Chapter 25 - The Wolf's Cove Village
Pain. Agonizing pain rippling throughout his entire body. That was the sensation that eventually drew Zuko back to the world of the living.
Now, Zuko was no stranger to soreness or discomfort. He had always pushed himself past his limits during his training sessions. He knew the exhausting fatigue that followed the day after he overtaxed himself. But this was a new agony altogether. The Fire Prince felt like his very blood had been set on fire as it coursed throughout his veins. Zuko attempted to wiggle his fingers and electrifying, stinging stabs of pain raced back up through his arm as he grit his teeth through the extreme discomfort.
Reluctantly accepting that the more prudent course of action was to remain still for a bit longer as he grew accustomed to his pain, Zuko closed his eyes for a moment as his mind warped back to the last events he could recall. There had been the flash of metal. A knife. A knife that had been directed towards Katara. Then, the piercing shock of his own side being punctured as his body moved on its own to protect her.
Zuko focused more intensely. The fall came next. The coldness. Oh, the coldness. The Fire Prince shivered involuntarily at the thought of the frigid arctic water. And that body shake caused a fresh eruption of agony to wash over the firebender as he shifted. With a groan of pain, Zuko concentrated on what else he could remember.
He had been in the sea. Underwater. Things were getting dark under the waves. Ro Kai had kicked him as the Southern Raider Captain had pulled the knife from the Fire Prince's side. Zuko had struggled to prevent Ro Kai from stabbing him again. Strained as he attempted to hold back the knife underwater, but his strength had been rapidly weakening from the blood lost at his side.
Then, there was the shadow of a large... something next to them. Whatever the thing was, it had grabbed Ro Kai by the leg and the next thing Zuko knew, the other man was just gone, pulled further into the murky depths. The Fire Prince's vision had been fading in and out. So he wasn't exactly sure what happened next.
Jee had been pulling at his arm. Gripping the Fire Prince and bringing him back above the waves. The air was a welcome gift, even if the frosty wind did bite at the back of the firebender's throat. Zuko recalled being lifted upward. Then, there was the cold slickness of the metal deck plating.
And then, there was blood. So much blood. Zuko could remember faintly wondering to himself how all that blood on the deck could have just come from him. There was no way. He recalled seeing Katara's frantic face. He thought that he had said something encouraging or reassuring to her, but maybe she didn't hear him? He couldn't be sure he had said anything at all. His memories were really fuzzy after all that.
Laying there, reflecting on last night, it struck Zuko. 'I was... gone,' the firebender realized in alarm as it suddenly made sense to him. 'I wasn't just hurt. It was more than that. I was gone. Just like Lu Ten.' Zuko paused. The far-off memory of his Cousin resurfacing along his consciousness. People had said that Lu Ten had been killed by an earthbender, but that wasn't true. The phantom pain in his side, where the Fire Prince still felt the blade cutting into his skin, was shouting at him that his Cousin had died in a very similar way.
Filing that knowledge away for later, Zuko willed himself to sit up from his bed of animal skins and pelts. 'Animal skins?' the firebender grasped at inwardly in his mind. Slowly looking around, the Fire Prince realized that he wasn't in a small, cold room onboard a Fire Nation ship like he had been expecting.
No, Zuko was in a warm, cozy spherical structure lined with animal furs and a sturdy wooden column in the center of the area to support the roof. He noticed that Katara sleeping soundly on a nearby set of furs. Sokka and Jin were also on their own individual sleeping mats on the other side of the hut. Zuko breathed out in relief that everyone seemed to be okay.
A jolt of pain raced through him again from his knife wound, causing Zuko to cringe slightly as he hissed softly. At least his friends were okay. He may be recovering from pushing himself well past his breaking point again, but as long as everyone else was fine, then it was worth it. Looking around the hut a second time, Zuko spied an old woman sitting on a small wooden stool near the center of the room, holding a soup ladle as she stared at him. 'How did I miss her?!' the Fire Prince shouted to himself in his head as the two of them locked eyes.
"Umm... hi?" greeted Zuko with uncertainty.
The old woman gripped the ladle in her hands tighter. "I remember you."
The Fire Prince's mind flashed back to his first encounter with the people of a Southern Water Tribe when he was hunting the Avatar. It took a minute, but suddenly Zuko's golden eyes widened with remembrance. He attempted to get out of bed in order to bow appropriately in a formal apology. The pain tore through him with each motion, but he was determined to beg for forgiveness properly. The old woman watched him curiously, not offering to help him nor stopping him either, just merely observing silently.
By the time Zuko had managed to stand, he was breathing heavily and his head was spinning. 'Yesterday, I was fighting scores of enemies. Today, it's taking everything I have just to stand,' he mustered inwardly. Looking at the older woman again, Zuko dropped to his knees, which was far simpler than it had to attempting to stand in the first place. Then, placing his head on the floor in a full kowtow pose, Zuko stated clearly, "I wronged you and your family greatly when I first met you. I grabbed you, an elderly lady, and shoved you into the snow. I have shamed myself with my actions. I beg you for your forgiveness. If you allow me, I will do my upmost to make up for my dishonor."
Kanna scrutinized the young firebender earnestly asking for her forgiveness as he held his position, awaiting her answer. He was shaking a bit, but she was pretty positive he wasn't shaking out of fear, but rather because he was about to collapse again. Seriously, what was this fool thinking moving around this much when he was supposed to be recovering?
Imagine Kanna's surprise when her Grandson dropped down from the sky riding a giant bird with his exhausted Sister, a heavily injured firebender, and a shivering earthbender. Then, there was an even greater surprise when Sokka claimed that Katara had exhausted herself trying to save the life of this firebender in front of Kanna now.
Her Granddaughter had always been a caring and compassionate soul, but Kanna could not, for the life of her, understand what would compel her Granddaughter to fight so hard to keep a firebender alive, especially from a fatal knife wound that would have killed any other person. Actually, as Kanna had dressed the wound on the firebender that evening, she could scarcely believe that there had been a wound there in the first place. Whatever Katara had done to heal the firebender, she had done an amazing job.
Now, Kanna was surprised again when the same brash, young firebender that had terrorized their village months ago, now dropped to his knees and placed himself at her mercy. None of it made very much sense to the village elder. But from the looks of it, this teenager was going to pass out again any second. And still, he did not move from his kowtow position. "Get back in bed," Kanna said indifferently after another moment of reflection. "We can discuss this matter later." The firebender looked unsure of himself at her response, but slowly managed to lean back against the stacked animal pelts on the ground.
When the old woman raised an eyebrow, Zuko sheepishly answered, "I don't think I can climb back up onto that bed on my own."
Kanna sighed as she stood up from her stool to help the firebender. Maybe brash wasn't the right world anymore, the boy certainly appeared more humbled than Kanna remembered, but he was definitely still a cheeky brat. Before Kanna could take a step, she heard her Granddaughter stir and slowly raise her head.
The waterbender's eyes opened gradually as Katara looked around, unsure of where she was. The young girl was taking in the familiar sights of the igloo interior slowly, a smile appearing on her face and a faint tear of happiness as she realized where she was. Katara's teary blue eyes met with her Grandmother's warm ones and she rushed out of bed to hug her Gran-Gran.
"I missed you so much," greeted Katara as she embraced her Gran-Gran, memories of her childhood fluttering up. Her Gran-Gran still smelled of sea prunes and fresh fallen snow.
"I know child. I missed you every day and every night. You and your Brother. I am so very happy that you're both back here safe and sound," replied Kanna with a gentle tone. "Sokka woke up the entire village last night when he came clamoring down from the skies on top of that monstrous bird with you and your friends in tow. Where on earth did you ever-"
Kanna was interrupted as her Granddaughter's eyes opened wide at the mention of her companions. Katara pulled back away from the hug. "Where's...?" the waterbender started as she looked around her Gran-Gran to see the Fire Prince leaning against the edge of his animal pelt bedding and clutching his injured side with his arm across his body gingerly. Zuko raised his free hand with a casual wave of morning greeting as Katara noticed him.
Racing around her Grandmother, Katara sped towards the convalescing Fire Prince and wrapped him up into a gentle hug, careful not to impact his recovering wound. Then, the waterbender placed her forehead against his. "I thought I lost you."
Zuko held Katara in his arms carefully. "I think I might have been gone, for a minute. But then, you brought me back."
Katara shook her head. "I don't know what I did. It wasn't normal waterbending healing. It felt unnatural. And it was hurting you."
The Fire Prince gave a light chuckle before hissing slightly in pain, his body protesting the jovial laughter. "And it still hurts, however you did it. But that doesn't matter. Whatever ability of yours that it was, it saved me. So I'm glad you learned it. Because it brought me back to you."
Katara returned the Fire Prince's laugh with one of her own. "You big dummy," she managed to whisper out. Leave it to Zuko to alleviate her worries about a fearful side of her waterbending by focusing on the practical side of things.
A cough into the hand of her Gran-Gran caused the two of them to separate, a blush on each of their cheeks as they had forgotten she was there for a moment. "I think that answers quite a few of my questions actually," stated Kanna as she observed her Granddaughter curiously. "There's a story here that I very much wish to hear, but later, after breakfast."
Jin woke up not too much later, while Sokka would have snoozed the rest of the day away if Katara hadn't shoved him out of bed when breakfast was ready. The Water Tribe boy grumbled about being woken up, especially when he had to stay up later than everyone else flying them to the village, but his sour attitude evaporated the moment Gran-Gran placed a warm meal in front of him.
They all enjoyed a bowl of simple porridge as Katara and Zuko shared their tale with Kanna. Starting with the failed liberation of the prison rig and Katara's time in captivity. About how Zuko came across her in that port town by chance, freeing her from almost becoming a slave, and then traveling together. The nightmares. The battlefield they stumbled upon and the accidental killing of the Earth Kingdom solider. There were no secrets between Katara and her Gran-Gran.
Sokka nearly dropped his bowl of porridge when he heard about what happened at the battlefield, while Jin hugged her friend in comfort. Kanna listened with a sad frown on her face. Kanna was damning herself inwardly, as she sat there listening to all the evils of the world that her Granddaughter experienced just shortly after leaving home. It made Kanna second guess if supporting her Granddaughter's decision to leave with the Avatar was the right decision at the time. Perhaps she too had gotten wrapped up in the excitement of the Avatar's return, just like her Granddaughter had.
But it hadn't been all bad. Fortunes change, and there had been good times too. Kanna found herself intrigued by the fact that the Fire Prince had taken the time and had the patience to instruct her Granddaughter with the fundamentals of bending. Katara had grown as a waterbender and this Zuko had been the catalyst. And not only that, but the boy had also taught Katara how to swim, which Kanna saw as another practical skill for her Granddaughter to learn.
Additionally, it had been the Fire Prince who had somehow chased away Katara's nightmares when those negative thoughts had threatened to overwhelm the Water Tribe girl. Together, they had rescued a town plagued by thugs. The town itself may have failed to acknowledge their efforts in the end, but Kanna saw that the pair had achieved something great together. The two of them had taken the time to talk and confide in each other during some of the lowest moments in their lives and built each other back up again.
Katara and Zuko didn't need to say it out loud, Kanna could hear it in their stories and how they each described the other's exploits. The elderly woman could tell how through their series of adventures, the waterbender and firebender had grown closer and closer together.
Jin had heard bits and pieces of this story from her friends before, but was spellbound to listen to their entire tale from start to finish. It seemed that wherever the firebender and waterbender went, adventure and danger followed.
Sokka was in disbelief most of the time. A lot of what he heard from both Katara and Zuko poked holes in each and every notion that he had that everyone from the Fire Nation was irredeemable. And not that he would ever openly admit it to anyone, but Sokka wasn't sure if he would have been able to hold it together nearly half as well as his Sister did in captivity or afterwards if their roles had been reversed. Nor was Sokka sure if he would have been able to protect his Sister or pull her out of her depression if he had been there instead of Zuko.
When the story eventually reached the part where Jet and the Freedom Fighters nearly blew up a town, Sokka refocused as he ire returned. "I can't believe that Jet tried to pull something like that again. I knew that Aang was too lenient with him. At least that jerk is behind bars now."
Zuko and Katara looked at each other. "He's not," corrected Zuko as he looked back at Sokka.
"Wait, what?" stumbled Sokka. "But you just said..."
"We saw him, Smellerbee, and Longshot again in Ba Sing Se when we were trying to help everyone escape. Right before you and Toph showed up," explained Katara. "They were helping the Dai Li round up the Earth Kingdom citizens."
"That doesn't make any sense," replied Sokka. "Jet hates the Fire Nation. More than anyone else I have ever known. And I know a lot of people who hate the Fire Nation, myself included. There's no way he would support a group like the Dai Li who are allied with the Fire Nation."
"Jet didn't seem like himself. None of them did actually. He didn't say much, or well, at least not nearly as much as he normally does. But even his voice was different, like it was hollow or detached, like his mind wasn't really there. Someone definitely did something to him and his comrades, but I have no idea what," added Zuko.
"Great, just what we needed, one more thing to worry about," grumbled Sokka.
"We should help them," offered Jin abruptly. When her friends looked at her strangely, the Earth Kingdom elaborated, "I know none of us consider Jet our friend or even a good guy, but he is being used by someone. And he's causing more harm. We can't just leave him like that, can we?"
Zuko thought about it. He would have preferred that Jet was defeated again and actually spent some time in a cell. If the Freedom Fighter was left free to run around causing trouble and stirring up havoc, then more people would likely suffer. But Jet was all the way back in Ba Sing Se and far away from their main objective in the Fire Nation. "Jet's not a priority," the firebender finally stated after he finished thinking. "But when we get the chance, then we'll see what we can do."
Jin accepted her friend's response while Sokka looked annoyed that they were even considering to help Jet at all. As Katara finished their story up to the present, Kanna was thankful to hear that Hakoda was still strong and healthy.
"The Southern Raiders won't be bothering any of the Southern Water Tribes anymore," concluded Zuko.
"And we thank you, all of you, for that," praised Kanna. "You are positive that they will not return?"
"My Uncle trusted Jee. And I trust my Uncle. So I trust that Jee will keep his word and keep the Southern Raiders away from the rest of the war," affirmed Zuko. To this Sokka attempted to raise another complaint, but Kanna simply nodded as she noticed the amount of trust Katara placed in the Fire Prince's words.
It was well into the afternoon by time they finished recapping all the events of their travels thus far. Kanna shooed everyone outside, except for Zuko as he was still recovering, and told them to greet the villagers. As his friends left the igloo and Kanna closed the thick animal pelt serving as a front door, Zuko felt the temperature in the igloo drop several degrees.
'Does every adult in the Water Tribe have this ability?' the firebender idly wondered to himself as he observed a stern looking Kanna approaching him. Although the woman had been accepting of him in front of her Granddaughter, the Fire Prince expected something like this once she had a moment with him alone to talk.
"Back when I was a young woman, the Fire Nation attacked us over and over again. Their primary mission, we came to find out, was to kill or capture each and every waterbender they could find in the South Pole," started Kanna.
Zuko remained quiet. He had been expecting some threatening words, but it appeared Kanna was more interested in telling him a story. The firebender had some idea of what she mentioned already. He had learned about the Fire Nation raids in the South to eliminate the waterbender threat from his school lessons as a child. And yet, he now suspected that those lessons had been heavily skewed in framing the Fire Nation as being right and just, instead of the more factual reality of his people being oppressive and cruel.
"Each time they raided, less and less of us remained. It became harder and harder to fend them off. We had no navy, no armies. We were not that impressive of a threat. We just wanted to live in peace. That's why most of us left the Northern Tribes to come to the South in the first place," explained Kanna. "And still the Fire Nation pursued us."
"I lost my best friend, Hama," continued the elderly Water Tribe woman. "She had just been engaged to her betrothed and was to be wed within a fortnight when the Fire Nation raided again. Hama's fiancé was killed during the battle, and Hama... they took her, my best friend, and our last waterbender. Stole her away from her home. I never saw my friend again after that."
The older woman didn't sound accusatory, just sad. The Fire Prince didn't know what to say. 'Sorry' didn't seem like enough of a word. The whole thing had been long before his time, but it had been his people who had wronged the Water Tribes greatly. Beat them down over and over again until they were small, fragmented settlements scatter across the South Pole. Zuko almost didn't catch Kanna shifting the topic.
"What are your intentions toward my Granddaughter?" demanded Kanna, straight to her point after sharing her past.
"Intentions?" parroted Zuko, surprised at the sudden shift.
"I want to know if you are toying around with my Granddaughter's heart. I don't want to see Katara hurt again," pressed Kanna.
Zuko shook his head side-to-side vigorously, before regretting the abrupt action as he fought away the subsequent lightheadedness. "I meant every word I said earlier. Katara is very special to me. I only hope that I can measure up to being even half as special for her."
Based upon how quickly her Granddaughter's attention had shifted from being happy to seeing her Gran-Gran again after so long to being worried about the firebender, Kanna had little doubt about how Katara felt about the Fire Prince. Added to the fact that the waterbender had been sitting so close to the firebender as they shared their stories, and Kanna knew both teenagers held the other in high regard.
The elderly woman had just needed to be sure that the Fire Prince felt the same. Kanna had her own history with the Fire Nation, but given what her Granddaughter had experienced and, despite that, still held strong affection towards a boy from the Fire Nation, it was evident that her Granddaughter wasn't holding nationality against the boy. So, who was Kanna to do any less than her Granddaughter?
Besides, Katara was always one to make her own decisions. Kanna learned long ago just how headstrong and determined her Granddaughter could be. As long as Kanna could confirm that this boy would keep her Granddaughter safe and happy, then that alleviated the whale's share of her concerns.
Khe crossed her arms sternly. "If you promise to always put Katara first, then you can consider your past interaction with our village and me to be water under the bridge."
"I will," swore Zuko as he stood up to give a slight bow.
"Alright, enough of that. You need to get some more rest," added Kanna.
"Actually," countered Zuko as he stretched a little to shake away the soreness. He needed to get out of the igloo. He was feeling awkward being around Kanna, especially after she told him about her past sorrows. "If I could, I would like to see the village as well. Some light exercise would probably help."
Kanna tossed a Water Tribe jacket at him, which he fumbled a bit with before he caught it and somehow managed to keep his balance upright. "Hmm... you didn't fall over, so perhaps you are well enough to walk around a little." She shooed him outside to join the others as she set to straightening up the igloo and getting started on figuring out what to prepare for dinner for so many guests.
As Zuko walked outside, one of the first things he realized was that the village was much smaller than he had imagined. In fact, he could see the entire village just from standing in front of Kanna's home. It seemed that Kanna's igloo was the only permanent structure built in the village, built with carved ice, treated wood, and hard packed snow. It was larger than the other structures, probably serving as her home as well as the village gathering spot. Simple animal leather tents littered the rest of the small village, all surrounded by a four-foot wall of hard packed snow with an entrance to the north and south of town.
In the center of it all was Katara, Sokka, and Jin, encircled by multiple small children. There were several middle-aged women performing various chores around the tiny village that spoke in hushed whispers as Zuko walked over to his friends. Edel was nowhere in sight, but the Fire Prince assumed the bird had either gone off hunting or was just exploring the area. Hopefully, the thunderbird would return eventually; otherwise, they would have a long trip back up north.
The children, who had been excitedly peppering the older teenagers with questions about their recent travels, grew silent as they noticed the firebender approaching their group. A couple of them actually hid behind the legs of Katara and Sokka. "It's okay," reassured Katara gently. "Zuko's a friend. He won't hurt any of you."
Sokka crossed his arms. "Probably."
The waterbender shot her Brother an annoyed look before waving the Fire Prince closer. Then, with a gesture of her arm, Katara indicated to her home. "Zuko, meet our entire village. Entire village, this is Zuko." As she finished saying the words, the Water Tribe girl felt a little embarrassed at her humble origins. "It's not much, but it's home."
"It's cozy and peaceful," commented Zuko. He knelt down to one of the children hiding behind Katara's legs. "Hello there." The kid shrank away from him.
"Good to know some people still have the sense to be wary of strangers," mocked Sokka as he observed the kid's reactions.
"I'm sure that they'll like you once they get to know you," defended Katara as she continued to try and reassure the rest of the Water Tribe children around them that the Fire Prince was a friend. "They like Jin already!"
The Earth Kingdom girl had raised a small see-saw from the earth out from under the snow and was playing with some of the children on it. "Somehow I doubt my bending will endear them to me like Jin," noted Zuko as he watched the earthbender lifting the see-saw up and down with her bending. He swayed a little bit before he steadied himself. The firebender still wasn't feeling one hundred percent after his latest injury.
One of the little girls at Katara's legs tugged at the waterbender's coat. "Katara, could you tell us a story like you used too? It's been so long since the last one."
Katara looked down as she knelt next to the small girl. "I need to make sure Zuko doesn't fall over in the snow and Gran-Gran's probably going to need some help with making dinner for everyone too," she replied regrettably.
The Fire Prince crossed his arms. "I think I recall you promising to tell me a story at some point, you know, once we got to your village. Something about how you and your Brother were the greatest at storytelling. Now seems like a good time to me." The children looked surprised to hear the firebender speak, but then looked back at Katara expectantly.
The Water Tribe girl sighed as she quickly caved under the pressure. "Alright," Katara relented as the small children cheered happily.
As the waterbender waterbent a bunch of seats for everyone out of the snow in the middle of the village, Katara glanced over her shoulder and muttered to the firebender, "That was pretty sneaky of you."
Zuko shrugged as he smiled. "I learn from the best."
Rolling her eyes, Katara waterbent a small stage in front of the seats in order to have a place to tell the story. As Zuko went to take a seat, Katara grabbed him by the shoulder. "Oh? And where do you think you're going?" she asked a little too sweetly.
Zuko indicated towards an empty chair in the front row. "Umm... to my seat?"
Katara shook her head. "Try again. You wanted a story, so you're going to be part of it too. Think of it as a way to get the kids here to like you."
The Fire Prince visibly gulped. She had turned the tables on him again. He hadn't expected to be roped into telling stories too. Jin had a smirk on her face from her spot in the back row while Sokka was simply leaning back on a bench with a bored expression.
As Zuko stood nervously on the stage under the piercing eyes of all the inquisitive children, the Water Tribe girl thought for a moment before deciding on what kind of story she wanted to tell. "Okay, this time I'm going to tell you about the daring adventures of a young penguin otter and koalaotter duo."
"Whoo! New characters?!" exclaimed one of the children excitedly. They could already tell that this story was going to be different from the old ones that Katara used to tell them.
"What are their names?" asked another child eagerly.
"Their names..." the waterbender paused before smiling as she glanced over her shoulder at Zuko. "Their names are Luna and Lee." Jin gave a small laugh as she recognized what her friend was getting at, while Sokka just looked a little confused.
"Now, Luna was a long way from her home. She had been on a journey with her friends, but she got separated from them and found herself all alone," introduced Katara in a storytelling voice.
"Oh no!" fretted one of the little children worriedly. "Was she scared?"
"She was very scared," claimed the Water Tribe girl softly. "It's scary, being all by yourself. She was lost and had no way to get home. But that was when she met a brave koalaotter named Lee."
Katara took a piece of cloth from her tunic and swiftly tied it around Zuko's head and over the scar on his left eye before the Fire Prince could protest. "Now Lee had a scar along his left eye from a nasty fisherman's hook. Because of that, he was tough and he was rough and he was gruff as he liked to stomp around and make the other animals fear him."
When Zuko didn't move, Katara elbowed the Fire Prince in the side. Getting the hint, the firebender began making a show of stomping across the stage and growling very surly. He kicked up some freshly fallen snow that flurried in the air and landed on the children as they giggled in surprise.
Zuko seemed to have his normal grouchy expression plastered on his face, making it difficult to figure out if that was because he was frustrated at having to act like his foolish old self or if he was just playing the part. Jin was laughing along with the children as Sokka's bewilderment only continued to grow.
Continuing her story, Katara attempted to settle the children down. "But Luna saw that Lee wasn't as mean as he wanted the other animals to believe he was. He just didn't know how to make friends and he was scared of learning how. So you know what she did?"
"No," blurted out another one of the Water Tribe children. "What did she do?"
"Luna offered to become Lee's first friend and slowly, little by little, the two of them became closer and closer friends. They went on many wonderful and fantastic and incredible adventures together. They fought bandits." Katara waterbent a large icicle into her hands that she swung around as a sword. "They saved entire villages." A small, rudimentary village in the snow was created from her waterbending as Katara and Zuko both stood in front of it, each striking a hero pose. "And they made more friends."
The Water Tribe children were fully invested in Katara's story now. In fact, a couple of the nearby older women in the village were clearly listening intently as well as they pretended to do the chores that they had been doing earlier. Katara's story had been simplified to get the message across to the children, but the way she was telling it was still entertaining and the older women had picked up that the waterbender was actually describing her journey outside the South Pole.
Katara erased the tiny snow village with a wave of her hand as she moved to the next part of the tale. "During one of their adventures, Luna found herself trapped on a boat, surrounded by several evil tiger sharks. The sharks were circling around her and she didn't have anywhere to escape to."
Several of the children gasped in fright at the peril of their heroine. "Luna fought back valiantly as she bopped a couple of the sharks on the head with her water whips." A couple of Katara's water whips lashed out overhead and the children ooh'd and ahh'd. "But there were just too many of them. And then, when all hope seemed lost, do you know what happened?"
"What?!" repeated one of the young boys in the crowd, complete enthralled.
"Lee appeared in the skies riding a giant bird of thunder that controlled the storms!" proclaimed Katara with her arms out wide.
"Like that bird we saw last night?" asked another child.
"Exactly like that bird you saw last night," confirmed Katara with an affirmative swing of her arm. There were several more ooh's and ahh's.
"Lee was gallant as swooped and dove, bobbed and weaved, and soared through the clouds." Katara left her arms out wide as she made motions of flight. "The thunderbird called upon the power of lightning that struck down all those big, bad tiger sharks. Then, afterwards, Luna and Lee flew off together into the sunset."
"So they lived happily ever after?" asked one of the little girls.
"Perhaps," smiled Katara coyly. "You see, their story isn't over yet." Katara looked up at Zuko as blue eyes met golden eyes. "I think they still have many more adventures to go on."
As several of the child started clapping, one of the young boys jumped to his feet as he waved a make-believe sword around. "I bet Lee said something really brave when he fought off those tiger sharks! Something like: 'Fear me! If you dare!'"
"No, no," dismissed one of the young girls as she rose to counter the young boy. "He probably said something like: 'Leave Luna alone you fiends!'"
The children started to talk over one another as they argued about how the story went. Jin nudged Zuko as she walked up on stage. "I know what happened, but I still can't believe that Toph and I missed all that. I saw you ride off on Edel, but who would have thought you would be fighting to save everyone immediately afterwards? You were right when you said Edel bowed to you. I'm sorry for doubting you."
Zuko just nodded. He hadn't told anybody yet and right now didn't seem like the best time to mention that Edel almost killed him several times over in that lightning trial before he somehow managed to tame the bird. That would just cause needless worrying.
The Fire Prince watched as Sokka jumped up and joined in with the loud, ongoing kid argument. The Water Tribe boy was attempting to add his own original character to the story by the name of Wakka, the older Brother of Luna and a fearsome warrior who crushed tiger sharks with a mighty boomerang.
Shaking his head, Zuko noticed the youngest of the Water Tribe girls cautiously walk up towards him. "What's the bravest thing you've ever said?" she asked earnestly. Several of the other children heard her and stopped to listen as well. Everyone appeared to be interested in how the firebender was going to answer. Even Sokka, who paused in his bravado to listen to Zuko's response.
Zuko thought about it for a moment. He could have tossed out some throwaway line of false bravery, but then another answer rang in his mind, a lesson that he was sure would have made his Uncle proud that Zuko had learned. "Help," the Fire Prince answered.
"Help?" echoed one of the young boys from the crowd with skepticism. "That's not very brave."
"I think it might be the bravest thing you can say actually," explained Zuko sagely. "I used to think that asking for help was a weakness. That it meant I couldn't do something and that I was giving up." He looked up towards Katara. "But then I learned that it's actually the opposite. There are limits to what you can do alone. Asking for help doesn't mean that I'm giving up. Asking for help means that I'm refusing to give up. That I'm going to find a way to succeed."
When several of the children still looked like they didn't completely understand, Zuko was surprised that it was Sokka who came to the Fire Prince's aid. "Help means that all of your friends can work together with you to solve any problem!" the Water Tribe boy explained with his fist held high in the air.
Almost all of the children went "Yeah!" in response to their former playtime Captain as they also pumped their hands up in the air. It was clear that some of them still didn't understand, but were just swept up in the excitement.
Sokka looked back over his shoulder, seeming to gloat that he won over the Water Tribe children with a better explanation than the firebender. Zuko just merely shook his head as he rolled his eyes. The little girl who had asked the question in the first place seemed to be reflecting on Zuko's answer while the other children had already started arguing about which heroic things Lee and Luna said on their adventures again.
Katara didn't hear any of that though. Her heart was currently fluttering as she was feeling all sorts of emotions when she noticed that Zuko had been staring at her intensely when he was talking about asking for help. She knew that he had been talking about her and how much she had helped him. "I should go see if Gran-Gran needs some help with dinner," Katara eventually muttered as she quickly excused herself and sped off towards her Grandmother's igloo.
As Zuko watched the waterbender rush off, he felt Jin's elbow dig into his side as he gave a slight hiss in response to the pain that rippled across his sore body. "Easy there with the smolder there Sparky," the Earth Kingdom girl chided the Fire Prince as she borrowed Toph's nickname for him. "You'd make any girl swoon with that level of intensity."
The Fire Prince looked bewildered. "I wasn't trying to do anything."
Jin just sighed as she shook her head. "You have got to be the most clueless person I have ever met. And we've both met Sokka."
Before Zuko could ask Jin to explain further, one of the children struck Sokka in the back of the head with a snowball. Seconds later a massive snowball fight broke out as Sokka began fighting back against all the children.
Jin earthbent a column of earth from underneath the snow to protect herself from a couple of errant snowballs clumsily thrown by the children. "You might want to take some cover," she warned playfully.
Looking back over the chaos, an already injured Zuko was too slow to respond as a snowball impacted him square in the face as the Fire Prince heard a snickering Sokka as Zuko wiped the slush from his face. The Water Tribe boy's laughter fizzled out however, when Sokka noticed Zuko shove a large amount of snow onto the see-saw that Jin had earthbent earlier.
"Now wait just a minute. That's not fair," managed Sokka as he noticed the Earth Kingdom girl mouth the word 'Sorry' a second before she earthbent the see-saw to launch a mountain of snow directly onto the Water Tribe boy. The nearby children only laughed harder as they watched Sokka get buried under the heavy snow pile.
Katara opened the lid of the simmering pot of stew over the cooking fire in the middle of the igloo and groaned out loud. "Sea prunes, Gran-Gran?"
Kanna tapped the back of Granddaughter's hand with the edge of her soup ladle to make her drop the pot lid. "Of course I'm making sea prunes. They're your favorite. I distinctly recall you eating a lot more than your Brother the last time I made them. Which we both know is quite the feat, given Sokka's appetite. Five bowls to his three, if I recall correctly."
"Gran-Gran!" stuttered Katara, completely mortified. "You don't need to remember things like that!" Then, she poked her fingers together nervously. "It's just that sea prunes have such a strong, acquired taste. Not everyone likes them."
"Bah! You like what you like," casually waved off Kanna. "You shouldn't change your diet because of some boy." At her Granddaughter's sputtering expression, the elderly woman added, "Come now child. You two aren't even trying to hide it. Or if you are, then you two are doing a poor job of it. You don't have to like the same foods."
Katara should have known her Gran-Gran could read her like a book. "It isn't that serious."
Kanna seemed to give her Granddaughter an 'Oh really?' kind of look as she placed one of her hands on her waist. Kanna opened her mouth to say something, only to pause as she looked past Katara and towards the doorframe to the igloo. "Ah, Prince Zuko!" she greeted. "Did you overhear that? Seems my Granddaughter isn't as invested in your relationship as you thought."
The waterbender's eyes grew wide as dinner plates as she spun around in a hurry, already attempting to deny what her Gran-Gran had just said. "Wait! That's not what I..." Katara's defenses trailed off as she realized that no one had entered the igloo with them. The Water Tribe girl turned back around sheepishly as she faced the knowing smile on her Gran-Gran's face. "You tricked me."
"I didn't do anything that we both don't already know," shrugged Kanna as she stirred the boiling pot of stew with her wooden ladle.
"And you're okay with it? He's from the Fire Nation," asked Katara as she walked closer to her Gran-Gran.
"Are you happy?" asked Kanna in response instead of answering. As her Granddaughter nodded, Kanna placed the lid back onto the simmering pot. "Then, I'm okay with it. I followed my heart when I decided to leave the Northern Water Tribe and head here to the Southern Tribes. So I'm not going to try and stop my own Granddaughter from following her own heart."
As Katara seemed to breath easier in relief, Kanna's mouth curved upward into a smirk as she added, "But do try to do me a favor and keep the snuggling to a minimum, okay?" The blush on Katara's face returned full force.
A little while later, everyone sat around the cooking pot in the igloo as Kanna and Katara worked together to spoon out bowlfuls of a chunky brown stew. "Sea prunes!" exclaimed Sokka excitedly. "I haven't had these since I left! Thanks Gran-Gran!" he cheered as he dug in excitedly.
Jin looked at the Water Tribe boy, a little grossed out at his eating habits. Then, she glanced down at her own bowl of sea prunes just as a part of it bubbled up and burst. "Can't say I've ever had something like this before," stated the Earth Kingdom girl as she stirred her spoon around the food. She tried a bite and, with a dissatisfied look of distaste, managed to force down the stew. "That's... a bit much," the earthbender stated as she hesitated to take another bite.
Kanna gave a small laugh. "I figured something like that might happen. So I made a back-up dish too." She pulled out some smoked fish that she had also prepared. "Just in case," the village elder said with a wink as Jin looked extremely appreciative. Kanna watched as Katara handed Zuko a bowl.
"They're sea prunes. They can be a bit strong. So don't worry if you don't like it," the Water Tribe girl said a little uncharacteristically timidly of her.
Zuko accepted the bowl of sea prunes with a simple head nod and casually took a bite without noticing how everyone appeared to stop what they were doing as they watched him in anticipation. Sokka because he was hoping that the firebender would spit out the food comically. Jin because she was hoping that she wouldn't be the only one who didn't like the sea prunes. Kanna because she was curious how the Fire Prince would tell her Granddaughter that he wasn't a fan of the meal. And Katara because she knew Zuko could be very blunt when he didn't like something.
As the Fire Prince finished chewing and swallowed the food, he seemed to have a satisfied expression on his face as he commented, "Huh, tastes like ocean kumquats."
Sokka nearly fell over at the lack of reaction from the firebender, while Jin just stared at the Fire Prince in disbelief or if he had perhaps lacked taste buds entirely. Kanna hummed to herself as she poured herself a bowl of sea prunes, pleasantly surprised. Katara's face had the biggest smile. Zuko finally looked up from his meal and noticed everyone staring at him. "What? Did I spill some on my face?"
The next morning, Sokka stood in front of his ruined watchtower as he rubbed the back of his head and grumbled, "I should have known no one was going to rebuild this thing after I left." He knelt down and started to pack the snow back together. About an hour later, he had somewhat managed to recreate the foundations of his observation post.
"What are you up to?" asked Jin as she watched the Water Tribe boy work.
"Rebuilding my watchtower." Sokka continued to pack together more snow without turning around.
"Wouldn't it be easier, and not to mention faster, just to ask Katara to waterbend you a new one?" prompted Jin. "I betcha she wouldn't mind at all."
"It's my tower," replied Sokka bluntly, halting only briefly as if the thought of having his Sister build him his watchtower never occurred to him in the first place. He looked back at all the loose snow as one of the retaining walls crumbled slightly. "Stupid wall," the Water Warrior complained, standing back up. Kicking at some of the snow, he ranted, "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me," replied Jin. At the exasperated look the Water Tribe boy gave her, she rationalized, "You wear your emotions on your sleeve. You can either tell me now, or I'll just hear about it later when you reach your boiling point and likely just shout it out when everyone else is around."
Sokka rolled his eyes. But he knew she was right. Was he really that simple to read? Sokka groaned as he agonized over saying anything at all for another minute. Finally, he said, "It used to just be Katara and me. Things were simple. I defended the village and she tried to play with her magic water. Then, everything else happened. And I saw how small my world truly was."
The Water Tribe boy frowned as more of his watchtower crumbled back down. "Now that we've returned to our village, it really hits home, you know? Nothing's the same anymore. Not really. Katara's grown up. She's some kind of waterbending master now, able to freeze entire ships in their tracks. And what am I? Just some guy with a boomerang."
"Come on, there's got to be more to you than that," attempted Jin as she tried to cheer him up. "You've got a whalebone club too."
"Oh ha, ha, just mock the guy who's spilling his guts out," grumbled Sokka.
Jin realized that lighthearted jokes weren't exactly the right way to cheer up the Water Tribe boy right now. "You know what I meant," the Earth Kingdom girl elaborated. "Not everyone has to be the best fighter to be useful. There's got to be plenty of other ways you can be strong too."
"That's easy for you to say. When we fought the Southern Raiders, you, Katara, and Zuko took on the entire crew with your bending. And me? What did I do? I swung a club around like an idiot and got tossed across the deck by that Jee guy. I was a joke. You all won that fight without me really contributing anything. I couldn't help at all," Sokka harshly self-criticized.
"I know how you feel," empathized Jin.
"No, you don't," rejected Sokka. "You were just as good as Toph out there."
Jin laughed out loud. "You can only say that because you've never had Toph as your earthbending teacher. My timing was sloppy and my technique was clumsy at best. Toph would have wiped the floor with those second-rate Southern Raiders by herself. She's that good. And I bet if Toph finds out that you said I was anywhere close to her level, then you'd receive one of her trademark punches to your leg."
When the Water Tribe boy merely grunted in response, the Earth Kingdom girl walked around so that she could see his face. "Seriously though, I do know how you feel. I wasn't always an earthbender."
"Yeah right. Because you just woke up one day and suddenly discovered the ability to earthbend," ridiculed Sokka in frustration.
"Actually, it was a lion turtle," corrected Jin.
"A what?" returned Sokka.
"Big creature, size of a small island," plainly described the Earth Kingdom girl. "The lion turtle gifted me the ability to earthbend."
"Rrrright..." Sokka answered unbelievingly. Then, he recalled all the crazy stuff he saw with Aang on their own adventures. "Spirit world?"
"Spirit world," confirmed Jin with a head nod.
As the Water Tribe boy seemed to accept her explanation, Jin explained more. "Before, I always felt powerless. I always wanted to fight, to help, but I never thought I had the capability to do so. Earthbending helps me fight, but training with Toph showed me that there is more to it than that. You need to have confidence and conviction. From what I heard, you stood right alongside your Father and the rest of the Water Tribe warriors when you defended Chameleon Bay from the Fire Nation."
"I could use a teacher though," replied Sokka. "I don't want to admit it." He paused as he balled up his fists and had a scowl on his face. "No, I just really hate to admit it because the answer came from him, but Zuko was... right, yesterday." Sokka appeared visibly miffed about having to admit the Fire Prince was right about anything. "I should have asked my Dad for help. I should have asked him and the other warriors to help train me when I had the chance. I thought I was a great fighter, but I have a long way to go. Zuko had teachers, Katara had Zuko to show her the basics and guide her along, and you had Toph. I need to find a teacher too."
"So we find you a teacher," approved Jin. "Admitting you need help is a good first step." Settling into a horse stance, the Earth Kingdom girl took some time to earthbend a much sturdier foundation and then a complete watchtower out of stone dug up from underneath the snow and frost. "And I won't even charge you for my help, lucky you."
Sokka looked up at the new watchtower. "You might be picking up some of Toph's bad habits," he joked.
Katara came walking over from their Grandmother's igloo. "Hey Sokka, Jin. Oh! Nice, new watchtower. By the way, have you seen Zuko? He's supposed to be in bed getting some more rest, but he's been walking around all morning. Gran-Gran's getting worried about him."
"Well, if Gran-Gran's worried about him..." laughed Jin with a smile. "We can help you look for him."
Sokka shook his head as he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "There's no need. Mr. Broody has been down over at the water's edge outside of the front of the village for a while now. I can see him from here." Peering over the small snow wall surrounding the village, both of the two girls noticed a brooding firebender standing at the shoreline staring out at the sea.
"Thanks Sokka!" expressed Katara as she headed off in that direction. Sokka wasn't paying too much attention to his Sister as he started to climb to the top of his new watchtower.
"This thing's pretty neat," the Water Tribe boy praised. "Climb on up here, Jin. You can see for miles in every direction." With another smile, Jin accepted Sokka's offered hand as he helped her to the top of the tower.
Zuko skipped another stone across the water's surface, watching as it bounced at least five times before sinking. He had awoken early this morning, prior to the sun being up, due to a realistic dream that had shook him to the core. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but that dream felt real, almost like he had been present. But that didn't make any sense. He couldn't have been present. But it had felt familiar, like a scene that he had been shown before.
The Fire Prince picked up another stone from the handful of flat grey, white, and light blue stones he had gathered up near the shoreline. Skimming this rock across the water too, he watched as it flew further than the previous stone despite the same number of bounces.
The firebender's mind replayed the dream over in his head. Which was a bit weird too. Zuko had never had a dream stay with him this long after waking up. But as he focused, he saw the ships and the soldiers, clearer this time. He knew that they were the Southern Raiders of six years ago. Their sea raven banners were prominently displayed on the flag masts.
The Fire Prince watched as a slightly younger Hakoda fought like a man possessed to defeat firebender after firebender while rallying his men to do the same as a cohesive unit. But they were outnumbered and, slowly, they were being pushed back. Another stone was skipped.
Zuko saw the man he now knew as Yon Rha walk into the igloo that Katara's family called home. He saw the smoke and the fire that escaped from the single window and the front entrance before Yon Rha left. Minutes later, a young Katara brought her Father back to their home. The Fire Prince watched with a frown as Hakoda stopped Katara from entering the igloo after he saw the horrible sight that awaited them inside.
Zuko angrily threw the handful of stones he had to the ground as the rocks scattered every which way. Why was he seeing these images? This wasn't the first time. There had been that time at the Eastern Air Temple where he saw the fall of the airbenders and again at the outer wall of Ba Sing Se where he saw his Cousin being murdered. These weren't his memories. He wasn't there for any of this. The more he tried to push down and ignore these memories, the more they kept plaguing him. Like someone or something kept making him see these memories for some reason.
Katara had told him about her Mother's death. He knew that the South Raiders were responsible. That the Fire Nation was responsible. Somehow, when it was just the words, just a story, it felt far away. But now he was replaying these images over and over again in his head. Seeing what Katara and Sokka and Hakoda had lived through.
'How can she stand to look at me when it was the Fire Nation that took her Mother away?' the firebender brooded. 'How can she be strong enough to look past that?' He clearly had no direct hand in the tragic event. He had been a child at the time too, all the way back in the Fire Nation. But he was part of the corrupt family, the Grandson of the Fire Lord who gave the order for the attack. There was no getting around that.
Belatedly, Zuko realized his other hand still held onto one of the smooth, flat stones that he hadn't skipped across the water yet or thrown to the ground in aggravation. It was a rich light blue color and it felt warm in his hand. He raised his fist to cast down the final stone, to throw it as far into the sea as he could, but held himself at the last moment as he shouted in frustration.
"Hey! What's wrong?" came the question from the last person he wanted to see at this very moment.
Dropping his hands into his pockets, the Fire Prince sat down crossed-legged in the snow with a huff. "Just thinking about having to fight my family," he lied. There was no real qualm there. He had already resolved to do that a long time ago. That, and save his Uncle and redeem his nation.
"That can't be easy to think about," Katara replied as she sat next to him.
Zuko looked out towards the sea. "No, it isn't."
"Want to talk about it?" asked the waterbender.
"Not particularly," dismissed the Fire Prince as he tried to forget about his thoughts.
After a beat, Katara added instead, "I'm here whenever you do want to talk."
She really was too good for him. Zuko was in over his head and he was only now starting to realize it. How does one apologize and make up for the fact that your Grandfather gave the order that ended up killing the Mother of your girlfriend? They both knew it, but they still hadn't addressed it, not really.
Attempting to change the topic, Zuko asked instead, "What about that technique you used to save me? How did you do that?"
Katara brought her knees up to her chest as she sat there next to the Fire Prince. Truthfully, she had no idea what she had done or how to do it again. Curiosity had gotten the better of her last night and she had attempted to try that bizarre style of waterbending again with a small cut she had on her leg, but nothing had happened.
Maybe she hadn't been in the right state of mind? Or perhaps the first time was fluke? Or maybe it was something else? But the more she tried, the more she reflected, and eventually Katara had ceased trying to figure it out last night. When she had used whatever technique that was, Zuko seemed to be in pain as she moved his blood around and got the blood to start flowing again in his body. Maybe this 'bloodbending,' as Sokka had so plainly dubbed it, was just as dangerous of a technique as Azula's lightningbending. Katara wasn't entirely sure she wanted a technique like that.
"I'd rather not talk about that either," stated the Water Tribe girl. Just like Zuko didn't want to share what was on his mind, she rather keep this to herself for now too.
Accepting her answer, Zuko was silent for another moment before asking, "What comes after?"
"After what?" returned Katara, a little confused.
"After we defeat my Father and end this blasted war. What comes after that?" elaborated Zuko.
Katara thought about it for a moment. The future still felt so far away and they had so much to worry about and do today. She just wanted to enjoy the time she had now. "I suppose... we'll figure it out when we get there. Why the sudden worry?"
Zuko continued to stare out at the sea. "No reason. Just another thought." His concerns still ate away at him as he sat there on the shoreline.
They remained in the Southern Water Tribe village for another two days as Zuko recovered from his injuries and near fatal knife wound. Edel had reappeared on the third day, landing in the center of the village to the shock and surprise of all of the residents. Though, the thunderbird was quickly welcomed and accepted by the villagers as the thunderbird did bring a large caribou moose that it had hunted back with it. That night they feasted on a vast amount of meat.
Zuko spent much of his time in bed for the last two days. He seemed to be brooding over something. But each time he was questioned by somebody, he just replied that he was resting and that there was nothing to worry about.
Sokka and Jin continued to play with the children of the village, entertaining them with stories, inventing simple kid games, and having the occasional snowball fight. The women of the village were thrilled that the Water Tribe boy and the Earth Kingdom girl were keeping the young ones entertained, out of trouble, and most importantly, out of their Mothers' hair.
Katara spent much of her time catching up with her Gran-Gran and helping her with chores and errands throughout the village. Kanna was happy to hear about her Granddaughter's adventures in greater detail, though many of the waterbender's stories always seemed to return to a scruffy, black haired, golden eyed firebender. Kanna was sure that the young waterbender didn't realize how much she talked about him, but it was obvious how much the boy meant to her Granddaughter.
It was Sokka who eventually commented that they should start the return trip back to Hakoda and the Water Tribe warriors. No one in the village wanted them to go, but they knew that the young benders and the brave warrior were needed back at the war front. Katara and Sokka spent much of their time on the final day talking to and receiving letters from the women to give to their husbands off fighting in the war effort. Jin got saddled with the task of explaining to the children why they all had to leave again.
As the afternoon began to approach, the group realized that Zuko was still in the igloo. Kanna volunteered to go fetch him.
Zuko was fretting with his pack in the corner of the circular structure when Kanna walked inside. "You're leaving soon." It wasn't really a question, but more of a statement.
"Now that we know that the South Pole is safe and I've recovered some of my strength, we need to get back. This war isn't over yet. Not until we defeat my Father," stated Zuko as he continued to fuss with the items in his bag. The clothes and various other things didn't seem to want to all fit in there again. "Argh! I know that this all fit before! Why can't I get this to work?"
He threw the bag to the ground as multiple items spilled out. Kanna looked at the scene. "This isn't really about trying to pack a bag, is it? What's really eating away at you?"
Zuko stared at the discarded and scattered items on the ground as he kicked at a random shirt absentmindedly. "Everything," he answered vaguely.
Kanna nodded as she walked over to the baskets where she kept the dried food and started to collect some seal jerky into a bag. "That's a lot of things to worry about. Don't think you could narrow it down, could you?"
Zuko began to pick up his stuff. He barely knew the old Water Tribe woman, but she was Katara's Grandmother. He could probably trust her, right? It wasn't like he could talk to anyone else about what was weighing on his mind anyhow. "There's so much bad blood between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe. My people imprisoned your friend and killed your Daughter-in-Law, Katara's Mother. The Fire Nation laid siege to the Northern Water Tribes only this past spring. I thought I understood all this already, but being here in the South Pole, seeing just how impacted you all have actually been, I realized that I didn't know anything. How can Katara stand to look at me after all that my people have done?"
Kanna paused as she tried a ribbon around the small leather bag with the seal jerky inside it, her face unreadable. Zuko continued, "What kind of future could we have together? That I could give her? I'm just a constant reminder of what she has lost. I'm just being selfish thinking that she could like someone like me."
Kanna had been watching Katara closely these last couple of days that she had been able to cherish with her Granddaughter. During this time, there was a smile and happiness to her Granddaughter that Kanna had not seen on the Water Tribe girl's face since before Hakoda marched off to war or since Kya's untimely demise. It was true that the Fire Nation had inflicted great harm upon the Water Tribes, Kanna's family especially. But that had not been the actions or the fault of this young man standing her home, distressed over what her Granddaughter thought of him.
"Do you wish to hear the opinion of an old woman?" volunteered Kanna.
Still preoccupied with his own thoughts, Zuko muttered out, "I'll take whatever help I can get right now."
'Cheeky, indeed,' smirked Kanna to herself as she recalled her earlier assessment of the boy.
Zuko seemed to realize his rude response as he quickly backtracked and hurriedly said, "Umm... I meant to say that my Uncle always guided me in the past and Katara speaks so highly of you. I would be honored to hear your thoughts."
Kanna waved at him dismissively. "As flattering as that is, you don't need to be that formal with me. That stuffy talk is one of the many reasons why I left the Northern Water Tribes in the first place. Just speak as you normally would."
As Zuko mentally filed the new information about Kanna's past away, the village elder continued, "Just talk with her. If you want a relationship to work, then you're never going to succeed if you try to only figure things out by yourself. Both sides need to have a say."
"But I did try to talk," protested Zuko.
"And?" pressed Kanna.
"When I asked about what came after we defeated by Father, she said that we can figure things out then." Zuko shook his head. "But what if we fail? What if things don't go as planned? What if my Sister has some nasty surprise waiting for us? What if the Fire Nation people side with my Father over me? What if we get hurt? What if she gets hurt?"
"Are you going to let her get hurt?" interrupted Kanna.
"Never," was the firebender's automatic reply. Then, more remorsefully, Zuko added, "But my family has already hurt her and you and the rest of your family. I'm the Fire Prince. It was my Grandfather who ordered the raids on the Southern Water Tribes to capture your waterbenders. There is just so much wrong with the past."
"You are too concerned with what was and what may be," started Kanna as she walked towards the firebender. "There is a saying in the Water Tribes." Halting directly in front of Zuko, the wise old woman stated, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery." She placed the secured leather bag of seal jerky in Zuko's hands. "But today, is a gift." She gave him a crafty smile. "That, is why it is called the present." With that, Kanna winked and left the igloo.
The Fire Prince stared down at the bag in his hands as he thought over the village elder's words. 'Is she telling me to live in the moment?' he debated inwardly. That was something he was not entirely sure how to do.
Quickly stuffing his scattered items back in his pack, Zuko noticed the small, flat light blue stone from the other day when he had been skipping stones. It had fallen from his tunic pocket. Picking the small stone up, the firebender examined it once more before ultimately deciding to place it in his inner tunic pocket for now. A little reminder of his time with the Southern Water Tribe.
Pain. Dull, throbbing pain coursed throughout his entire body. As Aang returned to the world of the living, he felt the unfamiliar sense of soreness and injury.
Aang had never been hurt before. Well, not overly physically hurt anyway. He had no visible scars or wounds to call his own. One of the benefits of being an airbender, able to avoid and evade most attacks with the greatest of ease.
And this wasn't like the discomfort he sometimes felt whenever he actually bothered to train and his body felt sore the next day. No, this was a new sort of agony altogether. Aang's back ached constantly.
'Nope, too much pain,' decided Aang to himself as he remained laying down in his bed without even attempting to get up. Maybe if he stayed where he was, then either Sokka or Toph would arrive and help the airbender to sit up. And maybe they might even bring something to eat. Aang was feeling pretty hungry.
After a couple of minutes, Aang determined that no one was coming to check up on him and reluctantly opened his eyes. A metal ceiling. That was the first thing the Avatar saw as he blinked a couple of times at the unexpected sight.
"Ugh, where am I?" asked Aang groggily as he slowly sat up in bed. His back ached fiercely, but he could not recall why. Everything seemed pretty hazy to him actually. Looking around, even the walls were metal. The room was really cramped and compact. And there was a port hole with a small view of the ocean waves.
Aang blinked another couple of times. 'Port hole?' Gradually managing to get to his feet, Aang made his way to the port hole and stared outside as he got a better view of the ocean. Slowly, it dawned on him where he was. "This is a Fire Nation ship! I'm on a Fire Nation ship!" he shouted out loud without even considering to be quiet about his discovery.
Not bothering to consider why he wasn't chained or handcuffed, why he had been in a nice, warm bed instead of a cold, dark cell, or why his glider staff was casually leaning against his bed post, Aang grabbed his staff and bolted for the door. Opening the door carefully, he peeked down the hallways, but did not see anyone.
Tip-toeing down the corridor quietly, the airbender came across an open door that appeared to lead into a storage room of some sort. "Just wait until we get this jelly candy up to the galley. Everyone's going to love what we're going make for dessert tonight!" cheered one of two soldiers dressed in Fire Nation armor from inside the storage area.
"Hey! He's awake!" exclaimed the other soldier, a very small and short soldier, a kid actually, but Aang didn't notice that. He was already running down the hall after being spotted not even two minutes after leaving his room. He was definitely not a master of sneaking around. "Hold on! Wait up!" shouted the soldier frantically. But Aang ran completely down the hall and burst through the door at the end.
The sun overhead blinded him and prevented him from seeing anything on the deck, except for more shadows and blurry figures. Shapes and outlines seemed to halt what they were doing in surprise and started to shout something about the Avatar. The blurs started to move towards him slowly. But Aang wasn't about to let them catch him again.
Everything started to rush back for Aang. Fighting Azula, trying to activate the Avatar State, getting struck in the back by lightning, and then nothing. Nothing except waking up on a Fire Nation ship. He had been captured and he was being taken to the see the Fire Lord. He needed to escape. He needed to get out. His friends needed him. The world needed him.
With a flick of his wrist Aang snapped open his glider and tossed it up into the air as he jumped to catch the aerial vehicle and allow the winds to carry him to safety. What he didn't expect was for a piece of the metal deck to rise up and wrap itself around his ankle. His springing jump skyward transformed into more of a stunted lurch that ended in a surprised yelp before he crashed back onto the hard deck with a thud and a groan of pain. To add insult to injury, his glider landed on top of him.
"Where do you think you're going Twinkle Toes?" asked one of the blurry shapes around him.
Aang paused at the sound of the familiar voice. "Toph?" He slowly lifted the lightweight glider up from his head as he noticed the little earthbender standing directly in front of him, her arms crossed across her chest and surrounded by several Fire Nation soldiers.
"Who else?" smirked Toph. "You sure do have a lot of energy for someone who's been bedridden for weeks."
"Weeks? I've been asleep for weeks?!" Aang shouted as he scrambled back to his feet, the earthbender releasing the metal that bound him to the deck.
"About two weeks in total," clarified the little earthbender.
"Why are we on a Fire Nation ship? What's going on? Did you get captured too? What about Sokka?" barraged the airbender with a series of questions.
"Calm down Aang," focused Toph. "Your heart's racing and your breathing's getting labored. Let me explain." Aang looked at the little earthbender expectantly. "This is a captured ship. Those Fire Nation soldiers you're seeing, they're Water Tribe." To prove Toph's point, one of the Fire Nation soldiers removed his helmet to reveal a Water Tribe warrior underneath.
"Hello, young Avatar," greeted Hakoda. "I've heard a lot about you from my children. It's good to have you back with us. You had us worried for a minute there. Luckily we found an excellent healer to patch you up."
Aang stared oddly at the Water Tribe Chieftain in front of him. "Uh... thanks?" the airbender stated in confusion. "Who are you again? I don't think we've ever met."
"Not formally," acknowledged Hakoda. "I am Hakoda, Sokka's and Katara's Father. When Sokka brought you to us, you were a mess. You can count yourself fortunate that Katara was able to heal your lightning injury. It was beyond our capabilities to help otherwise."
Aang listened, his eyes widened at the mention of Katara being with the group again. "Katara? Katara's back! You all rescued her! She's here?!" The largest smile spread across his face. "That's amazing! I knew she couldn't be gone. I can't wait to see her again. You said she's here right? Is she below decks? I need to go find her!"
Toph felt the airbender's heart beat racing and fluttering as he thought of the Water Tribe girl. "I said calm down," reiterated Toph firmly. "Ice Princess isn't here right now. Her and her Brother are down at the South Pole preventing a Fire Nation attack."
Aang grabbed his glider. "What?! We have to help them! Appa! Here boy!"
Several metal planks formed all around Aang and locked him into a makeshift box. "You're a terrible listener, you know that?" huffed Toph. "You keep getting all excited like that and you're liable to pass out again."
The airbender struggled from within the metal box he found himself in. "You don't understand! I failed Katara once before. I can't let her down again! If she's in trouble, then I have to help!"
"She'll be fine Aang. I sparred with her a couple of times. With her waterbending skills, the only ones who are going to need help are those who get in her way." Aang ceased his flailing, surprised to hear that Katara had improved her waterbending far enough that even Toph was impressed. Toph rarely praised anyone else's bending.
The airbender's next thought was humiliation. By the sound of it, Katara had become a much better waterbender than he was. And he was supposed to be the Avatar. Aang had the privilege of training with one of the greatest waterbending masters in the North Pole. Katara had been a prisoner with no one to teach her. 'Is Katara really that much better than me with waterbending?' the airbender thought.
Toph continued talking. "And don't worry, Captain Boomerang, Sparky, and Pebbles are with her too. They'll be fine."
Aang knew Toph meant Sokka, but the other names were unfamiliar to him. "Who?"
Toph grinned. "My student."
"You have another student besides me? I have a training buddy?!" asked Aang excitedly. It was always nice to train with new friends. And with a second student, Toph's focus might be distracted and he wouldn't have to deal with all of the grueling trials Toph came up with all on his own.
"Her name's Jin and I've already started training her with my new art of metalbending. She's a natural! Just like me!" gloated Toph.
Aang gulped. "You've already starting teaching her metalbending? I haven't even started metalbending."
Toph knocked on the airbender's makeshift cage loud enough to shake the box. "I know, you dunderhead. Otherwise you would have no problem getting out of this simple box I put you in." A mischievous grin crossed Toph's face. Aang couldn't see it, but Hakoda did and the Water Chieftain smartly excused himself from the two in order to go check on the helm. "Maybe this can be your first lesson. Free yourself. This situation is similar to how I learned to metalbend in fact," stated Toph.
Aang missed Toph's instruction as he continued to dwell on the realization that another person had joined their group who was probably a better bender than he was right now. Toph had said that he had been unconscious for two weeks. So this Jin person couldn't have been training with Toph for that long of time. And yet, she was far ahead of him in earthbending just like Katara was with waterbending. Attempting to change the topic, Aang pivoted to asking, "I'm guessing that Pebbles is Jin. Who is Sparky? Another student of yours?"
Toph shook her head. "Nah. You know Sparky. He's been chasing after you for a while now as I hear it."
Everything seemed to halt for Aang as he realized who the little earthbender was talking about. "Zuko?! Zuko's with them? What's he doing with them?! Did he capture them to get to me?"
Toph punched the metal box as the reverberations quieted the agitated airbender. "Zuko's fighting with us now. He was here to teach you firebending. Then, this attack in the South happened. But they'll be back soon. So you better shape up and finish your other training so you can focus on fire too."
That made no sense to Aang. He had been running from the Fire Prince for a long time now. Early on, Aang had once thought that they could have been friends if their circumstances had been different. But those opinions gradually faded over time. The result of constantly running from Zuko and his seemingly endless pursuit.
"Toph, let me out," pleaded the airbender. "I promise I won't do anything hasty."
Toph crossed her arms again. "Really Twinkle Toes? Did you seriously forget that lies don't work on me in the short time that you've been snoozing?"
As Toph began to walk away, Aang called out to her. "Wait, are you seriously just going to leave me in here?"
"I told you, time for your first metalbending lesson," the little earthbender replied without turning around.
"But I haven't even finished learning earthbending! And I just woke up after two weeks!" Aang whined.
"Then you've rested long enough. I ain't here to baby you. I'm here to whip you into shape. The championship fight is almost here and you're nowhere near ready." As Toph started to walk away again, she shouted over her shoulder. "You can try as many 'different angles' as you want. But you're stuck in a box. It's time to learn how to be direct."
The sound of fists punching on metal echoed across the deck as Toph lounged on a coil of rope and observed her student. It was time for some tough love. She would turn this featherweight weakling into a heavyweight champion one way or another. Her pride as a teacher demanded it.