"According to the directions, this is as far as the Fire Nation patrols go. We should be clear now. Probably."

Aang flopped back from his perch atop Appa's head and grinned. "See? I told you we'd find a way."

They'd been flying for days, occasionally resting on rocks that no cartographer would bother mapping, not least because some of them disappeared at high tide. They'd been seeing smoke columns ahead and behind since they left Izumihanto, some alarmingly close, but they'd never quite run into the warships producing them. The constant danger, the lack of privacy, and the lack of sleep had been wearing on all of them. The day-night cycle was haywire, too, they were getting about three hours of light a day. Right now was mid-afternoon, meaning they had about one hour left. The others might be relaxing a little, they were going into friendly territory, but Zuko doubted the Northern Water Tribe would be very happy to see a Fire Nation warrior, and especially not him in particular.

We'll figure it out.

Sokka frowned and kept re-reading the instructions for what may have been the thousandth time. "I won't relax til we're safe in Agna Qel'a," he said. "The Fire Nation's surprised us too many times. If Zhao thinks we're coming this way, he might expand his patrol area."

"So you won't let your guard down?" Katara asked.

"That's an amateur mistake," Sokka nodded, fumbling for his map case.

"Not even for a moment?" she asked innocently.

"Espe–" He caught her tone, crawled over the saddle, and looked over the side, where a knot of Water Tribe boats was visible in the distance, angling toward them. "See? If I hadn't been paying attention, we might have missed them."

"This is the difference between a good leader and a great leader," Katara said brightly.

She glanced at Aang, then shot a furtive, unreadable glance at Zuko, as she'd started doing ever since their trip to Izumihanto, before switching back to Aang. Zuko really wished he knew what she was thinking. She might have overheard his and his uncle's conversation, or just part of it (which part?), and be mulling it over; or it might be for some completely unrelated reason. He hadn't caught either of the other two looking at him, which meant she probably hadn't talked about it with them, which she would have done if it was anything bad; but he couldn't imagine what the alternative was. Ordinarily, he would have simply ignored her, but his uncle had just told him to pay more attention to her.

'Firebenders can learn a lot from waterbenders.'

Ngh. What did he mean? Is there some specific waterbending technique that firebenders can do too? Why couldn't he have just told me whatever it is? And why couldn't he have told me two years ago?

Now that I think about it, does that mean that he studied under a waterbender, too?

He wasn't just speaking in hypotheticals. None of his usual vague proverbs or cryptic riddles, he practically said we'd get ourselves killed if we didn't pay attention. If Harmonic Convergence is involved … well, he's been right before.

His eyes flicked to Katara. Partly because of what his uncle had said, and partly because she kept looking at him, he'd been stealing glances back at her, and he was pretty sure she'd noticed too.

I hate not knowing whether she's going to tell the others we wanted to turn them in at Izumihanto. I'd give anything to know what she was thinking.

At that moment, his eyes locked with hers.

Shoot, he caught us. She looked away.

Think about something else.

Like that we're finally here! We'll get a teacher and learn real waterbending!

Speaking of which …

She leaned over the side to study the approaching Water Tribe boats. There were four of them, light skin canoes, with three men to a boat, a bender and two warriors, all wearing heavy parkas. She fixated on the benders: they were moving, almost dancing, and the waves slid out of their way and pressed up behind, propelling the boats through the sea. They were much faster than Appa, maybe even than a steamer.

In two months, I'll look like that.

"Everyone," Katara said, "this might be my and Aang's only chance to learn waterbending. Can we all please try to make a good first impression?"

"Sure!" Aang said.

"I always make a good first impression," Sokka said.

Zuko grunted.

I hate how snippy we've been, ever since Zuko joined us. Now, at the North Pole, is the time to turn things around. We'll be with Water Tribesfolk, our kin, and learning waterbending at long last. Just stay positive, and things will work themselves out.

"Thanks," she said. "It means a lot to me."

The Water Tribe boats were already upon them. The waterbenders motioned, and spires of ice shot up and around Appa, who let out a rumble of panic. Aang hopped forward.

"Hey, calm down! We're friendly!"

"Who are you," said one of the warriors, "and what are you doing in Water Tribe territory?"

He was a stocky young man, quite handsome with nice hair and a strong jaw. He was self-assured and carried a spear like he knew how to use it.

So why do I feel like I'm not going to like him?

"I'm the Avatar!" Aang bounced, sliding forward and sitting on a cushion of barely-visible air. "I'm here to find someone to teach me waterbending."

"So it's true," the warrior said. "We've been expecting you. I'm Hahn, son of Mutuq of the Kilabuk Tribe. Are your friends from the South Pole?" He motioned to his bender, who began raising a pillar of ice under their canoe, letting them see into Appa's saddle.

"That's right," Aang said. "This is Sokka, and this is Katara. And, uh, this is –"

"Prince Zuko," said Hahn, narrowing his eyes. "We've met."

Sokka facepalmed. Katara let out a little sigh. Yeah, should've seen that coming. So much for first impressions.

Zuko squinted at Hahn. "Oh," he said. "Right. You. Hi. Sorry about all that?" he asked-said, with the air of someone learning the phrase in a second language and checking whether he was pronouncing it right.

The Tribesmen pointed their weapons at him or dropped into combat bending stances. Zuko took a half-step back and raised one arm to guard his face, which theoretically wasn't quite as aggressive as pointing a spear at someone, but this was Zuko. Katara and Sokka edged out of the crossfire.

"Wait," Aang said, sliding back onto Appa's head. "Everyone, calm down. What happened? Zuko?"

"When I was searching for you, I had the idea that maybe the Avatar had died and reincarnated, and the Fire Sages had somehow missed the usual signs," he said. "I figured you would have reincarnated into the Northern Water Tribe, so I came here to look. A patrol attacked me, so I backed off and tried the South Pole instead."

"This is Northern Water Tribe territory," Hahn said. "Fire Nation soldiers aren't welcome here. The Avatar is invited, and any travellers from the Southern Tribe are always welcome, but not you."

Why don't I like him? He's saying all the right things.

Zuko lowered his hand, trying to appear relaxed, disinterested even, but Katara could see lines of tension in his jaw, and she knew how fast he could launch into an all-out attack.

I guess we can hardly tell him that he's supposed to swim all the way back to Izumihanto.

"Well, Zuko's not a Fire Nation soldier," Aang said. "He's not even a citizen. He was banished."

Hahn folded his arms, which at least meant he wasn't pointing his spear at them any more. "What for?"

Aang blinked. "You know, I never asked," he asked. "Zuko, why were you banished?"

Zuko scowled. "I didn't uphold the ideals of a Fire Nation citizen," he said stiffly.

Interesting.

"Yeah?" Hahn asked. "What did you do?"

Katara, having bickered with Zuko twice a day since he'd joined up with them, had an overwhelming premonition of him flying into a rage. She didn't think he'd physically attack anyone, and she didn't think he'd win being so badly outnumbered by waterbenders on water, but she'd really hoped to make a better first impression.

"He got into a fight with a duke, and burned him," she said.

Zuko, Sokka, and Aang all turned to her with surprise, but luckily none of them said anything, and Hahn and his men were focusing on her, not them.

"The Fire Lord had to punish him, to keep the duke happy," she went on. "Zuko didn't start the fight, either."

"Really," Hahn said sceptically. He mulled it over.

"Please?" Aang said. "I promised him I'd let him come with me, and I have to get to the North Pole."

Sokka spoke up. "You said Aang was invited, right? Meaning your Chief made a formal declaration of invitation?"

Hahn pursed his lips. "He did. So he can decide about the ashmaker. Piala, go ahead, let them know we've found the Avatar, and Zuko's back."

One canoe shot off ahead; the others formed up around Appa, and they set off. Presently, land came into view, the glittering ice walls of Agna Qel'a, the capital city of the Northern Water Tribe.

The Southern Water Tribes didn't really do cities, preferring to stick to smaller villages, but apparently nobody had told the North. As they approached, they saw fishing boats speeding about, propelled by benders; most of them stopped what they were doing and cruised closer to get a better look. Aang stood up and took to smiling and waving, showing off his airbending with that same stupid marble trick from Kyoshi. By the time they reached the wall, they had an entourage of curious civilians trying to bring their boats closer, with Hahn's men keeping them back. Benders atop the walls opened locks, letting them in. It was just as majestic inside: great towers of ice, sculpted into the shapes of great beasts, decorated with mosaics inlaid with coloured stones. There were plenty of people bustling around, too, more Water Tribesfolk than Katara had ever seen, even when her father had marshalled multiple Tribes into a war fleet.

When they debarked, a young woman with striking white hair was waiting for them. She bowed, smiling.

"It's an honour," she said. "I'm Princess Yue, daughter of Arnook of the Putuguk tribe. The Chiefs are arranging a feast. In the meantime, may I show you to the guesthouse?"

Hahn stepped forward, bristling importantly. "This one's Fire Nation," he said, jerking his head toward Zuko. "And trouble. He's not allowed into the city until the Chiefs say so."

"He's with me," Aang said.

"You're not a Chief," Hahn said.

Yue and Zuko sized each other up.

"I don't believe we've met?" Yue said.

"Zuko," he said.

She gave him an expectant look.

"Son of Ozai," Sokka put in.

She blinked. "Fire Lord Ozai?"

"Yeah."

"Do you give your word that you will do no harm?" she asked Zuko.

"Yes."

She nodded. "Hahn takes his duties very seriously," she said, "but I will accept the word of the Avatar and a Prince. Welcome to Agna Qel'a."

Hahn frowned, but didn't argue further, instead taking Appa somewhere.

"I'm sorry if he gave you a hard time," Yue said. "The entire city's been very excited ever since the Water Sages reported that the Avatar had returned."

"I've had worse," Aang said. "The Kyoshi Warriors wanted to feed us to the unagi."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Yue said. "You look very well, for your age."

Aang laughed and launched into the story of the iceberg, Sokka chiming in to elaborate and exaggerate. Katara listened with one ear and stared around the city. She couldn't put her finger on what, but something about it bothered her, which was strange, because it was the most magnificent place she'd seen except Omashu, and she'd take ice over stone any day.

See the stitching on people's clothing? We have different patterns back home. There's a hundred little things like that. Like home, but a little bit off.

Maybe. I think there's more to it, though.

Yue led them through streets made of ice to a knot of square houses, whalebone and insulated with snow. "This place has been set aside for you. I should be large enough for all of you. Do you have any questions?"

It was luxurious: spacious, spotless, covered in fresh furs, with lots of cushions, and a bowl set out with a supply of turtle-seal jerky that made Sokka's eyes light up.

Surprisingly, it was Zuko who spoke up. "Do you have public bathhouses here?" he asked. "I don't see any plumbing."

Yue blinked, wearing an expression of polite bewilderment.

Zuko, you're an idiot. "He means the steamhouse," Katara cut in.

"Oh!" Yue said. "Yes, of course you'd want to take steam after your journey. There's a house just down the street."

Zuko had a blank expression.

"Sokka, could you show Zuko how to take steam?" Katara asked. "You should go, too, Aang, you're too old to steam with us girls. I'll settle in and wash up after."

Sokka considered this, then smiled widely. "You know, you're right. Some nice hot steam sounds great. You're in for a treat, Zuko. We'll see you later, right?" he added to Katara and Yue.

"Of course. Go on."

"I haven't done this since I was six," Aang said. "Is this the thing with the stove that you pour water on?"

Katara and Yue watched as the boys walked off, Aang and Sokka chattering away, Zuko silent but at least not glaring at anyone for a change.

"I didn't expect the Avatar to be so approachable," Yue said approvingly. "Nobility aren't often so familiar with common folk, and everyone is common to the Avatar."

"Aang's not just a great bender, he's a great person," Katara said. "There's no-one else I'd rather be the Avatar." She bustled about inside their new home, taking the bags the boys had left and unpacking. Yue tried to help; she didn't know who would want what where, but the sentiment was nice. I've been travelling with only boys for too long.

"Is this … an old sandal in airtight wrapping?" she asked, sniffing at it and recoiling.

"Just leave that where you found it," Katara said wearily. "I don't need another fight with His Royal Highness over that thing."

Yue put the sandal back and gave up, instead just watching as Momo popped out from Sokka's bag and made a beeline for the jerky. "It says good things about the Av– about Aang that his friends are loyal enough to escort him from one Pole to the other."

"Yeah," Katara said. "Well, to be completely honest, I didn't just come here for his sake. I want to learn waterbending too. There isn't anyone who could teach me back home."

And Sokka came to protect me more than Aang. Technically, only Zuko come just for Aang. Isn't that ironic.

"Oh," Yue said, surprised. "Um. That might be a problem. It's forbidden for women to learn waterbending."

Katara stopped unpacking and turned to stare. "What? Why?"

Yue shrugged. "I've never asked, but that's the way it is."

"That's ridiculous. We're at war! We can't afford for half our benders to be helpless!"

Yue considered this. "You might be able to petition for an exemption," she said. "You aren't a Northern Water Tribeswoman, after all. I'll bring it up, but don't count on that: I don't have much authority. You have to convince a teacher, or the Council, not me. If you do petition, you should use another argument, because the Northern Water Tribe isn't at war."

Katara did a double-take. "The Fire Nation is occupying your territory. We just came from Izumihanto."

"That's the Fire Nation name for it," Yue said, giving Katara an oddly intense gaze. "The Water Tribe name is Kallunattakak."

Katara squirmed. Was that accusatory? What's she accusing us of? "Well, I only heard it from Fire Nationals."

Yue stared at her a moment longer, before opening Sokka's map tube, unrolling the maps, and looking at them curiously. "The Council doesn't consider Kallunattakak to be Northern Water Tribe territory," she said slowly. "Bringing it up won't help your case. I'd recommend arguing that teaching you would help the Northern and Southern Tribes renew our old alliance, or that it's the will of the spirits because they helped guide you here. Even the Chief can't gainsay the spirits."

"Okay," Katara said. "Thanks. Sorry if I snapped at you. I get enough of that sexist nonsense from Sokka."

"Really?" Yue said. "He seemed very nice earlier."

"You're right, that's unfair of me. He's much better lately, ever since he met the Kyoshi Warriors."

Yue thought about this. "Kyoshi Warriors … weren't they called … ah, I can't remember the name. It sounded like an Earth Kingdom name, I think it was something Lee?"

At that moment, Aang burst through the front door, his skin tinged pink.

"Katara!" he said, panicking. "Sokka and Zuko need help!"

She and Yue ran after him. He led them down a street to another, lower, square building. Outside, Sokka and Zuko lay in a pile of snow, moving weakly. Both were bright red from head to toe, most of which was visible, because they only wore loincloths. By the roadside was a trio of younger girls, giggling at them.

Katara sighed. "I can't take them anywhere," she said sadly. "This is why we can't have nice things."

Remember how we were going to make a good first impression?

I was so young.

"You have some nice things," Yue said, shamelessly checking out both boys.

Aang looked from Yue to Katara to Sokka and Zuko to the giggling girls back to Katara, his panic fading.

"Is this … normal?" he asked.

Define 'normal'.

Only for an idiot.

"Kind of," she said instead, tamping down on her exasperation. "You don't bathe in freezing water, you take steam. When girls do it, we take it hot enough to get ourselves clean. When boys do it, they make it into a competition to see who can take it hotter without passing out. If neither backs down, they turn the steamhouse into a pressure cooker and give themselves heatstroke."

"Sokka told Zuko to make the stove as hot as he could," Aang said. "So he blasted it for a minute, then Sokka poured on the water, and they both said they were fine with it, even though it was really obvious they weren't, and then …"

She shook her head. "At least you had the sense to leave before it got too bad."

There was a beat.

"Uh, actually, I was there longest. I was the one who pulled them out."

Katara did a double-take, impressed. "Sokka's been taking steam his entire life, and Zuko's a firebender. How did you last longer than them?"

"Airbenders are pretty good at breathing," Aang said modestly.

Katara and Yue stared.

"When you climb the really high mountains, you have bend the air around yourself to make it thick enough to breathe. Once you get the hang of that, it's easy to do stuff like bending out most of the steam or heat or cold. That's why I don't need a parka." He indicated his robe, which he'd thrown on before running for Katara. "So, are they going to be all right?"

She emptied her waterskin, which she'd drank over their long trip over the ocean and refilled with salt water, and bent a stream of snow into it, melting it when it was full. The younger girls oohed. "They'll be fine. You just have to make sure they replace all the water they sweated out. Can you watch them? The rule is that the boys' turn ends when they start lying in the snow naked. At least, it was back home."

"I should leave you to it," Yue said.

"Don't you want to come too?" Katara asked. "You're supposed to take steam with friends."

"Well – yes, of course. I'm just used to bathing alone."

"Come on, it's better with a group."

"Well. Okay."

"Will you come too?" Katara asked the younger girls. "I'm Katara, by the way. This is Aang, the Avatar and my friend; Sokka, my brother; and this is Zuko, he's here too."

The girls exchanged glances.

"Okay," said the biggest, who was maybe two years younger than Katara. "I'm Nauja, and these are my friends Taupek and Akini."

"It's nice to meet you."

The girls headed into the steamhouse. The first room was an antechamber, which still had the boys' clothes, which they threw outside before undressing and heading into the steam room. Inside was a stove, still hot, which Yue stoked for a minute, before pouring water on; it flash-vaporised, filling the room with pleasant steam.

Katara sighed and leaned back, her eyes drooping shut. She hadn't had a steam bath in months. Bathing in water was nice enough, when it was warm enough to not kill you, but this was a little piece of home that the North did the same.

"Girls aren't supposed to waterbend," Nauja announced.

Katara cracked an eye. "I bet it was a boy who told you that," she said.

Nauja thought about this. "I mean," she said. "Girls don't waterbend."

"Well, maybe we should start. I'm going to ask to train along with Aang. Are you a waterbender?"

"No, but Akini is."

Akini gave a little wave.

"You should ask to train with us too," Katara said. "They can't say no to all of us, right?"

Nauja and Taupek began giggling again; Akini tucked her head against her knees, blushing.

Yue reached over to touch Katara's shoulder. Her expression was sombre. "Don't say that where the Council will hear," she warned.

Katara frowned. "If they're going around telling girls we can't waterbend, someone needs to teach them a lesson."

"Maybe. But it shouldn't be a friend of the Avatar. Not before he masters waterbending."

"?"

"We aren't the Water Tribe. There are eight Tribes, plural, in the North Pole, each with one Councillor. Three of them didn't want to let the Avatar into the North Pole at all, and one abstained."

"?!"

Yue leaned back, which drew Katara's eyes around the room, to see that the other three girls weren't laughing any more. They looked curious, interested, sharp. Yue's eyes fluttered shut.

"I don't sit in on Council meetings; I don't know the details why. But you should test ice before trusting your weight to it."

Katara considered this.

I don't like leaving all the other girls not allowed to learn.

Neither do I, but think of it this way: Sokka only started believing girls weren't useless after he met the Kyoshi Warriors. If we just yell at them, they'll ignore us; but if we learn waterbending first, we'll prove girls can do it, and then we win.

"That's good advice," she nodded, smiling. "Thanks."

Say, I just realised something. 'Yue and I ran after Aang'. Isn't that a funny sentence?

Is it?

Consider the context.

"Why didn't we slip?" she asked aloud.

"Hm?"

"Just now, on the street. It's made of ice, and we were sprinting."

"Oh, that's a waterbending trick," Yue said. "Instead of just making flat ice crystals, they add little bumps to the road. It gives you traction."

"Wouldn't they have to go over every street whenever it snowed, to clean out the fresh snow?"

"Yes, except where there's an overpass that catches the snow. You can walk on flat streets if you're used to it, but it's hard going. Why, how do you do it down south?"

"We just walk on packed snow," Katara said, and she sank into her thoughts.

That's what was bothering me earlier. Not the little things. The big one. They have so many waterbenders they can afford to maintain anti-slip streets even though half their benders never learn, but they didn't send any to help defend us from the Fire Nation. Not even Izumihanto. Kallunattakak. It's just across the sea, and it was their territory. Why don't they fight?

Well, when I'm done, at least there'll be one waterbender fighting. And then I'll rebuild our village, and the entire South Pole. I'll teach all the children how to waterbend. All I have to do is convince the teacher to take me on. How hard can that be? There are a million good reasons why he should let me.

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