Responses to Reviews:

Zigzagdoublezee: In this world Katara is not the last Southern Waterbender because they haven't been thinned out by the war, and so it makes sense that a healthy southern water tribe follows the same kind of gender rules as the north.

RonaldM40196867: Some animals do know bending, don't they? Sky-Bison, dragons, and badger-moles. Maybe some others could, but I don't think all of them should.

As Always, Please Review!

The campfire crackled in the night as Team Avatar sat around it, tired. Sokka had already retired to his sleeping bag, and Yue was thinking of doing the same. She could barely keep her eyes open.

It had been an eventful but productive day, she reflected. The scroll that Katara had acquired should give her the skills to stand up for herself in an actual fight for the first time, and they had a lot of new stuff from the market for good measure. The water glistened in the moonlight, and she watched it, contemplating.

She found herself thinking about a lot of things, about the events by the bridge, whether the refugees had indeed managed to escape. About the loss of control, and what she might do if it happened again. About the Fire Nation, and what exactly their plan was. About her friends, and particularly about Sokka. She shook her head. There was a war on and she was the one person in the entire world who could end it. She did not have time to think those particular thoughts.

Suddenly Rinzen's eyes snapped open.

"Wait!" The airbender hissed. "Can you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Yue asked, confused.

"That!"

Yue listened, and then she heard it.

Rustling in the bushes.

"Wild animal?" She asked, but even as she said it Rinzen was dashing to his feet and throwing as much stuff as he could onto Gembul's saddle.

"I don't want to take chances," he said, but a moment later his eyes went wide. He used his airbending to propel himself straight up as something big flew past right underneath him. Yue felt something crash into her and she was knocked sideways, landing on the floor with a grunt and finding herself trapped in a big net.

"Not again," she grumbled. She was beginning to hate those nets.

A moment later Katara was incapacitated in the same way, and a figure stepped into the light of the campfire. A familiar figure wearing a very familiar big red hat.

"Hello there," he leered. "You've got something that belongs to us."

More figures appeared, and Yue recognised the other pirates from the ship. They began rifling through Sokka's bags as the southerner howled in protest. He hadn't been hit by a net and instead two pirates held his arms pinned by his sides as he tried ineffectually to fight back.

Rinzen had landed on top of Gembul and rushed to get the sky-bison airborne to protect the possessions he had already embarked on it. He hovered above them, every so often dodging a net which sailed over their heads harmlessly.

The captain shouted up at him.

"Do you have it?"

"Have what?" Rinzen called back.

"The scroll!"

"I don't think so!" Rinzen replied.

"Come down so we can find out!"

There was a pause.

"No!"

"What did you say?" The captain's eyes flared. He walked over to Yue and grabbed her net, yanking her to her feet. He pulled his sword and held it to her throat.

"Sorry, but we're not taking no for an answer!" He called up. Yue gulped, her eyes wide and her mind blank for a moment with fear as she stared at the metal. She took a deep breath to calm herself. The very real possibility that she could be about to be run through went through her mind, and she fought not to panic.

"No!" Rinzen called. "Don't do that!"

"Then you know what to do!"

Yue realised that she still had some movement in her hands. She forced herself to take her eyes off the sword and look around. The southern siblings were both staring at her in silent terror.

The glint of moonlight reflecting off the water caught her eye.

Experimentally, she moved her fingers. The light caught a slightly larger wave than usual responding to her. A mad plan entered her mind.

"You know you're not the only people looking for us?" She asked.

"What?" The captain frowned.

"Oh yes," Yue nodded. "The Fire Nation are after us."

"Don't tell them that!" Katara moaned.

"Why?" The captain asked. "Are you particularly important to them then?"

Yue continued moving her fingers, focussing her mind on the moon above them. Push, and pull.

"They appear to think so," she said. "After all, the Avatar can really get in the way of a world conquest."

The Pirate captain looked baffled, and then burst out laughing.

"Oh sure!" He giggled. "The Avatar! A likely story. You're just saying that to save your life!"

He turned to his crew.

"Behold the mighty Avatar!" He called. Then he pulled her in close.

"I've heard the stories," he said. "If you were truly the Avatar, I would not have you like this. You'd have found a way to get out of it."

A murmur went around the camp. The captain didn't appear to notice, but finally he looked up and dropped the sword in alarm at the massive wall of water plunging towards them. Yue stopped her hand movements and let it fall.

She took a deep breath and then held it as she screwed her eyes shut as the pirate let go and tried to run. The cold water hit her hard, knocking her to the floor as the shock caused her to breathe in, the noseful of water caused her to start coughing uncontrollably. Opening her eyes, she couldn't see anything initially, the wave having put out the campfire, and there were shouts of alarm and confusion from similarly drenched pirates. Then she heard Sokka's voice.

"For the Fire Nation!"

A sharp metallic clang came from nearby, and then another as shouts began to fill the clearing.

"Long live Firelord Ozai!" Sokka called again. And then:

"Grab the Avatar!"

A moment later she heard footsteps and looked up to find Sokka standing over her. He pulled out his boomerang and bent down to begin sawing through the net.

"What are you doing?" She hissed.

"It's dark, they're confused, and they think they're under attack by the Fire Nation," Sokka whispered. "So they're going to lash out at any figure waving a sword they see."

"Including each other," Yue nodded, impressed. He had understood.

"Including each other," Sokka repeated. The net fell away and he helped her to her feet.

"Where's Katara?"

Yue's eyes struggled to acclimatise to the dark, as she searched for her friend. Shapes flashed in the dark, blades of swords clashing as pirate fought pirate in a confused melee.

"Katara?" Sokka hissed as loudly as he dared.

"Here!" A voice came from nearby. The two of them rushed over and Sokka bent over with his boomerang to free her.

Yue looked up and searched the sky for Rinzen. For a moment she didn't see him, but then a shape blocked the stars as it lowered itself towards them. Gembul landed a distance away.

"Come on!" Yue told the southerners as she rushed towards him.

"Our stuff!" Sokka called.

"Never mind our stuff!" Katara replied. "Let's just go!"

Yue was scrambling onto Gembul's back, and turned to see Sokka and Katara following her, still some distance away.

But there was another figure close behind them.

Yue looked at the river, which was right next to them, and then back at the pirate following her friends. She dropped into a combat stance, remembering the illustrations on the scroll that had caused all these problems in the first place. Then she pulled, spun herself around, and extended her arm quickly in front of her. A stream of water flowed out of the river, swung around her, and then blasted the figure backwards. He landed heavily in the sand, and from his shout of pain Yue recognised the voice of the captain. Then Sokka and Katara were boarding the bison.

"Go!" Yue called, not having time to dwell on her first successful feat of combat waterbending, and Rinzen did not need telling twice.

"Yip Yip!" He shouted, and Gembul soared into the sky, leaving the pirates far behind them.