Fight22: Expectations and Disappointments
"I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka complained petulantly as Appa passed just over a backstroking koala-otter that ducked back into the water. The boy was leaning over the back of the saddle, looking in the direction they came from. The ocean around them was picked with many large icebergs. The bison was clearly tired and his feet often brushed the water.
"I have an idea, why don't we all get on your back and you can fly us to the North Pole?" Aang retorted angrily, turning back from his driver's seat and pointing at Sokka.
"I'd love to! Climb on everyone!" He wiggled his butt at everyone. "Sokka's ready for takeoff!" He replied sarcastically. However, Momo took it to the letter and jumped up on his back in response to his invitation.
"Look, we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight." Katara tried to temper them. Only Chenlian remained completely quiet and calm. She was lying down, her eyes closed. At first they would always fuss over her because they were worried about how she would be received at the North Pole, but their concern had been dismissed. She persisted that everything would be fine without telling them why. It was truly bugging how she could be so laid back in such circumstances and appear to care so little about their feelings for her. Was it overconfidence? They thought so at the beginning but it didn't seem to be case. What was she hiding? What was the basis of her self-assurance?
"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here." Suddenly a noise was heard up ahead. Ice was moving rapidly towards Appa. Aang screamed and pulled hard on the reigns to starboard. The animal banked right and avoided the ice, but almost tipped his passengers off the saddle. They hung on for dear life. The bison then swerved left as another jet of ice erupted out of the waves, but this one caught one of his feet and his underside. The ice broke because of the momentum and Appa dropped in an uncontrolled spin into the ocean. Out of the icebergs several ornate wooden skiffs came to surround them. The crafts were manned by people in water tribe garb. They were waterbenders. At last, they had found the Northern Water Tribe. Or rather, the Water Tribe had found them.
"He's heading north. The Northern Water Tribe. The Avatar needs to master waterbending. He's looking for a teacher." Zhao turned from his map of of the world to address the other officers in the war council tent. It was in a Fire Navy port, in the far north of the Earth Kingdom continent.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get him!"
"Patience, Captain Li. This isn't some little Earth village we can just march into. The Water Tribe is a great nation. There's a reason they've survived a hundred years of war. The frozen tundra is treacherous. The landscape itself is an icy fortress. We'll need a massive invasion force."
Appa was swimming in the middle of a formation of Water Tribe boats. Aang stood up and pointed ahead. They saw a humongous ice wall with the water tribe symbol and many turrets. The waterbender crew removed a semi-circular opening to reveal a tunnel that lead into the city. A water tribesman motioned them forward and Appa swam in. They arrived at a square lock with waterbenders lines atop of the four walls. They opened sluice gates along the three walls of the lock to raise the water level. The fourth wall lowered, freeing a path for Appa to continue. Katara and Aang couldn't believe how many waterbenders lived up here. They would have no problem finding a master to teach them! The bison swam out and into the canal. The Avatar and Southern Water Tribe members were grining wildly and looking around in wonder. Chenlian had a small nostalgic smile. The ice city was breathtakingly beautiful. It also had three interior walls in addition to the main city walls. All the way in the back was the citadel. More and more villagers came to watch them skiff through the canals and gawk from the houses and foot bridges. Aang waved at them as they passed. The city was loaded with beautiful interconnected streams, waterfalls and fountains. They passed another boat with a waterbender and a beautiful young Water Tribe woman with white, elaborately styled hair and a slightly purplish coat rather than the normal blue. Sokka focused on her, blushed and tried to follow her by running down Appa's tail.
"This place is beautiful." Katara commented.
"Yeah, she is." Her brother 'agreed', looking dreamily at the girl as the boat moved away.
"Chenlian!" A male voice suddenly exclaimed. They looked up and saw a waterbender arriving full speed on an arch of ice.
"Ryuho!" She yelled back, ecstatic. The young man, about the same age as them immediately bended an ice pike at her. Aang and the others screamed. She melted it and attacked him with an arch of fire from below. He quenched it and bended other pikes at her from behind that evaporated in an instant. The others tried to interfere but she stopped all their attacks and destroyed Ryuuho's transport means, making him fall on Appa. They lost no time and engaged in hand to hand combat. And to the firebender's friends' great surprise, he could keep up with her. And what was even more surprising was their wide grins. Suddenly, Chenlian caught his left arm with her right, impaired him by blocking his torso with her left arm, and swept his legs. He fell on his back and she put a flame dagger at his neck. However, the tip of an ice blade was also pressing against her throat. They smiled even more broadly.
"You seem well."
"You too." Their weapons disappeared and she helped him up. They tightly hugged each other. When they pulled away, there was fondness and respect in their eyes. She introduced him to her bewildered friends. He was a student of the master here. How they had come to be like this? After her first escape from the Fire Nation, and soon before her recapture, she had come here following some people's advice. After having been taken prisoner and interrogated, they had tolerated her presence and she had been allowed to watch the master. Of course, she had not been very well accepted and was regularly attacked at night so she'd have trouble seeing their faces and the attackers' waterbending was strong and her firebending weak. And he had been one of the attackers. He had been puzzled by her lack of enmity and retaliation despite the way she was treated and started observing her more and more. They also started talking. He had also noticed and heard of her horrible state by the healers. They had never seen so many wounds and scars, both internal and external on a single body, let alone a female. But she was a firebender, not a waterbender. She was mysterious, curious... And that was how they had come to discover, understand and respect each other. And while he still couldn't bring himself to like the Fire Nation, he had come to quite like Chenlian...
The dim light of the waning moon shone on Prince Zuko's docked ship. In the night, a pipa played a simple staccato tune. Drums soon accompanied the tempo given by Lieutenant Jee. Iroh started singing slightly out of the tune. They were around a campfire on the deck. Two crewmen danced together. Then a group of masked Fire Nation soldiers boarded the ship, including Admiral Zhao. The music stopped. Iroh and the others turned to look at the intruders.
In the citadel of Northern Water Tribe, large drums had also started playing. The closest side of the plaza showed the backs of the city's rulers as well as the guests of honor, Aang and his friends. Attendants brought Appa a huge pallet of seaweed. He roared, scaring them and making them run screaming. Sokka grinned understandingly and amusedly as Appa started eating. In the center, four people lowered a huge plate of food into a pond of steaming hot water.
"Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe, as well as the return of our esteemed friend Chenlian. And they have brought with them someone very special, someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now." Chief Arnook gestured toward Aang. "The Avatar!" The crowd cheered. "We also celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday." He backed up to reveal his beautiful white haired daughter flanked by two attendants, walking up to the table. They all bowed, smiling. "Princess Yue is now of marrying age." At this, Sokka looked at her with wide eyes.
"Thank you, father. May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times."
"Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!" The Chief motioned towards three men who now stood on the dais in front of the fountain opposite the dignitaries' table. The center man was clearly the eldest with a bald top, but long white hair on the sides of his head and down his back. Behind him at his right was Ryuho. They bended water from three enormous amphorae in front of them. The crowd began to cheer. Aang and Katara looked at each in utter delight while they clapped while Chenlian watched the show with the same enjoyment... though much more attentively. Sokka was stuffing his face full of food when a figure walked behind him and sat down next to him. It was Princess Yue. He gulped his mouthful and tried to strike a cool pose next to her.
"Hi, there. Sokka, Southern Water Tribe." He greeted her, however, since his aloofness wasn't natural, he looked and sounded cheesy at best.
"Very nice to meet you." The princess smiled and bowed slightly and politely.
"So... uh you're a Princess!" The boy desperately did his best to strike a conversation and make himself seem as important as he possibly could. Yue nodded and smiled again. "You know, back in my tribe, I'm kinda like a Prince myself!"
"Ha! Prince of what?" His sister scoffed.
"A lot of things! Uh, do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!"
"My apologies, Prince Sokka." Katara bowed mockingly.
"So it looks like I'm gonna be in town for awhile. I'm thinking maybe we could... do an activity together?" The southern water tribe warrior tried to recover but finished lamely.
"Do an activity?" The princess repeated, an eyebrow raised in an amused way. The boy started sweating, paused then stuffed his mouth with food on the table.
"Very smooth." Katara clearly enjoyed her brother's lame attempt at courting.
However, their fun was interrupted by Master Pakku's – and Chief Arnook's - unexpected proposal. They wanted Chenlian to do a performance too. Well, more precisely, the master wanted to see the results of Chenlian's training, what she had learned and remembered until now. She smiled and readily accepted. That old man and his annoying condescending, downgrading, challenging attitude... he really had not changed at all. A genius at waterbending and putting people – and especially women – off. That said, she didn't hate that aspect of him. On the contrary, it was most motivating for her. She really loved challenges.
Aang looked at the girl and the old man. They were smiling but it was like he was seeing sparks flying inbetween them and felt kind of scared to approach. But if he extended his sense, he realized it wasn't so simple. Their relationship appeared conflictual on the surface, but deeper they were linked by mutual respect and understanding. They just weren't really the type to show it openly, or had their own complicated/abnormal way of showing it.
Chenlian climbed on the stage, bowed, and began. She leant far to the left, extended her left arm, and with her right hand made a flame appear above her left and stretched it, grew it, bended it in a circle around her, moving very much like the waterbenders had done a little earlier. Then she threw it upward like a large wave that disappeared. She hurled another with her other left hand. And her movements started changing. Those moves... Katara had seen Aang do some of them! The girl bended a tornado of fire before her, but to the audience's awe, a dragon appeared out of the tornado that flew above their heads before returning to its mistress' side. It coiled around her and dissipated. When they could see her again, she was standing with one knee up, and her palms on either side of her head turned toward the night sky. She danced on a semi circular path like Aang had seen her once in a vision with her dragon. When the semi circle was completed, she was leaning one side, having thrown both her fists above her head, almost parallel to the ground. She followed with a butterfly jump and the much more rooted stances and powerful shots of earthbenders and at last... her own style which blended everything much more smoothly, erasing the borders, the limits for a solid but beautiful and fluent performance. And in the end, red markings covered her body, her eyes glowed gold, and multicolored flames shot up from her mouth. The fire dissipated. She returned to her usual self, and bowed.
After a round of applause, the chief, the master, and the avatar joined her. Aang was as usual rather... expressive with his compliments, Arnook was kind, and Pakku very curt (although he was indeed praising her). And the Avatar was introduced to the waterbender as his new student.
"Just because you're destined to save the world, don't expect any special treatment." The master warned with the same curt tone.
"My friend and I can't wait to start training with you after we relax for a couple days." Aang tried to ignore the old man's brusqueness.
"If you want to relax, then I suggest visiting a tropical island. If not, I'll see you both at sunrise. Chenlian, will you come too?"
"No. I need to focus on my own training. I require an open space away from people.
"More fire tricks?"
"No, I've started on the sub-technique. My teacher has aldready given me the instructions. And I also want to attend the healing classes."
Meantime, Prince Zuko was standing in a dark corner of his dark cabin on his ship, his arms folded across his chest, the very image of a sulking child. The door at the far end of the cabin opened and Iroh came in. Zuko looked further away from him.
"For the last time, I'm not playing the tsungi horn." The prince warned.
"No, it's about our plans. There's a bit of a problem." His uncle remarked timidly. It was then that Zhao entered the room too and declared he was taking his crew. The teen snapped at him immediately. The admiral had recruited the crew for a little expedition to the North Pole. The young man asked his relative for confirmation. "I'm afraid so. He's taking everyone." Iroh put his arm over his face in woe. "Even the cook!"
"Sorry you won't be there to watch me capture the Avatar... and the traitor Chenlian. But I can't have you getting in my way again."
Zuko charged in anger, but Iroh prevented him from tackling Zhao, who, unfazed, walked over to inspect the dual dao words on the wall. They were the same used by the Blue Spirit to free the Avatar. Recognition and then anger spread and smoldered on his face like an unwholesome fever as he remembered the Blue Spirit wielding the blades during the escape. He took one off the wall. Zuko's eyes widened, his mouth opened, his face froze in an expression of sheer fear as he realized the danger he was in. The admiral started practicing with the sword.
"I didn't know you were skilled with broadswords, Prince Zuko."
"I'm not. They're antiques. Just decorative." The teen recovered and averted his face.
"Have you heard of the Blue Spirit, General Iroh?"
"Just rumors. I don't think he is real."
"He's real all right. Then have you heard of the Dragon Princess? I don't know if she's a traitor or if she's just using that mask to mock us. Anyway, they're both criminals, enemies of the Fire Nation." He handed the broad sword to Iroh but his eyes were intent on the young man. "But I have a feeling that justice will catch up with them soon... By the way, Prince Zuko, I seem to remember that Chenlian was an accomplished straight sword user, wasn't she? She had one at her waist at that time. Did you know? Some time ago I almost captured her along with her deserter of a grandfather. A pity I couldn't see her talent with the sword then though... General Iroh, the offer to join my mission still stands if you change your mind." Zhao closed the door behind him.
Katara and Aang were walking towards a huge ice staircase up to the citadel. The girl had waited for this day her whole life, the day when she could finally get to learn from a real waterbending master! They arrived and saw Master Pakku manipulating a blob of water. The Avatar loudly and cheerfully greeted him. The old man dropped the water with a grimace.
"No, please, march right in, I'm not concentrating or anything." He replied cynically.
"Uhh this is my friend, Katara, the one I told you about?" Katara bowed while Aang introduced her with a sheepish tone. The master looked over at her as if she were a bug.
"I'm sorry. I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friend was a girl. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending." He declared after sitting on an ice chair he had created. Katara was doubtlessly shocked, but her resentment and indignation superceded the shock by far.
"What do you mean you won't teach me?" She exclaimed, going up to Pakku. "I didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell me no!"
"No."
"But there must be other female waterbenders in your tribe!" She reasoned. The elder informed her that here the women learned from Yugoda to use their waterbending to heal, and he was sure she would be happy to take her as her student despite her bad attitude. And she would be with her friend too.
"I don't want to heal, I want to fight!"
"I can see that. That a female firebender would want to heal and a female waterbender would want to fight... the world seems to have been turned upside down... But our tribe has customs, rules."
"Well your rules stink!"
"Yeah! They're not fair." Aang joined up with his friend. "If you won't teach Katara, then-"
"Then what?" Pakku stood up.
"Then I won't learn from you!" The monk started walking away, sounding, looking, and acting exactly like a child throwing a tantrum. The Master told him to have fun teaching himself. He would certainly do a great job.
"Wait!" Katara called the Avatar back before turning to Pakku. "Aang didn't mean that." She ran over to her friend and grabbed him by the shoulder to stop him. "You can't risk your training for me. You have to learn from Master Pakku. Even if he is a big jerk." She glared back at the old man. The boy nodded glumly, and swung his body around lazily to face the smug face of his new master.
"Why don't we get started then." Master Pakku waterbended a huge rush of water at Aang, washing him away.
Sokka ran across a bridge beneath which Princess Yue's boat was slowly moving along. He hailed her, loudly and cheerfully too, and started trotting on the sidewalk that ran alongside the canal, and the boat floating down the canal. He talked about the "picnic last night" and how her dad sure knew how to throw a party. And she was glad he had enjoyed himself. When he told her it hadn't been as much fun after she had left, the princess looked away, blushing, and a huge, toothy smile appeared on his own blushing face. The boy was still hoping they could see more of each other.
"Do an activity, you mean?"
"Yes! At a place! For some time!" He said excitedly, his eyes wide, detaching each word to keep from talking too fast and retain a cool exterior.
"I'd love to!" However, Yue wasn't fooled, and her eyes closed, her nose in the air, she was the coolest one. She pointed ahead, at the bridge in front of them. "I'll meet you on that bridge tonight."
"Great! I'll see you aahh!" Before he could finish, Sokka fell in a canal. He had been so busy gawking he had failed to notice the end of the sidewalk. The girl laughed and waved goodbye before apologizing for laughing. The boy hauled himself out of the water. "That's okay, it was worth it." He said to himself, as he falls over backwards to lie flat on the sidewalk. "See you tonight."
"Ryuho, what are you doing here? The order not to come close to this place should have been passed around already. You didn't get it?" Chenlian asked, slightly aggravated.
"I did."
"Then why?"
"Precisely because you gave such a demand."
"You... do you know that what you're doing is called picking a fight?"
"Really? I would have called it caring about a friend. I know what you're trying to do here."
"Then all the more reason not to come. If you really understand and care then leave now."
"You really haven't changed." The waterbender let out a heavy sigh.
"Stop sighing like I'm being a bother." The girl ordered again a little more angrily.
"But you are a bother. Undergoing such dangerous training alone... putting distance between you and others, being careful not to involve them so you wouldn't hurt them, shouldering everything on your own... What do you think would happen if you hurt yourself? And you'll only attend the healing classes the afternoon too." Ryuho scolded her like a mother her unreasonable child. The firebender said nothing and turned around. The boy sighed again. "Well, I know you all have your own battles and you want them to concentrate on what they should be doing and I know you've been taking care of yourself all this time, but that was because you didn't have a choice, right? You should be able to understand now that you don't need to be alone anymore. That's why, as your friend, I'm going to get involved even if you don't want me to."
"He's right." Guang's voice suddenly startled her.
"Why are you interfering now? I thought you had decided not to talk to me anymore? You wouldn't answer no matter how much and how many times I called you!" She shot back petulantly.
"Because you had become socially impaired. You're human. Humans live in communities. You needed to remember how to behave around other humans you truly cared for, and with whom you intended to form long-lasting relations. And you needed to forge those bonds on your own. You shouldn't just rely on me."
"You'd be the type to throw your child in the river to teach them how to swim. And since you've started talking to me again, does that mean I've become human again?"
"You've got passing grades... thanks to the Avatar and his –your– friends. But you're still just barely starting to heal! Friendship isn't about one-sidedly looking after someone, you must also let others take care of you. Even if you say you understand, you don't. Even your head knows, your heart-"
"Waaahh! I get it, I get it already! No more lectures! Don't blame me if you get badly hurt or if your girlfriend dumps you."
"So you noticed..."
"Well, it has been a long time, of course you'd have one." Then the two remained silent for a long time during which he kept staring at her back, straight, tall, proud, firm, and yet... suddenly she turned around and smiled sweetly at him. "When everything is over, introduce her to me."
"Alright." He smiled back. She had certainly grown more open and cheerful, doubtlessly thanks to the Avatar, Katara and Sokka. But even now, he could still detect sadness and loneliness deep in her heart. Even now, she could not truly be happy. Back then, she always seemed to be searching for something... but her answers were not in the Water Tribe. So she had left. He had wanted to go with her. He could have followed her. But in the end, both had their own path to walk. They might cross for a time but never be the same and they knew and accepted it. And now, although her goal had become clearer, she still had not gotten hold of that something, that someone, that one and only person who could reach into the deepest recesses of her heart and make her happy. She had not gotten hold of him but his shadow had always been looming over her. It was already there when she had come to the tribe, and seemed to have been there for a long time already. "When everything is over, I will introduce her to you. So you too must introduce that man to me."
"That man?" Then looking into his blue eyes, Chenlian understood. The only man of truly great importance to her he didn't know about. "One day, maybe, if it becomes possible."
"Since when have you become so timid and unsure?"
"Idiot. Even I know that there are things that are impossible and can't be bent through force and will. As always, I will do my best, and if it's still impossible, then I will fall, cry, despair, stand up again and start walking once more."
"Good, if you're like this, I'm sure you'll be able to succeed... in your training at least."
"You were talking about that?!"
"Now now, what you want to do requires a complete absence of emotions and peace of mind, right? It won't do if you're too anxious. And if you speak about yin and yang then you must ask a waterbender, right?"
"You really did your research."
"Also, Master Pakku told me to ask you to let your schedule open for a few games of Pai Sho." Ryuho relayed. The girl complained. He had students to give him company for that. "Well, he always says we give up too quickly and don't resist him enough." The waterbender replied sheepishly. "Still, speaking of Pai Sho, that one had really shocked me." He commented, though Chenlian had no idea what he was talking about. "When you were imprisoned here and the Master just up and decided to have a game of Pai Sho with the captive, you... what more... you suddenly put the white lotus tile in the middle and then you two drew a lotus flower on the board so quickly. And then he said you could be released. I had no idea what was going on."
"Haha, maybe he'll tell you one day."
"I'm very impressed." Zhao praised. He was seated at his desk, a small chest and a lamp in front of him... and pirates. "You all seem highly qualified for the mission I have in mind."
The captain with the lizard-parrot pulled the chest and opened it, revealing the glowing riches inside. The pirate barker removed a gold piece and bit it. That was some tasty gold! The captain grabbed it and put it back in the chest.
"What do you need us to do?"
"I believe you're acquainted with Prince Zuko?" The admiral smiled maliciously.
Inside a building of the Northern Water Tribe city, a man sized dummy was lying flat on an ice bed in the middle of the main chamber. The ice bed was surrounded by water. The dummy had pathways or channels etched all over its surface. A hand bended water through the pathways which flowed white. A dozen students were sitting in a semi circle while the teacher, an old woman, demonstrated.
"Um, hi. Are you Yugoda?" Katara entered the room on her left. It was the middle of the afternoon. And she had taken from sunrise to now to calm down. The old woman asked if she was here for the healing lesson.
"You're late, Katara." Chenlian smiled. Her waterbender friend looked at her. That smile... certainly, the mahogany-haired girl had known that Pakku would refuse to teach her... and that she would come here, feeling she had to do something. But the firebender wasn't being disagreeable. For her, healing and fighting were equally important. Besides the two of them, the students were all girls younger than them. She heaved a sigh, walked forward and sat down.
"I guess I am." Katara answered them. She was warmly welcomed by the teacher.
Meantime, Aang's training wasn't going very well. He looked sullen and unhappy and he was still angry about how the master had rebuffed Katara earlier.
"You're moving the water around, but you're not feeling the push and pull."
"I'm trying!" The Avatar retorted through gritted teeth. Pakku suggested he tried an easier move since this one seemed too advanced for him. Aang threw the water to the ground in frustration.
The young girls were taking the dummy out on its stretcher, leaving Katara, Chenlian and Yugoda. They walked over to their teacher and thanked her for the lesson when the old lady asked her fellow waterbender who the lucky boy was. The teen didn't understand until the woman pointed at her betrothal necklace. She was getting married, right? Katara smiled. She didn't think she was ready for that yet. Her grandmother had given her mother this necklace, and her mother had passed it down to her.
"I recognize this carving! I don't know why I didn't realize sooner! You're the spitting image of Kana!" Yugoda suddenly exclaimed, taking a closer look at the necklace.
"Wait, how do you know my Gran-Gran's name?"
"When I was about your age I was friends with Kana. She was born here, in the Northern Tribe."
"She never told me." Katara looked away. Yugoda informed her that Kana had had an arranged marriage with a young waterbender. He had carved that necklace for her. The young girl asked why her Gran-Gran had left if she had been engaged. But the teacher didn't know. It had always been a mystery to her as Kana had left without saying goodbye.
The crew stood outside the ship and one of them yelled 'good luck!'. Prince Zuko was still lying in bed, his arms crossed. He was clearly sulking. The door opened and Iroh stuck his head in.
"The crew wanted me to wish you safe travels."
"Good riddance to those traitors."
"It's a lovely night for a walk. Why don't you join me? It would clear your head." The old man cheerfully suggested. However, his smile faded away before his nephew's stubborness and lack of response. "Or, just stay in your room and sit in the dark. Whatever makes you happy." He sighed and left. Humming in the night, Iroh walked along the dock. Behind him, a green parrot-lizard flew by. It was still quite some time before pirates climbed onto the deck. Smiling evily, the barker lowered down some ropes with hooks at end. His comrades on the small skiff below attached barrels to the hooks that were hoisted up. A pirate almost dropped a barrel but recovered it.
"Careful with the blasting jelly!" The barker whispered angrily. However, that same pirate made a much larger noise than intended when opening a latch... And Zuko heard it and bolted upright, alarmed.
"Uncle? Uncle, is that you?" He opened the door and looked out into the corridor. Feeling something was wrong, he frowned and jumped out into the hallway in a fighting stance. Warily, the firebender advanced to the bridge, ready for instant combat around every corner. On the main deck, the pirates lit a trail of gunpowder and then ran off the ship. Zuko was walking around the bridge when he looked out one of the bridge windows to see the pirate captain's green reptile bird. It croaked at him and took off. The boy's eyes widened in fear and realization... only too late. The lit gunpowder reached the barrels of blasting jelly. The bridge deck and main deck exploded, blasting Zuko out the bridge window. Another explosion ripped the vessel completely open mid ship. Iroh, alerted by the noise, turned and, shocked, horrified, saw the explosion in full bloom.
"Zuko!" The old man ran back to the burning ship. He reached the dock, burning debris falling all around him, and could only watch, powerless, grief-stricken, at the massive fireball that his nephew's ship had become. He lowered his face. "Zuko." He whispered.
Night had fallen when Sokka ran up the winding staircase attached to the bridge where Yue was waiting to meet him. He sidled up to her. She looked disturbed. He greeted her and offered something he had carved himself. She mistook the rudely carved object for a bear. The boy corrected her. Actually, that was a fish. He turned it sideways and pointed at the fin. Suddenly, for a reason, unknown to him, she broke down.
"Oh. I'm sorry! I made a mistake. I shouldn't have asked you to come here!" She turned away from him and fled, leaving Sokka stunned and hurt. He threw the carving into the canal in anger and returned to the small house he shared with his friends.
"How's warrior training going?" Katara asked him. In response her brother ragingly kicked his bag on the floor, fell to his knees, and then flopped on the bag, using it as a pillow.
"That bad?" Aang questioned. It was even worse than him.
"No, it's Princess Yue. I don't get it. One minute she wants to go out with me and the next she's telling me to get lost!" He ranted, then paused. "So how's waterbending training?" He turned to his sibling. Katara flopped onto her sleeping bag, depressed, her hood over her head.
"Master Poophead won't teach her because she's a girl." The Avatar explained crossly.
"Why don't you just teach her, Aang?" Sokka suggested. Katara raised her head with a smile.
"Why didn't I think of that?" She stood up. "At night, you can teach me whatever moves you learned from Master Pakku. That way you have someone to practice with and I get to learn waterbending. Everyone's happy!"
"I'm not happy." Her brother contradicted her.
"But you're never happy. Come on, Aang."
"Wait." Chenlian stopped them. "You do realize it'll have very, very, VERY grave consequences if you are found out, right? Pakku would definitely see this as a breach of trust and a sign of utter disrespect and step down from being Aang's teacher. Can you really afford the risk?"
"It'll be fine if we're not found out, right? But before that, tell me how did it go for you?"
"My training's going smoothly... I guess."
"No, no, I wasn't talking about that." The waterbender disagreed.
"Then what?"
"It's that Ryuho." Sokka translated.
"What about him?"
"'What' you say...aren't you-"
"We're just friends. Excellent friends, but still only friends. Nothing more, and nothing less. We can't be anything else." The firebender interrupted. But even though she was speaking so firmly, Katara was not satisfied. She wanted to know why. And Sokka too, despite his aloof attitude. No, right now, he was angry. Chenlian might be saying such things but they couldn't help but feel they were more than that. It was like they were holding back. But in the same time, they felt the truth in her words. They were more than friends, but they couldn't be lovers. However, that was something he could not accept now, because it reminded him of his own situation. And he refused to deny the possibilities as strongly as the firebender did. "Simply because the path we walk is too different. We just aren't made for each other." She explained. Aang kept quiet. It wasn't just that. She had someone else in her heart. In the end, she had chosen that person. And he was almost certain he knew who it was. He just had to remember the night of his rescue by these two from the Pohuai Stronghold for that. It might have been her choice, but would it really bring her happiness? He wasn't so sure. As the silence was settling a bit too heavily, he decided to break it and remind Katara of what she wanted to do. They left together. The other female let them go. She had warned them. Now it was up to them. They needed to learn... a lot of different things...
Sokka and Chenlian remained lying down. The boy had a sour face and the girl her 'tightly-sealed-shut' expression that wouldn't let anything in or out. Momo chittered in between them. They turned to him without a single change in their looks.
Katara and Aang were at the edge of some sort of small plaza that ended with steps that went down into the canal water. Aang raised a whip of water out of the canal and told her that Master Pakku had said this move was all about sinking and floating. He sent the water over to Katara who started to bend it.
"I got it!" She exclaimed, delighted. Suddenly, the water begins to whip around her very fast, then upward.
"That was amazing!" Aang held the sides of his head in excitement.
"That wasn't me." They looked up and Master Pakku was standing on the bridge above them. He had the water Katara had been bending. He froze it and broke it into pieces in a shower of icicles that embedded themselves in the railings of the bridge.
"I- I was just showing Katara a few moves." The Avatar justified himself guiltily.
"You have disrespected me, my teachings, and my entire culture." The old master accused implacably.
"I'm sorry, I-"
"You are no longer welcome as my student." The man declared and walked away, leaving an astonished Aang and Katara. That phrase had fallen upon them like a death sentence. They had heard Chenlian but had not believed it could really come down to this!
It was on the plaza where the feast had been held. Katara, Sokka, Chenlian and Aang were standing in front of the Chief, Princess Yue, Master Pakku, and all the tribe's council who were siting on a dais. Well, to be truthful, the firebender wanted to hurry and resume her training but suspected that if she stayed with them, she would be able to see something really great and epic.
"What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?" Arnook suggested.
"Yes please!"
"I suspect he might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologize to him." He voiced his opinion. The idea was hateful to Katara and it clearly showed. She looked over at Aang and turned back, obviously unhappy. She very reluctantly consented. The master smiled smugly.
"I'm waiting, little girl." He taunted her. Katara's hands balled up instantly to fists at this insult.
"No! No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" As she shouted, cracks opened in the floor beneath her as her waterbending abilities began to get out of control. She ended up by pointing directly at Pakku. At the conclusion of her statement, the massive water pots at either end of the dais exploded. She ignored Aang's timid attempt to calm her down, for both of their sakes, and kept on challenging the master. "I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me!" And with that, she marched away. The princess gasped in shock and the men stiffened and stood frozen. Chenlian was smirking, her arms crossed. That was how things should be done.
"I'm sure she didn't mean that." Aang pointed her thumb back at her with a sheepish look.
"Yeah, I think she did." Sokka disagreed.
"Well then, I guess I'll be waiting with her." The firebender followed after Katara. It was obvious she liked this situation quite a lot.
Iroh and Zhao were having tea opposite each other at a low table. A map of the world was occupying most of the wall behind them.
"I'm devastated to hear about Prince Zuko. Just devastated." The admiral offered his cheesy condolences.
"The Fire Lord will not be pleased when he learns who was responsible."
"You know who was behind the attack?" Zhao frowned suspiciously.
"Yes." He slammed his fist on the table. "Pirates! We had a run in with them awhile back." Pain at his loss and anger at the culprits were mixing on his face. Zhao's frown turned to a smile. "They wanted revenge."
"So, have you reconsidered my offer?" The admiral asked after a sip. Iroh bowed.
"Yes, I accept. It will be an honor to serve as your general." He raised his cup in a toast. "To the Fire Nation!"
"To victory!" Zhao raised his own cup.
"Are you crazy, Katara? You're not gonna win this fight!" Sokka desperately tried to stop his sister.
"I know! I don't care!" She took off her coat and threw it at her sibling, hitting him in the face.
"Chenlian, please stop her!" Sokka begged.
"She isn't fighting to win but to make a point. There are times when women have to fight for it too. Guys wouldn't understand. It's very courageous of her to fight for what she believes is right while knowing that she can't win. And I also completely agree with her reasons. Of course she has my full support." Chenlian answered naturally with a wide grin. The boy cursed the feminine solidarity. Aang decided to try to stop her too using a different approach... but also in vain.
"You don't have to do this for me. I can find another teacher."
"I'm not doing it for you! Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy!" The waterbender kept marching angrily down the stairs. They reached the bottom of the steps as Master Pakku appeared at the top. Katara turned and saw him. "So, you decided to show up?" However, he just walked past her. "Aren't you gonna fight?!"
"Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong." The old man dismissed her contemptuously without even turning back. Insanely angry, Katara drew a water whip out of the ground and lashed Pakku on the back on the neck. He stopped and turned to face her. "Fine. You want to learn to fight so bad, study closely!" Master Pakku grabbed most of the water in the two huge pools on either side of him and bended it around himself. The girl ran at him, but was flung backwards by the water. She stood, now perhaps ten feet from Pakku. He bended the water in a wall around both of them. It spun faster and faster creating a whirlpool. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you!" The old man mocked. The whirlpool constricted. Katara swung her arm, deflecting the wall of water before it could knock her down. The errant wall of water hit Sokka and blew him away. The female waterbender ran at the veteran with a water whip. He raised a ramp of ice in front of her which she slid up and then back flipped off, landing neatly on the guardrail of the citadel steps behind him. Pakku liquefied the ramp and threw it at her. She secured her footing by encasing her feet in her ice, and broke the wave aiming at her, dissipating it.
"You can't knock me down!" She affirmed, very angry and determined. The crowd erupted in cheers behind her. The master raised a sheet of ice between him and the raging girl. Katara liquefied the ice as she reached it and throws several blows at Pakku, one of which nearly hit his face, before he washed her out of his way and into one of the pools with a wave of water. He smiled with satisfaction. She broke the surface of the water and the crowd cheered again. Katara then raised a circular pedestal of ice out of the pool and began to shoot slivers off the top of the pedestal. Pakku broke them as they arrived with swift movements. The last one however narrowly passed to the left side of his face. He could even see his own reflection in the passing disk of ice. With a bewildered and, perhaps, somewhat impressed look on his face, he turned back to Katara who was bending a stream of water around her which she hurled at Pakku, who caught it and began to twirl it around him. The female fighter ran at him again, but he swept her backwards when he released the stream of water. Aang and Sokka were waiting in stunned anticipation for the outcome. Ryuho had joined Chenlian and was standing right behind her. Katara was breathing heavily, her hair dissheveled. She jumped back up in a bending stance, made a motion, and the segmented pillars of ice behind the old man collapsed on him. It disappeared in a cloud of shining snow.
"Well, I'm impressed. You are an excellent waterbender." The master praised her.
"But you still won't teach me, will you?"
"No."
"With a cry of effort, Katara raised water near her feet, froze it, and sent it in a rolling wave along the floor to Pakku, who was lifted up on a pillar of ice when the wave reached him. He liquefied the base of the ice column and started to flow forward on it, like an iceberg riding along a river. Katara had produced her own stream of water and knocked him off his iceberg, but Pakku grabbed Katara's water and froze it in an arc around her with he slid around. As he exited the arc he knocked her down, her necklace falling near her. She was panting, her long dark brown hair now loose around her. The master bended a huge column of water out of one of the pools, made a whirlpool out of it in the air and then froze it into shards he cast down upon her. She was trapped. She struggled in vain against her prison of ice, her hands and arms unable to move.
"This fight is over." Pakku declared.
"Come back here! I'm not finished yet!"
"Yes, you are." But then he stopped in surprise, picking up the fallen necklace. "This is my necklace!" He exclaimed in wonder.
"No it's not, it's mine! Give it back!" Katara yelled back, angry and frustrated.
"I made this sixty years ago for the love of my life." He melted Katara's ice prison, freeing her. "For Kana."
"My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?" She uttered in disbelief.
A Fire Navy base. Ships lined the dock. Iroh walking down a corridor in Zhao's ship. A guard came walking from the opposite direction. They stopped when abreast of each other.
"Our plan is working perfectly. Zhao doesn't suspect a thing." The general whispered.
"You didn't have to do this." Zuko said, concerned about his uncle's standing and safety.
"No nephew of mine is going to stow away on a ship without some backup!" The old man affirmed strongly.
"Thank you, Uncle." The exiled prince was truly grateful. Then they heard a sound.
"Someone's coming!" Iroh warned. Zuko replaced his mask. "Stay hidden until we get to the North Pole and the Avatar will be yours! And if that is your wish, Chenlian too. Good luck!" They separated. Chenlian... did Zuko truly wish that she would be his? And then, in which sense of the word? Those questions had been plaguing him ever since he had left the crumbling Fire Temple on Crescent Island months ago. And the more time passed, the more it would eat him from the inside.
"I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her." Pakku said sadly. He was still holding the necklace.
"But she didn't love you, did she? It was an arranged marriage." Katara asserted. At this pronouncement, the Princess' eyes watered. The waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe approached the aged master and continued. "Gran-Gran wouldn't let your tribe's stupid customs run her life. That's why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage." At this Yue began to cry openly and ran away. The Avatar, Chenlian, Ryuho, Chief Arnook, and Sokka watched her. Aang told Sokka to go get her.
Sokka ran after her. Yue was standing alone on the same bridge as before, tears streaming down her beautiful and sorrowful face. She heard footsteps approaching.
"What do you want from me?"
"Nothing. I just want you to know, I think you're beautiful and, I never thought a girl like you would even notice a guy like me."
"You don't understand."
"No, no, see, that's the thing. I think I do understand now. You're a princess, and I I'm just a southern peasant." The boy stated softly and dismally. He had given up, but he just had to convey his feelings.
"No, Sokka-"
"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I'll see ya around, okay?" He turned to leave when she suddenly grabbed him, and her left arm hugging his right arm, her right hand on the side of his face, she kissed him, her soft lips pressed firmly against his. His blue eyes widened in surprise for a second before he closed them. After a time, she let go and stepped back a little. "Okay, now I'm really confused! Happy, but confused!" He held her hand in both of his.
"I do like you! A lot. But, we can't be together... and not for the reason you think. It's because..." She pulled down the collar of her coat to reveal a necklace similar to Katara's. "I'm engaged. I'm sorry!" She fled. Sokka hung his head.
The next morning, the aftermaths of the battle between Katara and Pakku were still visible. Near the steps, several students, including Aang, were standing before Master Pakku. The monk was waterbending around a ball of water. He threw it away after a few motions.
"Not bad! Not bad! Heheh! Keep practicing and maybe you'll get it by the time you're my age!" The master commented sarcastically. The boy looked momentarily unhappy, but then turned with a smile at the sound of footsteps behind him.
"Hey Katara!" He yelled out joyously. She slumped slightly, her hands on her knees, tired after her running.
"What do you think you're doing? It's past sunrise." Pakku began icily before smiling and taking his stance. "You're late."
"Good to see ya here." Aang rejoiced.
"You too." Katara smiled back as both took the same stance and started practicing along with the other students.
On the upper decks of Zhao's ship... The admiral and general were standing on the outside walkway around the bridge.
"My fleet is ready. Set a course for the Northern Water Tribe." Zhao ordered. The ship started moving, spiting flames and fumes from its chimney. And behind it, dozens upon dozens of Fire Navy ships also fired up their engines in preparation to launch the final assault on the Northern Water Tribe...