Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Aang and the Fire Nation royals, after having helped the refugees at the Northern Air Temple and departing, soon found themselves headed towards the Northern Water Tribe. The scroll he had gotten from the soldier who he could only assume had dropped it on purpose had been from a waterbending master named Pakku. In it, it had explained that Master Pakku was not for the war, and wanted it to be ended swiftly so that the Four Nations could be restored to balance once again. Aang, despite knowing that this very well could be a trap, knew that this might be the only chance he could get to learn waterbending before he would have to face Chief Hakoda and had decided that it was worth the risk.

There was only one problem, however. Assuming that it wasn't a trap, Aang had no clue how they would be able to sneak through the heavily populated Northern Tribe without getting caught. Considering what he had seen of the Water Tribe people so far, they wouldn't exactly blend in even if they had the proper attire, so he had no idea how they were supposed to be able to get to this Master Pakku.

Azula, seeing the look on Aang's face as he pondered over this problem, decided to ask. "Avatar, are you sure we should be doing this? We're going to a place where we'll be completely outnumbered."

"What, are you afraid of a fight, Azula?" Zuko snorted with a raised brow, making Azula shoot a glare at him that he would even think to ask such a question.

"Of course not, dumb dumb," she answered him with a roll of her eyes. "I'm just merely pointing out that this whole trip may very well be a waste of time, if not a trap. The Water Tribes have proven themselves to be clever, so we shouldn't let our guard down with this."

"I'm not," Aang assured her as he looked at his friend with a serious look on his face. "But if this isn't a trap, then this might be my only chance to learn waterbending. When we get there, we'll keep our guard up, but we have to try." Seeing that he was absolutely serious about this, Azula reluctantly nodded and let out a small sigh.

"How are we supposed to get to this guy, anyway?" Zuko asked seriously as he looked at Aang. "We're not exactly going to blend in or anything."

Aang, knowing that he was right, replied. "I don't know. The scroll that I found says that we should go to a place outside of the city, so I'm guessing that Master Pakku will be there waiting for us."

"Or a small army waiting to lock us up," Azula argued, making Aang nod as he knew that it certainly wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Understanding well where she was coming from, Aang said. "I know, I know. But I have to try. No other waterbender is going to teach me, and I don't have much time to learn the other elements. Trap or not, I have to try."

Seeing that he was getting upset, the siblings decided to drop it as they looked ahead, both of them gasping in surprise as they saw what they could only assume was the Northern Water Tribe ahead of them. A large city made entirely of ice and stone, making them all stare at it as they had to admire its unique beauty. Not that Azula would ever admit it out loud, but even she couldn't deny that this place rivaled her own home.

"We made it," Aang said in relief as he grinned at his friends. "Now, all we have to do is go to the meeting point."

"Be careful, Avatar," Azula warned as she pointed ahead of them, making Aang's eyes widen as he saw that the large wall in front of them had soldiers watching from afar. "No one can know we're here if we're going to do this."

Nodding in agreement, Aang began guiding Appa away from the upcoming walls and instead made his way toward the spot where they were supposed to meet Master Pakku. It was a small place just outside the walls of the city, and Aang could see that there were already people there waiting for him. He knew that there was still a good chance that this would end up being a trap, so he kept his guard up just in case.

Finally landing where they needed to be, they prepared themselves for the worst and were surprised as the people waiting for him there bowed to him. "Greetings, Avatar Aang," one of the people said as they all bowed to him. "I am Princess Yue. Welcome to our home."

Becoming surprised at this, Aang asked. "Princess Yue?"

"You're Water Tribe royalty," Zuko said in realization as his eyes narrowed at the girl. "How do we know that this isn't a trap? Give us one good reason why we shouldn't just leave right now."

"Wait! Please, don't go," Yue politely begged as she saw that they were on the verge of leaving. "We do not wish you any harm." Turning to Aang, she then said. "Not everyone in the Water Tribes supports this war. Some of us want to see it be brought to a peaceful end with every nation brought back into harmony. That's why Master Pakku sent for you. He wishes to teach you waterbending since very few other people would be willing to."

Aang, although still looking quite suspicious, did not decide to high tail it back to Appa just yet. Deciding to give her the benefit of the doubt, he then asked. "Why would you not support the war? If you guys win, you could control the whole world?"

Seeing that Aang was testing her sincerity, Yue replied. "Because war has never done any good. Many of our people have been lost over the last hundred years, and with little to no actual progress. My father himself was almost killed in a raid on the Earth Kingdom, and ever since then, I've sworn that I would do what I could to bring this war to a peaceful resolution."

Listening to her words and finding that she was being honest, Aang relaxed a little and put on a smile as he looked at his friends. "Well, it doesn't seem like she's lying."

Azula, being a master at deception, walked closer to the princess and looked her in the eye. "You're telling me that you want to end the war?" she asked seriously, but Yue didn't appear to be nervous at all. Seeing that she was not faltering under her gaze, Azula backed off and nodded. "Okay, she's not lying. Or if she is, then she's an even better liar than me."

Taking that as confirmation that they could move forward, Aang looked at the princess and said. "So, when do I get to meet Master Pakku?"

Giggling a little at this, Yue replied. "Don't worry, Avatar Aang, you'll meet him soon enough," she promised as she gestured to a nearby and rather large cart behind her. "But first, we need to get you all inside the city."

"Please don't tell me that we're going to have to hide in that cart," Azula huffed in annoyance as she glared at it, but not long later found herself being wheeled throughout the city as she, Zuko, and Aang sat beside her in the cart. Grumbling to herself, she sarcastically muttered. "Great idea. Stupid princess probably couldn't be bothered to just get us some clothes to make us blend in."

"Azula, you know as well as I do that we wouldn't exactly blend in here, even with the right clothes," Zuko told her, making her roll her eyes as she struggled to keep her own space. Deciding to let her continue to be annoyed, he took a small peek out of the cart and saw that they had indeed made it inside the city. Turning to Aang, he asked. "Are you sure that we can trust these people?"

"No," Aang reluctantly admitted. "But if they wanted to capture me, they could have. We were just outside the wall. They could have had an army behind it and grabbed me while we were distracted, but they didn't. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt."

Knowing that Aang could be too trusting at times, but also knowing that they didn't have much choice since Aang needed a waterbending teacher, Zuko reluctantly nodded and continued to wait as they were brought to wherever they needed to go. It was some time until they finally reached where they needed to be, but eventually they felt the cart stop as the covering above their heads was lifted.

The people who had been with Yue helped them out as Yue smiled at them. "Welcome to the Northern Water Tribe. I wish I could give you guys a proper tour, but unfortunately doing so would probably end in your capture."

"I understand," Aang nodded his agreement as he looked around. "So, where's Master Pakku?"

"I am right here, young Avatar," a voice came from the shadows as they all turned to see an older man come stepping into view. Bowing to him, Pakku continued. "It is an honor to meet you. I have heard much about you ever since my granddaughter discovered you underneath the waters of the Fire Nation."

Looking at him in complete surprise, Aang exclaimed. "Your Katara's grandfather?!"

"Well, step-grandfather, anyway," Pakku corrected himself with a small shrug. "But I hardly see the difference. I've known her since she was a little girl, and I've been married to her grandmother for most of her life. Her actual grandfather passed before she was born."

Deciding not to ask how long he had waited after Katara's grandfather had passed to ask her grandmother to marry him, he instead bowed back to him and said. "Well, thank you for inviting me here. I haven't met any waterbenders that would be willing to teach me."

"Except your girlfriend," Azula teased, but Aang decided to ignore this comment as he looked at Pakku, knowing full well that Katara wasn't his girlfriend but hoping that one day she would be.

"Well, it's important that we teach you," Pakku replied as he gestured around them, showing that the room was covered in Water Tribe propaganda. "This war has gone on far too long."

"Why do you want this war to end?" Aang asked curiously, not wanting to ruin what might be his only chance to learn waterbending, but wanting to understand his reasoning as well.

Pakku was silent for a moment, and Aang got the sense that Pakku wasn't used to being questioned, but he appeared to have dispelled his irritation and answered. "Because this war has cost too many lives. For our people and the other Nations. My own father was killed in battle against the Earth Kingdom, and ever since I've always wanted it to end swiftly and decisively. You're the best chance we have at that."

Nodding as Aang found that he believed him, he said. "Well, thank you, anyway." Laughing a little as he thought of something, he then thought aloud. "Well, I guess Katara won't get to teach me waterbending now." Seeing the look of confusion on Pakku and Yue's faces, Aang decided to explain. "The last time Katara captured me, she promised that she would teach me waterbending once the war was over. I guess a small part of me was hoping that she would teach me, anyway."

"Well, if you'd rather wait until after the war is over and the other Nations are under Water Tribe control, we can send you back out right now," Pakku dryly replied as he raised a brow, making Aang smile sheepishly as he realized that he might have insulted the waterbending master.

"No, no, I'm sorry!" Aang apologetically smiled as he sheepishly rubbed his neck. "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant-"

"I understand well what you meant, young Avatar," Pakku assured him as he recalled a memory with a fond smile. "I imagine it's the same reason that I took two years to learn how to sew from her grandmother."

Aang, smiling as he saw a kindred spirit in the older man before him, watched as Pakku put a hand on his shoulder. "Women seem to have a certain power over us that we can't explain. If you're anything like me, I'm certain that you would draw it out as long as you could." Laughing a little as he heard this, Aang nodded, and Pakku smirked a little before focusing on the task at hand. "Well, enough chit chat. We're not here to talk, but to train."

"Of course," Aang nodded, despite the fact that he wouldn't mind taking a couple days off to rest and relax after the journey from the Northern Air Temple to there. But, knowing that time was precious and that they could be discovered by the other Water Tribe residents who needed only to walk in to find him, he took on a serious look and got himself ready. "I'm ready."

Pakku, grinning as he saw that this boy had no idea what he was in for, motioned for Yue and the others to move out of the way as he said. "Let's begin." Not giving Aang a word of warning, he took a large amount of water from a nearby fountain and splashed it at Aang, making him spew out some water as he looked at Pakku. Clearly, learning from this man was going to be a challenge. Letting out a sigh, he got back up and decided to focus on what Pakku had to teach, and found himself wondering about what Katara and Sokka were doing right now.

Katara was smiling as she held onto her mother's necklace, being very relieved to have it back after all the time she had thought it to be gone forever. She was still very grateful to Aang for getting it back to her, even if she still didn't know how exactly he had gotten it. He had said something about Zuko wanting him to be sure he got it back to her, and she could tell that he had been joking, but she could only surmise that Zuko had been the one who had taken it.

She didn't know whether she should be thankful Zuko had taken it or angry at him for it. On one hand, if he had left it alone, then maybe she would have found it much sooner and not had to have lamented over the loss of something she held dear to her heart. On the other hand, since he had taken it, she had been able to thank Aang with a kiss for getting it back to her, which helped to dispel some of the tension she felt whenever she was around him. The more she saw Aang and got to know how good of a person he was, the more she found herself wanting to kiss him. But, thanks to Aang getting her necklace back from Zuko, she had been able to get away with a kiss on the cheek which helped, but did not solve her problem.

Deciding that she could be angry at Zuko but thankful to Aang, she found that she was satisfied with this reasoning since she was already angry with the Fire Nation royals anyway and decided that she would remain thankful to Aang for getting it back to her. Besides, if Zuko had taken her necklace, she knew that it wasn't for her benefit. No doubt he had some plan in mind for her most treasured possession, but Aang had stepped in and given it back to her, for which she was very grateful for.

"Katara!" The sound of her brother's voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she turned to look at him. "You won't believe it!"

Taking on a look of confusion, Katara asked. "What is it, Sokka?"

"Aang!" Sokka told her with a big grin on his face. "He's traveling to the North Pole!"

Her look of confusion only growing deeper, she asked. "What do you mean? Aang's smart enough not to go there. He would get captured the second he tried to get in."

"Not if he had help on the inside," Sokka disagreed, making her raise a brow at him as he decided to explain. "There's been rumors about a secret cell of our people who are against the war. We don't have any concrete evidence they exist, but if Aang manages to get inside, then that'll be almost complete proof that there are people working against us from the inside."

Seeing that he could be right, Katara narrowed her eyes as she tried to think of who might betray their people like that. "Well, who could be helping him? Everyone I know is loyal to dad." Suddenly remembering something, she looked at her brother and suggested. "Maybe Princess Yue is helping him. She's always objected to the war. I could see her helping sneak him in so he could learn waterbending."

"No! Yue would never do that!" Sokka argued defiantly as he crossed his arms over his chest, making Katara raise another brow at him as he smiled sheepishly. "Look, all I'm saying is that Yue loves her people, so I don't see why she would work against them just to help Aang."

Still not being convinced, Katara replied. "Well, either way, when we get there we're going to have to look around. If Aang really is there, then that means someone had to help him get inside without anybody knowing. So we'll have to deal with whoever helped him get inside, too."

"And whoever is trying to teach him waterbending," Sokka agreed as he looked ahead of them. "If they succeed, then he'll be one step closer to stopping us. We have to find them and stop this."

"You're right," Katara nodded, her mouth a little bitter at the fact that she just admitted that Sokka was right. She supposed it was a natural distaste that came with every sibling rivalry, but she decided to ignore it as she looked at her brother. "How much longer until we get there?"

"A few hours, so be ready," he told her before making his way below deck, making Katara sigh as she thought all of this over. Of course, she was hopeful that she would get to see Aang again, and hopefully actually manage to keep him captured this time. But she was torn about who could have possibly helped him. Assuming that he was actually in the city, then that meant that someone had helped him in and that someone had offered to teach him waterbending. She saw no reason to suspect Pakku, but she knew that there was a chance that he had reached out to Aang. Pakku had been her waterbending Master, however, and she sincerely hoped that it wasn't him.

Deciding not to dwell on this thought for the moment, she focused on the task at hand and prepared herself for a search, knowing that she and Sokka would likely have to search the entire city if they were going to be able to find Aang.

A few days later, Aang found himself in the middle of training with Pakku. Pakku had been pressing him hard, and despite knowing that it was for a good reason, Aang couldn't help but be a little frustrated. Pakku was almost relentless in his teaching, and Aang often found himself face first on the floor as Pakku attempted to teach him. He had figured that Pakku wasn't exactly the gentle kind of teacher, but he was already growing tired of ending up on the floor.

Groaning in pain as he once again found himself on the ground, he heard Pakku call to him. "You need to focus, Avatar Aang! The sooner you learn to take a hit, the sooner you won't end up on the ground," his master remarked to him, making Aang groan a little as he tried not to get angry. Pakku was risking a lot to teach him, and even if he didn't like how he had chosen to teach him, Aang needed to learn waterbending.

Getting back up as he prepared for another attempt, he became surprised as Yue suddenly came inside with a worried look on her face, and Pakku immediately stopped as he saw that this could be serious. "What is it, Princess Yue?"

Once Yue had caught her breath, she looked at the Master and said. "We have reports that Katara and Sokka are coming here. They believe that Avatar Aang came here and are searching for him."

Seeing that their situation had just gotten more complicated, Pakku sighed and turned to look at some of his nearby waterbending students who he trusted to keep their secret. "Go with Princess Yue and greet my grandchildren. Make sure that they get their thorough inspection and let me know when they are coming here. I have a plan in mind for hiding our dear Avatar." The students nodded as he turned to Yue. "We knew this would happen eventually. All we can do now is play along until they give up their search. If we should get caught, do not let your allegiance to our cause be discovered. If the Avatar cannot save the world, your position as the chief's daughter must be used to the world's benefit at the right time. Understood?"

"Of course, Pakku," Yue replied as she looked at her old friend. "But no one should have to suffer because we're doing the right thing. Isn't there a more safe place we could train the Avatar?"

"No," Pakku answered her as he gestured to the building that they were currently in. "This building is the most secure place in our city. Our only other option would be to go out into the frozen tundra, and that would mean certain death. Have patience. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve." Yue still did not look very satisfied, but reluctantly nodded as she watched Pakku walk them out of the room. "All will be fine as long as you do what I say. Go greet Katara and Sokka and keep them distracted as they come to inspect our home. I'm sure you'll be able to keep Sokka very distracted," he added with a smirk, making Yue blush a little as she pretended she didn't hear that. "Good luck."

Doing as she was told, she bowed to Pakku before leaving with his selected students and made to go greet the incoming Water Tribe siblings, not noticing the slight worry on Pakku's face as he watched them go. He had put on a confident act in front of the princess, but he wasn't as confident as he had appeared. The North Pole was only so big, and he knew that Katara and Sokka would be smart enough to know that Aang would only come here to learn waterbending. It was very likely that their search would have them investigate every waterbending Master in the city. Due to him being their family, he reasoned that he would not be their first suspect, but he also knew that it was only a matter of time until they found their way here. Fortunately, he had something of a backup plan for when and if they were discovered. Deciding that it would do him no good to dwell on the upcoming inspection, he turned back to Aang and noticed that Aang appeared to be worried.

"What if Katara and Sokka find us?" Aang asked his Master as he looked at the door where the others had gone.

"They can find me, they just can't find you or your friends," Pakku answered him as he decided that he needed a little break and sat down on a comfortable pillow in another part of the room. "But do not worry, young Avatar. I have a plan in mind for when they come here. Anticipating your arrival, I've constructed a sort of tunnel system that will lead you to a more secluded place that Katara and Sokka would never think to look for you. Once they come here, I'll send you and your friends there until they have finished their investigation. Once it is complete, we'll bring you back and continue where we left off."

Aang, seeing that Pakku had clearly thought this all through, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief as he sat down across from his Master. It was nice to know that Pakku already had a back up plan in case something went wrong. "You're pretty wise, Master Pakku," Aang told him with a relieved grin.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Avatar," Pakku responded as he took a sip of some tea he had kept on a nearby table for when they would inevitably take a break. "Now, a few more moments of rest and we must continue with our training. I'm not certain I will be able to teach you all I know before we are discovered, so time is precious."

Sighing as he found himself not looking forward to beginning his training again, Aang knew that he was right and reluctantly nodded, deciding just to focus on his training. Though he couldn't help but feel a little bit envious of the Fire Nation royals since they were likely just lounging around while he was stuck in training. But, knowing that there wasn't much that he could do about it, he instead prepared himself for the upcoming training, knowing that he still had much to learn.

Sokka and Katara soon found themselves docked at the Northern Water Tribe, and were not surprised to see that Yue and some of Pakku's students had come to greet them. Though they knew that they would have to keep their guard up since someone here was likely harboring Aang and the Fire Nation royals, so they would need to be sure that they would have to be wary of whatever and whoever came their way.

"Hello, Sokka and Katara," Yue bowed to them as the siblings walked up to her. "It's nice to see you again. What brings you to our home?"

"We're here following the Avatar," Sokka told her, trying his best not to get lost in her eyes as he looked at her. "We've been following him for a while and recent reports show that he came here."

"You're saying the Avatar came here?!" Yue asked in fake surprise, knowing full well that he had but knowing that she couldn't tell them that. "But how could he get inside? Someone would have to have spotted him."

"Not if he had help from the inside," Katara answered as she looked at her friend, making Yue's eyes widen a little as she wondered if they already knew about Pakku. "We're going to do a search."

"Of course!" Yue agreed easily, giving a sharp look to Pakku's students next to her so that they understood. "We'll look through the whole city if we have to. Go tell Master Pakku that he should be expecting a visit soon."

Sokka, noticing that Yue was acting a little weird, decided not to think too much about it and said. "Actually, we want to talk to him first."

Yue, taking on a look of surprise and a hint of worry, asked. "Why? Don't you want to find the Avatar? He could escape at any moment!"

Katara was not as gullible as her brother, at least in this situation. She could tell that Yue was hiding something, but given that Yue was the daughter of their father's strongest ally, she knew that she couldn't make an accusation without proof. She knew that her brother had a thing for Yue, and she understood why, as she was a beautiful and rather sweet girl. However, she also knew that he was the one always talking about how their duty came first, so if Yue really was guilty of helping Aang into the North Pole, then she expected her brother to hold to his word and take her in.

For now, however, she decided to give Yue the benefit of the doubt and, knowing that she didn't want to let Yue know that they were suspicious of Pakku, put on a fake smile and said. "Oh, we just want to see Pakku before we begin our search. He is our step-grandfather, after all."

Yue wasn't an idiot. She could tell that Katara and Sokka had an ulterior motive, but she still had seen no reason to think that they knew about Pakku or her own involvement in helping the Avatar. Knowing that she couldn't really deny them, she said. "Okay, we'll go see Pakku. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you." Looking at Sokka and batting her eyes as she hoped that he would take the bait, she added. "We should stop by and get some seal jerky on the way! I haven't eaten anything all day and I'm starving!"

"Okay," Sokka agreed readily, making Katara glare at her brother as he didn't seem to notice, entranced by the Princess' beauty as he looked at her. Finally noticing his sister glaring at him, he raised a brow and said. "What?"

"We don't have time for snacks, Sokka!" Katara chided him as she put her hands on her hips. "We need to find Aang!"

"Aang can wait a minute!" Sokka responded with a roll of his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. "We'll just grab the food and eat it on the way to Pakku's. It'll only take a couple minutes!"

Rolling her eyes at her brother as she saw that he wasn't going to budge, she let out a sigh and turned her gaze to her friend, her suspicion of her friend only increasing as she saw that Yue was delaying them. It was a short delay, she had to admit, and not an unreasonable one, but it still made her quite wary of what Yue was really up to. Deciding that she would have to wait until she had more evidence, she returned her attention to Yue and said. "Alright, let's get a snack."

Putting on a brilliant smile, she bowed to them both and began leading the way. "Don't worry, Katara, it'll be worth the wait. Our seal jerky is almost as good as your Auntie Ashkuna's!"

Remembering how Auntie Ashkuna's was some of the most rubbery seal jerky you could ever eat, Katara took on a look of disgust and decided that she was going to skip the snack and let the two of them have at it. If their jerky was anything like that, then she wanted no part of it. Deciding to keep her guard up as she looked throughout the large city and remembering Aang, she couldn't help but wonder if Aang really was there.

A little while later, Aang and Pakku had once again resumed training and were currently making some progress. Waterbending itself wasn't hard for Aang because waterbending was surprisingly similar to airbending with some important differences, but really it was Pakku's style of teaching that was slowing Aang down. Pakku was unrelenting and not at all hesitant to send Aang to the ground, which had pretty much been the opposite of Aang's airbending training. However, Aang had always been quick to adapt to any situation, and this proved to be no different as he found himself already getting used to Pakku's harsher approach at teaching.

Unfortunately for them, they were interrupted in the middle of a lesson as one of Pakku's students burst through the door, fixing his eyes on Pakku and saying. "Master Pakku! Katara and Sokka are coming here to talk to you!"

"Great," Pakku muttered under his breath as he turned to look at Aang, knowing that they didn't have much time left. "Go get your friends and meet me back out here! We're going to have to use the tunnels I made for this purpose much sooner than I had been expecting."

Aang, seeing that they didn't have much time, nodded and ran to go fetch Zuko and Azula while Pakku gestured for his student to follow him as he made his way over to a nearby water fountain that was in the building. Knowing what to do, the student took his place as Pakku took his and the two split the fountain in half, revealing the entrance to the tunnels just as the three travelers came walking up to them.

Seeing that they were ready, Pakku motioned to the tunnel and told Aang. "Go into the tunnel and follow it to its end. It will lead you to a more private place that only certain people in our Tribe know about. Once Katara and Sokka have had their inspection, I'll send for you and bring you back."

Being relieved at this solid plan, Aang nodded and said. "Okay, we can do that. Thank you for-"

"We don't have much time, Avatar," Pakku interrupted him as he pointed toward the tunnel. "You must go. Now!" Seeing that he was serious and knowing that he was right, Aang nodded and gestured for his friends to follow.

"So, where are we going, exactly?" Zuko asked as they went down the tunnel, not knowing much of the details of this plan.

Despite not knowing the answer, Aang decided to answer. "A place that only a few people in the North Pole know about. It sounds like Katara and Sokka don't know about it, so hopefully we'll be safe."

"And if they do find us?" Azula asked with a raised brow, making Aang shrug as he continued walking.

"Then I guess we'll just have to leave," Aang told her as he kept his eyes forward. "I've already learned a good amount of waterbending thanks to Master Pakku. I still have a lot to learn, but it's a good start."

"Well, where else are you going to learn waterbending?" Zuko asked as he looked at his friend. "You said yourself that this guy might be the only waterbending master willing to teach you."

"I know," Aang admitted with a shrug, trying not to think about that as he continued down the tunnel paths. "But we wouldn't have much choice, would we? If the Water Tribes figure out that we're here, we'll be outnumbered and surrounded. The best thing that we can do is wait."

"Well, if we do have to run, your bison better be ready for a hasty departure," Azula said as she already started thinking about escape plans in case they were discovered.

"Master Pakku made sure to feed Appa and Momo while we're here," Aang told her as he remembered his furry friends. He missed them, but he knew that at least for now that he would need to keep learning waterbending. He couldn't help but wonder, however, if he could make a tunnel system over to where his furry friends were waiting for him. Deciding not to dwell on this thought for the moment, Aang then continued. "He'll be ready to fly as soon as we have to."

The three lapsing into silence as they reached a doorway, Aang gasped as he peered inside and saw what looked like a beautiful oasis in front of them, making him become surprised as he saw lush grass and flowing water at the center of the area. To further his surprise, as he stepped inside of the area, he immediately felt warmer.

Grinning, he began laughing like a kid as he rolled around in the grass, his grin firmly in place as he looked at his friends. "I never thought I would miss grass so much!"

"It is rather warm here," Azula agreed with the beginnings of a smile as she sat down in the grass and laid back with a relaxed sigh, clearly enjoying the warmth as opposed to the harsh cold that they had been in the last few days. "Maybe I'll just spend the rest of the time that we're here in this place instead of that bitter cold."

"We can't stay here, Azula," Aang told her with a laugh as he looked at his friend. "Pakku said that a few people know about this place. I'm guessing the Chief at least knows, so we can't stay for too long. Let's just enjoy it while we can."

Looking around, Aang became fixated on the pool ahead of them and smiled as he saw two distinct-looking fish swimming around in a circle. "Wow, those are some pretty fish!" he remarked as he moved to get a closer look at them. "I don't think I've ever seen any fish like that!"

Azula, looking at the fish from her point of view and shrugging, simply said. "Eh. I've seen better."

Rolling his eyes, Zuko said. "Azula, you couldn't appreciate a city made of gold unless it was in the Fire Nation."

"And?" Azula asked with a raised brow. "So I love our home. So what? The Fire Nation simply is just better than all of the other places in the world." Aang laughed as he saw that Azula truly was just Azula, and decided to refocus his attention on the fish while he waited for Pakku to call them back. Though, as he looked at the two fish who appeared to be chasing each other, he couldn't help but wonder why these two fish alone were allowed to have their own pool when he was sure that there were many other fish in the waters around the city that would love to be here.

Not long after the travelers settled in at the Oasis, Katara and Sokka found themselves at Pakku's door, where Yue found herself hoping dearly that Pakku had enough time to get the three foreigners out of sight. Thankfully, as Pakku opened the door and she looked inside to see that they were gone, she let out a tiny sigh of relief and was noticeably relieved as she watched Pakku greet them.

"Sokka, Katara," Pakku pretended to be surprised as he looked at his step-grandchildren. "How very nice to see you. What brings you here?"

Katara smiled and gave him a quick hug, even if she knew that Pakku was still on their suspect list as she did so. Once the hug was over, she pulled away and put on a serious look as she reminded herself why she was here. "It's good to see you, Pakku, but we're not here to catch up. We're looking for Aang."

"Aang?" Pakku asked with fake confusion as he raised a brow at her, making Yue glad that he was able to keep the act together rather well as he looked at his step-granddaughter.

"She means the Avatar," Sokka answered him as he too looked at the waterbending master. "We got reports that said that he was coming here and we haven't found him yet. If he is here, then that means someone must have helped him get inside."

"You think that the Avatar was snuck inside the Northern Water Tribe without anyone knowing?" Pakku asked with clear amusement shining in his eyes, making Yue impressed as she saw just how good he really was at selling a lie. "Who would be stupid enough to help him?"

"That's what we're here to find out," Sokka responded as he looked past Pakku into the building. "Do you mind if we take a look around?"

Pakku, feigning indifference but secretly becoming nervous, kept his act together and replied. "Well, if you must. It will only serve to waste all of our time. Come in." Now that they had permission, and seeing that Pakku was being cooperative, Katara and Sokka's guards dropped ever so slightly as they came inside. Fortunately for Pakku, there really wasn't that much to see. It was a waterbending dojo with a few rooms for people who needed a warm place to stay the night, such as Aang and the Fire Nation royals. Other than that, the place was an open book.

After they had thoroughly looked around the building and found nothing, Katara smiled as she saw that Pakku wasn't hiding anything and said. "Okay, looks like this place is clear." Looking around one more time, she continued. "I guess we'll just have to… keep… looking…" Trailing off as her eyes finally noticed something, she peered closely at the water fountain and noticed that something was different about it. She had spent much time in this dojo before, but she had never remembered seeing a small line in the middle of it.

Pakku, having seen that she was catching on and getting worried, decided not to let her have any more time to think about it and said. "Well, now that you've looked around, maybe we should go somewhere and catch up. It's been a while since I've seen you two."

Unfortunately for him, Katara wasn't buying it, and instead walked closer to the fountain and found that her suspicions were confirmed. The fountain was indeed divided in half. Knowing that she needed to make sure that it wasn't anything, she enforced her will on each half of the fountain and moved them apart, making her gasp as she saw the tunnel entrance in front of her.

Finding herself in disbelief that Pakku would actually have this, she turned and glared at her grandfather. "Pakku, how could you?! You know how important it is that we stop Aang from stopping us!"

"This war has gone on for far too long, Katara," Pakku answered her as he got into a fighting stance, knowing that they would be arresting him for treason and that he would have to fight his way out. "It's high time the Avatar brought the nations back to what they were always meant to be: balanced. Not controlled by one or the other."

Getting angry at him for his betrayal, even if she herself couldn't deny that she still doubted whether what they were doing was the right thing or not, she shook her thoughts off and knew that Pakku had to be punished. Throwing some water spikes at him, she was not surprised to see him easily deflect it. He answered her attack with his own as he attempted to freeze her in place. She was too quick, however, and despite his many years of mastery for waterbending, Katara had youth and aggression on her side.

Sokka, having seen all of this and not being happy that they would have to arrest Pakku, decided to ignore this thought and helped Katara to capture Pakku, but was unable to help much since he was soon faced with Pakku's student. Yue had wanted to help, but between being torn between wanting to help Pakku and not wanting to fight Sokka, she decided to wait it out. Besides, she didn't have any fighting experience herself anyway, and she knew that Pakku had commanded her to stay out of this for a good reason.

Unfortunately for Pakku and his student, Katara and Sokka had been working together for years and were a formidable duo. With Sokka tripping up Pakku's student, Katara pushed him back to the wall with a blast of water and froze him in place, preventing him from helping his master. With that taken care of, Sokka charged Pakku while Katara moved up as well. Pakku was already at a disadvantage, but it didn't help that he was trying his best not to hurt his grandchildren either, but he too was soon frozen as Sokka knocked him back into the wall before Katara managed to freeze him as well.

"Why did you do this, Pakku?" Katara asked as she looked at her waterbending master. "Even if you don't like this war, there could have been another way. You didn't have to betray us."

"I have betrayed no one," Pakku answered her as he struggled to get out of his restraints, but was met with no luck. "What I do, I do for the good of the Water Tribes, and for the good of the world. The Avatar must restore balance to the world. No lone nation must rule over the other. This was a truth your father understood before-" He cut himself off, knowing that this was a sensitive topic for the siblings, but especially for Katara.

Being appreciative that Pakku was still trying to help her even though she had arrested him, she looked at her master for another few moments before letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Pakku, but this has to be done. Your Chief will decide what needs to be done." Turning to Sokka, she said. "Come on. We should go see if Aang is still there." Nodding his agreement, Sokka led the way in while Pakku and his student continued to struggle to get out of their confinements, but were met with no success. Yue, having watched the whole thing, waited until they were out of sight until she grabbed a nearby spear and began breaking the ice off of Pakku.

"Princess, what are you doing?!" Pakku hissed to her as he watched her break him out of his constraints. "If anyone saw you, you would-"

"That doesn't matter right now, Pakku," Yue answered him as she finished with the last bits and finally freed him, taking a step back as she allowed him to move before beginning working on his student. "The Avatar is in trouble, and he needs your help. Besides, if they asked me if I helped you, I'll deny it. Sokka will believe me."

"Oh, I'm sure he will," Pakku smirked, making Yue blush a little as she smiled and decided to ignore his comment before finally managing to free Pakku's students as well. "Very well. Come. We must help the Avatar to escape. It won't be long until the whole Tribe is aware of his presence here."

"Yes, Master Pakku," the student agreed before following Pakku down the tunnels that he had created. Yue, knowing that she had to keep her involvement in this a secret, decided that she was going to pretend to be going for help so that she would have a good alibi and began slowly making her way to the palace to where her father was, hoping that Pakku would be able to help the Avatar and his friends escape before the whole Tribe became aware of the Avatar's presence.

Aang, still quite enjoying the warmth of the place, even if the cold never really had seemed to bother him, anyway, was relaxing on the ground and enjoying the tranquility of the place when he felt a sudden tug in his gut. He didn't know what it was, but he could tell that something was wrong, and he did not like that his instincts appeared to be warning him about something.

Looking at his friends, he sat up and said. "Guys, I don't think we should stay here. I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen."

"You said yourself that we need to stay here until we're sent for," Azula reasoned as she didn't bother to look at her friend, clearly quite enjoying the warmth of the room as she let out a relaxed sigh. "Assuming you're not being paranoid, I'm sure we can handle whatever your feeling says is coming. Now relax, Avatar. We might not get to enjoy this for much longer."

"You're right," a familiar voice came from behind them, making Aang gasp as he whirled around to see none other than Sokka and Katara walking into the area with frowns on their faces. "Hope you enjoyed your stay here, but your vacation's over," Sokka told them sarcastically as he got his club out.

"Come with us, Aang," Katara stepped forward as she looked at the dear boy who she had grown quite endeared to, wanting to attempt to get him to come peacefully so that they wouldn't have to fight. She never wanted to fight him, but she would if she had to. "You're surrounded. There's nowhere to run."

"But you're outnumbered," Zuko challenged her as he got into a fighting stance, Azula smirking as she nodded and added.

"Zuzu's right. Three against one is hardly a fair fight."

Sokka, hearing this, looked at Azula with anger as he said. "Hey, I'm still here!"

"Really?" Azula asked sarcastically as she smirked with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I suppose I didn't count you, given that you're not even a bender."

Her smirk growing as she saw that this had proven to make Sokka angrier, she had to hold back her laughter as she watched Sokka nearly shout. "I can still fight! I don't need some fancy splashes to take you down!"

Katara, getting annoyed at her brother for what he called waterbending, said. "Sokka, stop calling waterbending fancy splashes!"

"Hey, it is what it is," Sokka responded as he looked at his sister. "It might be useful, but it's just a bunch of different kinds of splashes." Katara, knowing that her brother was like this often, decided to put away her anger at his ignorant comment for the moment and refocused on the task at hand as she returned her attention to Aang.

"Aang, please just come with us," Katara nearly begged, knowing that this fight could become messy with how small of a space they were in right now. "I don't want to hurt you."

"I don't want to hurt you either, Katara," Aang answered as he looked her in the eyes. "But I can't go with you. The world is counting on me to bring it back to balance, whether you guys like it or not."

"The Avatar is right," Pakku said as he finally reached the tunnel exit, making Katara and Sokka frown once again as they faced the waterbending master and his student. "He needs to do his job, and we will not let you stop him."

Katara, looking at her old master and seeing that he really was set on betraying their people, finally uncorked her water skins and got herself ready for a fight as she glared at Pakku while Sokka took out his boomerang. "Fine. Then we'll have to do this the hard way."