Most of the night was spent flying. Sokka, Katara, and Aang knew that they had to work quickly, so they could not have detours or travel leisurely. They only stopped long enough for Appa to rest. Once he was ready to fly again, they got back in his saddle and slept while in the sky. A couple more days passed and they finally came up to a large mass of ice. The children were thrilled at first, then saw a distressing sight. There were Fire Nations ships covering the ocean like a blanket.

"No," Katara said quietly. "We can't be too late."

Aang squinted to get a better look. "We're not! Look, some of the warriors are still fighting."

The siblings followed his gaze and felt some hope filling them. As he had noticed, several warriors were waterbending against the attackers. They melted the ice beneath the soldiers, making them fall into the ocean. More soldiers came to help their comrades. As they joined the fight, the waterbenders created a wave of ice, forcing the invaders back. The tribesmen turned the ice into shards, shooting them at the firebenders who were forced to take cover or try to melt the ice in time to prevent from getting impaled.

"What do we do?" Aang asked. "We'd be landing in the middle of a battle if we go right now."

Sokka frowned at the ice, then pointed. "There's a spot around the back without as many people fighting. We might be able to land there and look for Master Pakku. At least the fight is still going on. If we wait too much longer, it might end and then we won't be able to get to him if the waterbenders lose."

Nodding, Aang began to steer Appa towards where the older boy was pointing. As they neared the ice, they were seen by warriors. Some of the waterbenders fired icicles at them, expecting another attack even if this was abnormal for the Fire Nation. Aang quickly blew the ice away with a blast of air. Seeing this stunned the waterbenders. Their eyes widened and they glanced at one another, silently asking the question of what they would do next. An explosion forced the warriors to act faster. The soldiers were exploding some walls of ice, threatening to get closer to the inner side of the tribe.

"Do we let them land?" someone asked.

Another blast of fire melted some of the ice, making tribesmen nearby refreeze the water while their allies bent water whips at the attackers.

"Let them," another warrior said. "They're children and not firebenders."

Obliging, the others moved back. Appa landed on the open space. The waterbenders regarded them in confusion, but they did not ask their questions yet.

"Stay here while we force the firebenders back," the man instructed.

The trio nodded as he and the others synchronized their movements, turning the top layer of the frozen ground into a liquid so that it covered the soldiers' bodies. The firebenders tried to move, but the water followed them, collecting around their noses and mouths. When they fell to the ground, the warriors began joining their allies on the other side of the coast. Their combined efforts continued to force the soldiers back and onto their ships. They pulled out of the harbor, but they did not go far. Morosely, the waterbenders helped their wounded comrades stand and carried those who had fallen in battle. The man from earlier returned to where he had left the children and looked at them with an inspecting gaze.

"You're an airbender," he said.

"He's the Avatar," Katara said, smiling.

The older waterbender's eyes widened. "The Avatar?"

Sokka nodded. "And he needs to learn waterbending. We were told to ask for a Master Pakku. Do you know him?"

"Yes, I do. I can lead you to him."

The man kept frowning and did not immediately move to show them to the master. He realized this and apologized for his delay.

"I'm just in a state of shock right now that the Avatar is back. Master Pakku will be happy to teach you."

He began leading the children towards the ice walls. They were enormous. At the raise of his hand, the man had guards bend the ice so that the walls slid back to allow an entrance. Sokka and Katara looked around them in amazement. It was nothing like the Southern Water Tribe. There were no small homes or fishing holes. Nothing there was small. Giant buildings of ice were everywhere. The siblings saw bridges made of ice and hordes of people.

"I'm Chief Arnook. Welcome to the Northern Water Tribe."

"Thanks! I'm Katara and this is Aang and my brother, Sokka."

The man turned back to look at the three. "Would I be correct in thinking you two are from our sister tribe?"

Sokka nodded, too shocked for words.

"This is so big," the girl said in awe. "The Southern Water Tribe is really tiny in comparison."

A slightly regretful look was on Arnook's face. "We wanted to send some reinforcements to you out there. We heard about the Fire Nation invading, but as soon as we were going to travel your way, the ships arrived."

"Our dad was able to get the warriors to force the soldiers out," Sokka said, still amazed at all the sights.

"Your dad? He's the chief?"

The siblings nodded and Arnook's expression turned pensive.

"So, why are you away from the tribe if the revolt went well?"

"Because of Aang," Katara informed him. "He needs to learn waterbending and I want to also."

"And I'm making sure they don't get into too much trouble."

Arnook smiled and nodded. "Then, I know some healers who would love for you to join them, Katara."

"That'll be fun. I'm excited to work with Master Pakku too."

This got the chief to lift an eyebrow at her. "I wouldn't get your hopes up for that."

"Why not? You said he wouldn't mind."

"Well, I'll let him tell you."

Frowning slightly, the trio and Appa kept walking through the tribe. The number of people truly was far greater than what they were accustomed to seeing. Groups of children were playing together, some adolescents were talking, and there seemed to be a meeting of elders taking place. This meeting was where the chief stopped. The elders turned to him.

"Chief Arnook, we were hoping your battle today would be successful," one man stated.

"It was, but we still haven't been able to entirely rid the Northern Water Tribe of the Fire Nation soldiers. As we speak, they're on their ships, waiting to attack again." The chief gestured behind him. "But I bring with me the Avatar who is requesting to be taught waterbending from Master Pakku."

At the mention of his name, the waterbender sat forward. He regarded the children curiously, gaze lingering on the siblings. They almost reminded him of someone.

"How did you learn about me?" he asked.

"Our Gran Gran told us," Katara said.

With furrowed brows, the man inquired, "What is her name?"

"Kanna. She said that she was a friend of yours."

Pakku's eyes widened. His reaction made Katara hopeful.

"You do remember her. Good! Could you teach us then?"

"'Us?' You're a waterbender as well?"

The girl eagerly nodded. Her excitement faded slightly as a frown returned to Pakku's face.

"I will teach the Avatar, but I will not teach you."

Sokka frowned at him. "Why not? They both need to learn."

"I won't teach her because she's a female."

Aang's jaw dropped. "That's why? What does that matter? Other nations don't keep girls from learning how to bend."

"We don't keep them from learning how to bend," the master explained. "We keep them from learning how to fight. Our men learn combat; our women learn healing."

Katara felt her face become hot with anger. "What sense does that make? So, the boys are out there getting killed on the battlefield because they don't know how to heal themselves, then the girls get slaughtered because they can't defend themselves?"

Pakku gestured around them. "As you should be able to see, our tribe has flourished for centuries. We have not changed tradition because we haven't needed to."

"Well, your tradition is dumb," Aang retorted, arms crossed.

The waterbending master's gaze turned into a glare. "If you would still like my instruction at all, I suggest you not insult my tribe."

Turning, Aang prepared to get back on Appa's saddle. "This is a big tribe. We can find someone else."

Arnook had a grave look on his face. "Master Pakku is our best. While it's true that you could find someone else, he would not be as skilled." In a gentle tone, he addressed Katara. "I know Yagoda. She's an excellent teacher. You'll be in good hands as her pupil."

Sokka was still frowning at the elder, then at the chief. Suddenly, his face lit up. He went over to his sister.

"Let's go with it," he said.

Katara sadly turned to him. "But I want to help fight."

"I know, but it'll be helpful if you learn how to heal too." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Just trust me on this."

Intrigued, the girl nodded her head. Aang was still hesitant, but he saw Sokka's determined look and slid off the saddle.

"Okay," he said, "I still want you to teach me if you'll be my waterbending master."

Pakku proudly lifted his chin. "I expected as much. Training begins when I'm done here. The girls have already begun."

"I can show you the way," the chief offered.

Arnook led the children through the tribe until they reached an igloo. Once there, he motioned for Katara to enter. She glanced at her brother and Aang, seeing both having slightly encouraging, slightly unsure expressions. With a breath, she entered. Inside, there were girls younger and older than Katara. They looked at her with surprise and then happiness.

"Welcome!" someone said.

"Yes, welcome. I'm Yagoda, we're always happy to have new members."

The girl tried to not sigh. "I'm Katara. I guess this is where I'll be for a while."

"All right then! Let's get started with the basics, Katara, to see what you can do."

As the lessons began, the boys stayed on the outside. Arnook began leading Sokka and Aang to where the Pakku held his lessons. Once there, he left the children to attend the last part of the council meeting. Aang huffed when he was gone and made a large ball of air to roll on.

"Why'd you convince Katara to only learn healing?"

"We just got here," Sokka explained. "If we start shaking up too many things, everyone will hate us and neither of you will get to learn anything."

"I can show her what I've learned afterwards. It'll be during the night, so no one else will see."

Sokka shook his head. "No, someone might. Waterbenders rise with the moon, so it wouldn't be too weird if one was out and about really late." A mischievous smile appeared. "Nope, what we're going to do is wait for Katara to learn what she needs from the healers and then let Master Pakku know that teaching her is the smartest thing he can do. We might even be able to get Chief Arnook on our side."

"I like the sound of that!" Aang smiled widely. "Katara's going to be really happy when you help her do that."

"Yeah, well, she might be a girl, but she's also my sister, so that counts more."

The airbender tilted his head. "What's with the Water Tribes and girls? I guess I never paid attention to that before now. The Air Nomads never treated girls any differently."

Sokka shrugged. "I don't really know. It's just something we've always done. Girls aren't supposed to be fighters. They're so…"

He trailed off and Aang looked at him in confusion before he noticed that the other boy was not looking at him anymore. Sokka's focus was on a girl walking by the training area. Her head was held high and covered in white hair. Aang started chuckling.

"You think she's pretty," he said.

"What?" Sokka asked, snapping his head to look back at the airbender. "No, I don't."

Aang just kept chuckling. "Yes, you do!"

"Don't say it so loudly," the Water Tribe boy insisted, ducking in case the girl looked their way.

After she went by, he peeked up from the snow.

"She seems so…fancy," he commented.

"Are you going to talk to her?"

"If I do, are you going to keep rolling around on that air ball until I get back?"

"Probably."

"Okay, then wish me luck."

"Good luck!"

Aang gave a hopeful grin as he moved around on the ice with the air. Sokka chuckled at the sight as he left. Getting close enough, he waved to the stranger.

"Hey," he greeted.

The girl stopped, smiling at him. "Hello. Are you new here? I don't recognize you."

"I'm new. My sister and I came here with the Avatar."

"With the Avatar?"

"Neat, huh?"

"Very."

The boy smiled. "I'm Sokka. What's your name?"

"I'm Princess Yue."

"You're a princess? I was right then. You are fancy!"

Yue giggled at his content grin. "Since you're new, I could give you a tour."

"That'd be great! Hold on a quick second. I'm going to tell my buddy what we're doing."

Sokka headed back to the training area and saw that Pakku was starting to approach. He was being followed by some of his students.

"Aang, while you and Katara are training, I'm going on a tour with Princess Yue," he said, beaming.

"Have fun!"

Sokka headed off with the princess as the others continued or began their lessons. While the children did this, Iroh was arriving in Gaoling. A troubled expression crossed his face as he saw that the soldiers had already reached the city. The man rode the ostrich horse up to an inn. Patting its head, he tied the reins to a pillar and entered the establishment. Even the inn had firebenders everywhere. Most of the interior design was changed from green to red and he could see some soldiers leaving rooms. The person at the desk had slightly hunched shoulders. Judging from a bandage on his neck, Iroh assumed the posture was caused from having been deemed too bold earlier.

"Your room is on the right down the hall, Sir," he said, handing over the key.

Iroh thanked him and went to the back. So, this was Gaoling. It was not exactly as he expected. The man looked out the window and saw more soldiers. Apparently, escaping them had been too much to ask. He could hear them talking through the walls, laughing about someone who had tried to oppose them. There was a lot of laughter which would not have irritated Iroh had it not sounded so maniacal. He decided that he would go for a walk. If the ride into the city was any indication, he would not necessarily be away from the Fire Nation by doing this, but maybe he would not have to hear them as clearly.

Iroh exited the building and began walking around, deciding he might get something for dinner. Despite this, he was not very hungry. He had not had an appetite for a while. If he was not aware of the physical consequences of neither eating nor drinking, the firebender doubted that he would have engaged in either activity. It was so unlike him. He usually would leap at the opportunity for a big meal and loved the chance to enjoy a cup of tea, but everything still felt wrong. Iroh wondered when it no longer would. The man approached a vendor and ordered cabbage soup since he decided that it could work both to provide food and water. Iroh was in the middle of paying for the food when he heard a loud sound. Turning, he saw that a soldier had thrown someone through a thin wall. The attacker had fire on his fists and a snarl on his lips.

"You're going to take back what you said about Fire Lord Ozai."

The Earth Kingdom citizen struggled to get back to his feet. In concern, the man realized his leg was trapped beneath some rubble. He would not be able to stand and run before an attack. Iroh took in the scene and started to approach. Even without his title, he still held some influence with the soldiers. It was possible that he would be able to have an impact. The soldier began a blast of fire, but something got to him before Iroh could. The ground lifted up, caught his foot, and flung him away from the building. He hit a tree with a thud and slid down. Scrambling to his feet, he growled.

"Who did that?!"

Out of curiosity, Iroh glanced around as well. It did not look like anyone was there. There was no one present who seemed as though they had begun a fight. Iroh only saw some meek-looking people and children; however, there was something about one child who lacked the fear had by the others. Not having an answer to his question enraged the soldier and he focused his attention on the first person he saw. Matching up to a young merchant, the firebender began to reach for her shoulder. Iroh intervened before he did, sending a small flame to his back. The soldier noticed the new warmth and quickly patted himself down. Unsure who had caused this and tired of being humiliated, the soldier left in a rage. When he left, Iroh went to the edge of a building where someone was standing.

"It was very kind of you to help that man," he said.

A girl dressed in an elegant outfit half-turned to him. "I'm not sure what you mean, Sir. I've been waiting for my parents to leave the shop."

Iroh smiled and nodded. "Then, that must make you a very skilled earthbender to have done that without moving much."

In spite of herself, the girl struggled to not grin. "If I were, I'd say that was pretty fun how you lit that guy on fire. You've either got terrible aim or are the first firebender here who's attacked his own people."

"I don't like to see people hurt others for no reason."

"That's fair. I don't like bullies either and this place is crawling with them now."

"So, you help out when you can."

The younger individual put a hand over her eyes.

"How would I do that? I can't see anything. Ask anyone and they'll tell you I'm just a blind, little girl."

"Maybe they should reconsider their perception of you."

His words put a genuine smile on the girl's face. This faded when she heard someone call her name.

"Toph! Where are you?"

"I'm right here, Dad," she said, sighing under her breath.

"It's nice to meet you, Toph," the firebender said. "I'm Iroh."

Before she could say anything else, he left to go buy the soup. A couple approached Toph and had relieved looks on their faces.

"Thank goodness. You know your mother and I don't want you out of our sight."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"What were you doing out here?"

"I was just talking with someone," the earthbender said, sensing where the firebender had gone. "He seemed nice."