The Waterbending Master

Flying over the frigid waters of the north was far worse than the cold in the south, was something that Azira quickly decided. The wind was biting here and the very air seemed to strip away any layers of warmth that she had.

It wasn't very tun, what with all of the glacielaciers and such. But considering that it was in a landscape much like this she had met the Avatar, Azira knew better than to judge her surroundings. "I'm not one to complain-" Sokka started.

"Aren't you?" Azira deadpanned, peeking open an eye.

He rolled his eyes at her. "But can't Appa fly any higher?"

"I've got an idea." Aang piped up, eyebrows narrowed and almost fuming.

"Why don't we all hop on your back and you can fly us to the North Pole" Azira had to admit, things had been a bit tense since leaving Jeong-Jeong's.

With Aang's poor decision making,

burning Katara, and their lack of progress in getting to the North Pole, it wasn't hard to see why tensions were high.

Still, she didn't enjoy the tension. "Can't you two shut up?" She begged. Both boys just grumbled a bit. Katara looked between the two of them, shaking her head. "Well l agree with Azira.

We're all just a little tired and cranky from flying for two days straight."

"And for what?" Sokka gestured at the expanse of water that they were flying in. "We can't even find the Northern

Water Tribe!" He pointed out.

"Well don't hold your breath-"

Just then, something split across the water. Azira's eyes flew open, quickly locking onto a sharp glacier that appeared in front of them. Aang let out a scream of surprise, tugging the reins to the left.

Appa moaned as they dodged the hit, attempting to fly higher. Just as they gained some altitude, ice crept up along Appa's legs, forcing him down and into the water. lce solidified around them, holding the sky bison in place.

Azira's eyes were wide as the boats came into view.

"They're waterbenders." She breathed out, amazement in her eyes.

"We did it! We found the Water-Tribe!" Katara exclaimed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Following the boats deeper into the glacial terrors, a large wall of ice came into view. One that was reminiscent of the wall at Ba Sing Se. But this was solid ice, a complete and cold beauty.

At the top of the wall, a row of waterbenders began to shift and move, opening up the passageway for Appa to float through. Azira's eyes were wide as the ice lowered, letting them in.

"l can't believe how many waterbenders live here!" Katara breathed out.

"I can't believe they live in ice!" Azira blurted, shaking her head. "Well one thing is for sure!" Aang said, a bright smile on his face.

"And what's that?" Sokka asked.

"We'll find a waterbending master to teach us for sure!"

Azira had to admit, she had never seen this many waterbenders all in one place. She knew how powerful Hana was on her own, so to imagine a whole army of waterbenders on her skill level was terrifying to think about.

It was no wonder that the Northern Water Tribe had managed to stay out of the war for so long. They had literally holed up here in their icy fortress of solitude and hadn't left. There was no choice but for the Fire Nation to be the ones to come to them.

And even if they did, they stood no chance of winning. Not when Waterbenders rose with the moon and were surrounded by ice and water at all times.

As they floated through the Northern Water Tribe, Azira couldn't help but be impressed. Palaces of cold beauty sat in front of her, with fine artwork and design. This was grand and majestic.

"This place is beautiful." Azira admitted, eyes cast all around her. Bridges of snow and ice, with delicate arches hung overhead.

The moon was high in the sky when they sat down at a feast. Drums were being played ceremonially in the background and Azira's eyes kept flicking to the waterfall up ahead.

Chief Arnook stood, hands splayed outwards. "Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the

Southern Water Tribe. And they have brought with them someone very special, who many of us believed disappeared from the world until now. The Avatar!" Cheers went up from the crowd.

"We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday! Princess Yue is now of marrying age!"

Azira's face contorted in confusion as she glanced at the girl with white hair, who smiled brightly. Yue was sixteen and of marrying age-

She supposed that by both Fire Nation and Water-Tribe standards, she was too. But marriage was the last thing on her mind during a war. It just seemed so..outlandish to her. Then again, she had joined the Fire Nation Navy and went away with Prince Zuko, so she was really unclear if that had caused scandal for her reputation anyway.

"To be clear, Azira said, leaning over to Katara. "When you turn sixteen, you're not getting married."

Katara just giggled. "Obviously. Besides, you'd have to get married before me."

"Maybe."

"Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!" Chief Arnook finished.

Azira's attention was turned back to the spectacle, where a white haired man was beginning to bend with two others.

Water flevw upwards and it was all just very show-boaty to Azira.

Her attention was tugged only slightly away, by the sight of Sokka flirting with Princess Yue. She just let out a deep sigh. Was she the only person here not swayed by others? Was she the only person who could keep a clear head? "Is he-bragging?" Azira hissed to Katara.

Katara glanced over at Sokka, a shrug rolling from her shoulders. "He's just doing what he always does."

"Whatever."

"Isn't Master Pakku amazing?" Katara added, continuing their conversation, eyes wide as the man retreated offstage.

"Yeah, I guess." Azira admitted.

"He can do all that you can do, and more!"

"Well he does have age on me." Azira pointed out.

"Well don't you want to learn with him?" Katara questioned.

"l really not:" Azira admitted. Because working with a waterbending master meant showing off her true skill. The way that she was actualy a cutthroat waterbender. And would be discovered. They would question her and she would have no way to explain.

"What will you do tomorrow then?"

"l actually wanted to check out the healers hut."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True to her gut feeling, the next day Azira found that the only benders in the healer's hut were all women. Like that was a surprise.

She almost let a scoff tear from her eyes. At least the Fire Nation let girls join the army and fight. They actually utilized everyone, unlike this place.

"Welcome dear!" An old woman said, waving her in, a smile on her face. "I am Yugoda! You must be Katara-"

"Azira, actually" Azira corrected in a respectful tone. "Katara is trying to learn from Master Pakku."

The woman just gave an understanding nod. "And you?"

"I was taught by a master a long time ago. But the art of healing is something that eludes me, she admited with a frown.

Yugoda smiled gently. "The art of healing is something that is immensely revitalizing. It can be difficult to learn, at first" She grabbed Azira by the hand and brought her over to the water pools.

"Your customs elude me" Azira admited, staring at the water.

"You are not from the Southern Water Tribe?" Yugoda asked, eyes narrowing in confusion.

"No I suppose I would have grown up there, had the Fire Nation not stolen away my grandmother. She survived in the Fire Nation. I grew up there, hiding from everyone and everything. She taught me everything she knew.

Yugoda peered at her for a moment, light blue eyes almost staring into her soul. Her face lit up after a moment.

"You look just like her!

"Who?"

"Hana!"

Azira felt her blood turn to ice and suddenly, it was as if she could scarcely breathe. "l..this was a mistake-

"No wait, child" Yugoda caught onto her arm, a pleading look on her face. "I can help you. Please?"

Looking into Yugoda's eyes, Azira wondered if Hana would have ever been this gentle or kind in another life. She wasn't sure.

"I'm not made to heal. I'm made for war." Azira breathed out.

"But it does not have to consume you. Please, stay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Letting out a deep sigh, Azira lowered her head. "I will stay."

Azira sat outside of the quarters, eyes gazing up at the stars. She had learned how to heal today, and it was something that was somewhat cathartic, and freeing. But still, she wasn't sure that being a healer could make up for the lives that she had taken.

Both for Hana and for the Fire Nation.

She had done so much wrong.

There was no coming back from things like that.

Sokka came walking into view, a dejected look on his face. Immediately sensing that it had something to do with the Princess Yue, Azira let out a sigh.

"You okay?"

He tripped in the snow, eyes going wide. He hadn't even noticed Azira sitting out there. "Uh-just fine. Well, not really "Wanna go in with the others and talk about it?" Azira asked, getting to her feet and brushing the snow off of her pants Sokka gave a slow nod, sadness in his eyes. "Woah, what's up with you?"

Katara asked, eyes falling on Sokka

immediately.

He dramatically flopped into his bed-mat. "it's Princess Yue! One minute she wants to go out with me and then the next, she's teling me to get lost!"

"Is the art of politics lost on you?" Azira asked, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Aang asked, innocent eyes peering over at her.

"She's of marrying age. Obviously she's betrothed or her father is trying to set something advantageous up for her

and the Tribe." Azira deadpanned. "It's like politics 101! If you're a girl, you're getting married off!"

"Well Aang started slowly. "You're not married."

Katara threw a pillow at Aang. "Hey!"

"Well she's not!"

"True." Azira said. "But to be fair, I'm sure I would be if I didn't volunteer to protect Zuko who was banished and totally ruin my prospects in the making. Ahh choices and duty, gotta love that."

"Anyways," Sokka breathed out, glancing between Aang and Katara.

"How did waterbending go?"

"Master Poop-Head won't teach her because she's a girl." Aang said as Katara flopped onto her own mat dramatically.

"Called it! Seixism is a universal art." Azira said, shaking her head in annoyance.

"Why don't you just teach her, Aang?" Sokka questioned.

"You're a genius!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last place that Azira wanted to be was in a hearing for Aang and Katara, who had gotten in trouble for illegally teaching Katara waterbending. She had been in enough hearings and meetings like this, including the one that had scarred Zuko.

Hands behind her back and a stiff expression on her face, she listened intently. "What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?" Chief Arnook demanded.

"Yes, please!" Katara begged.

"I suspect he might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologize to him." Chief Arnook hinted.

Azira let out a breath. There was absolutely zero chance of that and she didn't really care if Katara burnt the place down. She was right. They were wrong. Simple as that.

"Fine." Katara said with a huff.

Master Pakku just smiled, but it was unnerving. "I'm waiting, little girl."

"No! No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!" Katara snapped, ice cracking beneath her feet. "I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me!"

"Oh great Spirits" Azira slapped a palm over her forehead. She followed quickly after Katara, eyes wide. "Do you actually mean to do this?"

"Of course I do!" Katara snapped.

Azira just let out a sigh. "lf you're really intent on fighting, you cannot give him a single opening. You need to be aggressive and find his weaknesses, got it?"

Katara just turned and looked at her.

"Why could you have just taught me?!"

"Because I'm a monster! And you're not! And I won't turn you into one!"