Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196967: I'm not an expert, but I thought it had been explicitly stated somewhere that bending isn't magic. And I'd have liked sky-bison to be real.

Zigzagdoublezee: Yeah, it seems to be a fairly common fan theory that Yue was meant to be the next Avatar. And the story, or at least the first few chapters, basically strolled in essentially fully formed yesterday morning and so here we are.

Lofthestars: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

As Always, Please Review!

Yue burst out of the door and raced into the dark. She couldn't stop, didn't dare stop, until she reached the edge of a bridge and stared out to sea, her mind still racing. The sight of her city, of the moon and the ocean, did calm her somewhat but she still clutched the rail, breathing heavily.

After the revelation that she was the Avatar, the feast had continued as normal. With all the attention on her, she knew she could not slip away but as soon as it had ended she had come straight here, to be alone. Only the moon kept her company here.

The canals and icy structures of the north glistened in the still night air, broken only by the distant sounds of partying from elsewhere in the city. Fun. Yue scowled. Fun was something that happened to other people, in her experience. All her life, responsibility had been drilled into her; responsibility to her family, responsibility to her tribe, her people, the spirits- and now, on top of everything else, she had the most crushing responsibility of all.

She would do it, of course. Even if she had a choice, Yue had never been one to shirk that responsibility. Duty called and Yue answered. Thus it had always been.

Experimentally, she reached out a hand, and made a pushing motion at the canal water below. She strained to see if anything was happening. As far as she could see, nothing did.

There was a sudden noise behind her. She turned to see a dark figure strolling down a road towards her, seemingly oblivious to her presence.

"Hello?" She called. The only response she got was a yelp as the figure slid on some ice and went tumbling to the ground.

"I'm fine!" He called as he scrambled to his feet. "I'm fine. Sorry, I didn't see you there."

Yue recognised Sokka as the southerner approached her.

"Don't worry," Yue told him. "I'll keep your secret."

He didn't say anything for a few moments.

"So..." He began. "Crazy night, huh? Dad and Katara went home, I needed a walk."

"Crazy night indeed," Yue agreed, not noticing him silently berating himself for the awful clunky opener.

"I mean, Princess of the North and now Avatar?" Sokka continued. "I don't know what you did but the spirits must love you."

"Yes," Yue frowned. Sokka noticed.

"What's wrong?" He asked gently.

Yue retreated a few steps. "Nothing," she said defensively.

"Princess, you can tell me," Sokka pleaded. "I won't laugh! I mean making fun of the Avatar would end with me in that canal but even if you weren't the Avatar I wouldn't laugh! And nobody else is around to hear you!"

Yue looked around. He was right.

"I'm just..." she hesitated. Could she trust this boy?

"I'm just frustrated," she eventually blurted. Something about him was... disarming, somehow. Her shields did not stay up easily in his presence.

"Frustrated?" Sokka frowned. "How?"

"I'm probably not a Princess any more. I'll have to abdicate my position so there's no conflict of interest."

"Doesn't sound too bad," Sokka observed.

"And I can't bend!" Yue turned on him. "Not at all! Not even a little bit! I don't think you have much to fear from me."

"Yet," Sokka amended. "You can't bend yet, that is. I'm not sure I could ever fear you- not that you wouldn't be a great bender, I'm sure!"

"Sokka, you're tying yourself in knots," Yue told him. "Calm down."

"Really?" Sokka stopped. "Please, carry on."

"And all my life is just duty, duty, duty," Yue obliged, beginning to feel better about getting things off her chest. "I live a life of responsibility and what is my reward? More responsibility!"

Her voice raised in tone throughout the rant, and when she had finished, breathing heavily. Sokka didn't say anything for several seconds, and Yue began to worry that she had overdone it.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I should-"

"When was the last time you had some fun?"

"Fun?" Yue raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, fun." Sokka looked like he was searching for the right things to say. "Like doing.. activities! With your friends!"

"Doing activities?" Yue smirked, the awkwardness disarming her. "I'd love to do an activity."

"But do you?" Sokka pressed. "Go out."

Yue's shoulders fell.

"No."

"You don't do activities? With anyone?" Sokka frowned. "What about your friends?"

Yue just looked sadly at him.

"What friends?"

Sokka looked completely stunned for a moment. Then his eyes filled with determination.

"Then we can do an activity now," he declared. "You have a night before your life as the Avatar truly begins. There's still time to make the most of it."

"What kind of activity?" Yue asked.

"I don't know," Sokka spun to face her. "You're more familiar with this place than I am, I only got here this morning. What's there to do?"

"I don't know either," Yue confessed. "I don't get out much."

She had a thought.

"In the South, what is that you do for fun?"

Sokka seemed surprised that she was taking an interest.

"Well," he puffed up his chest, "the son of the Chief has a lot of responsibilities too, you know, but when I have time..." he trailed off.

"Food," he decided. "You haven't lived until you've been in some of the restaurants down south."

"The South Pole seems a bit far away for just tonight," Yue observed.

"Then we improvise," Sokka decided. But even as he began walking away, Yue didn't move. Something seemed... off somehow. As if they were being watched.

But as she looked around, she could see nothing.

She shook her head.

"We shouldn't," she said.

Sokka stopped.

"Why not?"

He looked genuinely confused, and a little hurt.

"I should go," she said. "I may not like it, but duty is duty. It's more important than an activity."

She turned to go.

"There's room for both!" Sokka called after her as he followed. "We can do both! It's not healthy to just- Yue, look out!"

She was knocked off her feet as Sokka crashed into her, sending her sprawling into the snow. She just had time to hear two popping noises in quick succession and then she was deafened by an enormous explosion just beyond the bridge.

Stunned, she struggled to sit up, in time to see an enormous, intimidating man with a forehead tattoo in a Fire Nation military uniform staring at her. He closed his eyes, took a bending stance, and inhaled deeply.

Yue froze, rooted to the spot in fear as she anticipated the next explosive beam.