A/N: Well, I was caught under this space rock and...alright, I don't know what happened. Intentions are pesky things; you mean well, but sometimes life doesn't allow you to actually complete the follow through. I wanted to get out something to the fan fic world before this story became a black hole, stuck in unfinished oblivion. So, this was a part of a much bigger chapter that I'm breaking up. It is my little gift to my two dearest and sweetest reviewers that my story has: Kslamm & Klimmatt, Thank you! I keep typing away, because of you two.

Disclaimer: I declare for all the world to know, I do not own anything related to Avatar the Last Airbender and Marval's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Weakness is believing that they love you at all. Zuko's words hover in the air. Katara can see them and feel the emptiness defined. It leaves her colder than a rabid snowstorm on her home planet. If she could eradicate the hurt from Zuko's life, she would; but she doesn't know how to speak to him or comfort him. Katara barely knows him. Zuko is only a transient compatriot, another stranger, who has floated in her life. He will probably drift away like the others she has encountered throughout the five years of being a bounty hunter.

Katara can't comprehend a situation where you would believe that no one could truly love you. She glances furtively to her side and glimpses the blatant evidence of damage on Zuko's face. Katara turns away from his obvious scar. Touching her necklace, Katara strokes the pendant, dropping her head back against the seat and reflects upon all of her actions which are derived from the very root of love.

It impels Katara to overlook her own safety and protect her brother from harm. It sustains her whenever she aches for her father and grandmother, missing their very presence and wise counsel. It comforts her when the loss of her mother pricks at her heart. All of her family's love has nourished Katara and represented a sanctuary, a place to call home, no matter where she happens to be in the vast universe.

Yet, love has a cost. The hurt, when one has gone forever into the spirit world, can be unbearable. The pain of losing her mother has become dull and numb to Katara over the years. In those first months after her mother's death, though, Katara teetered on the brink of madness. The shadows closed around her heart.

Bitterness is a dangerous thing; it can take over a person and destroy their soul. This powerful hate drove Katara to try and commit a heinous act. Closing her eyes, she was back once again on that fateful night, when rage was the only thing which burned within her soul.

Katara crouched below the tavern's window. She lurked near the edges of the pool of light cast onto the snow. This evening the Draconian soldiers were celebrating a raid made at a nearby village. Muffled laughter came after short lulls, usually followed by mugs full of fermented sea-prunes loudly clinking together. Katara's eyes were bright with determination and anger, shimmering stormy blue. The freezing temperatures of the winter solstice could not penetrate her heated barrier of revenge churning within her.

Tonight, Katara would avenge her mother's death. She had tracked Yon Ra for days, observing his patterns, always waiting for the moment to attack. Katara's steel blade would slice across Yon Ra's neck. His life force would pour forth from his throat, visibly revealing the blood already tainted upon his hands. This pledge of vengeance warmed Katara more than a hundred thick pelts and blankets.

Breathing behind the dark cloth mask, it obscured Katara's mouth. A similar material covered her hair to shield her blue locks. Her complete black garb allowed her to become one with the shadows, a spirit of the night. Katara's gloved hand tightened on the hilt of the whalebone dagger. If she had to sit in this crouched position and wait until morning for Yon Ra to stagger out of his drunken celebration, she would.

A light grew, near the front of the Tavern. An open door lit the black night, throwing a long silhouette of a man across the snow. Katara knew that shadow and rose in anticipation. Other soldiers tried to entice Yon Ra for another round and stay in the warm tavern. His shadow and slurred words indicated he was finished for the evening. He staggered out into the night, alone.

Katara shut her eyes and thanked the spirits. The specters of death had heard her tears and pleas from the beyond and had finally provided an isolated moment, so she could complete her mission.

Yon Ra stumbled and slipped along the snowy path. Katara stalked behind him. When Yon Ra paused, Katara followed suit, matching movement for movement. Tripping, Yon Ra fell forward and cursed. The path was usually clearly marked by moonlight, but this evening the moon was hidden.

The snow of the Southern Aquaquadrant was loose and deep. It could suck a person into its white depths, burying the unfortunate soul deep within the mounds of powder. It was only when the shifting spring blew a more temperate breeze across the wide plains that the long lost souls would finally be revealed, frozen and decidedly dead. Katara and the villagers had naturally developed the skills needed in detecting the safest pathways. After repeated Drac causalities occurred, scouts from each village were required to mark the most secure trails between outposts. This decreased the number of Drac from falling victim to snow traps, but it didn't eliminate the problem.

The one thing the Drac hadn't anticipated when they forever altered the climate of Katara's planet was the Southern Aquaquandrant inhabitants' ability to adapt. Her people's very essence was fashioned with the capabilities to weather the ebbs and flows of life. This had saved all of them from extinction. The Southern Aquaquandrant's malleability continued to aid them to endure and even thrive, despite the bleak circumstances. Their capacity to persist was a blight to the Draconian's pristine record of conquering and successfully subjugating a race.

Yon Ra managed to get up and slug through the snow, moving farther off the path. He fell again, and this time was stuck. It wasn't one of the sink holes, but it was deep enough to bind his hands and legs. Katara crept up to the struggling killer. A sense of euphoria and adrenaline pumped through her veins as she drew closer to Yon Ra. Raising the blade above her head, Katara's eyes glowed with sweet victory.

Suddenly, Katara's wrist was twisted behind her, while her mask was lowered and tightened around her mouth. She was quickly disarmed. In an attempt to break her unknown assailant's hold upon her, Katara dropped her weight. It was a typical defense, but it was anticipated. She was chi blocked in her arms and legs. Going limp, she sagged and was swung over the shoulder of her assailant. She was carried away from her one chance at vindicating her mother's death.

Fury filled Katara. She tried wiggling, but all her appendages refused to respond to her demands. Taken to a small glade of evergreen trees, she was dropped into the snow. A boot nudged her and she rolled over to see the face of the person who foiled her assassination attempt. It was her father.

Hakoda leaned down and removed the rag from his daughter's mouth. "It's a cold night to be out, Katara."

"Dad, how could you! I had him in my grasp. I was going to kill Yon Ra."

"How could I? I saved you."

"Saved me?" Katara sputtered with anger and disbelief. "Saved me from what? Yon Ra was the one in danger, not I."

Hakoda stood with his feet apart, towering above his quivering daughter. "Yon Ra would have met a swift death, I'm sure."

"Then why?" Katara tried reaching out in ager, but her limbs wouldn't respond. "What did you do to me? I can't move!"

"I chi blocked you." Hakoda had the audacity to chuckle, which only infuriated Katara more. "I have taught Sokka and you a lot, but I haven't taught you everything I know."

"You need to fix me, so I can go back and kill Yon Ra."

"Chi blocking wears off after a bit, probably after you have realized that you were being foolish." Hakoda shrugged, the beads of blue hair swung a confident reminder that he was still the elder and wiser of the two of them.

"Foolish!" Katara yelled, "Foolish! I'm the only one trying to save our family."

Stepping forward, Hakoda barked. "No, I saved this family, and I saved you from certain death."

"No, you have destroyed months of plotting and planning." Katara's felt the choking betrayal of rage, even as she lay immobile on the cold snow. "How did you find me? How could you have even known what I was to do?"

Hakoda crouched down next to his daughter, but knew to not touch Katara while she fumed with anger. "You may not think I pay attention to Sokka or you, but I know and understand the hearts of the ones I love. I knew you would seek out your mother's killer. It was only a matter of time and a moonless night for you to exact your retribution."

Katara could feel a slow amount of feeling in her arms. She struggled to sit up. Her legs still felt weak, though she stayed seething in the snow. "I was so close to avenging Mom's death. Dad, I can't believe you would take that from me."

Shaking his head, Hakoda spoke sternly. "Katara, you would have only succeeded on raining more of the Drac's wrath upon all of us, destroying what your mother so lovingly sacrificed for you."

Tears streamed down Katara's face, and her voice hitched with the effort of denying her father's claims. "No, we would have been given peace. Her death would have been given a purpose."

"Her death did have a purpose." Hakoda's blue eyes softened. "She saved you." His voice rose, silencing a forthcoming protest from his daughter. "Katara, what do you think would have happened when the Drac found a bloody body of one of their own, a captain of the Southern Raiders, who had obviously been murdered?" He reached out and touched her arm. Katara glanced down at father's gloved hand and returned her unsure gaze back to the strong planes of her Dad's face. Hakoda grew serious, though a visible jaw tightening was evident in reaction to the Drac's continued abuses upon his people. "They would blame us and make sure everyone, not just our village either, would suffer for the perceived defiance against their authority and control. Your moment of revenge would only ensure more torment upon your brother, grandmother, friends, neighbors, the cycle of pain would only grow not end."

Pain welled up inside Katara, and she turned away. Her headscarf slipped back; blue strands of hair fell forward. Sobbing, her shoulders shook. She finally managed to choke out, "It isn't fair. They have taken so much from us, and there is nothing we can ever do to strike back." She felt hopeless, weeping for so many lost things, snatched from her life.

Hakoda lifted his daughter up from the snow and dusted off the powder from her clothes. Pulling her closer, Hakoda held his crying child to his broad chest. Running a hand down her back, he comforted her with his words and actions. "No, it isn't fair." He stared out across the frozen tundra and then looked to the vast sky, a network of stars stretched above both of them. "I lost Kya forever, who I loved and cherished, my soul mate." He ran a hand down his daughter's blue hair, waves of hair which were so similar to Kya's. "And Sokka and you lost your mother."

Katara hugged her Dad fiercely to her. "I thought you didn't care about her or any of us. You seemed so distant."

"Of course, I care, but I can't stop living, even though my heart and soul yearn to never take another breath." Hakoda swallowed and briefly shut his eyes to stop the pain. "No, I had two children and a whole village who need me to be strong. So, I keep busy and work, provide for the ones I care about." Pulling slightly away, he held Katara's face in his hands. "But I will always cherish Kya's memory." Hakoda reached into his parka's pocket and pulled out an object. Katara backed away, and her father held out Kya's necklace. A pendant threaded on a blue silk ribbon rested on the palm of his gloved hand. "I think it is time for you to have this."

Katara hesitantly moved to touch it. "Dad, are you sure? Mom's necklace is all that you have left of her." She glanced again at her father.

Hakoda's eyes crinkled at the side, and he smiled reassuringly. "That's not true, I have Sokka, and I have you."

Wrapping her arms around her father, Katara felt her heart thaw all the hate which had consumed her for months. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you, too, Katara and even when it seems I'm not watching. I am."

Katara gripped her father tighter, speaking into his soft parka. "Thanks, Dad." Stepping slightly away, she tenderly picked the necklace up from her father's gloved palm. She carefully wrapped the blue ribbons around her neck, fastening the clasp. The pendant fell into the base of her throat. Even though it was merely a cold stone and an even frostier night, the disc warmed her. She glanced up with sudden worry to her now contented father. "What about Yon Ra? He was stuck in the snow. Will that be a problem?"

"What problem?" Hakoda shrugged. "A drunken soldier wondering out into the darkness, only a fool would be out on a night like this and especially alone." His eyes turned steely; his voice reflected his chilly words. "The spirits have a way of making sure there is always balance in the universe." He breathed in deeply. His chest expanded with the wintry air and key knowledge that a severe weather shift would soon be upon them. "We better get home. I can sense a flash snow storm will blow up tonight." Glancing down at his daughter, he hugged her to his side. "I believe your grandmother has made a special whale bone soup for dinner. You know, how she hates it when we miss meals."

Father and daughter headed from the woods toward their village, trudging through the dense snow to their igloo home. Both walked with a lightened step. Katara gained a deeper understanding of her father and her place in his heart. She felt happy. After her mother's death, she never thought she could say that again.

Hakoda had been correct in his assessment. A fierce snow storm blew seemingly out of nowhere. While it raged, the small family was gathered around a crackling fire, feasting upon Kanna's hearty soup. For the first time, true laughter regaled within the igloo. Hakoda was the first to tell of stories about Kya. Soon, many tales were spoken into the wee hours about her and how she made each of them feel. The mood was joyful, even though the weather outside was turbulent.

The storm finally settled late in the morning. When it was discovered the Southern Raider captain was missing. There were inquiries made, but the general consensus was the captain had been drunk and wandered out from the tavern. Various search parties were constructed and attempts were made to locate Yon Ra, but eventually those expeditions became less and less. Life resumed its predicable course; and in the spring, Yon Ra was revealed to be frozen dead. He had been trapped in the same position as where he had stumbled into, caught by his own foolhardy mistake.

A/N: What's going to happen next?...maybe a little back story about how Zuko got...guesses? Alright standard fan fiction author plea: Please review, tons of appreciation when you do. It helps stave off a potential full-on black hole for the story.