone wide, face pale. "Then what… what can we hope to…"

"I can keep us away from them until then," Amka said, without a hint of doubt. "I know where we can go, and I know what they'll look for. I've learned how to keep out of the sight of ashmakers, if I wish. We just have to hold out until the full moon. That will be our next opportunity."

Panuk was shaking his head. "But how can we—just us against—"

"They're too strong for us," Osuk said bluntly. "Even during the full moon. Especially that girl."

Amka turned back toward them, and the corner of her lips flickered in the hint of a rare smile.

"What was it, that Master Hama always said made you stronger?" she asked.

Panuk frowned, as though having an unexpected quiz sprung upon him. "Anger?" he guessed.

Amka nodded once. "The girl may have been stronger this night than she would ordinarily be—she must have been angry to see her own power turned against her. But you all have the potential to be stronger, too."

Nukka looked down at her hands, and remembered the sensation of shoving forward, hard as she could, with all the fury and hate she could muster. The minute it had taken the girl to recover had been what allowed them to escape. Nukka took a breath, forcing herself to forget her shame, and she turned, finally raising her eyes to Amka's face.

Amka was gazing back at them all, and the cold light of the ice made her amber eyes look almost blue. "You will all have to cultivate your anger," she murmured. "Feed it. Then your bending will be stronger too. We must go now—but along the way perhaps I will tell you a few more stories. Of all the terrors I have seen the Fire Nation wreak..."

A candle flame flickered in the darkness, where it sat in its golden holder. The four posts of the nearby bed cast long shadows in its light, like prison bars. The chest of a small form curled beneath the silk sheets rose and fell in a steady rhythm.

All was quiet but for the soft grinding of stone against a wooden bowl.

Ursa knelt on the floor, wooden bowls spread out all around her like the comb of a buzzard wasp nest, while pouches of various herbs and plants lay scattered beside her. She had tied a piece of cloth over her nose and mouth, and she reached up to adjust it slightly, making sure it was still in place.

At last, Ursa set the pestle aside, and picked up the bowl. Making certain not to spill so much as a wisp of dust, she poured the powdery contents into a small basin filled with water. Then she drew a piece of decorated cloth from a small metal box and, carefully, laid it in the liquid to soak.

She sat back, wiping sweat from her brow. However, after a moment, she leaned forward again, reaching for another pouch of herbs.

"Ursa?"

She turned her head partway to see that Ikem had gotten out of bed, leaving Kiyi still fast asleep beneath the blankets. He stood back a ways, looking uncertain.

Ursa reached up to pull the cloth down from her mouth and, in spite of her exhaustion, managed a smile.

"Ikem," she said. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

Ikem approached, and came to stand behind where she knelt.

"What's all this?" he asked.

"Just a few things here and there," she said lightly. She had not worked with herbs in years—her mother would be so disappointed to know how little Ursa had used the many skills passed on to her. But after requesting all the necessary materials from the palace stores, she was surprised at how quickly it all came back.

Ursa hesitated, then added slowly, "If... If Zuko sets out tomorrow to go after Azula, if he will allow me, I plan to go with him."

Silence for a beat, then two.

"Dear..." Ikem began, tone clearly as gentle as he could make it.

"I know," Ursa said quickly. "I know it is dangerous. And it's hardly fair to you, or Kiyi, or Zuko. But..."

"But you want to see her," Ikem finished for her.

Ursa stared down at the contents of the bowl. "I must see her, Ikem."

Ikem was once again silent. Perhaps reliving again the scene in the cottage they had shared for all the years they'd been married—blue flames, choking smoke, screaming accusations.

Ursa felt his hand on her shoulder—gripping it, as though he might hold her here. Then at long last, his fingers relaxed.

"Then you must see her," he said quietly, in defeat. "Only, my love—"

She looked back, to find him gazing back at her, earnest.

"Promise me that you will come back," he said. "For me. For Kiyi."

Ursa gazed into his face, different from the one she had known growing up together, yet still the same, somehow. How different Ikem was from Ozai—Ozai had wanted to control her every move, her every feeling. When he understood that she did not love him, he had chosen instead to fill her with fear. Ikem had always granted her freedom, even when he disagreed, even when it meant he might lose what he cherished most.

And as she thought of Ozai, his legacy, the shadow he had cast, a chill rose on her skin. There were no guarantees—even now, in a world made by Zuko and the Avatar.

She leaned forward, kissing Ikem lightly on the cheek. And she whispered instead, "I promise I will always love you, my dear. You and Kiyi. To the end of my days."

Ikem was quiet. Then at long last, he squeezed her shoulder lightly. Quietly he stood, and she listened as his gentle footsteps returned to bed.

Ursa reached for the pouch again. Pulling the cloth back up over her mouth, she dumped the contents into the wooden bowl, picking up the grinder. Another bead of sweat broke out on her brow, and she continued to work.

A/N: This chapter was a definite challenge, I always struggle when it comes to writing OCs. But, probably a good thing to push myself a little and try new things.

On the names—when I saw the name Ujarak appear in the first Yangchen novel that came out last year, I originally thought it was the same name I'd used here for one of the waterbenders, but on doublechecking found out it's off by one letter. I was also surprised to find Amka is the name of the little Water Tribe girl in the famous fancomic series The Water Tribe (from the newer Chapter 5 that started up in 2020) by rufftoon. I guess we're all looking at the same list of Inuit names for inspiration.

Also on the name Nukka (I pronounce it New-kah, incidentally), strange irony here. I had so much trouble coming up with a name for this character, and just like for the others I looked at a bunch of Water Tribe and Inuit names. But after going with a few different ones (including Yukka for probably the longest time) I randomly decided I might want an 'N' in the name, and thought Nukka might be better. When I went to doublecheck to make sure it wasn't some weird (ie, non-PG) word I didn't know about, I discovered apparently Nuka or Nukka is actually a real Inuit word meaning younger sibling or in some contexts little sister. Considering this character was always planned to have an older brother (because sibling parallelism, or something), I guess it was fate.

Thanks for reading! If you have a moment, let me know what you thought, and hope to see you in the next one!

Posted 5/26/23