After a few more days of traveling we were finally near the Northern Water Tribe. We had made a slight detour to the Northern Air Temple where we met a boy named Teo and his father. They were refuges that made the Air Temple there home. We had then discovered that Teo's father had been making weapons for the Fire Nation. After his father explained that he was only doing so to protect Teo, we decided to try and force the Fire Nation out. Thanks to Teo's Father and Sokka's Air Balloon invention we succeeded. Since then we've done nothing but fly over water.
"I'm not one to complain," said Sokka, "But can't Appa fly any higher?"
"I've got an idea, why don't we all get on your back and you can fly us to the north pole?" snapped Aang.
"I'd love to," said Sokka as knelt down, "Climb on everyone Sokka is ready for take off." Momo then leaped on Sokka's back, ready for him to fly.
"Look we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight," calmed Katara.
"And for what?" asked Sokka, "We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe. There's nothing up here."
"We should be getting close," I said, "You'll know it when you see it."
Suddenly the water around us reached out to catch us. As a wave appeared in front of us then turned to ice. Aang quickly steered Appa out of the way, but as he tried to get away another wave appeared. As it turned to ice, Appa lost his balance and came spinning down into the water. Where the ice began to freeze around us, trapping Appa in the water. As we tried to recover from our fall, about five boats appeared from behind glaciers.
"They're waterbenders!" said Katara, noticing the men on the boats bending the water so the boats could move, "We found the Water Tribe!"
"It's more like they found us," I corrected.
"Who goes there?" called one of the men.
"The Avatar and your brother and sister from the Southern Tribe," I said standing up in the saddle, "And an ally of the Northern Tribe."
"Hikaru?" asked the man, "By the Moon, it is you!"
"If it's not too much trouble could you guys escort us to the city, we're kind of anxious to get settled," I smiled.
"Of course," the man nodded as the ice around us thawed. The waterbenders then began escorting us to the Northern Water Tribe.
"I almost forgot you said you had trained in the Northern Water Tribe," said Katara.
"You said you trained for a 'bit' in the Northern Water Tribe," elaborated Sokka, "How long exactly is a 'bit'?"
"About five years, I left shortly after receiving my mark from Ice Dodging," I shrugged, "Most of the people got used to me being around, but I wouldn't say I was super popular."
"There it is!" cheered Aang pointing at a large wall with the Water Tribe symbol at the center.
"The Northern Water Tribe," said Katara in awe.
"We're finally here," said Sokka.
"Yeah, we are," I said as the waterbenders opened a path in the wall for us to swim through. As we entered the city, we noticed many waterbenders inside helping us through the many channels of the city.
"I can't believe how many waterbenders live up here!" smiled Katara.
"We'll find a master to teach us no problem!" smiled Aang.
As we traveled through, my mind wandered, with the many memories I had of this place, with Hisho.
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"Are you sure we should do this?" I asked as we snuck away from our house and head toward a secret way out of the city.
"Come on, Hikaru," said Hisho, "We've been planning this for months. You know Mom and Dad would never let us go, but we have to do this. We're going to make people think about us differently."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" said a stern voice behind us, Uncle Seger and standing next to him was Aunt Zarya.
"Mom! Dad! We were just--" Hisho started to explain but was silenced when Uncle Seger raised his hand. Then Aunt Zarya came over and put a warm coat on Hisho.
"If you're going to leave at least bring something to keep you warm," smiled Aunt Zarya, "Hisho, we've known about your venture for a while now. Your Father and I agreed to support your decision to go. So take Hikaru and make us proud."
"Mom," was all Hisho could say before holding his mother tightly.
Then Uncle Seger came over to me and held me tightly, "Hikaru, be careful out there. Take care of each other."
I nodded trying to hold back tears, "We will."
As we rowed away from the Northern Water Tribe, Aunt Zarya and Uncle Seger waved good-bye until we could no longer see them in the distance. I tried so hard not to cry, but I couldn't help myself. I had a home again and once more I was leaving it. I knew what we were doing was right, but I didn't want to go.
"Hey Hikaru," called Hisho as he continued to row. I could see in his eyes that he was just as sad as me, if not more so, about leaving. This was the only place Hisho ever knew, he grew up here, despite the disgusted, and hated looks he would get from most of the people, this was still his home, "We'll come back someday and make Mom and Dad proud!"
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"That's right, we promised to return together," I remembered, "And now here I am back without him...."
"Come on Hikaru!" Katara called as they were already off Appa and walking up to the palace.
"C-coming!" I called back rushing to meet them.
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Upon seeing us, the Chief invited us to a feast tonight, where we sat at the Chief's table. Aang sat next to the Chief's left, then myself, Katara and Sokka at the end.
"Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe and our very own sister, Hikaru. They have brought with them someone very special. Someone many of us believed to have disappeared until now, The Avatar!" addressed the Chief as the crowd cheered, "We also celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday, Princess Yue is now of marrying age!"
"Thank you Father," said Yue as she appeared before her people and bowed. Yue had blue eyes and long white hair part of it was in a ponytail while the other part of it was braided. Everyone knew who she was, not just because she's a princess. Her white hair was very unusual compared to most. She was given life by the Moon Spirit as a baby, intern gave her white hair, "May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times."
"Now Master Pakku and his students will now perform!" cheered the Chief. Giving Master Pakku's cue to begin, he and two of his students began to bend water from nearby pots to start the show.
"Never really pegged Master Pakku for the performing type," I thought eating my food, then smirked, "Then again I couldn't really believe it the first time I saw him perform years ago." That's when I heard Sokka talking with Yue who had sat herself next to him.
"So....ahh.. you're a princess!" said Sokka a little louder then his normal voice as if he was nervous, "You know back in my tribe, I'm kinda like a prince myself."
"Prince of what?" laughed Katara.
"A lot of things!" snapped Sokka, directing his attention to Katara, "Do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!"
"My apologize Prince Sokka," joked Katara as she bowed to him.
"So it looks like I'm going to be in town for a while," Sokka said returning his attention to Yue, "Maybe we could do an activity together?"
"Do an activity?" Yue laughed lightly. Embarrassed Sokka shoved more food into his mouth.
"Aw, how cute," I thought laughing.
After the performance, Aang and the Chief left to greet Master Pakku, Sokka, Katara, and Yue went to a different part of the room to talk. I ended up sitting in a corner of the room, watching everyone else enjoy themselves. I was always a wallflower at Yue's parties. She would always invite me hoping others could get to know me, but they usually kept their distance, so I kept mine. Yue was one of the few people I liked here. When I had told Katara that I wasn't exactly popular that was putting it nicely. Only a handful of people here actually want to talk to me. Most of the people here don't know about my bending secret, but it still makes them weary to be near me. Not only had I lived in the same house as Hisho, who to most here was considered strange, I was the only female bender to be trained by Master Pakku. To the Northern Water Tribe tradition was every, and one of their customs was only men could learn to waterbend. Any female benders had to learn to heal, I was the only exception. For the years I trained with Master Pakku I could never understand why he had agreed to train me, but I knew that he had hated every minute of it.
"Well, well, well! If it isn't Hikaru," said a guy coming over to me.
"Didn't think you would go out of your way to see me Hahn," I huffed.
"Come on now, is that anyway to treat your old Ice Dodging partner?" smiled Hahn making my roll my eyes.
Hahn was other person who went Ice Dodging with Hisho and I. At the beginning he was obnoxious and stereotypical. He felt like he was going to fail because he had the tribes misfits. After we had passed, he ended up becoming one of the people who would talk with us, whether we wanted to or not. He stopped picking on us, but he became more and more obnoxious.
"Don't you have some girl to courter?" I hissed.
"Geez harsh much?" said Hahn as he sat himself next to me, "You know you've been gone for years now." He leaned in closer, "You have no idea how much I've changed."
I immediately place my hand on his face pushing him away, "You're still a narcissistic, playboy."
"Hey, Hisho's not here, beautiful," smiled Hahn taking my hand kissing it, "So there's no reason to be shy."
Shivers crawled up my spine when he kissed my hand, I slapped him with my free hand as I stood up, scolding him, "That just means I'm here to hit you for him!" Dumbfounded by my sudden slap Hahn just stared at me, "Unlike you, I actually have grown up a bit!"
Infuriated I left the party, leaving Hahn rubbing his cheek for a bit, then left to find another girl to flirt with.
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The four of us were given one of the guest huts to sleep in. I had waited for Katara, Aang and Sokka to return, before finally putting myself to bed. Smiling a bit, as I prepared for bed, I had once said at the very beginning that I wasn't going to babysit them and that what they did was on them. However after all this time, the three of them have really grown on me. I couldn't tell you exactly when it happened, but I've just felt like I needed to stay with them and protect them. Although, it's this reason that I'm afraid to tell them the truth. What would they say, what would they do? I found myself wrestling with my thoughts and eventually fell asleep.
The next morning, I had woken up terribly late. Normally I was the first one awake, but today I was the last one. Not even Sokka, who was usually the last one to wake, was around, that's when I noticed a folded note, with my name on it, next to my things.
Hikaru,
Aang and I are off to meet up with Master Pakku for our first day of waterbending training. I'm super excited! I hope it turns out well. Anyway, Sokka's supposed to be at warrior training for most of the day too. I would have told you in person, but you seemed so tired last night, I didn't want to wake you. Don't know if you have any plans for the day. If we don't see you during the day after training, then I'll tell you all about it when you come back to the hut.
Your friend,
Katara
"Oh, guess this is what I get for sleeping in," I said putting the letter away, "What kind of plans do I have anyway?"
After getting up and readied myself for the day. I decided to just take a walk through the tribe. I wanted to take the time to clear my head and to find out what to do next. Thoughts of Hisho raced through my mind the most. Ever since my nightmare, my worry for him has grown. Then considering what Jeong Jeong said about my people disappearing, I need to find them and see for myself what's going on. As I passed the market part of the tribe, I noticed a familiar face just ahead, Aunt Zarya. Panicking, I hid in a nearby alley, when I peeked out, she was looking towards where I was standing. Then after not seeing me, she continued to walk away from the market. Sighing I continued my walk, and found myself on top of the ice wall entrance of the tribe. Looking out towards the ocean, I thought about Aunt Zarya and Uncle Seger.
"I can't face them," I thought, "At least not until I find Hisho and make sure he's safe."
Looking around to make sure no one could hear me, I closed my eyes and began to sing a song that my mother had once sung to me.
We notch our bows and wait for the marrow
Cold is the night and nary a tear
For on the morn we head into shadow
There is no room for our fear
His eyes are cruel
His evil is endless
Black is his soul and ne'er will he rest
Till all the world lies covered in darkness
And none who'd fight him are left
Estellio Gwend
Fly straight and true o my arrow
The day of destiny comes
I'll follow the path only fate knows
Estellio Gwend
Forwards to glory my sisters
Today our hearts beat as one
When hope is the faintest of whispers
"You always did have a beautiful voice," said a voice from behind me. I turned around startled and saw Yue standing there.
"Yue! I didn't...How long have you been standing there?" I asked.
"Not long, mind if I join you?" asked Yue as she walked over to me, "It's been awhile since we've talked and you didn't stay at the party for very long."
"Yeah, well, you can thank Hahn for that," I said.
"Knowing you, you probably would have left early anyway," laughed Yue, "Hahn just gave you the excuse."
"Hey now don't make it sound like I need an excuse to do things," I defended, making Yue laugh.
"It's good to see that you haven't changed a bit," smiled Yue.
"If you say so," I smiled.
"So..have you seen them yet?" asked Yue.
"Seen who?" I asked.
"Come on now, you know who," said Yue, "Your Aunt and Uncle."
"...Oh, no...I haven't," I said almost whispering.
"Why not?" asked Yue, but I didn't answer, "You know even though they go through their days as if nothing's wrong, I know that they miss both you and Hisho.."
"That's just it," I said, tears threatening to spill from my eyes, "I know they miss Hisho, so what are they going to say if they just see me and not him!"
"Hikaru," Yue called as she placed her hand on my shoulder.
"I'm sorry Yue, but I can't, not until I can look into their eyes and promise them that Hisho is safe," I said, not wanting to back down from my decision.
"I can understand that I guess," said Yue, "But I still think you should see them, at least before you leave again. You never know what will happen until it happens. I've got to head back now, Father wanted to see me about something important so I can't keep him. We can talk about this more later."
I sighed as I looked back out to the ocean, seeing the sun close to setting, "I guess, I should start heading back too. Katara might blow a fuse if I don't get back soon."
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When I returned to the hut, Katara and Aang were already there. I decided to start making supper, while we waited for Sokka to return. I couldn't help, but feel like something was wrong with Katara. I would assume she would be excited to share what happened at training today, but instead she was sulking. Finally Sokka returned and seemed to be in a foul mood as well.
"Hey, Sokka," said Katara, "How's warrior training going?"
Sokka replied by kicking his bag across the floor, then sulking as he flopped to the ground.
"That bad?" asked Aang.
"No it's Princess Yue," growled Sokka. Upon hearing Yue's name I grew curious on what happened, "I don't get it! One minute she wants to go out with me and the next she's telling me to get lost."
"That's weird," I thought stirring the soup I was making, "That doesn't sound like Yue. Did her father say something to her about Sokka?"
"So how's waterbending training going?" asked Sokka, to which Katara replied by flopping face down into her sleeping bag.
"Master Poophead won't teach her because she's a girl," growled Aang.
"Oh, right, I completely forgot to tell you about that," I said hoping Katara didn't hear me.
"You forgot?!" Katara snapped.
"Sorry, I just didn't think about it too much," I apologized going over to my bag to find more ingredients.
"Wait, weren't you trained by Master Pakku, Hikaru?" asked Aang.
"Yeah, but I was..a special case," I explained, "I still don't know why he agreed to train me in the first place. All I know is that he hated every minute of it."
"Why don't you just teach her Aang?" suggested Sokka.
"Why didn't I think of that?!" realized Katara, "At night, you can teach me whatever moves you learn from Master Pakku. That way you have someone to practise with and I get to learn waterbending. Everyone's happy!"
"I'm not happy," grumbled Sokka.
"But you're never happy," replied Katara as she hurried Aang out the door, "Come on Aang!"
"Wait Katara, Aang! A-and there gone," I said letting out a big sigh.
"Ouch!" I looked behind me to find Sokka, by the soup pot, waving his hand rapidly then blowing on his burnt finger.
"Sokka, the soups not done yet," I told him, "And why are you sticking your finger in hot water?"
"I get hungry, when I'm irritated," replied Sokka.
Facepalming myself, I went back to work on supper, hoping Aang and Katara weren't going to get themselves in trouble.
After Sokka and I ate, Katara and Aang still hadn't come back from their secret training. I set aside some pieces of bread for them, since the soup had already gone cold. Sokka had already turned in for the night and I was about to do the same. Suddenly Katara and Aang burst though the hut in a panic.
"What took you guys so long?" I asked, "And why do you guys look so freaked out?"
"Master Pakku caught us," said Aang, "He said he's not going to teach me, after I tried to teach Katara."
"Hikaru, you were his student once, maybe you can talk to him?" begged Katara.
"Me?" I asked, "Did you forget the part about him not liking the fact that he had to train me. I'm not sure what you want me to tell him."
"Hikaru, we don't have time to find another teacher to train him," explained Katara, "And since you can't teach him, you've got to convince Master Pakku to take Aang back."
"Please Hikaru," begged Aang.
"Alright, alright, I get it," I said, "I'll do what I can in the morning, the four of us will go speak with the Chief and Master Pakku. Like I've said, I'm not sure what you want me to tell him, but I'll do what I can."
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The next morning, Katara, Aang, Sokka and I met with the Chief, in hopes that we could get Master Pakku to take back Aang. Yue, Master Pakku and some of the village elders were also present in the Chief's Chamber. I said what I could to the Chief, mostly how Katara just didn't understand the ways of the Northern Tribe and didn't mean to cause any trouble.
"What do you want me to do?" asked the Chief, "Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?"
"Yes..please," interjected Katara.
"Katara," I whispered, "Let me work this one out."
"I suspect he might change his mind," said the Chief to Katara, "If you swallow your pride and apologize to him."
Irritated by the suggestion Katara glared to the ground, but then looked toward Aang. He needed to learn from Master Pakku. Turning back to Master Pakku, she agreed, "Fine."
"I'm waiting little girl," provoked Master Pakku.
"Uh oh," I thought knowing what would probably come next.
"No! No way am I apologizing to a SOUR OLD MAN LIKE YOU!" snapped Katara as the icy floor began to crack the more she yelled.
"Um, Katara?" Aang said trying to see if he could calm her down. As two nearby water vases broke from her rage.
"I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me!" snapped Katara shocking everyone by her challenge.
"I'm sure she didn't mean that," Aang said trying to reassure everyone as Katara stepped outside.
"Yeah, I think she did," corrected Sokka.
"She totally did," I sighed seeing this coming from a mile away, "So much for the meeting."
The three of us rushed outside to try and calm her down before she did something stupid. Catching Katara walking down the stairs of the palace, we quickly caught up.
"Are you crazy Katara?" Sokka started, "Your not gonna win this fight."
"I know!" snapped Katara as she removed her coat and tossed it at Sokka, "I don't care!"
"You don't have to do this for me," assured Aang, "I can find another teacher."
"I'm not doing it for you," snapped Katara as we reached the bottom of the stairs, "Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy."
"Katara, I get what you mean, but think about this for a second," I tried to say, but Katara wasn't listening as she saw Master Pakku come down the stairs.
"So you decided to show up?" taunted Katara, but Master Pakku walked right past Katara ignoring her, "Aren't you gonna fight?"
"Go back to the Healing Huts with the other women where you belong," said Master Pakku walking away. Frustrated Katara Water Whipped him in the neck to provoke him.
"Fine," snapped Master Pakku irritated by Katara's defiance, "You want to learn to fight so bad? Study closely!"
Master Pakku then summoned water from the nearby pools around him. Katara darted towards him, which proved to be a mistake as he forced the water towards her. Pushed back Katara, summed up the battle. Master Pakku the surrounded them in a ring of water, making the space between them smaller and smaller by the second.
"Don't worry I'm not going to hurt you," smirked Master Pakku. Katara then regained her footing and forced the water away, and unfortunately thrusted into Sokka from the sidelines. As Katara made her way to Master Pakku again, he made a wall of ice that formed into a wave of ice, that Katara slided over on, landing on the stair railing. Changing the ice wave into water, Master Pakku aimed the rush of water at Katara. Seeing the attack, Katara covered her feet with ice, holding her ground as she moved the water away.
"You can't knock me down!" growled Katara as she unfroze herself, charging for Master Pakku once again. In an attempt to defend himself, Master Pakku summoned an ice wall. However Katara forced it to melt into water and tried to punch Master Pakku. However he easily dodged her blows then melted part of the ice beneath them to push Katara into a nearby pond. Not ready to be done, Katara summoned a small pillar of ice from the pond and sent circular ice discs flying towards Master Pakku. Even though he either dodged or deflected each blow, all of the attacks were cutting it quite close. Jumping out of the pond, Katara sent a jet of water towards him. Master Pakku easily moved it out of his way and put it behind him. Katara once again charged for him, but this time Master Pakku sent the water behind him right into her. Seeing herself losing this fight Katara forced the two ice pillars next to Master Pakku to come falling on top of him. However once again he was able to melt the ice before it reached him.
"Well, I'm impressed," said Master Pakku, "You are an excellent waterbender."
"But you still won't teach me, will you?" asked Katara.
"No," agreed Master Pakku. Enraged, Katara sent a large wave of water towards Master Pakku. He then leaped into the air and created a column of ice to dodge the attack. Master Pakku the changed it to water as he charged for Katara. Katara responded by sending a stream of water to move Master Pakku's wave. He then changed the wave to ice and skid behind her, knocking her to the ground. Katara struggled to catch her breath as Master Pakku summoned water above her, then
morphed it into multiple icicles. Slamming it down to her, restricting Katara's movements. This fight had ended.
"This fight is over," said Master Pakku as Katara continued to struggle.
"Come back here," snapped Katara as Master Pakku began to walk away, "I'm not finished yet!"
"Yes, you are," said Master Pakku, but then he noticed something on the ground, Katara's necklace, "This is my necklace."
"No it's not it's mine give it back!" snapped Katara.
"I made this sixty years ago," said Master Pakku releasing Katara from her icy prison, "For the love of my life, for Kana."
"My Gran Gran was supposed to marry you?" asked Katara.
"I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged," explained Master Pakku, "I thought we were going to have a long happy life together. I loved her."
"But she didn't love you, did she?" asked Katara, "It was an arranged marriage. 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."
After hearing Katara, Yue suddenly darted away crying. I was about to run after her, but Sokka was already running to her.
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After Katara and Master Pakku's battle, Katara was finally accepted as his student. The next morning, I was able to wake up before everyone, except for Aang, who had left for training. Seeing Katara still asleep, I went over to her shaking her gently.
"Katara, wake up," I said as she grumbled, "It's past sunrise, your gonna be late for waterbending training."
"Did you say sunrise!?" shrieked Katara as she shot up from her sleeping bag, "I'm already late!"
Immediately Katara began to get ready for training, while I rolled up her sleeping bag. Sokka shifted a bit in his sleeping bag, but remained in bed.
"I'm kinda not surprised you slept in today," I said watching her get ready, "You were so excited about training, that you couldn't settle yourself down last night."
"I know," agreed Katara, "But I don't want him to change his mind about me because I slept in."
"Well, I'll be here when you guys finish," I said, "So you can tell me all about when you get back."
"You don't have any plans today?" asked Katara.
I hesitated for a minute, "No..not really, besides it's probably best that I stay here for the time being."
"Hikaru, are you avoiding someone?" Katara asked catching me off guard, "I just ask, because ever since we got here, you've been gloomier than usual."
"Nothing gets past you does it, Katara?" I sighed, "To be honest....I messed up and...I don't know what they'll say when they see me."
"Well, you'll never know what they'll say if you don't go talk to them," said Katara, "Your here now, so you should go see them and tell the truth. If they're close to you, then they should understand. Bottling it up, and thinking of what hasn't happened yet is only going to eat at you."
"Hey!" cried out Sokka groggily from his sleeping bag, "Some of us would like to sleep here!"
Rolling our eyes, Katara started heading out the hut, "Anyway I think you should go see them. I've got to get going, see you later!"
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Thinking everything over, I found myself only a few steps away from Aunt Zarya and Uncle Seger's hut. I was afraid to take another step forward as doubt entered my mind once again, but as I was about to leave, Katara and Yue's words cleared my doubt.
"If they're close to you, then they should understand. Bottling it up and thinking of what hasn't happened yet is only going to eat at you."
"I think you should go see them, at least before you leave. You never know what will happen until it happens."
"I know Hisho's not with me and I can't guarantee he's okay," I thought, "But there's no way I'm going to be able to avoid them forever."
Taking a deep breath I entered the hut, going in I saw no one around. However noise in the kitchen suggested otherwise.
"Seger's out hunting right now, but he should be back soon if you wanted to wait," said Aunt Zarya from the kitchen, "Do you want anything while you wait?"
"She probably doesn't even realize that I'm here right now," I thought then said, "No, I'm alright. Thank you."
"You sure swe--," Aunt Zarya began to say as she entered the main room and saw me standing there.
Before she could say anything Uncle Seger entered the hut with his captured fish, "I'm back, this last hall was a good one.....Zarya?"
Upon seeing me, Uncle Seger dropped his fishl to the ground. Struggling to figure out how to greet them, I smiled weakly and said, "Hey...Aunt Zarya, Uncle Seger...I--"
I was cut off by Aunt Zarya and Uncle Seger as they quickly embraced me. Stunned by their sudden embrace, I wasn't sure how to respond.
"You're safe," I heard Aunt Zarya say as she held me tighter, "Thank goodness."
"Welcome home, Hikaru," Uncle Seger said doing the same.
Unable to hold back my tears, I embraced them back, falling to the ground, "It's...*sniff*...good to be back."