Chapter 85 - Invasion Begins

"You said you wished to learn? Then watch closely!" He raises his arms and begins to water bend huge amount of water from all of the pools so it begins surrounding both of them.

The speed at which he is moving the water creates a sort of suction force. Katara walks inward as the circle shrinks. She reaches within about 5 meters of her opponent.

Katara tried to make an opening in the water around her but every time she creates one, it closes up almost immediately.

"You've done very well so far, but I'm done playing."

After he said this he splits the circle into three segments and they start to form circles of their own. Almost immediately the one behind Katara starts to head to her. She faces it and splits it like she did earlier.

Unfortunately for her, after doing that she wasn't prepared for the second one which hit her back.

"Ugh!" She groans as she landed on her stomach.

Her hair unraveled as she stood back up. At this point the third wave was right next to her and she couldn't stop it, so she was flown about 10 meters to her right.

"We're done." Pakku looks down at her as she was breathing hard.

'Between the cold, the hard landings, and the energy spent on the bending itself, she must be very tired.' Seras thinks when Pakku starts to walk away.

Katara clenched her hand before she quickly stood up and created two large water currents from the two pools next to Pakku. She then brings her hands down and to her front which causes the water to hit Pakku from both sides.

"..." she sighs when she believes she won.

"You really don't know when to give up." His voice makes her shocked.

The water that was supposed to hit him was diverted. He then begins coiling them around him.

Pakku used a small amount of the water to encase her feet in ice which prevents her from moving. Before she can even get free, he used the rest of the water and raises it above her.

He then forms many large icicles and rains them down upon her. One of them cut her necklace which rolls to his feet.

'Fate really can't be avoided...the ending is the exact same...' Seras frowns because it does not bode well for her own universe.

"This...is mine." He picks up the necklace.

"No! That is my GranGrans! She gave it to me!"

"I made this over thirty years ago...for the love of my life. For Kana..." As he was reminiscing the needles dissolved back into water letting Katara go free.

"You know my GranGran?" she is shocked.

"Yes, I loved her...but she didn't love me back...keep this safe." He hands it back to her with a sad look before walking away.

Katara wanted to say something but Seras appeared next to her and held her shoulder. She then shook her head to say nothing.

"...also...you may come to class tomorrow along with the avatar."

"Really!?" She replies in excitement.

"...." he says nothing and walks out of sight.

"You did it Katara!" Aang is all smiles.

"Congratulations." Seras also grins.

"..thank you.." she gives a tired smirk back.

"Now then, let's get you into some warm

Clothes before you freeze to death." Seras produced a large jacket and covers her as she brings her back to their room.

"As for you Aang, you should stay to learn from Master Pakku. We can talk to each other after lunch, ok?"

"Ok." He nods and follows Pakku.

About an hour later, Katara walked out of Seras' bathroom covered in a towel while drying her hair. Since it was just her and Seras she didn't care much about her naked body.

"That felt really good. I'm surprised they could warm up the water here."

"They can't, I did it." Seras used her finger to produce a small flame.

"Thanks for that. What's this?" She sits down next to seras who was playing solitaire.

"It's a game called Solitaire. Here, I'll show you how to play...." she explains the suits and how to play as Katara listened enraptured by the new thing.

"I see, so this would go here and then this would go there?" She moves a couple cards.

"Yep. You got it."

"This is fun. Also this material is so weird, I've never felt anything like it before."

"You wouldn't. According to your technological advancement, it would probably take about 50 more years until you can make Playing cards."

"...I see." She gives a thoughtful but sad look.

"What's wrong?"

"I just realized that if Aang defeats the fire lord you'll go back to your universe and never come back..."

"...Pfft! Hahahahaha!"

"W-What!? Aren't you sad too!?" She yells in embarrassment.

"Heheh, not at all...you see I can come back whenever I want. It's just due to the nature of how I got here, I can't use my normal ability."

"...really?" She looks hopeful now.

"Of course. I'll visit at least once a month." The vampire rubs the girl's head gently.

"I'm glad...I thought you would be gone forever." Katara hugs Seras and the tears that were forming disappear.

"...." Seras hugs back.

A few minutes pass and Katara let's go before heading to the bathroom to change into new clothes. When she comes out, seras grabs her hand and smirks at her.

"Hey, let's go to the healing tent."

"Why? I want to learn water bending, not healing arts?"

"You're already a great water bender, however you'll need some healing arts for he future. After all, you're fighting an entire nation."

"That's true. Then let's go."

When Seras led Katara to the healing tent, The Fire Nation was filled with cheers as the Fire Lord announced plans to invade the Northern Water Tribe. The man held a rally which was full to the point the entire plaza which could hold over ten thousand was still not enough to hold everyone.

After his announcement he walks back inside the palace and returns to his normal duties. Princess Azula was frowning because of the report she read just hours before.

'Captain Li questioned the only remaining soldier that was there when he supposedly captured the woman. He said that Zhao promoted the rest but the promotion requests weren't sent to the Palace....that means he silenced them, which implies a secret he must keep quiet.' She sits down on a very ornate chair in her room.

'According to the last soldier, the woman was already unconscious covered in her own blood before Zhao even showed up. However when she was brought to the palace, there wasn't any blood to be found. Not only that, but it seemed like she was sleeping peacefully which doesn't explain why she was unconscious in such a volatile place.' Azula sighs in annoyance.

"Even if this man succeeds in the invasion, which is highly improbable, he can't be allowed to continue with these actions."

Azula decided on her course of action for the captain and writes it in a high priority letter. She sends it before resuming her own duties as a princess.

A few days pass and when Li read the orders, he was surprised about the information within.

'Admiral Zhao killed off his own men to keep the secret that he didn't actually capture the blonde woman? How awful...' he covers his mouth as he visible pales.

"Not only that but I have to protect the last remaining soldier so that he could testify against the Admiral. Hah...being the Princess' spy is hard work." He sighs before burning the letter.

Thankfully the letter arrived that night, because the invasion is happening tomorrow morning. He frowns as he thinks about the next course of actions and to make sure they're not too suspicious.

'It will take us at least a week to arrive at the north with a fleet this size.' He attends to his duties.

During the next week, Sokka and Yue have advanced in their relationship to the point that they kissed. Seras was observing them as they did, of course without their knowledge. Katara has advanced rapidly in the water bending classes as she was a natural. Aang of course still being 12, treated it as a way to have fun.

On the morning of the seventh day, seras opened her eyes with a large smile, because a soon as she regained consciousness she had an epiphany. Turning water into ice with water bending isn't compressing or slowing down the molecules it's made of, its using Negative Chi.

"How could I have been so stupid? Lightning is created by using both positive and negative Chi while Fire Bending, so why wouldn't water bending be the same? So the question really is, is how do I use Negative Chi?" She sits on the edge of the bed and puts her hand on her chin in thought.

'Can it be as simple as reversing the path of using Chi that I would do normally? Or is it something more abstract? There is only one source of Chi....then that means Normal Chi is both positive and negative!' She jumps off of her bed because she feels like she grasped something.

She was about to phase away to her training area when she remembered what day it is. She sighs in annoyance before heading to the throne room to speak to the Chief.

When Seras arrived, she noticed that Arnook was meeting with Pakku, Yugoda, Kahn, And other high ranking people. Her appearance made everyone turn to her and no one spoke.

"Ms. Victoria, what can I do for you?" The chief asks.

"You're in a meeting so I'll come back later." She goes to leave but the man stops her.

"Nonsense, we were about done anyway." He gestures and they leave before he continues.

"Please, Sit."

After seras sits down on a cushion, she looks up at the person who leads the Northern Water Tribe. She notes the furrowed brows that occurs every few seconds like he is worrying. Also the clenching of teeth indicates he is under enormous pressure.

"You don't have to worry." She states after a couple minutes of silence.

"Excuse me?" He became bewildered because he thought he had a very good poker face.

"I am here to help you. While there may be some deaths, I assure you that they will not succeed. This I promise."

"....thank you, however this is war. It is bigger than a single person." He is still skeptical about her abilities.

"Chief."

"Hm?"

"trust me." The way she said it almost made the man in front of her sigh in relief.

He just stares into her eyes which show complete confidence and assurance which make him relax instinctively. He shakes his head to get rid of those thoughts as Seras stands up.

"You may not believe me, but I am far more powerful than anything they can throw at you. I am your weapon for this war." She closes the door behind her after that, leaving the Chief to ruminate.

'How can anyone be that sure of themselves? Is it confidence or ignorance? Hopefully it's the former...' he sighs before going to search for his wife to find comfort.

When Seras closed the door, She looked around her and when she found nobody, she phased to her training spot. After arriving she lit some wood she 'found' lying around he palace. Then she sits next to it and closes her eyes.

'The concept of positive and negative can also be called Yin and Yang. From what I remember, Iroh states that internally separating of these two can kill those who can't control it. I know from earlier tests that the different elements can be explained by which Meridians are open.'

'They all come from the same source which is below the navel. Lightning is generated when the two are separated and clash together at the end of their fingertips.' She tries to begin by feeling her Chi Center.

In normal cases, the usage of Chi is instinctual so they don't need to pay much attention to how it moves through their body. However, Seras isn't a normal person. From the very beginning, she sought answers to how bending is done and how it interacts with the human body.

While Seras was trying to separate her Chi into two, Katara and Aang were in class being taught by Pakku. The young water bender just got done thrashing her opponent who looked comical being encased in an ice pillar.

"Very good, Katara. I'm amazed that you've grown this much in only a short week."

"Thank you Master Pakku!" She bows.

"As for my other new student..." he looks to the left to find Aang who was playing with Momo before continuing.

"Student Aang!"

"Y-Yes!" He jumps up with his air bending which causes his shirt to go over his head.

He adjusts it and looks at Pakku with an innocent grin. The elderly man just sighs in exasperation.

"Since you seem to be so relaxed, I assume you've already mastered water bending?"

"Well, I wouldn't say mastered exactly, but watch this!" He bends low and twirls in a circle.

The snow surrounds him and encases him like a snowman. He even added two eyes and a smile which only adds to the teacher's annoyance.

"When will you get serious and actually start learning?" He turns the snow into water and slap the back of Aang's head with it.

"Ow! I am serious, I just can't seem to pay attention to your explanations..."

When Pakku was about to retort, he noticed that a black snow crystal floated in front of his eyes. The rest begin to notice the same because the sky is covered in it. Katara paled and Pakku frowned even further.

"What is this?" Aang asks.

"It's the fire nation...." Katara mumbles but everyone hears her.

In another part of the tribe, Sokka and Yue were on a date when it was ruined by the black snow. Yue asks Sokka why the snow turned black.

"It's soot. The smoke from fire nation ships rises and attaches itself to the snow. I've seen it before when they attacked my village." He bends down and grabs a handful.

"...." Yue pales as she remembers the nightmares she's been having.

When she met Sokka, they went away completely. She was happy and content without them, but now this sight brought them all back. Sokka grabs her hand and runs to the palace with a determine look.

About four hours south of the northern water tribe, Zhao was standing on the balcony of his ship and looking forward. his smirk is confident and his glare determined.

"I'm coming and no one is going to stop me from attaining the glory which is rightfully mine!" He grabs the air in front of him.