66 The Morning After

The red tint of the sun finally poked through the horizon, illuminating the pristine white snow dunes outside of the capital of Agna Qel'a. The place being surrounded by frosty mountains was a picturesque image of nature unblemished by humanity.

In between the endless waves of snow that covered the equally endless plains of the North Pole, a single stout old man wearing dark red robes with a fire sigil on his chest, could be seen walking, leaving a soft trail of footsteps behind.

Looking around, the old man spotted some smoke nearby, and couldn't help but sigh in relief before moving towards the one single touch of humanity since he left the northern capital.

"You took your time, Uncle" said a tired young man wearing white clothes with one scorched eye, while resting his back against a snow-covered tree.

"I'm more surprised that you, Prince Zuko, are not trying to capture the Avatar at this moment." Said the old man with a gentle smile on his wrinkled face.

"I'm tired…" Was all that Zuko could say before his eyelids got too heavy for him to endure.

"Then you should rest." The gentle General replied as he kneeled beside his nephew and covered him with his robes "A man needs his rest."

….

At the same time, in Agna Qel'a, the aftermath of the siege could still be felt. It's been hours since it ended but one could easily spot destroyed buildings, bloodstains and if too close to the wall… corpses… quite a few of them, both friend and foe.

There was no sleep for the northerners tonight, only grief for some and relief for many. While a few of them felt both simultaneously, such as Chief Arnook, who went pale after discovering the reason why the Moon turned red during the previous night.

"To think that… I would be here, thanking a firebender for the safety of not only our nation but also the safety of the natural balance of this world…" The middle-aged Chief said while looking at Madara's black eyes. It shocked him dearly when he saw it.

"I wouldn't allow my companion to live with the burden of her homeland's destruction just because of my personal bias" Replied Madara with a neutral but rather respectful tone.

Both of them were sitting on one of the palace's balconies, observing the city being rebuilt while having a one-on-one talk;

"We appreciate your help… Regardless of my own personal bias" said the Chief with a wry chuckle in response "I honestly thought that the Avatar alone would be enough to save us from destruction." He concluded with a rather depressed tone.

Madara couldn't help but shake his head "The Avatar is a boy still wet behind his ears, but I believe that he will rise to the challenge when needed, without a doubt he would have protected your city, but I also believe he is still too green to achieve that without significant losses…"

"To be honest with you… the night I became Chief, I dreamed about our city being covered in flames under a moonless sky…" said the Chief with some distress in his voice. "In the same dream I saw my own daughter leaving us… forever embracing a long sleep…"

Turning his head towards Madara, the Chief continued "To be honest, when you used that…"

"Illusion" Said Madara

"Yes… Illusion... on us during that council meeting, I thought you were the reason for said fate, we are spiritually attuned people, and I always took that dream as a vision of sorts, of an inevitable future."

Chuckling at the old Chief, Madara responded "The only inevitability is that we all die one day, the rich, the poor, the strong and the weak… but how we die is not up to fate and can always be changed, I never liked the idea of prophecies, they make me feel like my life isn't my own."

Now it was Arnook's turn to chuckle "Yes, I agree with you on that… I am glad that I didn't lose my daughter last night… I wouldn't even consider it a victory if I did"

"Your daughter is strong, and she is talented as well, she was blessed by the Moon Spirit, and if properly trained, she could become the strongest waterbender in the world…" Madara then coughed and leaned towards Arnook "Don't tell Kaliya that I said that."

The middle-aged Chief couldn't help but burst into a joyous laugh. "Hahahahahahahaha"

Even Madara couldn't keep his stoic face for long and started chuckling as well;

After calming down from the laugh, the Chief said "Unfortunately… our rules…."

"Suck" – said Madara, instantly.

Arnook raised an eyebrow "You don't have much respect for culture, do you?" he wasn't angry, he knew Madara disliked their views, he was with Kaliya after all, he would've been surprised if Madara actually agreed with them.

"You are not the only ones with stupid culture" Madara said

"Oh?" 

"The Kyoshi Island, we've been there… and they are the polar opposite of you, they have one of the best martial arts that they train in, but they only teach women… men are forbidden from learning it."

"Really? They must really respect Avatar Kyoshi…"

Madara just shrugged "Doesn't matter, they are a tiny island nation that barely survives on fishing, they have no allies and they are fully dependent on a dozen or so Kyoshi Warriors, the females who learned how to fight, to defend themselves… They are easy prey because they ignore the potential of men."

"We are stronger than that, we have hundreds of waterbenders and many masters among our ranks." Arnook tried to argue

"Yet none of that would have mattered if neither me or the Avatar were here… and you know it…" Madara couldn't help but sigh, those old people following their old ways… 

"Listen, I don't expect you to change anything because I said this or that… but understand this… we are living during one of the biggest recorded wars ever, a hundred years…. Do you really want your people to suffer just because of old traditions? That's up to you, I am not here to tell you how to rule your nation. Last night? That was just part of the Navy under ONE Admiral, what if the Fire Lord REALLY sets his eyes on you and your people? Do you think he will spare the women just because they don't fight? Ha, I remember the Southern Water Tribe having to deal with something similar in the past…"

That managed to shut Arnook up really fast, the old Chief couldn't even think of a comeback.

"Well, you think about my words, I need to get back to my lands…" Said Madara as he stood up, ready to walk inside to call for his team.

"So soon?" Arnook raised an eyebrow "At least stay for a while, let us compensate for our… rather poor... reception from last time you visited"

Chuckling, Madara replied "No need, I know how deep the hatred towards the Fire Nation runs… honestly, I don't even blame you all for it. It's just that I also have my responsibilities and I left everything behind to come help your people… I am not a homeless kid wandering the world anymore… I have to take care of my people now…"

"Oh, the woes of growing up…" Said Arnook with a smirk while shaking his head.

"Well…" Madara shrugged as he spotted Kaliya in the courtyard beating the shit out of both Aang and Katara in a waterbending lesson, his eyes lingered on certain places of her body before he smirked "It's not that bad…"

….

As noon approached, Kaliya finally decided to stop the beating… I mean teaching…

"Ye kids can't take even that? Ye need to double yer training!" She said while placing her hands on her hips, displaying a savage smirk

"P-please… just… just a minute…" The poor bald boy, sprawled on the icy floor like a starfish was having a tough time, he was never a big physical guy… his stamina was rather dreadful...

"T-that… that wasn't in the scroll…" Said an equally beaten Katara, sitting down while leaning back on the fountain behind her

"Of course not! That's only the novice moves, ye think I would've made an advanced bending scroll and left it for grabs? Are ye an idiot or something?" Kaliya couldn't understand the lines of thoughts of these kids, did they expect everything to be easy in life?!

At a distance, observing the training, stood Yue. While holding something to her chest with both hands, the white-haired northern Princess couldn't help but express her desire to be out there, on the training field, learning how to fight as well.

Last night was a wake-up call for her, if she was strong... if she was skilled… she wouldn't need someone else to come and save the day, no… she could do it herself! She was blessed by the Moon Spirit, but when the Moon Spirit needed her the most... where was she? Hiding behind the Avatar, powerless and scared… 

'Never again!'

As she stood there, sharpening her resolve, ready to change her life, she noticed two people approaching the training yard.

One was tall and handsome with long hair tied into a ponytail, wearing traditional Earth Kingdom robes in black, with green and gold accents, carrying a big metal barrel on his shoulder with a single arm around it while smiling as he walked, as if the weight wasn't a big deal.

Following him was someone that made her frown a little bit… 'Sokka'…

"So, you learned how to fight from Madara as well?" Asked the hyper Sokka while following Lei around like a baby duckling following his momma duck.

"Against my will... but yes… I did, but now I am grateful for it" answered the ever-polite Lei, with a smile.

"Do you know if Madara offers a… you know… quick course…. For someone like me?" 

Raising an eyebrow Lei could only stare at the teen Water Tribe boy "That's not how it works, no improvement happens in a short amount of time…"

"How long did you train then?"

"Over four years of daily practice and workouts… with a few… extraordinary expectations... of course..." Answered Lei while avoiding eye contact, he still remembers what his wife did to him not long ago.

"Four years?! We don't have that long!" Sokka was basically grabbing the skin of his own face and pulling downwards in frustration.

Lei only shrugged "Should've started sooner then, the early bird gets the worm…"

As they approached Kaliya, Lei's smile crumbled a bit, he and the Northern girl still argued back and forth every goddamn day… honestly being trapped by his wife at least relieved him from facing Kaliya for a while... he was rather grateful… 'sigh… I am missing the peace already'.

"Yooo Jackie" Said Kaliya with a teasing smirk that made him want to punch her… you know.. the usual.

"Kaliya" He said with narrowed eyes.

"Hello beautiful." Said Sokka, swaggering his steps towards the voluptuous waterbender "Sokka. Southern Water Tribe, I can't help but feel amazed by your strength and skill… you must be the strongest waterbender in the world!"

Sokka liked to believe that he learned a lot about how to woo girls from his travels, he even made a list!

Rule number 1: Never discourage them of anything

Rule number 2: Always compliment their skills, they are fond of their achievements

Rule number 3: Never undermine them in any way, shape or form, Suki made sure to engrave that lesson on his bones.

Rule number 4: Listen more and talk less

So far that's all he had, but it was working if Yue and the other girls he met during their travels across the Earth Kingdom were any proof of it. Kaliya was totally his type, age difference aside she was the hottest girl he had ever seen, and she is from a Water Tribe, they have a lot in common!

…

Unfortunately…

…

All he got was awkward silence before both Kaliya and Lei each raised an eyebrow… and…

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Kaliya couldn't help it, bursting out laughing loudly like a crazy person, holding her stomach and bending forward almost losing her footing, even tears could be seen in her eyes. 

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! SEE THAT, JACKIE? HAHAHAHA! THE PIPSQUEAK IS FLIRTIN' WITH ME! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Now... it's not hard for a girl to completely obliterate a guy's self-esteem, regardless of which universe, but… talking about size aside… the one thing universally accepted as a metaphorical kick in the nuts to any dude is when the girl laughs at their attempt…

Even Lei couldn't help but chuckle… "Hehehe… you say that but you and Madara started having an affair when he was around Sokka's age…"

'…Wait...' thought Sokka, already sweating bullets.

"I know I know… but look at him… his arms are like twigs… a boy like that can't handle me… no offense kid…" 

For an instant… A second, a brief moment… Everyone could've sworn to have heard a loud cracking sound… It was really… really weird.