No time to Die

2

•Eight years later•

A large fire nation ship rocked softly on the sea while a full moon was above them, it moved through the water with smoke coming from the top.

"Did you hear that the earth rebellion is still making a fight?" A man leaned on the side of the ship as the crew took a break.

"With fire lord Azula still leading the army they won't have a chance, king Ozai will let her kill whoever she wants if it means giving him power," another man scoffed as he drank a dark liquor to keep them warm in the cold night.

"Theyre still looking for the avatar ya know?" He smirked at them a little.

"Everyone is," a woman rolled her eyes as she took some of the liquor from the men.

"I think he's dead, it's water tribe that's probably hiding the next avatar," the man smiled looking over the water.

"The cycles not broken, an avatar is still out there but no one knows if it's the air bender or some water bender, it would be a child if there's a new avatar, no one would know till it's 16," he sighed a little taking a swing.

"You sound disappointed almost," the woman raised a brow.

"No, but it's a mystery to the world now, who knows when the next avatar will show up, I don't blame the king and fire lord still looking, one avatar and that's all it'll take for them to win if they mastered it all," he scoffed shaking his head.

"Do you hope one is out there?" A younger woman walked up as their backs were to her.

"If there is one it's a child, could be an eight year old, could be younger if the previous avatar died after the comet sometime," the man looked back at the young woman but froze. She wasn't fire nation, she had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes that looked like that they almost glowed in the moonlight.

"Wait a minute... Who are you?" He took out his sword as everyone were shocked seeing a complete stranger in the middle of the sea.

"No one special," she moved her hands up and bender the water around the ship as it tilted everyone to the side with screams. The wave went down and the ship rocked opposite, she brought up again till the water was high enough to tilt the ship over in the water making everyone yell in shock and fear of the water bender that took out a fire nation ship alone.

—

Twenty two year old Katara walked from the shore of the sea to the sand with a yawn as she collapsed in the dry sand while the sun rose in the distance.

She laid with her arms over her face to block the light, her longhair was pooled around her head, over the years she grew few inches taller and but still had a youthful face that matured a bit but her body collected scars over the years of fighting a war. Now fighting alone. No partner, no allies, she traveled on her own.

She had a scar under her jaw and a few on her arms and legs, luckily light scars that have faded after years. From battles and personal fights, she had to get stronger either way.

There was a low roar from the side and she looked up hearing loud stomping and smiled seeing appa approaching her. The bison licked at her raised hand and laid in the sand next to her.
She's been traveling with the flying bison for the past few years but ever since Aang disappeared she's taken appa as her responsibility.
After they decided where they wanted to fight in the war, the first three months her and Toph traveled to the air temples and checked out some islands that had no people where he could be. But there was no luck, so she returned to the white lotus and stayed with her friends, for the next three years they were together but the year after that they began to spread out. But she had a change of heart and stayed by her partners side for another year... till the worst happened.

But since she left, she's been fighting personal battles like with the river village and freeing those who weren't able to free themselves. She couldn't help but try to help those who couldn't fight back.

She touched her stomach gently and sighed getting up.

"Hey appa, miss me?" She smiled getting back to her feet, standing in front of the bison who licked her hand again. She rubbed his nose and hugged him enjoying his soft fur.

"You stink, let's find a river and give you a bath," Katara gagged at his smell.

She brushed the sand off her legs and pulled her hair up to get her wet hair off her back. Appa followed her off the beach and through the woods as she took the lead to find the river near by.

Five years since they split up and it felt like the water tribe and earth rebellion have barely made a dent against the fire nation, like before the avatar was in the world again. It frustrated her, it was frustrating to the whole group when they disagreed about what to do, or even if it was worth trying to find Aang after three years a searching and fighting. She was losing hope so she took it into her own hands.

Azula was able to become fire lord and that put fear into everyone, even her own people since she's losing her mind after the years. Maybe that's why Zuko also dropped off the face of the earth. He didn't want to be like his family. He's somewhere in the earth kingdom hiding. That's all she knew... that's all she wanted to know.

Especially since fire nation people have began to run from their terrifying nation to hide, but in the earth kingdom, those who shared fire nation blood face discrimination. Including Zuko a few times after the comet.

And now they won't speak to each other. An unforgiving story between the two old friends.

"Should we use some of the oils appa? I think you deserve a little spa day," Katara crawled to the saddle and appa made a sound in response.

"I'm taking that as a yes, stinky," she giggled a little sliding down and she set a bottle on the grass as they found a river. She bended the water to take off appas saddle since she couldn't do it alone, rinsed appa off as he stepped in the river and laid down with a groan enjoying the cool water.

She used a little of the oil and bended it to spread so it could cover more of the giant and rubbed it on the back of his ears and horns to keep him clean.

Appa closed his eyes letting her pamper him, she babied the giant a lot more when it was just them. She wondered his appa knew if Aang would come back or not, or if he just thought Aang abandoned him. She knew appa loved his person and probably would run straight towards Aang if he saw him.

"Man I really feel like a certain prince, must find the avatar and regain my honor," Katara chuckled but her stomach dropped at the thought of Zuko. She felt guilty for leaving him on bad terms, for the way she left him...

"Tomorrow I'm going to head into town and see how the white lotus is doing, if there's any updates on the fire nation," she told the bison even though he might not understand her. She felt like she was going crazy.

"I need to be around actual humans, no offense appa, yours a great listener,"  she smiled up at him.

"Alright now close your eyes so I can rinse you big guy," she backed up and bender the water to wash the winter coat of fur off.