Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: I like the size of it and the safety afforded by the massive walls, I'm not such a fan of the Dai Li and all the corruption.

Zigzagdoublezee: He's done a very good thing here, yes. But neither Zuko or Lu Ten are out of the woods yet.

As Always, Please Review!

Gembul floated on his back in the lake, grunting contentedly as Sokka lounged on him fully clothed, using the upturned bison as a float.

Around him, a dark shape swam, Rinzen occasionally bursting out of the water, propelling himself impossibly high into the air with his airbending, before falling back into the lake with an almighty splash.

Meanwhile, Yue and Katara stood on the shore, watching them. The Avatar had decided on a further modification of her appearance following the incident at the bridge; Yue had opted to keep the forward braids which hung down either side of her face but otherwise fashion her hair into one long ponytail which hung down behind her instead of the looping braids pinned at the back she had worn previously. She suspected this would be easier in combat and if... whatever had happened on the bridge happened again, it would be easier to put her hair back again afterwards.

For now though, Yue had asked the other waterbender to teach her the water whip, the only combat waterbending technique Katara knew. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Alright," Katara began. "I don't know if this is the accepted version of the technique. I only learned it by watching the men do it and copying them."

"Alright," Yue wasn't sure it mattered, but nodded.

"First, you want to lift some water. Like this!"

Katara moved her arms in a slow, practiced pattern as she concentrated. Yue marvelled as a tendril of water flew up and began circling her, each end above one of her hands as she guided it.

"Now you try it!" Katara encouraged her. Yue narrowed her eyes and assumed a bending stance. She looked over at Katara again, and then watched as the lake responded to her command. A tendril of water like Katara's broke the surface and reached towards her, eventually severing its connection with the lake and coming up to orbit her slowly.

"Well done!" Katara clapped from next to her. Experimentally, Yue moved her hands again, causing the water she controlled to do a loop-the-loop in front of her. She laughed, and did it again, enjoying the sensation of having caused it to do that. Then she spun on the spot, sending the water tendril speeding around her in a wide arc. Then she caught Katara staring at her, nonplussed, with her arms folded.

"Right," she stopped, sheepishly. "What's the next step!"

"The water whip involves flicking one end of the tendril at your opponent," Katara continued after a moment. "So you just do this!"

She removed one hand from the end of her whip, extended the other and swung it down. The water lashed out, before slamming into the surface of the lake and mildly splashing Sokka. He looked up, irritated, and then went back to his sunbathing.

"Now you try!"

Yue breathed deeply, and then copied Katara. Her whip streaked out over the lake and then slammed into it with huge force, causing a big splash that washed Sokka into the water.

He burst to the surface spluttering, as Katara raised an eyebrow.

"Sokka doesn't have much luck with your waterbending," she observed. "But well done. You're a natural."

Yue beamed and bowed to her in the way she had seen waterbending masters do to each other in her own tribe. Katara smiled and returned the gesture.

"What was that?" Sokka demanded, emerging from the water. "You splashed me, again!"

"It was an accident!" Yue tried to placate him.

"Oh yeah, some accident," Sokka pointed out. "This is the second time this has happened. It's a lot of accidents."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Yue challenged him. There was an edge of flirtatiousness to her voice that she hadn't quite intended, and she cursed herself for letting it out. She was committed now though.

"I..." Sokka stopped for a moment, taken aback by her tone. "I'll push you in! See if I don't!"

Both of them tensed, both preparing for the clash that now must follow. It was push or be pushed, and Yue absolutely intended to be the one doing the pushing. Sokka's eyes narrowed, his muscles coiled, Yue waited for him to strike, and planned her own counterattack-

"Hey!"

The tension was broken by a man's voice. A cart was rounding the corner and coming towards them, pulled by an ostrich-horse and with an old man in green sat atop it. There was a blanket covering the contents of the cart.

Everyone stopped and swivelled to face him, followed a second later by an airbender's head emerging from the lake just behind them.

The cart pulled up.

"Are you kids going to the market?" The man asked.

They all looked at each other.

"Market?" Sokka asked, confused. "What market?"

"Oh," the man paused. "I'll take that as a no."

He went to move off again.

"Wait!" Yue called. "What market?"

"The port village down the road is having it," the man explained. "We offer good prices! And it'll probably be the last one for a while, with the Fire Nation on the attack."

"Thank you," Yue said graciously. "We may well come after all."

The man nodded and made a clicking noise with his mouth. The ostrich-horse moved away, and the cart receded down the road.

"Do we need anything at the market?" Yue asked.

"We don't need food," Rinzen pointed out. "We've barely started on our stocks from the temple."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be food," Sokka said. "We could get clothes or something."

"Do you need clothes?" Rinzen asked.

Sokka looked down.

"Well, these ones have got very wet," he mused. "Yeah, can we go to this market? Please?"

He suddenly put on a look that resembled a polar-bear dog puppy, and Yue and Katara looked at each other. Yue caved first.

"Alright," she said. "We'll go to the market."

"Yes!" Sokka punched the air happily. "Maybe we'll even get something for you as well!"

"Remember, we don't have that much money," Rinzen told him.

"I'll be careful!" Sokka said happily. "Mostly."

This was not a statement that filled Avatar Yue with a great amount of confidence. But she had made her promise, and she was a woman of her word.

Team Avatar was going to the market.