Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: I'm quite pleased with the chapter in the last story where Yue's Avatar State is triggered in the South Pole, but I'm pretty satisfied with the rest too.

Zigzagdoublezee: A lot of change has happened very quickly, and both the city authorities and the refugees are struggling to cope. And it's going to get even worse very soon as the Fire Nation arrive.

As Always, Please Review!

Having made sure the prison ship, now firmly in the hands of the prisoners, was on its way to freedom and safety, Team Avatar took the opportunity to get out of there as quickly as possible. They flew east, back across occupied Earth Kingdom Territory until they were sure they were back over a free province.

Then, Gembul landed, on one side of a wide, shallow valley. Yue breathed a sigh of relief as she slid off the saddle, her feet slamming into solid ground. The sun was shining, there were birds singing in the trees. There was no indication that anything was wrong with the world. They had landed near a village. Yue could smell food, and see smoke gently curling into the azure blue sky from the chimneys. A single mountain rose high into the sky in the distance.

Sokka immediately perked up, seeming to forget his encounter with Ty Lee the chi-blocker as he jumped down to stand next to her, finding what money they had left as he did so.

Yue looked at him, and then back at the village.

"Alright," she decided. "Who wants something to eat? A little celebratory meal."

"Sounds good to me," Rinzen agreed, floating down from Gembul's head and patting his nose affectionately. The bison grunted and gently headbutted him. "As long as there's a vegetarian option."

"I'm sure there will be," Suki reassured him. "It's the Water Tribes who put meat in everything, not us."

"Because meat is delicious," Sokka crossed his arms. "Look, are we going or not?"

The walk into the town was short, and after they had concealed Gembul somewhere comfortable and within earshot of Rinzen's bison whistle, they entered a wide street flanked by pleasant wooden buildings. Each one had a series of lanterns hanging from it, unlit at that moment but which would provide a lot of light at night. The town bustled with activity, merchants, customers, and others crowding the street, which was filled by the sounds and smells of a busy market day. A teahouse stood on the other end of the street, its sign visible gently flapping in the breeze.

"This is nice," Katara declared. "Much better than that other place."

"Do we need anything in the market while we're here?" Rinzen asked, looking around.

"Do we?" Yue asked. "I don't think so."

They made their way through the crowd, initially having to push their way through, but as more people noticed them they began to part, a gap opening up that allowed them to go straight to the entrance of the tea shop. The door slid open, and they stepped inside. A pleasant room filled with tables and chairs, well lit and with a counter at one end greeted them. A corridor led off deeper into the building.

Yue strolled up to the counter, where a bored looking member of staff looked up at her.

"Uh... table for five, please," she said. The staff member nodded and gestured to a table near the window.

Once they had sat down, Sokka looked out at the scene in front of them.

"How can they be so calm?" He asked. "Don't they know there's a war on?"

"Life carries on," Rinzen said sagely. "And you've got to make the best of it."

"Life won't carry on much longer if the Fire Nation come," Sokka pointed out, lowering his voice so as not to panic anyone else.

"But they haven't yet. We might be very far out of the way for any of their armies to reach."

"Excuse me?" A voice came from next to them, and Yue looked around to find a man standing there. She initially thought he must be there to take their orders, but that was not what he said.

"Are you the Avatar?"

Yue looked around, and then nodded. The man's eyes widened.

"It is an honour!" He said. "To have you in our village. We have heard all about you."

"Then you must also know about the Fire Nation," Sokka told him.

"Yes, we do," the man nodded. "But we are not worried. I know they will not come here."

"How can you possibly know that?" Suki asked, baffled. "Do you have spies in their army?"

"No," the man shook his head. "I have it on a far more reliable source. Her."

His pronouncement was met with baffled looks around the table.

"... I'm sorry? Who's her?" Katara asked politely.

"Her name is Wu, and she knows things," the man said. "She can look into the future, and what she says, happens."

Sokka scoffed. The man took no notice.

"She has the gift of prophecy, and she has deigned to share it with our humble village."

Yue frowned.

"Well, I'm sure that sounds nice, but-"

"Prophecy isn't real!" Sokka protested. "Nobody can know these things!"

"Maybe I would have agreed with you once," the man nodded serenely. "But she opened my eyes to what's possible."

He looked directly at Yue, and then gestured down the corridor.

"She's down there, if you would like to see her. She knew you would come, and she sent me to fetch you."

Yue looked at him, and then at the corridor, and then back at him again. She gulped.

"She would even forgo payment," he said. "Think of it as a thank you."

"For what?"

"You'll see." The man said mysteriously.

Yue dithered for a few seconds. Did she really want to know her future? What if it said she was doomed? She wouldn't even be able to enjoy the time before it happened. She would live the rest of her life cursed with the knowledge of her own destruction. This Wu might also be a fraud, and if so this would be a giant waste of everyone's time.

But equally, if this woman was for real, if she did truly posess the gift of foresight, what she had to say could be immensely valuable. Yue knew the first rule of being the Avatar, after all; Her first duty must be to the world, not herself. Which meant even if the future made her miserable, she had to know it for the good of all.

She sighed, and stood up. The others, particularly Sokka, began to protest, but she turned to them.

"I think I have to do this," she said. "We might need this information."

"Can't one of us go and learn your future for you?" Suki asked.

"That would be even worse. You would know my future, and the fact you know and I don't would torture me," Yue pointed out.

"And it has to be specifically you anyway," the man added. "Although maybe the rest of you can see her afterwards, I'm sure she would agree to that.

Yue nodded and turned to him, steeling herself.

"Take me to Wu," she commanded reluctantly. "I will hear my future then."