*ONE MONTH LATER*
Luna stood in between two amphorae filled with water, concentrating on feeling the flow of the water as she lifted it from the bowls. She brought her hands close together to form on big blob of water floating in the air in front of her. Slowly spreading her arms out again, she formed a stream of water and let it swim around in the air around her. She felt the water flow, not fighting against it. She split the water into two strips and bent it into the amphorae once more. "Well done Luna. You've made great progress," Master Pakku praised as he stepped closer to her. He suddenly stopped in his tracks and began to examine her, his hand on his chin. Luna shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "I think you're ready," he stated after a moment. "Ready for what?" she asked shocked. "You're ready to continue training on your own. You have learned all the basics of becoming a great waterbending master in the short period of a month, where it would've taken others years to master." Luna's eyes widened in amazement as he took his hands out of his sleeve to reveal a scroll in his hand. "This is a scroll of the moves that I, myself have created. I think you would find greater use for it than I ever did," he said and placed the scroll in her hand. "Master Pakku, I can't possibly accept this," Luna said and was about to give it back when Master Pakku shook his head. "I insist," he said with a rare smile. Luna returned the smile and gave him a respectful bow. "Thank you for teaching me your ways Master Pakku. I don't know how I could thank you enough." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "No need. It was an honor working with you." Just as she was about to walk away, a messenger ran up to them, making her stop in her tracks. "Chief Arnook request both your presences," he informed. Luna glanced over at Pakku confused. He nodded his head at her as they began to walk to the palace.
As they drew closer, Luna saw a strange creature standing outside of the palace. Its white fur looked soft and brown a arrow ran from its head to the back of its flat tale. It had horns coming out of its head and six legs with a brown saddle placed on its back. It appeared to be sleeping and Luna certainly didn't want to disturb the enormous beast so she simply walked into the palace. Upon entering, she was met with five gazes, two of them being the chief and Princess Yue but the other three were completely unfamiliar. There were two boys and one girl. The girl and one of the boys wore Water Tribe clothing that didn't match those of the locals and the other boy wore the clothes of a monk. His head was shaved, revealing the arrow tattoo on his head that probably went over the rest of his body as well. They all just stared at her for a moment before the chief spoke up. "I'm so glad you two are here. I would like for you to meet the Avatar," Chief Arnook introduced as he motioned towards the monk. Luna's entire body stiffened at his words as Master Pakku went to sit next to the chief. She was so worried that she would never find the Avatar but here he stood in front of her. The three that stood in front of her exchanged confused glances at my behavior. The monk was the first one to step closer to her. "Hi, my name is Aang," he greeted and extended his hand to her. She shook herself out of her frozen state and gave him a small smile. "Nice to meet you Aang. I've heard so much about you. My name is Luna," she introduced herself and gave his hand a small shake. His face lit up as he motioned the other two towards them. "Um...Hi. I'm Katara," the girl greeted and gave Luna's hand and awkward shake. "Chief Arnook has told us about you." Luna tensed up at the thought of what he had said. "What did he say?" she asked, trying to keep her composure. "Only that you came to him to learn waterbending and that you're learning pretty quickly," she said, making Luna's nerves relax. The boy dressed in Water Tribe clothing circled her, seeming to be observing her. "Um...hello," Luna said awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. "Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe," he introduced and held his hand out, trying to act in a formal manner. "Luna Suzaki," she said and gave his hand a shake. "What's your secret," Sokka asked out of the blue. "Excuse me?" Luna asked shocked. "Well, everybody has a secret. I just want to know what yours is." Her eyes shifted in all directions, not meeting Sokka's penetrating gaze. "Sokka," Katara scolded. "What?" he asked innocently but he didn't say anything after that. "Sorry about my brother. He can get a little paranoid," she apologized, earning a small grin from Luna. "It's fine. I've dealt with worse." After a moment, Chief Arnook stood up with his arms extended. "Your arrival must be celebrated. We shall have a great feast at nightfall," he announced. "Is he always like this?" Aang whispered to Luna who stood beside him. "Not usually. You should feel honored," she joked, earning a giggle from him.
When night time had fallen upon the Northern Water Tribe, people were gathered into the plaza, waiting for the Chief's important announcement. Luna was seated in between Aang and Katara while Sokka sat on Katara's left. Four attendants walked up to the giant of a beast that Luna had learned to be Aang's flying bison, Appa and placed a platter for him to eat in front of him. Appa let out a roar, making all the attendants scamper away in fear. At the center of the plaza, another four attendants placed a large, steaming platter of food onto the stage. Chief Arnook then stood to address the crowd that sat in front of him. " Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe," he said and gestured to Katara and Sokka. "And they have brought with them someone very special, someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now." He motioned to Aang before saying, "The Avatar!" The entire crowd erupted into applause and cheers. "We also celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday," he continued when the crowd had died down. The Chief stepped aside as Princess Yue stepped forward, flanked by two attendants. Sokka looked at her with wide eyes, causing a smirk to appear on Luna's face. "Princess Yue is now of marrying age," Chief Arnook stated, making Luna's smirk fall. She had almost forgotten that Yue was engaged but she hoped that Sokka could do something about it. Luna would hate to see someone she had grown close to, marry someone she didn't love. "Thank you, father. May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times," Princess Yue said. "Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform," Arnook said and motioned to the three men who stood on a podium. They began to waterbend the water from three enormous amphorae in front of them. The crowd cheered as the water danced in the air. "Why aren't you up there? Aren't you a part of Master Pakku's class?" Katara asked Luna. "I'm not really the preforming type. And besides, Master Pakku isn't teaching me anymore," Luna answered with a sad smile. "Why not? Did something happen?" Luna shook her head. "He said I'm ready to continue training on my own." Katara nodded her head in understanding. "So what are you going to do now?" she asked. Luna thought for a moment. She was going to find an earthbending teacher next but she wasn't going to say that since she didn't want them to know that she bends all four elements just yet. "I don't know yet," Luna said with a shrug. "Hi, there. Sokka, Southern Water Tribe," Sokka's voice ended their conversation. Luna looked beside Katara to find Yue sitting next to Sokka. "Very nice to meet you," Yue said with a slight bow. There was a brief pause before Sokka said, "So... uh... you're a Princess." Yue nodded. "You know, back in my tribe, I'm kinda like a Prince myself," Sokka stated, trying to make himself sound more important. "Ha! Prince of what?" Katara laughed. "A lot of things! Uh, do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!" he snapped angrily. "My apologies, Prince Sokka," Katara joked with a mocking bow. Sokka turned back to Yue, trying to recover. " So it looks like I'm gonna be in town for awhile. I'm thinking maybe we could...do an activity together?" he asked, sounding a bit lame. "Do an 'activity'?" Yue asked with a raised brow. Sokka, sweating, began to stuff his mouth with food that was placed I. front of him on the table. "Very smooth," Katara said sarcastically, clearly enjoying her brother's lame attempt at courting. After the demonstration was finished, Chief Arnook, Aang and Luna walked up to Master Pakku. "Master Pakku, meet your newest student, the Avatar," The Chief introduced. Aang gave Pakku a bow. "Just because you're destined to save the world, don't expect any special treatment," Master Pakku stated, his voice cold. "My friend and I can't wait to start training with you," Aang said, trying to ignore his statement. "-after we relax for a couple days," he added. "If you want to relax, then I suggest visiting a tropical island. If not, I'll see you both at sunrise. Good night." With that, Master Pakku walked away. Aang looked at Chief Arnook who just shrugged then at Luna who was trying to hold in her laughter. "What's so funny?" Aang asked. "Nothing. Don't worry, he was precisely the same way with me. He gets nicer," she reassured. Aang gave her a grateful smile before they both walked away.
'Come on Luna. Focus.' With her hands stretched out in front of her and her eyes squeezed shut, Luna concentrated on bending the snow by her feet. Her hands were shaking and her eyebrows were twitching but she wouldn't give up. She had done it with ease only yesterday. Why did she struggle now? With a sigh, she lowered her arms in defeat, anger bubbling inside her veins. "Why is this so difficult?!" She yelled out in frustration and kicked a pile of snow close to her. As she turned around to walk away, an ice spike shot our of the ground in front of her, missing her nose by a few millimeters. Her ocean blue eyes widened in surprise as she stumbled back. "Sure, now it works," she said annoyed. With a wave of her hand, the ice melted away into the snow. "What do you mean you won't teach me?!" She heard Katara yell from a place not too far from where she stood. "Oh no," Luna mumbled under her breath as she made her way to where she had heard the voice. She knew exactly what this meant. "I didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell me 'no'!" Katara yelled at Pakku just as Luna approached them. "No," Master Pakku said simply from where he sat on an ice chair. "But there must be other female waterbenders in your tribe! What about Luna?!" Luna's face fell from where she stood beside Pakku, him noticing. "She is none of your concern!" Pakku yelled defensively, standing up and stepping in front of Luna. Katara and Aang looked shock for a second at his reaction but quickly recovered when Pakku continued, "Here the women learn from Yugoda to use their waterbending to heal. I'm sure she would be happy to take you as her student despite your bad attitude." That only seemed to aggravate Katara even more. "I don't want to heal, I want to fight!" She yelled, her fists clenched. "I can see that. But our tribe has customs, rules," Pakku said calmly and folded his hands behind his back. "Well your rules stink!" Aang stepped forward as well and yelled in agreement, "Yeah! They're not fair. If you won't teach Katara, then-" "Aang," Luna warned him as Pakku took a step closer to him. "Then what?" Pakku beamed. "Then I won't learn from you!" Aang yelled and began to walk away. Luna shook her head in despair as Pakku said to a retreating Aang, "Well have fun teaching yourself. I'm sure you'll do a great job." Aang paid no mind to him as he continued walking. "Wait. Aang didn't mean that," Katara said and ran after Aang, grabbing his shoulder to stop him. She said something to him that Luna couldn't hear, before Aang nodded his head glumly and lazily swung his body towards the two. "Luna, why don't you accompany Katara to the healer's building," Pakku instructed. Luna gave a small nod and went to walk beside Katara. They didn't say anything to each other as they walk until they were almost at their destination. "So why did Master Pakku train you but won't train me?" Katara asked suddenly, a glum but questioning look spread across her face. Luna's posture stiffened at the question, not knowing what to say. She didn't want to tell her the truth because she didn't want to be treated any different. "Is something wrong?" Katara asked her, snapping her out of her wandering thoughts. "No, it's just a little hard to explain." Katara sent her another questioning look but chose not to say anything about it as they walked on. Soon, they reached a small building made out of ice just like the rest of the city. When they walked inside, they were met with multiple eyes, all except one belonging to small girls from the Southern Water Tribe. The other set of eyes belonged to an elderly woman whom Luna had come to visit multiple times in the time she's been there. "Luna dear, it's been a while," Yugoda exclaimed as she stood up and warped her arms around Luna in a tight embrace. "Sorry, Yugoda. I've been so busy lately," Luna said as she returned the hug. "It's alright. Who's this," she asked, noticing Katara who stood awkwardly behind her. "This is my friend, Katara." Yugoda's face brightened as she asked, "Are you here for the healing lesson?" Katara looked around the room of small girls, a glum expression on her face. "I guess I am," she said and took a seat. "And what about you, dear?" Luna looked around the room of hopeful faces, one of them being Katara who didn't want to be left alone. "I would love to," she said and took a seat next to Katara as the lesson started.
After the lesson was finished, the little girls carried the healing dummy out of the building on a makeshift stretcher, leaving Luna, Katara and Yugoda alone in the small building. "Thanks for the lesson," Katara tanked Yugoda. "It was great to be back here," Luna added. "So, who's the lucky boy?" Yugoda asked suddenly. "Huh?" Katara asked confused. Yugoda pointed at the necklace around her neck and said, "Your betrothal necklace. You're getting married, right?" Katara gave a small smile. "No, I don't think I'm ready for that yet," she said. "That's always Luna's excuse but the truth is she's just to stubborn," Yugoda teased, earning a small giggle from Katara. "Or it's just that all the 'men' are to self centered for their own good," Luna protested. "So where did you get the necklace then?" Luna asked, getting back on the subject. "My grandmother gave my mother this necklace, and my mother passed it down to me," she explained. Yugoda took a closer look at the necklace and smiled. "I recognize this carving! I don't know why I didn't realize sooner! You're the spitting image of Kana!" She acknowledged. Katara stepped back in surprise. "Wait, how do you know my Gran-Gran's name?" She asked shocked. "When I was about your age I was friends with Kana. She was born here, in the Northern Tribe," Yugoda explained. "She never told me," Katara said looking away from them. "Your grandmother had an arranged marriage with a young waterbender. He carved that necklace for her." Yugoda continued. "If she was engaged, why did she leave?" Luna asked, joining the conversation once more. "I don't know. That's always been a mystery to me. She left without saying goodbye." Luna placed a comforting hand on Yugoda's shoulder. "I'm sorry, it must've been so hard for you, losing your friend like that," Luna said, earning a small smile from the elderly woman.
The next day Luna sat with Princess Yue, Chief Arnook, Master Pakku and the rest of the highly ranked people of the tribe in the plaza. The trio stood before them, asking for forgiveness for Aang trying to teach Katara waterbending. "What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?" Chief Arnook asked. "Yes-Please," Katara begged them. "I suspect he might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologize to him," Arnook insisted. Distaste clearly showed as she turned to face Aang, then turned back and bitterly said, "Fine." A smug smile danced on Pakku's lips. "I'm waiting little girl," he urged. Her fist clenched in anger. "No! No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" Katara yelled and with each word she spoke, cracks formed under her feat as her waterbending began to lose control. At the end of her statement, she pointed her finger at Pakku, causing two massive water pots on either side of them to shattered and the water to spill out. Luna stood up defensively, ready to intervene if she must. "Katara," Luna warned, only to be ignored. "I'll be outside - if you're man enough to fight me!" She challenged Pakku before storming away. "That girl has a death wish," Luna mumbled under her breath as she shook her head in despair. "I'm sure she didn't mean that," Aang tried to reason, only for Sokka to bud in, "Yeah, I think she did." Luna jumped of the platform, not paying any mind to the shocked faces of the two or the council, and went after Katara with Aang and Sokka closely following. The three ran down the stairs of the plaza, catching up to Katara easily. "Are you crazy, Katara? You're not gonna win this fight!" Sokka inclined. "I don't care," she bushed his words off. "You don't have to do this for me. I can find another teacher," Aang tried to reason but Katara wouldn't have it. "I'm not doing it for you! Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy!" Luna stopped Katara by coming to a halt in front of her. "Katara, trust me when I say, you aren't going to gain anything out of this." Katara only glared at her. "What would you know. You're just a teacher's pet," Katara snapped at her out of her raged state. She then turned to face Pakku who was calmly descending the stairs. "Luna, she didn't mean that," Aang told her but Luna only shook her head. "If this is what she wants, so be it," she said calmly. "So, you decided to show up?" Katara yelled. Master Pakku paid no mind to her and only walked on. "Aren't you gonna fight?" Katara asked him. "Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong," Pakku stated without turning to face her. Growing more aggravated with his words, she drew a water whip from the snow on the ground and whipped Pakku on the back of his head, making him stop. "Fine. You want to learn to fight so bad, study closely!" Pakku said, finally facing her. He drew almost all the water from the two large pools on either side of him and bent the water around him. Katara charged at him but didn't get close when she was thrown back by the water Pakku had bent towards her. She was thrown about ten feet away from him and as she looked up, Pakku started to bend the water around them, spinning it faster and faster, creating a whirlpool effect. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you!" Pakku mocked a now standing Katara. The whirlpool constricted but before Katara was knocked back down she swung her arm, deflecting the wall of water off on a different trajectory. The water shot towards a now gathered crowd and just before it hit Sokka, Luna deflected the water away from everyone using her bending. "Thanks," Sokka tanked, out of breath from the shock. "No problem," Luna said and shrugged it off. Katara charged Pakku once again, water whip in hand, but before she could reach him, her bends a ramp in front of her which she slides on and back flips off of, landing neatly on the guardial of the citadel steps, just behind him. Pakku turned to face her before he liquefied the ice ramp and sent the water flying towards Katara. She held herself in place by bending ice onto her feet, and bending the wave of water so it wouldn't hit her. "You can't knock me down!" She exclaimed, making the crowd behind her cheer but Luna knew it was far from over. Katara, now determined, bared down on Pakku who looked as calm as he always did. He raised a sheet of ice between him and the raging girl, which Katara easily liquefied. She throws several punches at Pakku, one of them narrowly missing his face, before her washed her out of his way and into one of the pools with a wave of water. Pakku gave a smile of satisfaction. Katara then broke the surface of the water, the crowd cheering once more, and raised a circular pedestal of ice, and began to swipe her hands over the pedestal, sending thin, sheets of ice flying towards Pakku. Pakku skillfully broke everyone that was sent his way by impressive Tai Chi moves. The last one, however, narrowly passes by the left side of his face. Once it had passed, he looked back at Katara with a bewildered look on his face. Katara, now out of the pool of water, bent a stream of water around her then sent it flying towards Pakku, who easily catches it and twirled it around him. Katara runs at him again but is thrown backwards once more by a wave of water. She breathed heavily by her place on the ground, stands of hair now hanging loosely around her face. She suddenly jumped up, in her bending stance once more and with a motion, the segmented columns on either side of Pakku collapsed, which he disintegrated into a cloud of dust. " Well, I'm impressed. You are an excellent waterbender," Pakku complemented. "But you still won't teach me, will you?" Katara asked. "No." With a cry of effort, Katara raised water near her feet, freezing it, and sending it in a rolling wave along the floor to Pakku, who is raised up on a pillar of ice when the wave reached him. He liquefied the base of the ice column and began to flow forward on it, like an iceberg riding along a river. Katara had raised her own stream of water and knocked him off his iceberg, but Pakku grabbed Katara's water and freezed it in an arc around her which he slides on. As he exited the arc he knocked her down, her necklace falling to ice near her. Katara breathed heavily, her long black hair now loose around her. Pakku raised a huge column of water out of one of the pools, making a whirlpool out of it in the air and then freezing it into shards, disintegrating the whirlpool. Katara now stood in front of Pakku, but the shards landed closely all around her. She was trapped. She struggled in vain against her prison of ice, her hands and arms unable to move. "This fight is over," Pakku started as he began to walk away. "Come back here! I'm not finished yet!" Katara demanded, still determined on winning even though she was clearly beat. "Yes, you are," Pakku said as he continued walking but stopped when he spotted Katara's necklace on the ground. Luna started to descend down the stairs to a trapped Katara while Pakku picked up the necklace and said in wonder, "This is my necklace." Katara continued to struggle when Luna reached her so she had to wait for her to calm down. "No it's not, it's mine! Give it back!" Katara demanded, as if she was the one in charge. "I made this sixty years ago - for the love of my life," Pakku began. Luna took the opportunity to melt the ice that held Katara in place. "For Kana," he finished. "My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?" Katara asked shocked after sending Luna a thankful look. "I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her," Pakku stated once everyone had gathered at the bottom of the stairs. "But she didn't love you, did she? It was an arranged marriage," Katara stated. She began to walk up to Pakku as she continued, "Gran-Gran wouldn't let your tribe's stupid customs run her life. That's why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage." Yue's sobs were heard from beside Luna as she ran away from the group. "Go get her," Luna said to Sokka, who nodded and ran after a torn Yue. Luna knew exactly why she was crying and she truly felt pity for the girl.
The sun hung just over the horizon and Aang already worked with Master Pakku on a new technique. Luna stood beside Pakku and observed as Aang bent the water into a sphere and then into a thin steam, before shooting it away in another direction. "Not bad! Not bad! Heheh! Keep practicing and maybe you'll get it by the time you're my age!" Pakku joked, earning a displeased look from the small boy. "Don't listen to him Aang. You're doing great," Luna encouraged. He gave her a small smile before turning his attention to Katara who was hurriedly running towards them. "Hey Katara," Aang and Luna greeted simultaneously. "What do you think you're doing? It's past sunrise," Pakku scolded, then added with a smile, "You're late." They got into their bending stances just as Pakku did. "Good to see ya here," Aang said cheerfully. "You too," she said to him, a smile on her face. "Try to keep up," Luna teased Katara, who only sent her a playful glare before the started to bend the water to their will. The water that Luna was bending suddenly fell to the ground just when she did. A ringing sounded from her ears as she clutched her head in pain. "Get ready," a unfamiliar voice said to her. It wasn't the one she usually heard that calmed her down. "Something is coming," the voice continued, then everything stopped. She released her head as she breathed heavily. "Luna, are you okay?" a familiar young male voice asked her concerned. She looked up to see multiple concerned eyes looking down at her. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said and stood up. "Shall we continue?" Everyone looked unsure for a minute before nodding and bending the water once more. The words were playing over in Luna's head. 'Get ready. Something is coming...'