After saying their goodbyes to the Ty family, Ty Lee and Ozai left the house. They arrived at the port, but a soldier approached them before getting closer to the ticket area to buy their pass to the north pole.
"Excuse me, are you Ms Ty Lee?" asked the soldier to the old woman. She only nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, that's who I am. But who you might be?"
"I was ordered to escort you to our ship", answered the guard. Ozai frowned, but Ty Lee smiled.
"Well, it will be unpolite even to see who is offering the helping hand", said Ty Lee. The guard bowed and helped with Ozai and Ty Lee's small package.
The guard guided them to a small but luxurious ship from the Fire Nation. Once they were close, another guard came close to the one who showed them the way. They said something, and then one of them ran inside the ship.
Once in the proa, a man appeared with a big frame. He looked old, but with a smile he kept almost all the time. It was curious to Ozai, as the soldiers around looked intimidated by him.
"Welcome to my ship Ms Ty Lee and… company", said the man. "I am captain Arban. I received a direct order from General Gambol that I should escort you to your next destination, as instructed by our princess Izumi".
"Oh. I don't recall telling her I would leave today, " wondered Ty Lee aloud.
The captain nodded without erasing his smile, "well, we have been tasked to rotate here until you arrive". Ty Lee was satisfied with the answer. Ozai did not but did not say anything.
The man again spoke, "could I inquire about the destination?"
"Of course, you can", said Ty Lee, and then she kept silent. Ozai and the captain kept looking at Ty Lee, who only smiled.
"ahem," the captain cleared his throat. "Ms Ty Lee. Could you tell us where we are heading?"
"To the North Pole", said Ty Lee.
"Very well! Luckily, we just replenished our supplies, " said the captain, then laughed a little. Then he turned to the guard who had Ozai and Ty Lee's things. "Private, please escort Ms Ty Lee and her companion to our best rooms." The old man turned to Ty Lee and said, "I will need to excuse myself. I will be going to our control room to start our journey. Again, welcome to our ship".
The man left, and his smile never left his face.
..
Unalaq is the current Chief of the Water Tribes. He sat in the dining hall, eating food with his 9-year-old kids, Eska and Desna. The two kids were identical twins, with the difference that Eska is a girl and Desna is a boy. Only those close to them may tell the difference because the twins wore the same clothing.
The twins were known to be prankers, but they always portrayed stoic faces to cover their deeds to their father. But they usually behave their best when around their father.
While eating, a guard approached Unalaq, "Sir. A message came". The guard took a rolled paper from his coat and presented it to the Water Tribe Chief.
Unalaq took the paper and unfolded it. He read it, nodded, and returned it to the guard, "thank you for your work. Please call for our General and our Master healer. Tell them I expect them in 2 hours".
The guard bowed and left the place running. The kids could not help but notice that their father asked for a general. A thing that had never occurred, and their first idea was that the water tribe would be at war again.
Eska and Desna looked at each other, and without saying a word, they realized they were thinking the same thing and smiled.
"Father. Are we going to war?" said Eska with a smile.
Unalaq was already eating again with calm. Without taking his eyes off the food, he said, "it is nothing to worry about. It's just that we are going to have some visits." The Chief turned to see his kids and smiled. Desna and Eska made a pout face.
"In fact, you will be having a playing partner", completed Unalaq.
'A person who needs the presence of the master healer, our general, and father himself?' Thought the twins, and the answer was singled out to one person.
"Hurray. An imperative Avatar on our house", said Desna in a monotonous voice.
"Not quite. Is a discipline from Ty Lee herself", said their father. "Great, an imperative old woman", murmured Eska.
..
After almost two weeks, Ty Lee and Ozai finally arrived at the North Water Tribe. Ozai woke up thanks to the freezing air. At that moment, he wished he was a Fire bender to keep himself warm.
He took a long-sleeved red shirt from his bag, which was as heavy as his current clothing, and then he took an armour that resembled the one his mother wears, but his was broader shouldered with a small cape that would help him to stay warm. (imagine Gohan wearing Piccolo's suit, but with the colours of the fire nation: red instead of purple, gold instead of blue and the cape cloak should be black instead of white). The armour took up almost all the backpack's space, so now it seems empty, only containing some other needed clothing.
Ty Lee entered Ozai's room after knocking, "Oh, good! You are already awake and clothed properly." Ozai nodded. "Come on. We are arriving", said the old woman and walked out of the room.
Ozai walked behind Tai Lee, and when she finally opened the door to the proar, he felt the cold breeze. He took the cape and covered his front, and then walked out. He saw a great white wall with the emblem of the water tribe in the middle.
A man with blue robes got closer, "please, follow me". Ty Lee and Ozai follow the man, but the teen boy could not stop looking at the wall. The man in blue robes guided them to a small boat where another two men were; both looked strong.
The man that guided them to the boat then made a signal, and the ship was put down to the water, and then he started to move his arms, and the boat started to move forward the wall. The man created a whole before them, and the boat moved slowly through it.
After passing what could be the thickest wall Ozai had ever seen, they entered a small compartment with ice walls on all sides except on the top. Then the walls started to open, and water filled the place, making them go up.
After a minute, Ozai saw the city. Everything was white and looked like it was made with water bending. The boat started to move, and they travelled through the city. People were walking on the side like nothing, and on the water lane were some boats pulled by water benders passing.
When the boat finally arrived at the palace, they entered through a tunnel, and in that tunnel was a group of soldiers wearing blue coats and spears. They moved to the side as Unalaq walked where Ty Lee was.
"Welcome to the Nort Water Tribe. It is a pleasure to have you, master Ty Lee, the heroine of the war and brave Kyoshi warrior", said the Water Tribe leader solemnly.
"Thank you, Chief Unalaq. Although, I am no longer a Kiyoshi warrior. Time to pass to another part of my life", said Ty Lee with a smile.
"I see. I hope that this new phase of your life gives you what you are searching for", The Water tribe chief said, and then saw the kid on her side. "And you would be Ozai, am I right?"
"Oh, yes. It is a pleasure to meet you, Chief Unalaq. I am honoured to be able to meet you", said Ozai while bowing respectfully, making the fire nation greeting sign.
Unalaq smiled and made a slight bow. "If you are a personal trainee of master Ty Lee I can only wait for great things from you".
The water tribe chief turned to see the two and continue. "But let's talk in another place, instead of just standing here. Please accompany my family and me for lunch."
"Oh, that would be delightful. I wonder how much Eska and Desna have grown", said the old woman with a smile.
Ozai walked behind Ty Lee with his bag on his shoulders. Surprisingly, inside the castle was not that cold.
"You can leave your belongings to our servants. They will take them to your rooms." Said Unalaq.
A young woman got closer to Ozai, but he hesitated to give her his bag.
"What is the matter?" asked Ty Lee.
"It's nothing. Just that… I don't think that she will be able to…" trailed off Ozai while looking at his bag. Inside were his training clothes, including heavy clothing.
"Oh", was the only thing Ty Lee said. Unalaq did not understand his hesitation completely but only complied with the situation, "well, you can bring it with you. If you are worried about your belongings. Although, I can attest that they are of my full trust."
"It's not that at all. It is just that…" Ozai tried to think about a way to tell them. 'It's not that; it's just that it is too heavy for them to carry. No, that doesn't sound good, maybe. You may want to bring another two or three to help you. No, that sounds even worse', thought Ozai. But his train of thought was stopped when two kids appeared.
"Father", said the kids, and Ozai turned to see them.
"Deska, Esna! Long time no seeing you!" said Ty Lee. The twins sighed and looked away as they knew the old lady was only playing with them.
"Ozai, let me introduce you to my son and daughter, Desna and Eska. Prince and princess of the Water tribes", said Unalaq.
Ozai bowed respectfully with his fire nation sign. The twins only nodded at him. After that, they proceeded to the dinner table to have lunch.
While eating, Unalaq brought up the theme of Ozai's reason for travelling. "I just remembered that our Master Healer is eager to meet you. It is not always that someone from the outside wants to learn".
Eska smirked, "learning healing bending. It seems that I misinterpreted you. You learning healing bending means that you are a water bender… girl".
"Eska!" said her father.
"Oh, come on. If that was the case, wouldn't that mean that both of you are boys?" said Ty Lee with a smile. The twins frowned and looked at Ty Lee.
Desna calmed her face with her typical stoic demeanour. He looked around, and when everybody started to eat again, he said, "Yes, my sister is proficient with her water-bending attacks", said Desna and then smirked. "Maybe he could become my sister's future husband. That way, both fronts of waterbending will be covered".
The whole table got silent. Even the helpers standing close stood there silently with their eyes wide open.
"What did you say?!" yelled Eska. Unalaq only faced palmed. Ty Lee, on her side, elbowed Ozai, "you are a real hearth breaking kid. Not an hour here and already with a girlfriend".
Suddenly the table was broken as Eska started to waterbend against her brother.
..
Ozai is sitting in the corner of an igloo. At the centre was the Master healer and some young girls, and between them, a doll with the size of a grown man, with some line carved in it.
Ozai was taking notes of the words of the Master Healer as he did not want to disturb the class. He was told that the course was for those talented water benders. The young boy heard everything very attentively. Unfortunately, the students were very good at the themes that did not ask questions, although some did not ask for fear of looking dumb.
Ozai was the one that, at the end of the class, asked the Master Healer a few questions, such as, what happens if the person has a missing limp? Are the energy canals physical like veins?
The Master Healer smiled and answered every question, and in their third class, she gifted Ozai a couple of scrolls regarding the healing technique, a gift Ozai loved. The scrolls were given at the perfect timing, as the same day, he was told that his stay in the North Water Tribe would be short.
After one of the classes, Ozai walked back to the palace while reading one of the scrolls. He suddenly stopped when he crashed headfirst with a person. When he turned to see with who he had hit, he saw Unalaq, "are you alright, prince Ozai?"
"Yes, I am… wait, prince?"
"Well, yes. I am aware of the circumstances of your family. You are a descendant of princess Azula, and one of the possible successors of the Fire Nation crown", answered Unalaq with a smile.
Behind a corner were the twins hearing everything. They wanted to prank their guest but stopped when they saw their father, but now they wanted to hear everything about this prince. Desna then turned to his sister, "it seems that he is a royal after all. He may be able to marry you". Eska frowned.
Ozai looked around with a worried expression. Unalaq chuckled a little, "don't worry. We are alone."
"But I am not a prince. My parents left the Fire Nation, and I don't want the crown", said Ozai really fast.
"Your parents left, not you. Either way, you are too young to choose if you want or not the crown", said Unalaq while walking into the palace direction. Ozai followed behind the Chief. "That decision should be taken when you have more experience and maturity, but regardless of your decision, that fact that you are a prince is a fact you had since birth", complemented Unalaq.
"But this is not why I came to search for you".
Ozai looked at the Water Tribe Chief. Unalaq only smiled and continued walking, "I wanted to ask about your interest in learning about the water-bending healing techniques. After all, you are a non-bender."
The twins looked at each other and fought themselves not to laugh. Then they left the place in silence.
Ozai scratched the back of his head, "well, I am trying to learn about energy, really. Ms Ty Lee told me that she could not teach me her chii blocking technique. But she told me that healing also resolved around energy".
Unalaq smiled and nodded, "a very well thought. I guess this has to be related to your parents' training, am I correct?"
The young boy smiled and nodded, "yes! My mom has told me that even if I am not a firebender, I should train hard".
"A commendable way of parenting. And If I may, I would like to see your progress before you leave. You can think of it as a test of a sort", said Unalaq.
"Nothing to worry about, just to confirm your knowledge is correct and rectify anything so you can have the best information available", explained Unalaq.
Ozai's eyes went wide open with brightness in his eyes, "Wow. Thank you very much. In fact, I have been thinking that waterbenders could maybe use their healing process in other ways, like helping people with stress, like some kind of purification. Because the water helps you to redirect the channel of the energy, and that way, the healing goes faster as it is not the water that heals but yourself. With that in mind, you could redirect the direction of the energy causing problems…."
Suddenly Ozai realized that he had been rambling by himself. The Water Tribe Chief only looked at him with a smile, "you are correct in certain ideas. You see, energy is in everything, people, animals, spirits. But let's leave that for another occasion".
Ozai smiled and nodded.
..
At night, Ozai was studying the scrolls and doing little experiments. He searched and found the exact point where Tai Lee blocked his arm. It was essentially a crossed road for the energy. He started to detect the other crosses and tried to follow and think of the flow within his body. He was distracted a few times by noises that he believed were the twins, but he could never catch them.
In the morning, Ozai was meditating and was interrupted by a knock on the door. Tai Lee appeared from it, "oh, training already. How dedicated."
Ozai broke his concentration and stood up. "I still don't get it. I can feel my energy better now. I have always felt it, but with the scrolls is even easier. Still, something is missing…."
Tai Lee took a seat on a chair in front of Ozai. "But I am still unable to feel the energy around me. My father told me that is needed to detect your opponent".
Tai Lee smiled. "He is not wrong. In order to know your opponent, you need to know yourself. But I guess it's a little more literal in this situation, " said the old woman, then giggled a little.
"You know. I have always had the ability to see the colour of other people's auras. And I guess that is similar to what your father wants to teach you", said the older woman while patting Ozai's shoulder.
"What I know about is that every time that Goku tried that technique, he let his energy expand. Mind you; he always has this enormous orange aura. But It's like he can control the energy", said Tau Lee.
Ozai looked to the ground, "but I don't know how to expand my energy. Do I have one, to begin with?"
Tai Lee giggled again, "don't be silly. All living things have energy and auras. Yours is a wonderful purple aura, by the way".
Ozai nodded and said, "so what you are saying is that he controls his energy to detect other people's energy?"
The old woman smiled, "it's a possibility. He asked me to teach you about energy. And his wording was, 'we want him to learn how to feel the energy', So I suppose he referred to feeling other people's energy".
The young teen started to think about the words, "either way. Let's go to the dinner table. Breakfast is ready. I forgot to tell you that when I entered".
..
Ozai was again trying to read the scrolls but heard some sounds. He sighed and then tough of trying the technique his parents wanted to teach him to detect the twins, an excellent exercise to see if his control of energy has improved at least a little. Unfortunately, he was unable to do it.
Suddenly the sound of something big falling was heard. Ozai ran to the window and saw a giant monster, and the twins were fighting against it. And the worse was that they were losing.
Eska and Desna wanted to prank his visitor, Ozai. They were trying to sneak into his bedroom and waterbend some water in his pants and then turn the water to ice. But out of nowhere, an explosion happened, and a monster later appeared in the same alley they were in.
The monster was gigantic in their eyes. All black with burning yellow eyes. It was standing on two legs, but its form was closer to a tiger shark, especially with the mouth with all fangs teeth.
Eska and Desna were attacking with their water bending. Whipping the monster and sending some ice spikes, but nothing seemed to work. By mere luck, they have avoided many of its attacks.
Suddenly what appeared to be the arm of the monster grew large and wiped in the direction of Eska. She saw how the extremity was falling in her direction, and for a moment, she thought it was all over, that she would die at just nine years old. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain to come from the top, but instead, she felt a push from her left. She felt like falling on top of something warm, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Ozai's face in front of her.
Eska did not know what happened or what to do, but suddenly he pushed her again, and both rolled to one side just in time to avoid an attack.
Ozai stood up and started to yell at the monster. He was sure he was at least faster than the twins and had more possibilities to avoid the attacks.
The monster turned to Ozai and attacked him, and the boy moved away and decided to kick him, only for him to pass through the monster.
The feeling that Ozai felt while passing through the monster could only be described as passing through thin water.
Once Ozai stood up again, he decided to lure the monster outside the capital. Unfortunately, he had no idea or plan of what to do after that.
Fortunately, four guards finally appeared, and they created an ice prison for the monster. The young boy smiled and let himself fall to the floor, but the monster broke the top of the prison, now looking furious. Its movements were faster than before, and Ozai had problems avoiding the attacks.
The monster saw the four guards, and with a clean move of its arm, the monster threw them away. That left Ozai alone, who was already tired. The monster attacked him with a whipping movement of his arm, and the boy barely moved away from a direct hit, but the arm then moved and trapped Ozai and threw him against a wall.
Eska and Desna saw everything. They felt terrible for Ozai and powerless for not being able to fight.
Ty Lee appeared, and in her eyes, the twins could see the dimension of the problem. Still, the older woman turned to them and gave them a reassuring smile.
Ozai was coughing badly for the different impacts he had received. The monster grabbed him again and started hitting him against the floor repeatedly.
Desna saw how Eska clenched her fist while looking at the scene. He knew what his twin was feeling. Both twins felt powerless, unable to do something. He saw Ty Lee, a non-bender older woman, unable to do anything but see the horrific scene.
The twins heard the scream of pain from Ozai and decided to leave Ty Lee and run and do something for him, but they were stope by the older woman. They wanted to yell at her, but then they saw their father.
Unalaq finally arrived. He was disposing of the other monster that appeared. He ran and created a disk of water that he launched at the arm of the monster that had trapped Ozai. Ty Lee suddenly appeared close and caught the falling body of Ozai.
Once Ozai was secured, Unalaq started to create a spiral of water around the monster. The monster looked around itself, confused.
Then the water began to glow with a bright light, calming the monster down while standing there as if waiting for something.
The light of the water danced around the monster, and suddenly the monster's black body started to change to a light yellow. It began to change slowly from the bottom until it covered its body.
Once the monster had changed its colour, Unalaq removed the water around it. The monster then started to walk away, and it began to vanish into the air.
Ozai saw everything and smiled. His body was covered in bruises, with blood coming from his forehead.
The twins stood up and were going to walk to their father, but Eska looked back with her best effort of indifference. She heard Ty Lee asking Ozai, "Are you ok, Ozai?" the young citizen of Tu Zin answered, "yeah, just some bruises". Esna only smirked and walked with her twin.
Ty Lee raised one eyebrow, "some bruises?" and then laughed.
"You know, you don't look, but you are quite heavy", said the old woman.
Ozai opened his eyes wide and facepalmed, "of course. I forgot to remove the weight".
Ty Lee giggled, "yeah. That would have helped you evade being coughed by the monster. You really need more experience, just like your parents said".
Ozai laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head. He thought he might be in problems if his mother had seen him. He just prayed that Ty Lee wouldn't tell her about it.
..
The next day, Ozai was being treated for his injuries. The master healer herself took it upon herself to help Ozai, and to her surprise, he could move like nothing almost instantly. Ozai looked at himself and was happy with the effectiveness.
"Wow, I never thought that the healing could accelerate this fast", said Ozai while checking his body without any bruises or scratches.
The master healer wanted to say something, but Chief Unalaq appeared. "Hello, Ozai. I see that you have healed completely, " said Unalaq, then turned to the woman, "No wonder you are our master healer." He bowed a little, and the Master healer bowed too.
"I know this may be a little imposing, but I would like to speak with our guest", said the man and the Master healer bowed again and left the room.
"First, I want to apologize. You are my guest, and still, you were injured. But also and most importantly, I want to thank you for helping the north water tribe, especially my daughter and son, " said Unalaq while bowing.
"No, I should be the one thanking you. If it weren't for you, I would have died there", said Ozai and bowed to him.
The Chief smiled at him, "that was my duty as a Chief. Conversely, you helped for no reason other than helping the people in need. You were already a special guest, but I want to also extend to you a citizen for our nation."
"It may come as symbolic, as the nations are in peace, but if anything happens to you or your family, the Water tribes will always help you.", said Unalaq.
Ozai stood straight and bowed using the fire nation sign, "thank you. That would be an honour".
The water tribe chief nodded, "very well. Tomorrow, before you go, we will give you the proper documents. I guess I need to go so it can be done in time".
Unalaq started to walk away but stopped and said, "I am also very interested in you. Your insights about the healing technique at your age are something very uncommon. It took me years to think about the same thing. Seeing that someone so young could get that conclusion makes me think about the possible future." After that, the water tribe Chief left the room.
..
The next day, Ozai stood close to the harbour with a box in his hands. Next to him were his kids, and in front were Ozai and Ty Lee.
The water tribe Chief got close to the son of Azula, "Ozai, in the name of the Water tribes, I, Unalaq, Chief of North and South Water tribes, want to offer you citizenship. We hope you grow and help our tribe, and in change, our tribe will help you and your family."
Ozai bowed using the old Fire Nation Sign, while Unalaq used the one for the water tribe, which was with his hands together with fingers intertwined. Ozai listened a 'tch', and he looked in the direction of Eska, who showed him the hands greeting. Ozai changed the signal quickly, and Unalaq only smiled at it.
Then Ozai took the box and opened it. In it were several papers, but in the front was a card with a photo of him wearing the black cloak armour.
Without changing his stoic expression, Desna said, "It seems that now there won't be any problem with you marrying him". The twin boy was waiting for his sister's reaction, for her to get angry, yell, and try to attack him, but he did not expect her to just smirk.
..
O the ship, Ozai looked at how the North Water tribe was getting smaller. He was still thinking about the monster. How impotent he was. He was sure that his mother and even his father would have defeated the monster easily, but his ineptitude cost him a very humiliating loss.
"Already missing her?" asked Ty Lee teasingly.
"Sorry?" answered Ozai, who woke up from his thoughts.
"Nothing. So, what's on your mind?"
"I… I now understand my parents' insistence on learning about energy. I just…"
"Is there a way to solve it?" asked Ty Lee with a smile.
"Excuse me?"
"Is there a way to solve that problem?" asked Ty Lee again.
"Well, yes, learning about energy. It's the reason for this travel. But it is not that easy. I can't even…"
Ty Lee stopped Ozai from keep talking. "If there is a way to solve it, don't worry. There is no reason to worry; just do your best to solve it. And if there is no way to solve it, why even worry about it?"
Ozai was unable to answer. It was so simple, and yet so direct and accurate. He knew that he could do it. He knew that it would be difficult, the reason why just a few knew how. The young teen smiled and nodded.
"Good. Now, I can check how much you have progressed with all of that theory", said the old woman.
"Very well. But can I ask something before? Are we going back home?" asked Ozai.
"Not yet. We are going to Republic city, and then we finally be going back to Tu Zin. Don't worry; I already mailed your parents about your progress".
Ozai nodded with a smile, and then he remembered the day before about being coughed by the monster for not removing the heavyweight. "Did mother say something about…"
Ty Lee only smirked, and that made Ozai shiver. The old woman laughed a little and said, "That happened yesterday. It will take time for her to answer about it."
Ozai's body relaxed, but Ty Lee said, "but we will also train about it. I would be a bad friend to Azula and Goku if I didn't. I know I can think of something."
Ozai resigned and only nodded to Ty Lee, who laughed at his reaction. The young teen only wanted to go to his room and take the test Unalaq gave him.