Chapter 23 - The Lion's Paw

Zuko circled the skies as he vigilantly kept watch of the two retreating Fire Nation ships, ensuring that they were not going to try and double back for another attack. The fact that the large bird he was riding upon continued to spark the occasional brilliant lightning blast that cut through the darken clouds didn't hurt in deterring the Fire Nation sailors from finding their courage to regroup. Once Zuko was certain that the Fire Nation ships were in full withdrawal, he leaned towards the Chameleon Bay beachhead as his mount swooped down and landed near the amassed Water Tribe warriors who were gathering on the shore.

Dismounting, Zuko was more than a little worried that the large bird might start attacking the Water Warriors unprovoked. However, the bird appeared completely disinterested in the Water Tribe warriors on the beach despite their clear apprehension towards the creature. The bird seemed completely satisfied with simply nestling and lounging upon the warm sand without concern.

Nevertheless, Zuko tried to communicate with his new feathered companion, "I'm going to go check on my friends. I'll be back soon. Umm... Please don't cause problems? ...Okay?" The bird nuzzled its beak against the Fire Prince affectionately, which the firebender inferred as the best indication he was going to get that the bird understood him.

The Fire Prince made it about two steps before he was suddenly full-bodied tackled by a pretty, blue eyed waterbender. To Zuko's credit, he was starting to get used to these surprise tackles as he caught the Water Tribe girl in his arms, spinning along with the momentum of the impact as he swung her around once before returning the warm bear hug.

"You're late," Katara whispered as she held onto him tightly.

"You know me, always have to make an entrance," Zuko joked as the hug ended.

"What is that thing?!" shouted Sokka as he pushed his way to the forefront of the warriors assembled on the beachhead.

The bird didn't seem to appreciate being called a 'thing' as it flapped its wings heavily to generate a small gust that knocked the Water Tribe boy to the ground unceremoniously. Sokka crawled back to his feet, spluttering out sand from his mouth.

Chuckling at the sight of his new feathered companion humbling the Water Tribe boy, Zuko was starting to like this bird more and more. Looking back at Katara, he smiled as he said, "It followed me home. Can I keep it?"

Katara didn't answer him right away. Zuko found himself getting a little fidgety at her silence. It had only been a slight joke. Maybe he didn't say it right?

The Water Tribe girl continued to stare as him as she finally stated, "You called this place home."

Now it was Zuko's turn to pause as he reflected on his own words. He had, hadn't he? The words had flowed so easily from him without him even realizing it. "I... ah... I mean..." stuttered the Fire Prince as he failed to find the right words. Coughing into his hand to focus, Zuko attempted to recover. "This camp isn't so bad. It's the closest thing I've had to a home in a long time. And you're here too, so of course it feels like a home."

Zuko's eyes grew wide as he realized that his ramblings were revealing more than he intended again. If the look of surprise on the Water Tribe girl's face was any indication, then she was just as astonished at the Fire Prince's unexpected honesty.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, depending on the perspective, Bato chose that moment to speak up as he approached the large bird in amazement. "That's a thunderbird, isn't it? All that lightning and those thunderclouds that appeared from the once clear sky, those were kind of a dead give-away."

Bato continued to study the thunderbird in front of him as he got more contemplative. "But that can't be right. Thunderbirds are supposed to be extinct. No one has seen a thunderbird in over three centuries." At the Water Chieftain's curious look, his executive officer asked, "What?"

"How do you know any of that?" pressed Hakoda.

"I had a lot of free time when I was convalescing at that abbey from all those burns. You all left me there for over a month. Wasn't much else to do but read all those old books the nuns had in their library. What? Are you surprised that I know a thing or two?"

Hakoda shook his head as he smirked mischievously. "No. I'm surprised that you can read."

Bato punched his Water Chieftain in the arm playfully. Actually, Bato was probably the only one of the Water Tribe warriors who could get away with doing that or even consider punching his Water Chieftain in the first place, good-naturedly or not. "Anyway, this bird looks like the pictures from one of the books I read. Except the feathers are a different color."

At this comment, the thunderbird bristled as the golden brown feathers across its body shifted hues and changed to a light blue to a pure white then to a shiny silver before finally settling back on their original golden brown color. The crowd of warriors on the beach marveled in awe both at the demonstration and at the impression that the thunderbird seemed to understand Bato's words. "Or... it could just do that," muttered Bato in astonishment. "The book didn't mention anything about a thunderbird being able to change the hue of its feathers."

"So you're a thunderbird," stated Zuko softly as he stroked the bird's wingtip feathers. "It's a little on the nose, but title suits you." The thunderbird spread out its feathers and squawked loudly in acknowledgement. Most of the Water Tribesmen took a step back in uncertainty. The large bird lowered one of its wings once more as if beckoning Zuko to climb onto its back again. The Fire Prince understood the unspoken invitation. "You want to fly some more, don't you?" As the firebender climbed onto the thunderbird, he paused. Then, Zuko reached back and offered his hand to Katara.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," protested Sokka immediately.

"I actually agree with your Brother on this one," added Hakoda firmly. He was thankful for the Fire Prince and the thunderbird's intervention to prevent the Water Tribe warriors from being overwhelmed by the Fire Nation ambush, but the Water Chieftain wasn't sure about allowing his Daughter to go flying around on the back of a large unknown bird with no saddle. Either one of them could fall at any point during a joyride flight.

Katara didn't hear either her Father's or her Brother's protests. The only sound in her ears was her own heartbeat as the Water Tribe girl stared into the confident golden eyes and serene smile of the Fire Prince in front of her. Taking Zuko's hand, Katara joined him on top of the thunderbird. Wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, she nodded that she was ready.

"Alright, nice and easy," instructed Zuko as their feathery friend flapped its wings and launched them all skyward with tremendous force as both firebender and waterbender cried out with a whoop of exhilaration at the take-off.

Hakoda sighed as he watched them disappear into the clouds above. "Bato, go find the quartermaster and leatherworkers. We'll need to make some modifications to that new saddle they were crafting for the Avatar's sky bison. We'll give it to the Fire Prince's thunderbird."

"You're giving Zuko Appa's new saddle? But we've been working on that for the last week," objected Sokka.

"And that thunderbird is going to need it sooner," assessed Hakoda. "I'm not going to risk Katara falling because there isn't a saddle. Aang's still recovering and Appa's not going anywhere. We'll make another new one for him."

Sokka continued to grumble in annoyance as he turned to look back up at the skies. No matter how hard he strained his eyes, he couldn't find the thunderbird up in the clouds.

The Water Tribe boy was so entirely focused on attempting to find the waterbender and firebender in the skies with his spyglass that Sokka didn't notice another canoe of Water Tribe warriors returning to the beach from the Fire Nation ship that they had captured.

These new warriors whispered something to their Water Chieftain, whose face rapidly grew concerned. Hakoda gestured to his senior warriors to head to war room along with the warriors who made the new report. There was an urgent matter to discuss.


Katara let out a whoop of unparalleled excitement as the thunderbird reached the crest of its ascending climb and fell backwards into a freefall for a couple of seconds before swooping into a recovery and throwing a couple of somersaults into the mix. This was nothing like riding on Appa. If the sky bison was like riding on a comfortable and lumbering cart on the road, then the thunderbird was equivalent to when Biscuit was in a full gallop.

The Water Tribe girl listened to the enthusiastic hollers of the firebender as she smiled at the joy on his face. It had taken awhile, but he was finally becoming less and less reserved. Or perhaps, he was ultimately returning to how he had been prior to his exile, his scar, and everything that had complicated the Fire Prince's life.

Katara certainty felt that way herself. Not even an hour ago, she had been struggling to keep a grip on her fears and anxieties. To keep those shadows and nightmares at bay. Struggling to put on a brave face around all the death and chaos that followed the brutal, hand-to-hand fighting onboard the Fire Nation vessel.

Then, almost effortlessly, Zuko made her forget all about that. With a warm smile and an unexpected joy flight. Up here, right now, in the clouds, Katara felt the excitement she once had from back when she had dreamt of exploring the world as a child stuck growing up in the South Pole.

A couple more aerobatics and Zuko maneuvered the thunderbird down towards a ridge overlooking Chameleon Bay. Landing, he helped the waterbender down as the bird shook itself, adjusting to the change of weight on its back. Then, as it looked up into the sky, the bird took off again. As the thunderbird flew high into the darkening clouds above, the firebender and waterbender observed the shadow of the thunderbird in the hazy fog as flashes of lightning sparked every so often.

"I guess that bird really likes lightning," surmised Zuko after a moment.

Nodding, Katara mused, "That, or maybe it's eating the lightning?"

Zuko sighed. "I doubt I could be that lucky. I bet that bird eats a lot. Going to have to make sure I've got enough to feed her."

"Her?" asked Katara with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, or at least I think so," replied the Fire Prince simply.

"How can you tell?" asked the Water Tribe girl curiously.

"The tail feathers for one," replied Zuko matter-of-factly. "Usually male birds have tail feathers that are curled upwards. That thunderbird did not. Second is the loud squawking. Female birds tend to be louder in volume than males," he explained. At Katara's skeptical look, the Fire Prince elaborated quickly, "I didn't make that up! My Mother told me that long ago. We used to go turtle duck watching all the time back when I was younger."

The waterbender laughed as she looped her arm around his and drew herself closer to the Fire Prince's side under the setting evening sun. "That sounds nice," stated Katara as she leaned against Zuko, both of them looking out across the cliffside that overlooked Chameleon Bay.

"It was a little less nice when a mama turtle duck snapped at my fingers and chased me around for a bit," grumbled Zuko softly.

"What did you do?" laughed Katara.

"Who says I did anything?" returned the Fire Prince. At the Water Tribe girl's doubtful stare, Zuko confessed, "I tried to copy Azula and threw bread at the mama turtle duck's ducklings instead of just in front of them."

"So you deserved it," scolded the waterbender lightly.

"Yeah, I did..." relented the firebender as the conversation seemed to come to an end.

They stood like that for a while, in content silence as they watched the sun finish retreating under the water, both the sky and sea transforming from a prism of red, orange, and yellow hues to more muted tones of dark purple and blue. The changing colors reminded the Fire Prince of the gift he had for the waterbender.

Reaching into his tunic, Zuko pulled out a tiny bouquet of pale white flowers that glimmered under the moonlight. "I have something for you," he said with a slight blush.

Katara blinked at the flower blossoms. "You're just full of surprises this evening, aren't you?" She accepted his gift as she brought up the petals to smell them. Hints of vanilla and mountain air. Taking one of the flowers, she tied it into her hair, near the right side of her forehead, just above the ear. "How do I look?"

"Picturesque," the Fire Prince answered. She really did, standing there under the moonlight on the ridge overlooking the bay. The blush on his face intensified. "We should head back. Your Brother probably thinks I kidnapped you again."

"You know, he might be right," replied Katara impishly.

Studying the cliffside, the Fire Prince started to say, "Okay, well, I think we can walk down that... wait, what?" Zuko barely registered what he had just heard from the Water Tribe girl when Katara pulled him in for a kiss under the rising moon in the distance.

After a passionate embrace, they separated briefly as they caught their breath once more. The waterbender whispered, "You talk too much sometimes."

Coyly, as he regained his ability to talk, Zuko answered, "I've got a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" teased Katara.

He pulled the waterbender in close again. "Nothing as important as this," Zuko replied as he initiated the kiss this time.


Katara and Zuko returned to the encampment around the same time as Toph and Jin were arriving on top of Biscuit. Jumping down from the ostrich horse once Jin said that they were back, Toph stretched as she felt the earth underneath her toes. "Ostrich horses aren't too bad. I think I like them better than sky bison. Closer to the ground."

The little earthbender paused as she felt familiar vibrations approaching. Toph smirked. "Oh, I see now, Sparky. You just couldn't bare to be apart from your sweetheart for an afternoon," she teased.

The waterbender walked in front of the firebender before he could get a word out. "It's fortunate that he arrived when he did!" snapped back Katara, her frustration with the little earthbender rushing back at the sight of the girl. "We were under attack by three Fire Nation ships! And none of you were here to help us because you decided to take Zuko and Jin out on a field trip without telling anyone where you were going! Do you realize how irresponsible that was?!"

Toph raised an open palm to silence the fuming waterbender while sporting a scowl herself. "Hold up there Sugar Queen. Let's get some things perfectly straight here. I don't answer to you. Or anybody for that matter. I'm here to teach Aang earthbending and he's currently taking a long nap. And what's this about an attack? The beach feels fine to me."

"That's because Zuko took care of two of the ships after we boarded and seized the first one!" countered Katara.

"Sounds to me like everything's alright now. So what's the problem?" retorted Toph.

"The problem?!" Toph's indifference was really starting to get under Katara's skin. "Besides the fact that Aang and all of us were in serious danger, the problem is that your recklessness pulled three of our strongest fighters away from the fight before it even started!" returned the waterbender.

"Yeah? Well, because of me, those three benders just became even stronger!" argued back Toph in defiance. The Water Tribe girl and the little earthbender were glaring at each other, arms crossed, just a couple of inches away from one another.

Then, breaking the stalemate, Toph spoke up again. "So you can get off your high horse, your Majesty, because..." Toph grabbed Jin and pulled the Earth Kingdom girl closer to her, grinning victoriously. "We can stop lightning now! And Zuko can even return it to sender."

"That's beside the point! We were in trouble now! So what if you..." Katara stopped in the middle of her rant just as she was about to start scolding the little earthbender again. The contents of Toph's words began to reach her. "Wait... You did what?"

Jin agreed with her teacher. "It's true Katara. I can bend metal now. And Toph figured out how to use metalbending to attract and pull lightning away from striking people. Actually, Toph even gave credit to Sokka for coming up with the idea."

Katara wheeled on Zuko. "And you just forgot to mention that you can redirect lightning now?!"

Having the decency to look a little guilty, Zuko added sheepishly. "I was getting around to it. But between that surprise attack with the ships and the thunderbird flying around and up on the ridge with you... I just kinda forgot."

"You forgot... that you redirected lightning?" asked Katara skeptically.

"You were... very distracting..." Zuko muttered somewhat quietly.

Apparently not that quietly though as a blush rushed to Katara's face. Both Jin and Toph looked at each and then at the Water Tribe girl as wide, toothy smiles crossed each of their faces. They looped their arms around the Water Tribe girl's arms. "Oh? You're going to need to tell us all about how... distracting you were," smirked Jin as they dragged an increasingly embarrassed waterbender back to towards their tent.

Zuko suddenly found himself alone with a tired looking Biscuit. Taking the reins, he petted the ostrich horse. "I probably don't want to know what just happened, do I girl?" Biscuit neighed and kicked with her feet in place. "Alright, alright, let's get you fed. You've been running around all day."

Taking the ostrich horse to the make-shift stables, Zuko filled a couple of troughs with water, hay, and some oats. Taking a brush, he started to brush Biscuit's coat. It was a bit of ostrich horse maintenance that he had learned while on the ranch, and the simple motions were soothing for the firebender as well as he groomed the ostrich horse that he had come to care for over the course of his journey. "We've come a long way. And we still have far to go."

"Feel free to leave anytime," chided Sokka as he entered the stables.

Zuko didn't pause in his brushing of Biscuit. In fact, he didn't even look over his shoulder, not wanting to give the Water Tribe boy the satisfaction of somehow managing to sneak up on the firebender. The Fire Prince really must have been more distracted or perhaps tired than he had realized. Zuko kept his voice even as he asked, "What do you want?"

When the Water Tribe boy didn't answer, the Fire Prince finally paused and looked up from his task. Zuko raised an eyebrow at the range of emotions running across Sokka's face. "Alright, now I'm curious. You usually don't work off more than one gut feeling at a time."

Sending the firebender a scowl, Sokka sighed as he settled on what he wanted to say. "I wanted... to say thank you," the Water Tribe boy eventually spat out. Sokka seemed to fight with himself to get the words out properly.

The brush quite nearly dropped out of Zuko's hand and Biscuit protested the interruption to her brushing. Getting a better grip on the horse hair brush, the firebender composed himself once more. "Really, you're thanking me for something?"

"Don't get used to it," countered Sokka instantly. "But... it's only right. We were in a bad spot. If you didn't arrive when you did and stopped those extra Fire Nation ships from attacking us, then we would have lost a lot of warriors. I might have lost my Dad and Sister again."

Zuko bristled at the thought. "Nothing bad is going to happen to Katara while I'm around. You can trust me on that, even if you trust me on nothing else."

Sokka studied the Fire Prince oddly. "Why are you so attached to her? When we first met you, it was all 'Avatar! You will be mine!' and 'I want my honor!' And now you haven't even stepped foot into the tent where we're protecting Aang. You haven't even asked us to show you where we're keeping him."

"How do you know I haven't?" Zuko mused out loud.

Sokka crossed his arms. "Because I've been keeping an eye on you."

Zuko had no illusions about that. The Water Tribe boy generally functioned as the firebender's shadow for the first several days that the Fire Prince had been in the Water Tribe camp. And Sokka was right actually. Zuko knew that Aang was still recovering, and until the airbender did, then there wasn't really a reason to seek the Avatar out. And more than that, Aang didn't really hold any importance for Zuko anymore. Katara had taken that particular honor.

Still, while Sokka may have been keeping an eye on Zuko, the Water Tribe boy was clearly woefully inept with his observation duty and definitely didn't know everything that Zuko had been up to. If Sokka had known that Zuko had just been making-out with Katara just a short while ago up on the cliffside, then this conversation would probably be going a whole lot differently right now.

Focusing back on the other point, Zuko hadn't been to see Aang yet, either officially or by sneaking in. The firebender didn't exactly know what he could say to someone who he had been hunting for so long and now was in a coma because of his Sister's attacks. What do you say to someone like that?

Bouncing back to Sokka's first question, Zuko answered, "Katara challenged me, like no one ever had before." When Sokka looked at the Fire Prince oddly, Zuko clarified, "I'm not talking about fighting, though she is strong in a fight too. But Katara made me question everything I ever thought I knew. About the world, my ambitions, myself. I tried to push her away at first, but she just kept reaching out."

"You saved Katara from the prison rig and from becoming a slave. Which is something else that I hate that I'm indebted to you for, and I thank you for saving her, but I need to know. Why did you do it?" pressed Sokka.

"I couldn't leave her there, up on that dock, dressed in rags, half-starved, and about to be sold off to some slave master." The firebender watched as Sokka's face darkened as he heard about the state of his Sister when Zuko had found her. "Even I knew that it was the right thing to do," added the Fire Prince.

Sokka looked to be in deep thought. Figuring that it might take awhile for the Water Tribe boy to reach a conclusion, Zuko finished up with getting Biscuit settled into the stables for the night.

Walking up to the front of the animal stalls and placing a hand on Sokka's shoulder as he walked by, Zuko stated, "Don't be so conflicted. You don't owe me anything for saving your Sister. I've made plenty of bad choices, but now, I want to make the right ones. And I'm going to need people to tell me when I'm making mistakes. I didn't have that before and we all saw how that went."

Sokka pushed Zuko's hand off of his shoulder. "Whoa there! We're not just going to be all buddy-buddy all of a sudden. We'll have to see if you're worthy of being an acquaintance of the mighty Sokka."

"Of course, what was I thinking?" replied Zuko as he rolled his eyes.

Whatever clever thing that Sokka was about to say was lost as his next couple of words rapidly transformed into a high pitched yelp when the thunderbird returned, landing heavily next to the two boys. From the bird's talons, several freshly hunted rabbits were deposited directly in front of Zuko. The Fire Prince blinked at the unexpected bounty. "Umm... thanks?" he managed as the firebender picked up one of the rabbits.

The thunderbird squawked happily as it picked up its own rabbit from the pile and tossed the meaty snack into the air casually before chomping down with its pointed beak and shallowing the small animal whole. Sokka tiptoed behind Zuko. "And... I'm just going to stand waaaayyy over here. It's never a good idea to interrupt an animal when it's eating."

"I'll keep that in mind next time I'm eating near you," teased Toph as the trio of girls arrived at the stables. "Though, I'm probably still going to interrupt you whenever I feel like it anyway."

"Hey!" complained Sokka, slightly offended.

While Toph and Sokka started to toss friendly insults at one another and Katara tried to calm them down, Jin walked up next to Zuko as she nudged him in the side with her elbow shrewdly. "You have no idea what that flower you gave Katara means do you?" she whispered lowly to him.

Suddenly uneasy, Zuko figured he messed up somehow. "It's not something bad is it?"

Jin sighed as she shook her head. "I figured you didn't. It's known as a Lion's Paw here in the Earth Kingdom. For people from the Earth Kingdom, a Lion's Paw symbolizes deep love and devotion. That's because you have to be very brave to reach the tops of hazardous mountain peaks since it only grows and blooms at high altitudes. It's a very romantic gesture for any Earth Kingdom girl to receive even a single flower because of how difficult and rare Lion's Paws are to find. And you picked Katara a whole bouquet."

Zuko went completely rigid. He hadn't realized. Back at the Thunder Plateau, there was an entire grove of the white flowers. So, he hadn't thought much about how rare they might be.

Jin had to fight back a laugh at how amusing it was to watch the range of panicked emotions play out across the Fire Prince's face. It was astonishing actually, just how often Zuko seemed to stumble into these kinds of situations.

Finally taking pity on her friend, Jin assured him, "Relax, Katara just thinks that they are pretty flowers, which judging by your reaction, I bet you did too. I only told her that they were called Lion's Paws." As the Fire Prince calmed down, Jin added, "How do you do it by the way? Do you practice being romantic? Or does it just come naturally to you? Katara told me about the paopu fruit you two shared as well."

Zuko blinked. "The what?"

Shaking her head again, Jin simply said, "Never mind." It seemed a little unfair to her. Jin had spent much of her early teen years learning about nearly every single romantic gift, gesture, tale, meaning, and symbol in the Earth Kingdom. She had wanted to experience as many of them as she could for herself one day with a special someone. However, here Zuko and Katara were, bumbling their way into Jin's top two favorites through sheer, dumb luck. But seeing their cute reactions, the Earth Kingdom girl was also having a difficult time faulting her friends.

Deciding to change the topic that she herself had brought up, Jin motioned to the thunderbird and spoke at normal volume again. "Have you named your bird yet?"

Hearing Jin's question, each of the other members of their group ceased their bantering and turned towards Zuko, who shook his head in the negative. "Not yet." He paused to think for a moment. "How about Lightning?"

"How about I just call you Firebender?" grumbled Sokka. He ignored Toph's comment that Sokka had, on many occasions, just called Zuko 'that firebender'. "You have no creativity. A creature as impressive as this needs an impressive name. Something like, Ace or Talon or, I know! How about Hawky!"

"It's not a hawk you dumb-dumb. And those names of yours weren't any more creative than Zuko's," rejected Katara. "I like the names Astra or Nova."

"Too fancy," dismissed Toph. "That bird needs something with more punch! Like Captain Boom-Boom-Pow!"

As Katara, Sokka, and Toph resumed their argument, this time over animal names, Zuko noticed that Jin seemed to be reflecting on something. "You have an idea?" he asked.

"Maybe," replied Jin as she continued to assess. "That flower you got for Katara. Well, it's common name in the Earth Kingdom is Lion's Paw, but lots of florists and other experts refer to it as the Edelweiss flower, taken from 'Edel' meaning noble and 'Weiss' meaning white. Those are old words from a long, forgotten language. You picked the flower up on that Thunder Plateau, didn't you? Where we found the thunderbird."

Nodding, Zuko considered the suggestion. He liked it. Turning to the thunderbird, who was still merrily eating a delicious rabbit dinner nearby, the firebender stated, "Edel." The thunderbird paused while eating her dinner and looked over at the Fire Prince. "That's your name, Edel," proclaimed Zuko. "Do you like it?" At the attention the thunderbird received, she nuzzled her beak warmly against the firebender. "I'll take that as a yes," concluded Zuko, satisfied with the response.

Each of the other members of their group seemed to like the name, except for Sokka. He still thought that the thunderbird's name should be Hawky, but he was outvoted. 'Fine, I'll just save that name for my own bird later,' the Water Tribe boy justified to himself.

With the matter of naming the thunderbird settled, the team began to get supper ready. Zuko proceeded to get the campfire going while Toph, Katara, and Jin went to fetch some additional foodstuffs and a pot to cook a stew.

Sokka took it upon himself to start skinning the rabbits. Or at least he attempted too. Hakoda and the other warriors had left the South Pole before Sokka had come-of-age to begin his hunter training. And Gran-Gran would usually be the one to skin the small animals the older women would catch in the South Pole with hunting traps.

As a proud man, Sokka couldn't bring himself to ask his Gran-Gran to show him how to skin wild game or build hunting traps. That wouldn't be very manly. Which is why as a child, Sokka had taken it upon himself to train himself on how to construct his own hunting traps and prepare his own wild game. Not that Sokka usually caught any small game with his flimsy traps or clumsy spear throws.

Despite his best efforts to teach himself, Sokka knew he wasn't a very good hunter. He had wanted to be the very best warrior and hunter he could possibly be in order to impress his Dad and the other warriors before he met up with them again. And now that he had, he couldn't ask them for help either, because that would reveal that he didn't know anything. That would be even more embarrassing.

So when the girls returned to the campfire with the rest of the supplies to cook a stew, they found Sokka struggling to pull the skin off the first rabbit he had started working on several minutes ago. Zuko had offered to help at some point, but the Water Warrior had took the Fire Prince that he had it covered and to not interfere. Which left the firebender to casually tend to the fire with a stick.

Jin took one look at Sokka's mediocre attempt to pull the skin off of the rabbit and shook her head. "That's not how you skin a rabbit," she stated bluntly.

"I know how to skin a rabbit," asserted Sokka firmly.

Jin set the pot she was holding down. "Not by the looks of it."

Sokka ignored the Earth Kingdom girl as she walked up to the pile of rabbits that Edel had brought and picked one up.

Kneeling down, Jin picked up a knife from the cooking tools the girls had carried over and made a small, accurate cut on the back of the dead rabbit. With that, Jin set the knife aside as she held the upper end of the rabbit steady and swiftly pulled the bottom half of rabbit skin from the wild game. With a twist of her hands, she broke the rabbit's head and then repeated the process to pull the upper half of rabbit skin away. The whole process was done in a couple of seconds.

As Jin placed the freshly skinned rabbit on a cutting board and started to cut off chunks of rabbit meat to go in the stew pot, the Earth Kingdom girl simply said, "Grow up on a ranch with a bunch of ranchers, and you learn the proper way to handle wild game."

"I could of done that," muttered Sokka, feeling dejected at getting shown up by a girl again. It was just like when he had gotten shown up in that mock fight against Suki on Kyoshi Island. Sokka squashed that particular thought immediately. He didn't want to think about that right now. Especially not after what Azula had told him had happened to the Kyoshi Warrior when Sokka had fought the Fire Princess alongside Aang and Toph to escape Ba Sing Se.

"Yeah, but you didn't. And I'm getting hungry, so just let Jin do it," retorted Toph as she dropped the foodstuffs she had been carrying onto the dusty ground only to get scolded by Katara. The waterbender grumbled as she had to rinse off the dirt from the vegetables before putting them in the cooking pot.

Sokka redoubled his efforts to finish skinning his rabbit and eventually completed the task, after Jin had prepared two more rabbits for the pot. The Water Warrior sulked off to the side as rest of dinner was cooked in the stew pot.

The rabbit stew with fresh vegetables had been a hearty meal that left the team content after the exciting day they had. When they had started to retire to their tents, Zuko noticed Edel following behind him. He paused and tried to get the large bird to stay near the stables, but Edel didn't seem to want to be alone for the evening.

Sighing, mostly because he was tired and didn't have the energy to attempt to train the thunderbird that his tent was in no way large enough to house the gigantic bird, Zuko just grabbed a pillow and a blanket as he returned with his feathered friend to the stables tent area. Finding a comfortable spot, he made his usual improvised bed and drifted off to sleep as Edel curled up near him.


Katara woke up to the sound of her tent flap being thrown open. "Zuko had better not be in here!" growled her overprotective Brother as he charged in with his boomerang in hand.

To be honest, Katara had been missing the warmth of resting next to her firebender. However, she hadn't slept next to Zuko since before they reached Ba Sing Se. But that wasn't the point! How dare Sokka just barge right into her tent without permission! The waterbender promptly struck the hapless warrior with a blast of water from her waterskin as Sokka flew back of the tent.

The Water Tribe girl made her way outside her tent herself as Sokka was standing back up while wringing out his tunic shirt of excess water and grumbling about cranky waterbenders. What Katara didn't expect was the fact that it was still nighttime outside. The moon was low on the horizon, but the sun had not risen yet. "I wouldn't be so cranky if you hadn't woke me up before the morning light," Katara scolded as she crossed her arms.

"I'm just glad that Zuko wasn't in your tent with you," returned her Brother as he finished drying off the best he could. Then, Sokka attempted to look around his Sister back into the tent. "He's not, right?"

"What makes you think he would be?" returned Katara defensively. She may have enjoyed sleeping near the firebender, but they had both realized that it would probably be more troublesome than it was worth to explain to her family how they had grown accustomed to sleeping next to one another on the road while traveling together.

"Well, he's not in his tent," huffed Sokka as he concluded that Zuko was indeed not around.

"And you were poking around his tent again... why?" the waterbender asked, starting to get a little annoyed.

"Because I seem to be the only one around here that remembers that Zuko used to hunt Aang. I like to know where he is just to make sure that he's not trying to take my friend away again. Oh, he may seem like a good guy right now, but he'll slip up eventually and I'll be right there with an 'I told ya so!' Just mark my words, you'll see," the Water Tribe boy explained.

Katara shook her head dismissively. "For the hundredth time, Sokka. Zuko's not going to take Aang anywhere." This argument was getting beyond repetitive.

"I'll just feel a whole lot better once Aang is awake and can add his take on this whole Zuko-is-nice-now situation. If Aang can forgive Zuko for chasing us around, then maybe I can too," sighed Sokka.

Her Brother always had been overprotective of her, their village, and their friends. Katara knew Sokka was doing what he thought was right, but it was just so grating how bullheaded he could be. Still, the waterbender resolved to aid her Brother in his search instead of going back to bed. "I'll help you find Zuko. If only to prove my point. He might be at the stables. Have you checked there? He might have wanted to ensure that Edel was comfortable for her first night amongst all these people."

As the two Water Tribe siblings made their way to the stables, they started to hear the sounds of arguing between several people.

"You need to tell them. They have a right to know!" Katara recognized that voice as belonging to Zuko.

"I will. But after you depart with Bato and the others to get our people out of danger!" The Water Tribe siblings looked at each other. That second voice was definitely their Dad. "I'm not going to send my children into the dragon's claws when I can't be there to help them."

"But you're perfectly fine with sending me," retorted Zuko's voice.

"Not really," answered the Hakoda voice. "I don't want to send you either. But the only way anyone has a chance of making it in time to make a difference is on top of that thunderbird. And I don't believe it will allow anyone on its back without you there as well."

Before the Fire Prince could argue further, both Katara and Sokka rushed around the corner of the stables as Zuko, Hakoda, Bato, Chinook, and a couple of other senior members appeared surprised to see the two siblings appear in front of them.

Zuko was standing next to Edel with his arms crossed as he stood his ground defiantly. Interestingly enough, Edel had been outfitted with a large leather saddle. Four angled seats adorned the saddle; one at the top of Edel's body, just below the neck. The other three were empty as two of the seats resided side by side in the middle and the last turned opposite from the rest and was facing the backside of the thunderbird. Each of the seats appeared to have a pair of leather straps to allow the rider to tie themselves down into the seat to prevent them from falling out.

"What's going on?!" demanded Katara as she saw the travel bag Zuko had slung around his shoulders and the map tucked in to his belt. He was wearing a heavy Water Tribe coat.

The Fire Prince looked frustrated at being caught in the situation he was plainly in the center of. "Katara, there's something going on at..." Zuko started as Hakoda cut the firebender off.

"What are you two doing awake?" the Water Chieftain demanded more than asked.

"Checking on a friend," replied the waterbender swiftly. "And clearly it was a good thing that we did! What are you all doing?!"

Hakoda and his Daughter glared at one another for a couple of moments as everyone in the area felt the tension in the air and more than one of them shifted uncomfortably. Katara really was her Father's Daughter if she was able to intimidate others with her presence just the same as the Water Chieftain. The two of them together, glaring daggers at the other, both seemingly upset; it was almost like everyone saw the images of two wolves over their heads, one grizzled and battle-tested and the other young and fierce, but both snarling while baring their fangs at the other.

No one dared to speak at the heavy atmosphere between Father and Daughter challenging each other. But the issue was indeed time-sensitive and Hakoda knew this argument was wasting time. With that, the Water Chieftain relented. "You're too much like your Mother sometimes. She was really perceptive too."

Instead, Hakoda clenched his fists as he told the truth. "The Southern Raiders are about to attack the South Pole again, for the first time in years."

"What?!" shouted Sokka in anger. "How long do we have?" His mind was already racing as he attempted to think of additional ideas on how to travel such a distance in so short a time.

"Gran-Gran's down there!" shouted Katara as she heard the news. "And everyone from the Tribe. They're defenseless."

"We don't know when exactly," replied Hakoda. "The enemy clearly didn't expect us to seize that Fire Nation ship. There was a treasure trove of undestroyed reports and messages littering the communications room. I still have men combing through the information. But one of the newest reports stated that several frigates and a battleship had recently been dispatched to the South Pole. The orders came from Princess Azula herself. And we won't be able to get there in time to stop them."

"Are we sure that the message isn't another trap?" demanded Sokka. "They could be trying to lure us into another ambush."

"Do you really think that it matters if it's a trap or not?" returned Hakoda. "Do you really think our remaining families in the South Pole can face the Southern Raiders again?"

Sokka grimaced. He should have realized that. It didn't matter if it was a trap or not. They couldn't just do nothing.

Katara spoke up again as she looked at the geared up firebender then back at her Father. "And you were just going to what? Send Zuko out there to fight them all alone? Without letting us know?! Are you serious right now?!"

"Of course not," countered Hakoda. "The plan isn't to face the Southern Raiders. It's to get our people out of harm's way. Bato, Chinook, and Piq were going to accompany Zuko as they got our people to pack up and leave."

She looked up at Zuko, hurt in her eyes. "And you were just going to go along with this?"

Zuko defended himself immediately. "No! I was telling Hakoda that you and Sokka needed to know what was going on."

The Water Tribe girl was still a little uncertain. "Are you sure? Because you're wearing a heavy Water Tribe coat and you're looking very geared up to travel."

"I mean, of course I was going to go," replied Zuko. "Your Gran-Gran is down there, right?"

The Water Tribe girl seemed to accept that response as she nodded. "Alright. Then let's go."

"I'm coming too!" joined in Sokka, his hand raised high like he was volunteering for a project. When Katara and Zuko looked at the Water Tribe boy in surprise, Sokka added, "It's my home too."

"No," shut down Hakoda firmly. "I've already selected three of our strongest warriors to accompany Prince Zuko to rescue our people. You two are staying here, with me. And that's final."

With a wave of her arm, Katara froze the ground underneath Bato, Chinook, and Piq as she locked the nonbenders into place nearly effortlessly, their boots held fast by ice. The three senior warriors clearly had not been expecting to be drawn into a sneak attack like that as they all were caught.

As the three senior warriors struggled to free themselves, Katara crossed her arms as she leveled her own firm glare on her Father. "You know that I'm a strong fighter too. And Zuko and I have trained together. We know how to cover for each other's weaknesses."

"I'm not relenting on this point," refused Hakoda as he dug in his heels, ignoring his flailing warriors behind him.

"I'm not asking for your permission," fired back Katara, heatedly. The images of the snarling two wolves above the heads of the Father and Daughter pair had returned full force.

"You people are too loud," complained Toph as she interjected, arriving with Jin in tow. "Who can sleep with all these noisy vibrations shaking up the campsite?" Lazily taking stock of the situation with a sleepy expression, the little earthbender asked, "What's going on here?"

"Southern Raiders are about to attack our home in the South Pole!" exclaimed Sokka.

"Then what are you all sitting around here for?" returned the little earthbender, snapping awake fully at her friend's explanation.

"We're not. We're leaving in ten minutes. As soon as Sokka and I pack," spat out Katara as she turned on her heels. Jin ran back to her tent to gather her things as well.

Katara, Sokka, and Jin returned together as Katara was thanking her friend for volunteering to come with them once the Earth Kingdom girl had heard what was going on. Each of them was wearing a heavy Water Tribe coat to combat the cold in the sky as well as the cold they would be heading into.

"You all make sure to beat up a couple of them for me too," ordered Toph as she sat on a pillar of earth next to Zuko.

"I thought you'd put up more of a fight to come too," said Sokka.

Toph waved her hand dismissively. "I can barely tolerate riding on Appa. Do you think I want to ride on top of a wild bird that flies faster and crazier than that? No thank you. Besides, if Aang wakes up while you're gone, then he might freak out if there is not at least one friendly face he knows."

"Good points," agreed Sokka as he nodded approvingly.

"Toph, if you're staying, then could you make sure that Biscuit and Bree are looked after until we return?" asked Jin.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," casually accepted Toph.

Zuko walked up to Katara. "You should talk to him before we go," the firebender stated as he indicated towards Hakoda, who was milling about a short distance away.

Katara turned away as continued to focus on strapping down her stuff to Edel's saddle. "I don't think I can right now. I'm angry at him."

Zuko put a hand on the waterbender's shoulder. "All the more reason to talk to him. When I parted ways with my Uncle, I left him with anger in my heart too. Now, I would give anything to see him again. I may never get that chance. You should talk to your Father." Taking her bag from her, Zuko gave Katara a little push forward.

Hakoda was surprised to see his Daughter slowly walking up to him. And he was even more surprised as he saw that it was the Fire Prince who had seemed to talk her into saying goodbye to him.

"He was going to leave," started Katara.

"What?" the Water Chieftain stumbled. That wasn't what he had been expecting Katara to say to him. Yell at him for being overprotective, or maybe a quick and curt goodbye, but not an obscure lead-in.

"Zuko," the waterbender elaborated. "He almost left on his own again. Because he was trying to help our family. He always thinks he has to carry the weight of the world by himself. I thought that I had gotten through to him. Let him know that he doesn't have fight alone, that he can share his burdens."

Hakoda looked over at the Fire Prince who was helping Jin and Sokka onto Edel. "Maybe that's his way of being brave."

Frustration burned in Katara's eyes. "It's not brave; it's selfish and stupid! Doesn't he know how much his friends need him too? How much I need him? How can he just be ready to leave us behind?"

Hakoda looked back down at his Daughter. "We're not just talking about Prince Zuko right now, are we? You're talking about me."

Katara looked up at her Father with tears running down her eyes. "How could you leave us, Dad?" She wiped away the tears with her arm. "I mean, I know we had Gran-Gran, and she loved us, but we were just so lost without you."

The Water Chieftain's own stoic expression faded quickly as he started to move to comfort his Daughter with a hug. But she turned away from him, her arms crossed and held close to her chest. Instead, Hakoda apologized. "Katara. I'm so sorry." At his apology, the tears began to fall from his Daughter's face again. This time he wrapped her up into a tight hug that she slowly returned.

She buried her face into his chest. "I understand why you left. I really do. And I know that you had to go, to keep us safe, to keep the fighting away from the South Pole. So why? Why do I still feel this way? I'm just so sad and angry and hurt!"

Hakoda held his Daughter's head closer to his chest as he rested the chin of his own head on the top of hers. "I love you more than anything. You and your Brother are my entire world. I thought about you every day when I was gone. And every night when I went to sleep, I would lie awake missing you so much that it would ache."

Both Father and Daughter had tears running down their faces now. "That's why I'm scared," continued Hakoda. "I'm scared to let you go again. I left you once before and you suffered as a prisoner of war. I couldn't even protect my own Daughter. When Sokka told me what happened, it took Bato and half my men to hold me back from running off into Fire Nation territory alone to find you."

Hakoda held Katara tighter. "You're a strong woman. As strong as your Mother. You've always made your own decisions and I'm so proud of who you've become. I've missed so much of your life, and that's made me realize that I'm not as strong as I thought I was."

"I love you Dad, but I won't be fighting alone. I'll have Zuko and Sokka and Jin right there with me. We each have our part to play in this war, and I think I'm starting to find my place in all of this," stated Katara as she hugged her father tighter before releasing the embrace. "We'll win and we'll save Gran-Gran too."

The Water Chieftain finally yielded completely. "We'll take the Fire Nation ship and move to the Western coast of the Earth Kingdom. If your Brother hasn't told you the plan yet, then twist his arm. We should have never tried to leave you out. I love you Katara. I haven't said that nearly enough."

Katara rushed to give her Father another hug and a quick, "I love you too," before returning to her friends.

As Zuko offered a hand to help Katara up onto Edel, she threw her arms around him and brought him in for a hug as well. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.

"Anytime," he whispered back.

As the hug ended, the Water Tribe girl added, "And promise me, you'll stop trying to run off on your own. We're in this fight together."

"I promise," smiled the Fire Prince.

With that, both the waterbender and firebender climbed up into the saddle. As Zuko directed Edel upward, he addressed the assembled Water Tribe warriors. "We won't let my people destroy your homes." Then, Edel soared into the clouds with Sokka waving goodbye from the rear seat as the Water Tribe boy watched the ground disappear below.


For the first couple of hours of their flight, Sokka complained regularly about how traveling on Edel was nowhere near as comfortable as traveling on Appa. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the rear seat had him facing backwards compared to everyone else who was facing forward. Still, Sokka was accurate about the fact that when Edel changed direction, altitude, or pitch, then they all felt that change as all the passengers had to hold on to their seats. But they were slowly getting used to being on the thunderbird during the times that Edel flew level with the occasional flap of the wings to maintain their height.

Eventually, Sokka decided to say what was really on his mind. "This is all my fault." As everyone looked back to him, the Water Tribe boy elaborated. "When we were escaping Ba Sing Se with Aang, after he got struck with lightning, I was carrying Aang over my shoulder and I had my boomerang in my other hand. That Iroh guy managed to stun Azula for a moment. I took that opportunity to throw my boomerang. She dodged, sort of. I managed to strike her face, across her right eye. I must of cut her pretty good because she was bleeding a lot as Toph closed the tunnel behind us. She must want revenge."

Zuko was staring at Sokka in a new light. "You managed to get the best of my Sister in a fight?"

"Try not to sound so surprised. I told you that I'm an excellent warrior," returned Sokka gruffly. "And if you're about to get angry, then just remember that she's hurt a lot of people."

"I'm not even mad. I'm sort of impressed actually. I've never known anyone to harm my Sister in a fight." Zuko paused as he thought. "But you're right. Azula's never really been hurt in a fight before. She's definitely lashing out at you in the best way she knows how, by going after your village."

Katara spoke up. "After our run-ins with her, she probably thinks that attacking the South Pole will also be revenge for the fact that we evaded her at Jin's ranch too.

"She sounds like a brat," growled Jin. "She attacks us, our families, our homes. Then, she gets hurt in the same fight that she started. So she does what? Sends soldiers to attack people who can't fight back? Zuko, your Sister is a real piece of work."

Zuko nodded in agreement as he continued to guide Edel southward. A couple of minutes later, he spoke up again. "Katara, Sokka, there's something I should let you all know. My Grandfather ordered the Southern Raiders to attack the South Pole for years. They were the main Fire Nation force in the Southern hemisphere."

"Were?" highlighted Sokka.

"The Southern Raiders have been in decline ever since my Grandfather died. Once my Father came to power, he blamed them for their inability to find the next Avatar, who everyone expected was a waterbender," explained Zuko. "Nowadays, the Southern Raiders are little better than pirates and corsairs. Probably why Father allowed Azula to use the Southern Raiders as she wished. He doesn't really consider them regular Fire Nation sailors anymore."

Katara was still going over what Zuko had told them as she her eyes widened in realization. "Wait, if the Southern Raiders have been the ones attacking the South Pole for years, then that must mean..."

The Fire Prince nodded at the Water Tribe girl's deduction. "Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing too. Someone from the Southern Raiders is most likely the one who killed your Mother all those years ago."

Shock exploded across Katara's face as time seemed to stop for her. Memories of that fateful day came racing back unbeckoned as she felt the fear and helplessness all over again. She couldn't breath.

"Are you sure?" asked Sokka from his rear seat, still looking backwards on the thunderbird, his face a mystery to everyone.

"Can you recall any details about the Fire Nation soldiers who raided your village? Their uniforms? Their banners?" pushed the Fire Prince.

A moment passed. "Sea ravens. The mast on the main ship bore flags with sea ravens," murmured Sokka.

"Then I'm positive. That is the symbol of the Southern Raiders," confirmed the firebender.

The look of shock on Katara's face was rapidly replaced with one of anger. She wasn't the same helpless little girl from back then anymore. She wasn't the same naive girl who got captured on the prison rig. She had always been a fighter. But today, she would be delivering justice. "And now they dare to return. Get us there Zuko. I need to find the man who took my Mother away from me. I need to make him hurt just as much as he hurt my family."

Sokka twisted his body to look forward as well. His face was tense, but focused. "As if we needed another reason to stop these guys. You did a good thing, letting us know."

Jin looked a little uneasy at the dead serious tone and murderousness look in her friend's eyes. Jin had never seen this side of Katara before. And it frightened her. "Katara, you sound a little too eager for this fight. Our goal is still to save the Southern Water Tribe, right?"

"Of course it is," answered Katara swiftly. "But now, we'll do it by stopping the attack instead of running away again. Sokka and I are going to get justice for our Mother."

Jin shook her head. "That doesn't sound like justice. It's starting to feel like revenge to me."

Outrage continued to surge through Katara's emotions. She had just fought off Fire Nation sailors trying to harm her Father and Brother. Next, she was racing to stop more Fire Nation sailors from attacking her Grandmother. And now, she had just learned that the sailors who were attacking now were likely the ones who had attacked her village from back when she was a child and killed her Mother. "Fine, maybe it is! Why is that a bad thing?! You heard Zuko. These men are pirates! Maybe revenge is exactly what they deserve! What the person who killed my Mother deserves!"

Jin reached out in an attempt to calm her friend. "Katara, your starting to sound a lot like Jet. And revenge, that's Azula, not you."

Sokka picked up on the mention of the Freedom Fighter. "Wait, you all know who Jet is?"

Katara wasn't fazed. "It's not the same! Jet attacked the innocent! Azula is twisted and cruel! This Southern Raider who killed my Mother, he's a monster too. I'm getting justice, not revenge."

Sokka grimaced. Jin's comments resonated with him, even if Katara was brushing them off. The words he was hearing from his Sister weren't hers. They were in her voice, but he had never heard Katara as angry and harsh sounding as she was right now. "Katara, she was my Mother too, but maybe... maybe Jin's right. We shouldn't go at this with anger."

The Water Tribe girl was having none of it. "Then maybe you didn't love her the way I did!"

"Katara!" protested Sokka, taken back at the unbridled fury in his Sister's tone.

There was a flash of concern in Katara's eyes as she realized the hurt in her Brother's cry of her name. Then, just as fast, it was gone, replaced with a firm resolve. Attempting to justify herself, Katara stated, "Sokka, now that I know that the person who took our Mother away is out there, that he is on the ships we're about to fight, I feel like I have no choice but to seek justice for Mom. He deserves to pay for what he's done."

"He will," spoke up Zuko sharply from the front of the thunderbird.

"Judge, jury, and executioner," stated Jin. "So we're all three now?"

Katara glared at her friend. "So what would you have me do? Forgive the Southern Raiders? Forgive the man who killed my Mother? We're going to fight them all anyway. What difference does it make if it's for revenge or justice?"

"It makes all the difference," answered Jin. "This war, it will make monsters of us all if we let it. If we're going to fight, then we have to fight for the right reasons."

"And fighting for the memory of my Mother isn't a right reason?" countered Katara in indignation.

"I didn't say that," returned Jin. Her friend was teetering dangerously upon the edge of no return. The Earth Kingdom girl had to chose her next words more carefully. Jin narrowed her eyes right back at the Water Tribe girl. "Murder under the cloak of war is still murder."

"What?" stumbled Katara as Jin's retort finally gave her pause.

Finding an opening, Jin continued, "You are angry now. You have every right to be. These Southern Raiders, this killer who took your Mother away from you, you deserve to see justice done for the crimes against you and your people. But if you go at it with rage in your heart and rip him apart, will you be able to live with yourself after the fighting is over and the war is won?"

Katara was silent.

"Just... just think on that," finished Jin. "We'll support you regardless, but I don't want to see my friend shatter her own soul. And I may be over stepping my bounds here, but I don't think your Mother would want that either."

No one talked for a couple of minutes after that. Eventually, Zuko apologized for bringing up the issue in the first place, but Katara and Sokka both assured him that they were thankful for him doing so. Despite the fluctuating range of emotions both Water Tribe siblings were both experiencing at the moment, they were glad that they knew now.

Zuko thanked Jin for her level-headedness as he had been getting swept up in Katara's reactions and was starting to revert back to his previous way of focusing on something with single-minded fervor. It may have been in support of his girlfriend this time, but it was still a stumble in his attempts to better himself. Jin was supportive of her friends and reminded them that they didn't have to fight all their individual battles on their own.

Both Sokka and Katara remained mostly quiet, only responding to the occasional prompt from Zuko or Jin. Both were reflecting on what they now knew, their own feelings, and what Jin had scolded them on. Sokka seemed to return to his old self after awhile, but Katara remained pensive.

They traveled for several more hours after that; all throughout the entire day. The sun started to get low on the horizon when the team finally started to notice small icebergs and glaciers populating the seascape below them. The chilliness of the high altitude and wind shear, combined with the dropping ambient temperature of the South Pole and the rapidly approaching darkness of night were all starting to cut through the team despite their heavy Water Tribe coats. Edel didn't seem bothered by the frigid temperature in the least.

Jin sneezed as she shivered. "I figured it would be cold, but this is colder than any winter in the Earth Kingdom."

"Welcome to the South Pole. It's about a dozen miles from inhospitable and a few degrees barely above freezing to death. We're pretty much located in the middle of nowhere," welcomed Sokka. "But even still, I didn't think I would miss that fresh arctic air so much."

Katara saw that Zuko was brooding about something again. When she asked him about it, he shifted to look at her and shrugged. "After all these months, who would have thought I'd arrive back to the scene of the Avatar's return, not as a conqueror but as a protector?"

The Water Tribe girl looked at him and blinked. Then, she gave an amused snort. "Life's funny that way, isn't it?"

Zuko rolled his eyes as he turned his gaze forward once more. "Yeah, mine's been a real hoot. But I am serious. I don't think I realized the difference between the two roles until after we traveled together."

"Hey! Over there to the left!" exclaimed Jin as she interrupted the conversation. The Earth Kingdom girl was pointing wildly at something far on the horizon. "Are those ships?"

Zuko pulled out his own spyglass from his tunic as he made out the sight of four frigates escorting a full sized battleship through the icy seas as a full moon rose in the night sky above the Fire Navy vessels. "We found them."