Avatar: The Cycle Survived (compilation)

[Teяa253]

this is where I'm gonna post all chapters of my fanfic. that way, people no longer have to sift through pages of fanfics to find them all... (or to find the menu. lol)
~Katara~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 1: THE NORTHERN WATER TRIBE (III)
My mother and I made our way towards the Northern Water Tribe. We had been living in the Fire Nation for the past several years. Before that, we had lived in the Water Tribe or the Earth Kingdom. We traveled a lot, so this was nothing new. It took several days to get there, but when we did, I made one rather obvious observation: it was frigid here. My head, hands and feet, which were all exposed to the open, were freezing. I would have thought my mother was crazy for making me do this, but I knew that she knew what she was doing. After we were let into the village, we got off our boat. I was in for a surprise though when my bare feet touched the ice. Instead of a numbing cold like I had expected, there was strange warmth.

“Do you feel that?” my mother, Kai, asked me,
“Aye,” I replied, there is unusual warmth beneath my feet. Is something wrong with the ice?”

“No,” my mother replied, “Kai Serenes II, that feeling is the feeling of your bond with your native element. Although water may be deadly, it knows its masters. That is a very rare ability to be able to feel that. It is the sign of a master waterbender.”

I nodded, and remained quiet. I looked around, and saw people staring at us. We must have looked pretty awkward, being barefoot at the North Pole. Additionally, we were standing close together out in the open.

“They know who we are, Kai,” my mother told me; “you came here the same way you are now when you were younger. They recognize me as well. I have spent many good years of my life here.”
“So,” I said, “where do we find the Chief of the Water Tribe?”
“Why don’t you ask someone,” my mother suggested, “after all, you do not seem to be as shy as your mother.”

I looked up into her face and saw my mother close her eyes. It was true that I, Kai Serenes II, was a little more outgoing than my mother, also named Kai (Kai Serenes I)

I decided to simply stop the next person we met and ask them. They gave us directions without even hesitating, and they were very kind about doing so. They knew my name and my mother’s as well.
“They do not know who you truly are,” my mother whispered to me, talking about my avatar status, “but they do know a lot about you.”
“How,” I whispered back, “were you famous or something?”

“I wouldn’t call it that,” my mother replied as we approached the chief’s hut, “but they obviously recognize you as an offspring of me. We do look vary similar.”

I was worthy to call myself as selfless as my mother (she had told me that), but unlike her, I was also willing to take credit for things I did. I never bragged about my exploits, but I at least acknowledged that I had done them. My mother hated taking credit for things she did.
We arrived at the gate that led to the chief of the Water Tribe. I could see the excited look on my daughter’s face. I closed my eyes and smiled as we were let in. we needed no permission, for the guards recognized us right away. Maybe my daughter was right about saying how popular we were, but I wasn’t going to press the subject any further. Within the next few minutes we were standing in front of the Water Tribe Chief. She had long, elaborate hair that likely went down to her hips if she stood up. It seemed to have been done slightly since this girl was a child, like I remember her 19 years ago. Of course, we had met many times during those years, but it had been a while. She stood up, and my theory was proved. Her hair looked neater though when she was sitting down. When she stood up, I realized that it was the same explosion of brown semi-curly hair that it had been.

“Kai,” she exclaimed embracing me, “it’s so great to see you again—and you brought Kai the younger!” she embraced my daughter next. It would grieve me not to tell Katara that my daughter was the avatar, but I did not want to put my daughter’s life at any more risk then was necessary. There would have to be stories made up. She was aware of it though—I would never do anything to Kai II that went against her will.

“So,” said Katara, facing me again, “what brings two barefoot waterbenders such as your selves to the Northern Water Tribe?”
“There are various things,” I said, kicking in for my mother. I knew she was a woman of a few words, and I respected that. “I know that I wanted to see you again. You haven’t grown at all!”

“I’m all grown up, Kai,” Katara told me, “you, however, are springing up faster than your mother.”
It was true. According to my mother, Katara had barely grown 2 inches since she was 14. Now 33, she was already a few inches shorter than I was. Nonetheless, she was still the chief of the Water Tribe, and we respected her for that.

“Some things never change, Katara,” my mother told her, chuckling slightly. I noticed that she seemed to be referencing not only how short Katara remained, but also the condition of her hair. Katara seemed to notice what Kai was leading to, and she laughed.

“Kai,” trying to fight hair like mine is like trying to defeat Tera’s armies single-handedly. I fought my hair once. I lost spectacularly.”
All three of us laughed, and then Kai leaned in and whispered something to Katara. She nodded a few times and finished by saying “no problem.”

“Kai Serenes II,” she said, turning to me, “your mother says you’ve become a fine waterbender. Could you show me what you’re capable of?”

“I would be glad to.” I replied, and then my mother’s personality trait kicked in. “it’s nothing much, but sine you want to see it...”

I was amazed. Kai put on the most incredible waterbending display I had ever seen in my life. She had definitely picked up her mother’s skill and a bit extra. I was able to jerk my head slightly to cover my mouth with my hair, because my jaw had dropped significantly, and I did not want them to notice it. Kai ended with two huge blasts of water that went straight at my hair. They hit their target dead on, but not a single drop had nicked my face. Suddenly, I felt backwards. Kai had frozen my hair straight back. I looked ridiculous! Anyone else would have laughed at me, even as I unfroze my hair and returned the water to its homes in the two basins on either side of us, but both of them remained quiet. Only Kai II had cracked a short laugh. Kai I had merely smiled.

“I just wanted to see if it would have any effect,” Kai II muttered. Then I laughed. “Kai,” I said, “that was the first, no, the 2nd thing I tried. Just trust me on this one: it’s a hopeless wreck.”

“Okay,” she replied gently, “I just wanted to try and help.”
“I understand,” I replied, “but anyways, let’s get down to business. You say there is something that you needed assistance with?”
“Aye,” I replied, “I have been informed by my mother that you are the owner of the source of the legendary spirit water. If it is not too much to ask, could you teach me how to use it better?”

“Well,” Katara stammered, “I think your mother could have done that easier, but I guess if she wants me to, then I’ll be glad to.”
I suddenly realized why my mother had saved something for Katara to do for me. However, I did not dare bring up the avatar here, or anywhere for that matter. I turned to my mother, for she was not following me. “Are you coming, mother?” I asked,

“I will come and watch,” she replied, “but the actual teaching is up to Katara.” She slowly strode behind us. I did not know where Katara was taking us, but I trusted her—and for good reason. I was excited to learn something new. I always had been. My mother did not usually admit it, but she had been the same way. My road to becoming a full-fledged avatar had finally begun.

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 2: THE WATER TRIBE CHIEF (I)
Katara led me into an open clearing. However, we were surrounded by huge walls of ice. I knew this wasn’t a trap. This was likely just a secret place used by the Chief of the water tribe. Being the curious child that I was (well, I was 18, but compared to Kai I and Katara, I was a child), I asked her about it.

“What is this place?” I asked her. Katara turned around, her huge, obscenely untidy hair nearly whipping my face; one thing I had noticed about it though was that she still had two “loopy thingies” (as Sanaki had once described them when I was younger). However, they were now much larger.

“This place is simply my sanctuary.” Katara replied, “It’s where I come when the stress of being Chief of the Water Tribe gets to me. No one can come here except me and people that I have given permission to. Well, your mother is welcome any time, and I suppose as a result, you are too.”

“Okay,” I replied, “I was just wondering. So, what’s in this place?”
“Keep this quiet,” said Katara, starting to bend a patch of ice away, “but this is also the source of the spirit water.”

Katara pulled out a vial and reached her hand down into a small hole in the ice she had made. I couldn’t see what was down there, but I knew that there was water down there, for I could see Katara’s arm moving. It seemed that she was making complex movements underneath the ice, for I could sense the water moving in an unusual way. I would have asked her, but I had a feeling that it was a secret exclusive for someone important such as the chief of the water tribes. A few seconds later, Katara pulled her hand up, and with it came a thin stream of water. I looked long and hard at it before Katara slipped it into the vial she had procured. It was the most beautiful looking water I had ever seen.

“Now,” said Katara, “you obviously know about the beautiful art and life that is water, correct?” I nodded.

“Good,” she said, “I knew your mother would teach you well. A great woman Kai Serenes is. Anyways, take this vial with you. It is yours to keep. I do not need payment of any type for it. If you accept it as a gift from me to you, then that will suffice.”
“Are you sure there’s nothing you can do about your hair?” I asked; just to bring in a little extra smile.

It worked. Katara stopped, slapped her forehead and laughed.
“Kai Serenes,” she told me, “you truly are just like your mother. Ever since I stopped doing up my hair 19 years ago, she would always ask me about it. I guess somewhere down the line it became a hopeless case. Nonetheless, Kai Serenes I would always offer to help me with it. It’s futile. Kai, I hope you’re listening.” She directed that last statement at my mother, who was but a few yards away. She actually broke a small, timid chuckle.

“Katara,” she said, “you cannot say that I did not warn you that it would happen. Nonetheless, I suppose there’s no point trying to fix something that is beyond repair. I suppose you are fond of it now, correct?”

“Kai Serenes II,” said Katara, turning back to me, “you better grow up to be like your mother. The world needs more people of your sort. Anyways, I suppose I should get on with my original purposes of taking you here. Do you agree with me?”

“Well,” I said, not wanting to sound hasty, “I suppose...”
“Good,” said Katara, “that’s the spirit. You really are growing up to be just like your mother. So now, we shall continue. Beneath this floor of ice is a huge lake of this sacred water. I do not want you trying to open the ice. I want you to try to control the water. The movements for this are small but very complex.”

I slowly began to bend the ice away. The ice was ordinary water, and I did not want to mix it with the spirit water, so I was careful to keep the ice frozen. Kai was watching me with utmost interest. I continued removing ice until there was a hole about 2 feet around on any side.

“Now,” I said, “I’m not sure why your mother wanted me to teach this, but she did. Stick your hand in the water and get used to it. You look like you should be cold, being dressed the way you are. Why are you always barefoot, anyways?”

“Well,” Kai stammered, “it was a principle my mother taught me. Did she ever tell you what it was?”

“I think it might have come up once or twice.” I replied, “in case you did not notice, when I came here, I adopted that principle.”
Judging from the look on Kai’s face, she had not noticed that I had removed my shoes before coming here.

“You feel that warmth from the ice?” I asked. To anyone but a true master waterbender, asking if there was any warmth from ice had to be one of the stupidest questions imaginable. Kai nodded and said that she felt it too.

“Your mother probably told you this,” I said as Kai began twirling her fingers in the water, “but only a true master waterbender can feel that. Water will welcome a master.” I told her, “It does not dare harm someone who will control it with grace and serenity. You fit the model perfectly, which means your mother taught you very well. There is very little I can teach you as a result.” I paused. I noticed that the way she was lazily stirring her hand in the spirit water was actually part of the bending procedure.

“Kai,” I exclaimed, making her start, “the way you were moving your hand—do that again. That is part of the method I was about to teach you.” I waited until she began again, and then continued,
“Now,” I said, “the water is going to judge you based on your skills. If it does not follow your orders, then that means you are not yet skilled enough. However, I know better, and I’ll bend some sense into that water if it rejects you. By all means, it should accept you, for like your mother, you are a master.”

I waited, and Kai looked slightly nervous.
“Am I doing it right?” she asked timidly, and I saw that the water was following he every move. I told her to start moving her fingers very slightly. She did, and I noticed that she was.

“It’s just as I figured,” Katara told me, “there is nothing wrong with that water—it recognizes you as a top tier bender. Now, slowly bring your hand upwards, and the water should follow you in a thin, gentle stream, similar to how it did when I got you some.”

I slowly brought my fingers up. I felt like I was going to slow, but Katara nodded that I was doing fine. She told me that she had actually done it faster than she should have, but since she was able to use that all the time, I should have expected that.

“That does not mean I’m better than you,” Katara told me, “it just means I’ve had more practice in that particular department. Kai, I’m not sure how many other people have told you this, but you are an incredible waterbender. You have truly mastered the art. I think it would be enough to rival that of a supernatural. I noticed during your little performance some—unusual—techniques. Kai, I think if Tera came up against you, you’d be able to hold your ground.”

I stopped. I could tell that there was something she wanted to ask me. I wished I could tell her I was the avatar and that I did intend to bring Tera down, but I knew better.

“Kai,” said Katara quietly; she looked like she was about to cry, “Do you think... you—maybe... could... avenge Zuko for me?”
“I guess I could try,” I replied, “If it will make you happy, then I will.”
I suddenly found Katara embracing me.

“You don’t know how much that means—how much he meant before...” she didn’t finish. I shared her sympathy.
The road to Tera would be a long one, but Katara had given me valuable information. I wanted to avenge Zuko for Katara now. I knew that they had been married, even if it were only a few short years. Now, another part of my path had become visible.

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 3: THE WATER TRIBE CHIEF (II)
Katara and I went back into Katara’s chamber, where she sat as the chief of the Water Tribes. I looked behind us to see my mother following us quietly like she always did. Katara had recovered from her small breakdown, but I could tell that the topic upset her. I turned around and motioned to my mother that it was time to bring up the second reason we had come here—to find a blade master to teach me.

“Katara,” said my mother’s voice from behind us. Katara turned around slowly, wiping her face with her hair. She did pretty well at hiding evidence that she had been crying. Her hair was messy enough that you couldn’t tell what she had just done.

“Katara,” my mother said again, “is something wrong?”
Katara stammered for a moment, and then broke down again.
“YES,” she wailed, and then embraced us both. She told my mother everything. My mother was very understanding. I could tell that it grieved her that she couldn’t reveal to Katara that I was the avatar and that I was supposed to bring Tera to her knees.

“I understand,” Kai I said quietly, “and if it pleases you, then we will do what we can to avenge Zuko.

I slowly stopped bawling. It was a very sensitive subject for me, considering that it had only happened a few years ago. I realized that had these two been there, they could have revived him. Normally, something like that was enough to get some people flying with rage; However, I could not get mad at these two. They had done so much for me, even Kai II. Additionally, their work was voluntary. It wasn’t like they had a duty that they had failed to follow.

“Of course,” said Kai II all of a sudden, “maybe in the meantime there is something we can do about that hair of yours.”

This joke seemed to amuse even Kai I. It was repetitive, but it still made me laugh. I slowly began chuckling again.
“You two are never going to let me go about that, are you?” I said,
“Nope,” Kai II replied, “probably not.”

“I appreciate the small things in life,” said Kai I, “to be perfectly honest, I am only as concerned about your hair as you are. I think it’s beautiful no matter what you do with it.”

Katara shrugged. “You were going to ask me something weren’t you?” she commented, and Kai II had a response.

“My mother said you knew a master swordsman here who could teach me... to use these.” I whipped out the dual katana my mother gave me, and Katara said they way I drew them was impressive.
“Ah yes,” she replied, “I know just the man. In fact, I’ve known him for 33 years. I am talking of course, about my brother.”

“Is he around?” I asked,
“Indeed he is,” Katara replied,
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that kid,” Kai I commented, “I would like to visit him again as well.”

“Can he do something about your hair?” I asked,
“Yeah,” Katara replied to my surprise, “being the swordmaster he is, he could cut it. That would end the problem.”

“Could a blade even cut through that?” I asked, running my fingers through Katara’s hair; her hair was soft, but so tangled that I barely moved an inch before my fingers were caught. I gave up.

“Come to think of it,” said Katara, “I seriously have doubts. My only question now is why do you keep bringing it up?”
“Apparently my daughter has taken on a higher sense of humor than I have,” my mother responded, “There is nothing wrong with good humor though, am I correct?”

“Indeed,” Katara replied, “and I suppose if she can keep coming up with different jokes about the same thing, it’s not that bad.”
“But is it at your expense?” I asked, concerned now for Katara’s feelings,

“If it were at my expense,” Katara replied, “then I wouldn’t laugh with you. “The funny part about your jokes is that they’re all true. I’m not afraid to laugh at the truth, you know. The stories I could tell you about the things I’ve done to this disaster you two are still willing to call my hair could fill a library—maybe two.”

My mother actually laughed at this one—a serious laugh. That was something else I loved my mother for. She would never insult anyone. She would not laugh at the truth if the truth was at the expense of someone else. Only if she knew it wouldn’t hurt their feelings

My mother actually laughed at this one—a serious laugh. That was something else I loved my mother for. She would never insult anyone. She would not laugh at the truth if the truth was at the expense of someone else. Only if she knew it wouldn’t hurt their feelings would she laugh about it. I noticed that Katara didn’t seem to care, and my mother obviously had as well.

“Well,” Katara commented, “it looks like we’ve strayed pretty far off-topic. I suppose you would like me to take you two to se my brother, or would you like to explore the village until you find him?”
Katara knew my daughter and I well. Both of us were fond of adventure and exploration, and she had just given us an opportunity.

“Well,” I said, “if it does not offend you, do you think we could have a look around?”
“Kai,” said Katara, shaking her head, “you could do with valuing your own opinion a little more than you do,”

I had no response for this. Katara continued.
“Kai,” she said, “If it offended me, I would not have asked you about it. Go ahead and explore the village. Tell your daughter that I’m going to go have a fight with my hair and things are not going to be pretty.”

Katara laughed at her own joke. Kai II had heard it, and she laughed along with it.
“In that case,” I said, “then we will have a look around until we find him. Farewell, Katara. I... I wish you luck against your hair.”

We parted ways. Katara returned to her main chamber, and we returned to the central village square. From here, we wandered through the elaborate village of ice and water, waving and saying hello to people who called out to us.

I was excited. I was about to be taught the ways of the blades. I followed my mother around, for she said she had an idea of where my teacher would be. I examined the vial of spirit water Katara had given me. It was brass in color and was engraved with the symbol of the water tribes: a circle with a crescent on the left side resembling the moon; on the right side where a smaller circle was formed were a set of waves representing the water and the tides. Katara had not told my mother, but she whispered to me that if nothing else, spirit water was fun just to take out and play with, if it was used by a true master. Again, although I did not want to brag, Katara had called me a waterbending master so many times that I had no choice but to call myself a master as well. Of course, this meant my mother was beyond a master, but I had told her that countless times. I casually took the water out of the vial and began twirling it around my fingers. It almost felt like a stretchy material, but that was only because of the way I was able to bend it and shape it. To me, it felt just like water, but it felt better than normal water. I was grateful to Katara for giving it to me, for I would be sure to put it to good use.
We continued wandering through the village, though we were taking our time to get there (on purpose). For some reason, I felt we were being followed. I asked my mother about it, and she said that she felt it too. We hiked up our guard and continued walking until we heard a footstep behind us. We had been in a completely silent part of the village, but now we knew—after hearing the footstep and sensing an almost silent breath that was neither mine nor my mother’s—that there was someone right behind us.

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 4: IT'S HAPPY GO-LUCKY TIME!
We both spun around and froze our follower to the ground. We looked them over and noticed three things: it was a girl, she had really long hair done up in an elaborate braid, and she had a very bright face, even though she was at our mercy. Of course, we had no intention of hurting her—at least until we found out who she was.
“What is your name?” my mother asked her, and suddenly, the girl smiled. The smile alone was big enough that it would have rivaled Katara’s hair. I seemed to notice something familiar about that smile. My mother commented to herself that it looked awfully familiar too...

“Ty Lee,” she exclaimed, “is that you?”
The girl laughed. “You got it.” She replied, still smiling, “so, if it’s not too much to ask, can you release me?”

“I would be glad to,” I said, “but first, may I please ask what you were doing following us?”

“Oh,” she replied, “sorry about that. I saw two of you, and I just wanted to make sure that I was not seeing double. I didn’t want to hurt you, Kai.”

“How did you know my name?” I asked,
“Your name is Kai too?” she exclaimed, “I didn’t know. I just called you Kai because you look almost exactly like your mother.
“Did you see Katara?” I asked,

“Actually,” Ty Lee replied, “yes I did. Right as I left, I saw you two, so I waited for you to come out.”
“So,” my mother asked her, “why are you following us now?”
“I was wondering if I could travel with you two. You know—join your little group...”

“It’s fine by me,” my mother replied, “it is ultimately up to my daughter here.” She turned to me and motioned to me to decide whether or not we should let her. My response was rather predicted.
“Aye,” I said, “it’s fine by me as well.”

Therefore, Ty Lee joined our group. After a little questioning, we learned that she was 33. After Azula had been killed, Ty Lee had gone off to do her own thing. She would not say what she did, and being the type of people we were, neither me nor my mother pushed the subject any further. My mother asked her if she knew anything about Mai, the other girl that was part of their troublesome trio 19 years ago.

“Oh yeah,” she exclaimed, “I forgot about Mai. No, I haven’t seen her in ages. Maybe Tera killed her.”
I was surprised that she knew about Tera. She just seemed too happy go-lucky to have any cares. I did not tell her this, for that would likely offend her. I did ask her what she knew about Tera though.”

“There’s a lot about Tera and her downfall that I know.” Ty Lee replied, “for example,” she leaned in real close to me and whispered something in my ear: “I know that your daughter is the avatar.”
I actually jumped back. “How did you know that?” I asked, grasping my daughter’s shoulders,

“I’m everywhere at once,” Ty Lee replied, “its all part of being... bendable. But don’t worry. My lips are sealed. You have always showed great kindness to me, so I’ll return the favor—especially since you let me follow you. I’ve been a nomad for quite some time now. It’s been getting really tiring for me.”

“So,” I asked, “what brings you to the Northern Water Tribe?”
“I have no idea really,” Ty Lee replied, “I just felt like coming here. What about you two? Were you doing some waterbending training?”
“Well,” I said, “sort of.” I could tell that I could trust Ty Lee for some reason, although we had never met. My mother seemed confident in her, and the feeling was mutual. I viewed her the same way. I told Ty Lee everything my mother and I had done with Katara, even down to the jokes about her hair.

“You made jokes about Katara’s hair too?” she exclaimed, and then she laughed. “Wow, I’m good. That’s what she and I were doing nearly the whole time when we were together.”

I had not told Ty Lee about the secret sanctuary where Katara got the spirit water, but that was on Katara’s request, and Ty Lee did not seem to wonder where I had gotten my spirit water anyways.
“So,” she asked, “where are you two going? I guess I should know if I’m gonna follow you around.”

“We are looking for Sokka the sword master.” My mother replied, “My daughter needs to learn the ways from a master.”
“Why can’t you teach her?” Ty Lee suggested, “I’ve seen you. You’re pretty good.”

“Sokka is better at the art than I am,” Kai I replied, “and, considering who my daughter is, I feel that she should be taught by none other than a renowned master like Sokka.”

“Ah,” Ty Lee exclaimed, “So Sokka’s gonna teach you, huh? In that case, maybe I’ll just wait outside.”
“What’s the matter?” I asked, “Does Sokka hate you or something?”
“Well,” Ty Lee stammered, “let’s just say that the last time we met, which was in Ba Sing Se, we did not necessarily leave on the best note. Toph was pretty upset at me as well.”

“What did you do?” I asked, “Or is it personal?”
“If you two don’t mind,” Ty Lee responded, “I’d rather not say.”
“That’s okay.” My mother and I replied, “We’ll respect that.”
“Well,” said Ty Lee, “in that case, I’ll take you to where he is. Normally, he’s in Ba Sing Se with Toph, but you happened to catch him here. He came here with Toph and Toph left early. Sokka got delayed.”

“I was wondering why they weren’t together,” my mother commented,
“Well,” said Ty Lee, “no offense, but you two looked lost. Do you want me to show you where he’s at?”
“If you would like to,” I said, “then that would be great.”
“Okay then,” she said, “follow me,”

We were farther away than I thought we were. Ty Lee cart wheeled in front of us, leading the way. When we got there, she simply stepped aside. She told us again that she did not want to go in.
“Are you sure?” I asked, “I think Sokka would understand if you were with us and all.”

“I’m okay,” Ty Lee replied, “you two go ahead. I’ll just bide my time out here. When you come back out, you’re welcome to leave without me if I’m not here waiting for you.”
“If you insist,” said Kai, “then so be it. Remember: you’re welcome to come in with us. We could explain it to Sokka...”

“It is okay, Kai,” Ty Lee replied, “You two go and have your fun.”
We said goodbye to Ty Lee and went inside. Considering that this was not Sokka’s permanent residence, it was pretty elaborate. It was nowhere near as grand as Katara’s residence, but then again, Sokka was not chief of the Water Tribes.

On the note of Sokka, he was nowhere to be seen. We both wandered through here, looking at our surroundings. Sokka seemed to have collected some interesting weapons over the years. I did notice that there was a boomerang that looked like it was a much cherished object. I had heard my mother’s stories about how Sokka had loved that boomerang, and they always took my fancy. A few minutes later, we heard a voice from one of the far chambers.

“Kai,” it said, “is that you? Did you bring your daughter with you?”
“Indeed I did,” Kai replied, “Sokka, where are you?”

“Just follow my beautiful voice,” he replied, and I laughed. My daughter may not have been too familiar with Sokka’s unusual methods, but having known him a while, I was. We both followed his voice until we met him. Sokka had changed a bit. He had grown all of his hair out, but it was much well-kept than Katara’s. In fact, it was the opposite. While Katara’s hair was messy and all over the place, Sokka’s hair was neat and well-kept;

“Hello, Kai,” said Sokka, “I see you have come to ‘The Sokka’ for some swordsmanship training, am I right?”
We nodded, and my daughter stepped forward.
“When do we begin?” she asked,
“Well,” said Sokka, grinning widely, “let me think about that for a moment...”

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 5: CONFESSIONS OF THE PRANKSTER
My training with Sokka took a while. I personally did not find it as interesting as bending, but I knew it was useful and that Sokka was teaching me everything he knew. I liked it in reality, but if I were given a choice, I would choose bending. I liked my blades, and knew that my father Zihark was proud of me, wherever he was. It took me a few weeks to master his art. He said I was a fast learner. He also was surprised that I, like my mother, was always barefoot. That aside, after I completed his training, I decided to linger in the Water Tribe for a little longer. My mother consented of course. She always did. Besides, she was getting old, and I didn’t want to overwork her. I knew it may not have seemed like much, but I could tell that my mother was tired. I also wanted to talk to Katara about various things. I occasionally saw her and Sokka together.

Sokka had grown much taller—he was now a couple inches taller than my mother. In contrast, Katara was much shorter. She was several inches shorter than Ty Lee, and her head was a few inches shy of her brother’s shoulders. She didn’t seem to care though. She didn’t even care about Ty Lee wandering the place. Ty Lee would pop in and out, occasionally even dropping a word or two to Sokka. I never knew exactly what she did around this place, but she never went far.

One day though, things changed after Katara disappeared. All there was where she had last been was a note saying she had left for the Earth Kingdom. It seemed abrupt, but we took the note’s word for it.
“Perhaps we should go there,” my mother suggested,
“I’m game,” Ty Lee replied. She never argued with us. I looked at her. Her hair was long and in an elaborate braid in the back, but in front her bangs nearly covered her eyes. Judging from the way she dressed, it was as if she had become a nun. She was clothed in a loose pink robe, with a shirt and pants underneath. After all, she did a lot of cart-wheeling around. I put that thought aside and nodded to her.

We left towards the Earth Kingdom later that afternoon.
“Sokka,” I said on the way out, “would you like to come see your wife and sister?” Sokka’s wife was Toph, and she was in the Earth Kingdom as well. I later learned that Toph’s position was rather incredible.
“I’ll...” he stammered, “I’ll come for a while. However, there’s a place in between that I’ll have to stop at, so you’ll have to go without me unless you want to be delayed half a day or so.
“Come on,” said Ty Lee, “you should just come. I’m not going to pull any pranks on you this time.”
Sokka paused and grunted.
“You promise,” he asked, and Ty Lee nodded.
“So that’s what it’s about?” Kai exclaimed, chuckling slightly,
“Yeah,” Sokka replied, slightly embarrassed; “but... never mind. Let’s just go already. I wanna make sure my sister is alright...”

A week later, we were in the Earth Kingdom. We passed a nearby village, and this was where Sokka departed.
“What sort of business are you up to?” Ty Lee asked,
“It’s none of your business, circus freak.” He replied sharply. Ty Lee gasped, and lowered her head sadly.
“I’m...” she said, “I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you,” she said solemnly, “can you please just forgive me already?”
Sokka paused. He thought long and hard.
“If you don’t want to tell us what your business is, then don’t. I’ll respect it just like the Serenes Family does.

“Okay,” Sokka sighed, “I’m sorry I called you a circus freak. It’s just... I’m kind of worried about my sister. Something about that note was fishy to me. There’s someone here that might help me calm down, and a few other things. So yeah, you all go on. I’m sorry again, Ty Lee.”
“It’s okay,” said Ty Lee, her face brightening, “just be sure to visit us once you’re done. We’ll be there a while.”
It was shortly after Sokka left that we came upon a very unusual site. There was a large white animal up ahead, drinking from a desert oasis. I had heard of them, but I did not know what one was actually like. Ty Lee seemed familiar with them.
“It’s a sky bison!” she exclaimed, and there’s a lemur with him. I wonder if it’s who I think it is.”
“Who do you think it is?” my mother asked,
“it might be the bison and lemur that belonged to Avatar Aang,” Ty Lee replied, turning to me, “try calling out to him, Kai. If he responds to ‘Appa’, then you know it’s him.”

I called out. Surprisingly, the beast slouched over to me. He sniffed me and the lemur stared at me with its huge eyes, its even bigger ears twitching.
“The lemur’s name should be Momo.” Ty Lee continued, “But yeah, he seems to like you. I can sense its aura. Appa accepts you as its master now.”
“But why,” I asked, as the beast licked the right side of my face, “I mean, I just barely met it, and ‘poof’ he’s mine?”
“Well,” said Ty Lee, lowering her voice to a whisper, “you are the avatar—a reincarnation of Avatar Aang. So, in essence, you have met him before, just in a past life.”
“I see,” I muttered, “well perhaps we should take advantage of our situation and let him take us to Ba Sing Se. of course, we’d feed him and water him and such, so he doesn’t get tired. After all, he would be doing all the work...”
“Always so caring,” said Ty Lee mystically, “I admire that about you, Kai Serenes II—Avatar.”
I did not tell my daughter, but she was blushing really hard.

A few minutes later we were on the back of the noble beast, and it carried us to the Earth Kingdom central hub known as Ba Sing Se. Of course, it took another day to reach, but walking it took 4, so we were now 3 days ahead of Sokka. I told my daughter that we would stay here until Sokka’s return. She consented as well. Ty Lee of course, was game for anything, so I knew she was content.
We landed outside the city. I decided to manage Appa and Momo while Ty Lee and my daughter explored the city. However, Appa nudged me forward towards the gates as well.

“I’ll watch over you,” I assured him, but the beast nudged me again.
“You...” I exclaimed, “You want me to go with them?”
From what I understood, he did.
“You’re going to take care of yourself then?” I asked, and again, I got a similar answer. I shrugged, and decided to please Appa and Momo by leaving them alone and going with Ty Lee and Kai into the city.
We went in, and the first thing we did was board the monorail. The first thing I did was watch my mother fall asleep. Ty Lee was sitting on my other side, and I was in the middle. I felt my mother’s old face rub up against mine. I let her sleep—she needed it.
“So,” said Ty Lee, “what happened to Appa and Momo?”
“I suppose they’re around,” I replied, “my mother, Kai Serenes I, said that they wanted her to follow us, so she did.”
“Oh.” Ty Lee replied, “Okay. I was just wondering.”

The city was large enough that the ride took a while. We were still on it in the evening, considering all the stops. However, since (as a result of Ty Lee) we had gotten on without charge, we did not complain. (Of course, Ty Lee said that we, the Serenes family, never complained. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but I guess it is.

My mother slept peacefully on the train, and nothing happened until near the end of the trip. In the meantime though, I was worried about Katara. I wondered if Sokka was right about her not being alright. I guess I would have to just find out once we got there. Right now though, all three of us relaxed and some of us (my mother to be exact) fell asleep on the way…

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 6: HE IS NOT WHAT HE SEEMS
Our trip was peaceful, but according to what Ty Lee said, it would take all day and part of the night to get there. Since my mother and I had a passion for the evening, we often slept for much of the morning and were awake at night. My mother was usually up gazing at the moon, and I would sometimes join her. She told me that Sanaki Li Chan, a little blind firebender girl she had helped raise, had been similar. She enjoyed accompanying my mother when she gazed at the moon, but she would often gaze directly at the sun. She seemed to absorb power form it. After all, Firebenders do get their power from the sun. I wondered what Sanaki was doing at the moment. I did know that the sun was beautiful though. I of course couldn’t gaze directly at it, since it would make me blind. Sanaki always had reasons for liking being blind. It seemed strange, but I understood them.

“I look up at the sun to prove I’m blind,” Sanaki would say, “people see me bending so well and doubt me. I just find the sun; gaze up at it without blinking for a long time, and they’ll buy it. They practically idolize me, and some of them do. It’s kind of funny really, but I like being blind.”

Sanaki was an interesting girl. I understood why Fire Lord Iroh had held her in such high regard. However, I had heard that he had since then abdicated, and that the throne had been passed to someone else. It was supposed to have been Zuko, but after his unprecedented death, I was not sure who he had passed it to. Luckily, after a few months mastering earthbending, I would be traveling to the Fire Nation to investigate.
“What are ya thinking of, Kai?” Ty Lee asked me curiously,
“Oh,” I replied gently, “just one of my old friends; why?”
“I was just wondering,” Ty Lee replied, and then paused. “Hey,” she said, “you’ve got hair all in your face. Don’t turn out like me, Kai. You’re way too gentle and kind for that.”
“I’m sorry,” I replied, “it’s just the way it grows. My mother’s is the same way. Even in her older age, people still say we look exactly alike.

“Well Kai Serenes II,” I said, “you kind of do—except your mother’s hair are turning grey. Well, that and you’re dressed differently. You look like you’re about to go beat someone up.”

I looked down at my clothes. The patterns on them were actually somewhat reminiscent of earth kingdom attire, but they were blue and white. I had a short-sleeved shirt with a large collar, loose, wide pants and on my wrists and ankles were thick bands the bore the insignia of the water tribes. I had a large belt similar to my bracelets and anklets, and the buckle was the icon of the water tribes as well. I also had thin white cloth wrapped around parts of my arms, hands and feet. I suddenly realized that my mother had dressed me like a bender warrior. I lowered my head and was sad. I didn’t want to be looked at as tough and dangerous. I wanted people to see me as friendly and helpful, which was my true nature. Ty Lee seemed to catch on to me though.

“Look, Kai,” I told her, “your mother knows a lot. I’ve had a lot of various experiences with her. She’s very smart. I guarantee that she knows what she was doing when she told you to dress like that.”
“Do you see me as dangerous?” Kai asked me. It sort of put me on the spot, but I had a perfect answer for her.
“Well Kai,” I stammered, you don’t necessarily look dangerous. You look like someone who you don’t want to threaten. Besides, I know you. You’re the type who will strike with full might if someone you love is threatened. Your mother is the same way. You are truly the spitting image of her, Kai, regardless of how you dress. I personally think it makes you look cool. Your face though is so different. You have such a pleasant aura—you both do. If I had to label you with a saying, I think it’d be something like “I’m really friendly but please don’t try to harm my loved ones or I’ll have to fight you. I might even heal you afterwards.” Yeah, that’s it. That’s a perfect description for me. You seem like the kind of person who will give someone a second chance after all is said and done. I like that about you Kai. You’re always so nice. You probably would go back and heal them, wouldn’t you?”

I had turned red. I lowered my head, hoping she wouldn’t see it, but something told me that she didn’t need to see my face to know that I was blushing.
“Kai,” she told me, “you’ve got your mother’s aura of shyness too. Don’t worry though. I still like you.” We both chuckled.
“I heard you got a vial of spirit water from Katara,” she said, “can I see it—please?”
She gave me a wide, innocent smile. As I took it out, a Dai Li Agent suddenly intercepted it from me and ran off.
“Kai,” said Ty Lee, her eyes widening, “that was not a real Dai Li. That was a minion of Clazdian. You do know who he is, right?”
“He’s the lord of the supernaturals,” I replied, “but I’m going to go and get that back. It’s mine, and to me it’s sacred. Would you like to come with me?”

My face lit up. “I’ll be glad to, Kai. You think your mother will be alright though?”
“I’m pretty sure she’d want me to get it back.” Kai replied, “I would ask her, but she needs that sleep. Besides, she can fend for herself if for some reason she gets attacked. She’s dead powerful. I do want to hurry though, for I don’t want to put her ant any possible risk, even if she can defend herself.”
“That works,” I replied happily, “I’ll follow you.”
We wound up on the roof of the train. By now it was pitch dark, and there were only the city lights and the brightness of the near-full moon. It illuminated the tops of the cars. He was indeed taking the short way to the front of the train by going up here. It avoided all the people.
As we ran and jumped from car to car, Kai turned and asked me a question.”
“Ty Lee,” she said, “how did you know he’s one of Clazdian’s minions?”
“Well,” I replied, “they look and dress like normal people. However, there is a different aura, and their eyes are pure red. Oh, and they also glow. I was able to tell though because of the aura he gave off. It was black and shadowy, just like Clazdian himself. It is a unique aura created by Clazdian and the supernaturals. I think Tera Mezhiak Altina was the original creator of it to be exact, but I heard she’s changed.”
Kai shrugged. We eventually cornered the Dai Li at the end (front) of the train. It was here that the fight under the moonlight began.

Ty Lee was a very good fighter. She had swift, fluid movements, and yet had a float-y grace that was reminiscent of an airbender. She began jabbing with her fingers though as her main method of attack. I was coming in surrounding him with water to overwhelm him. I motioned for Ty Lee to let up so I could try and get it back the nice way.
“We have you pinned,” I told him, “now can you please give me that back? I would not want to have to take extensive measures.”
He sputtered slightly, stopped, reached into his robe and pulled it off. He slapped it into my hand and then tried getting up. When he did, he was suddenly blasted off his feet and off the train. Instead of hitting the ground and remaining there, He hit and exploded into millions of black shards, which evaporated.
“That,” said Ty Lee “is another sign that he was Clazdian’s minion.”
“So,” I said once we settled back in with my mother, (she was still sleeping peacefully, unaware of what happened) “how did he fall?”
“He must have thrown it,” Ty Lee replied, “He knew defeat.”
I shrugged. However, it seemed like Ty Lee had done something, but she hadn’t moved. I was wide awake, since I had slept much of the way here as well. Now, however, I knew that our trip was coming to an end.
A few minutes later, we had gotten off the train. It was evening, and we spent the night just outside the walls of the palace.

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 7: DEVASTATED LOVE (I)
I had enjoyed teaching Kai Serenes II a little bit about waterbending, even though I knew that she was much better than I was. I thought that her mother would make a much better Water Tribe Chief than I would, but she wouldn’t take the position. She said she didn’t have the heart to tell people what to do. Her daughter was a little more outgoing and willing to take control than she was, but she was still very shy as well. Therefore, I, Katara, was left in charge. I didn’t mind the job, but things in the last three years had stressed me out rather severely. The most prominent one had been the death of my husband Zuko. It changed the way I live—the way I operated.

For a long time afterwards, I would shut myself up in my chamber, just dwelling on the subject. My hair, a possession of mine that I spent much of my day working on, on a regular basis, suffered the most dramatic change. That had been something Zuko had always found amusing about me. Now that he was gone, I couldn’t take it upon me to even look at it. I knew I couldn’t cut it, so I just left it—let it do its own thing. Within 3 months it was beyond my control. The damage was permanent. I ended up being able to stop dwelling on the subject of Zuko’s death, but my hair had gone feral. It went every which way, and was tangled beyond any means of description. I later described it as being perfectly well-made until someone set a bomb off in it—a big bomb.

After that, I just stopped caring. My destructive hair became my icon—my tribute to Zuko—a devastated love. However, shortly before Zuko had died, I had become chief of the water tribes, so, once all my stressing was done with, I went back to water tribe business. However, that changed after Kai Serenes appeared. While they were there—that very night, I felt a dark hand clasp my mouth, jab my gut, and I felt myself getting dragged away as I lost consciousness.

I woke up to find myself in a very strange place. It was like none I had ever seen before. It seemed that we were in space. Below me was a platform though. It didn’t look like earth or metal though. It was as if it was not an element—unless it was raw darkness. The whole area was different shades of all the colors of the rainbow, but mostly black and purple. I looked around. Suddenly, a figure that defied all description appeared in front of me. I screamed and jumped back. I fell down. This figure simply chuckled. It was the most hideous laugh I had ever heard.

“Who are you?” I asked,
“Who am I?” he replied, “Katara, I should be asking you that, but whoops—I already know your name, Water Tribe Chief. Anyways, my name is Clazdian. I am the lord of the supernatural race, which bears the name. The supernaturals have spanned a time frame of over 21000 years. Now, however, their numbers are dwindling. In fact, right now, I believe that there is only one left alive—one by the name of Tera Mezhiak Altina. You know of whom I speak don’t you?”
I paused. Something about him looking for Tera did not seem right. He seemed all too calm about knowing that the people he was in charge of were all dead save one. I didn’t know where Tera was, but even if I did I was not about to tell him.

“Why do you want to know where Tera is?” I asked. I felt that something was different with Tera. Tera Mezhiak Altina was obviously her full name, and I had not known that until now. I felt that Tera had not been acting on her own accord. I figured that someone with such a beautiful name had to be someone of a more—kinder nature. I had noticed the look on her face 19 years ago, and she had cast me a very sad look. I had not told anyone I saw it, and still to this day have not.

“I’ll be very straightforward with you, water tribe chief,” Clazdian replied, “I want to kill her. I know what she’s done, and she needs to die.”
“Why would you want to kill your own creation?” I asked,
“Why not?” he replied, “they are heartless; they have no feelings. Besides, all of the others have been slain by yours truly. I want to finish the job. Tera Mezhiak Altina is preventing me from doing that.”
“You,” I hissed indignantly, “you’ve killed them because you think they have no feeling? What sort of lord are you?”

“Foolish mortal, do not meddle in things above your realm of reality.” Clazdian replied in his same voice. He was unaffected by what I said. “The supernaturals were created from raw elements. They cannot have feelings, minds of their own. They have served their purpose, and so I figured I’d get rid of them.”

“That’s a lie!” I shouted, “They had feelings! Tera still does! She has a mind of her own; her own personality; her own interests, her own lusts, her own passions, her own hatred. She has everything you do!”
Clazdian laughed. “an ignorant child you are, Katara,” he said, “but I suppose if you are not going to tell me where Tera Mezhiak Altina has disappeared to, perhaps I could make it more... convincing...”
My jaw dropped. Clazdian had disappeared and Zuko had appeared in his place. I knew that this was Clazdian.
“Katara,” he said, and to my surprise, it was Zuko’s voice, “I miss you. Come here so I can hold you again.”

He held out his arms and smiled. Clazdian couldn’t smile like this. This must be him. After all, I knew that supernaturals could revive people if they died intact, and Zuko had indeed died intact. I jumped into his arms and he embraced me. I felt his loving warmth against my chest. This had to be him. He was back. I was so happy. He picked me up off the ground. After all, I was much shorter than he was. Zuko had been 6’1”, and I was only 5’4”, so there was quite the difference between us.

“Zuko,” I said, “I’m so sorry. I... I love you so much...”
“I love you too, Katara,” he replied, and our lips embraced. The same warmth of Zuko’s lips that I remember 3 years ago returned. I wished with all my heart that time would just stop here and now—forever. My miseries had ended Zuko was back.
“Do you know the way out of here?” I asked, and suddenly, his expression changed. He looked confused.

“Out of here,” he exclaimed, “I have no idea. I’ve been here forever.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. There were pieces of a new puzzle falling down now, and this one I did not like. I started to worry.
“This world,” he said, “IS an eternity, Katara. We can live it here.”
He paused for a second. “But never mind that. Katara, what’s gone on since I left? What happened to Tera?”
“Why do you want to know about Tera?” I asked, becoming more and more suspicious,
“Well,” Zuko replied, “she did help in killing me. Of course, I was trying to kill her, and then someone intervened...”
“I seriously don’t know,” I replied, “besides, what would you do if you found her?”

“I’d kill her to return the favor,” he replied angrily, “Katara, do you realize that that girl destroyed our love—our bond—and the father of our son? Where is the boy anyhow?”
“He is with another member of the water tribe,” I replied, “he is okay.”
“Katara,” he told me, “killing Tera is the only way I can return. We must do this—you must do this in my behalf.”
“But,” I exclaimed, “Tera was innocent. She didn’t kill you!”
“Hmm,” said Zuko to my surprise, “a claver response, Katara...”
Zuko’s voice began to change ever so slightly. More pieces of the foul puzzle were falling, but not very many of them linked yet. I was not sad, not mad, not happy—just confused.
“But obviously,” Zuko continued, “you’ll have to learn to listen to my orders... the foul way.”

To my terror, Zuko grinned, and had taken on a shadowy tint. He now had Clazdian’s voice. I did everything in my power to not break out crying then and there. This had not been my husband; this had been Clazdian’s foul work the entire time.

~Katara~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 8: DEVASTATED LOVE (II)
Clazdian laughed as I felt tears forming in my eyes. I clenched my fists so hard my fingernails were digging into my palms. I yelled as loud as I could. It was powerful, and it was for Zuko. Clazdian just chuckled again. The worst thing about it was he was still in the form of my dear Zuko. After what had just happened, I was devastated.
“Kill me now!” I shouted at him, “That’s why you brought me here, isn’t it?”

Clazdian shook Zuko’s head.
“I’m not that mean,” he said, laughing, “I’ll let you live. Keep in mind that this man killed you 19 years ago and left you for dead. He was laughing and making up lies about you, he told you he would do that in front of your dying body. Do you not recall?”

I paused. To my anger and dismay, I knew he was right. Zuko and I had fought back then, but this was different. We had repaired our differences, especially after losing most of our memories after Sanaki’s waterbender had revived us. Every time we wandered off absentmindedly from the others, we found ourselves talking to each other. It was a language neither of us recognized, but that we were fluent in. we could only speak it to each other. It was impossible to do when other people were around.

“If you want to kill me,” said Clazdian, still imitating Zuko, “go ahead. The only reason I was able to bring you here was because you, like Zuko, were still on my terms. This might be hard on you, but that’s the good part: I was the one who initially turned Zuko against you. That was my doing. He had no idea what was coming over him.”
“NO!” I shouted, “That... that’s impossible! He...”

However, the puzzle pieces slowly began to fall into place. Zuko had said that he was serving a higher authority. This had to be it. I knew that he had been telling the truth, since it fit back then, and still fit now.
I had since long abandoned my attempts to keep the tears from running down my face.
“You’re a smart little girl, Katara,” Clazdian commented, even though I was a fully grown woman—and, chief of the water tribes, “I can see why Zuko went after you.” He disappeared, and appeared behind me. He stroked his fingers through my hair with ease—a feat long thought impossible considering the ground-zero condition of my hair. Clazdian seemed aware of this.

“Your hair,” he said, “you stopped caring about it after Zuko died... it’s a pity. He was very fond of it...”
“Shut up,” I snapped through my tears, “don’t talk to me about my husband—EVER!!”
“Ah,” said Clazdian, “a touchy subject I see? Well that’s okay. There’s only one way for Zuko haunting you to go away—you must do two things. The first one is fighting him.”
I stopped. Clazdian eliminated the shadowy tint Zuko had and he faced me. “At your ready,” he said, and the fight began.
Clazdian was fighting just like Zuko. I knew it was an illusion, and so I wanted to hurt him as much as possible. However, this fight was reminiscent of the one we had had 19 years ago. He was so calm, and I was so angry and frustrated.

“Katara,” he chuckled, “you’re pushing yourself too hard. Would you like to dance?”
“Get away from me,” I snapped; my eyes and cheeks now red with tears, “you’re just an illusion.”
“Maybe I am,” he shrugged, and then he stopped trying to hurt me. I was given the impression that he could hurt me, but I wasn’t hurting him back. Nonetheless, I had to try.
“You know what, Katara,” he said, “finish me now. I’m open. This is Clazdian, remember?”
“I will be glad to rid this world of your wretched and hideous presence,” I fumed, “you will never kill another person again as long as you live! I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU!! I!!! HATE!!! YOU!!!”

Every word of that last sentence was as pronounced as I could make it. My anger was the only thing that kept me from sobbing uncontrollably.
Clazdian-Zuko just chuckled. “I love you Katara,” he said in a Zuko-like voice as I came at him. I overcame everything and began attacking him swift and hard.
“YOU’RE JUST AN ILLUSION!!!” I wailed, “YOU’RE JUST... AN... ILLUSION!!!”

Every attack hurt me to do, but this was what I had to do to rid myself of Clazdian I figured. I was relentless in my attacks. However, it did not seem like I was destroying him. On the contrary, it seemed that I was simply destroying Zuko. This had to be a trick on the mind that he was playing. It couldn’t be true, and yet it seemed to be.
After what seemed like ages, he finally disappeared. I was left alone in the forsaken world. Clazdian was nowhere to be seen.
“Feel better now?” said a voice from behind me. I turned my head and saw that it was Clazdian. He was unhurt. By now, I had worn myself out attacking what I thought had been him.

“You fight pretty well,” he said, “but you cannot hurt me unless someone breaks the seal on this world. The only one able to do that is the avatar and—oh dear, it appears that that cycle got destroyed.”
“GET AWAY FROM ME!” I screamed, and I ran. I didn’t know where I was going—I just wanted to get away from him. When I stopped though, his hand was again on my shoulder. I tugged myself free, but once I did, he clasped me again.

“WHAT DOY YOU WANT WITH ME!?!” I screamed, my anger once again keeping me from bawling,
“Nothing,” Clazdian replied, “except Tera’s location; but since you don’t want to tell me, I’ll send you back for now in a little while…” he paused. He noticed that my cheeks were bleeding from my raw anger.
“Oh, you poor thing,” he said in what sounded like a semi-sincere tone; I knew he didn’t mean it though. He stroked my cheek. There was something foul in his fingertips that made me cringe when they touched my bleeding flesh, and yet—I couldn’t move.

“What are you doing?” I said, my anger beginning to die down,
“Absolutely nothing,” he replied, “physically, the only differences you’ll have upon your return are the wounds on your cheeks. But those, I believe, were self-induced, so you can’t blame me...”
“Get away from me,” I said again, “get away from me NOW.”
“Fine, then,” Clazdian replied coolly, “you leave my presence.”

There was a huge flash of color, and I found that I was back. However, instead of being in the chief’s chamber, I was up in my private one. I was lying spread-eagled, face up on the floor—yet again. It seemed that any time I was in this position, something bad had just happened. The tradition held true that day. I knew that Sokka, Kai I, Kai II, and Ty Lee had all left for the earth kingdom. There was a note forged likely by Clazdian that said I had gone too. Right now though, I abandoned all precepts and wept uncontrollably on my bed. I had just been reminded of the thing in my life that I had cherished the most, and it had been waved in front of me, just out of my reach. I was so glad I was alone. I got up quickly to secure my door, and then threw myself down again, lamenting my troubles. I heard a foul voice I knew it was Clazdian.

“Can you not even leave me alone in my own world?” I asked, “Or must you interfere with everything? Get out! I hate you!”
“I cannot exist in your world,” he said, “this is merely my voice beckoning from mine. Seeing as you are alright though, I guess I’ll just leave you here to cry your face off. Your cheeks seem to be absorbing your tears pretty well. Farewell, Katara.”

I yelled into my bed as loud and as long as I could. He made me so angry, and yet there was nothing I could do. I was powerless against him. He had some control over me after he had done something with Zuko and enticed me as well. This was also why Tera had been able to utilize us—why we had lost our own memories, and the cause of so much other suffering that neither him nor I are willing to disclose—to anyone.

~Katara~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 9: RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN
I lay there thinking about what had just happened. Clazdian had just shown me a taste of his true power—just how foul he was capable of being. However, it seemed that he was not aware of the presence of people like Tera was, otherwise, he would have known about our two children—or mentioned them. They were unfortunate souls, for they had lost their father Zuko at an early age. I still remember the days where they both were born… it was before my husband Zuko had been killed...

My (had Zuko been alive, I would have said “our”) first child was a healthy baby boy. I could tell that this child was going to have talent.
“What do you think we should name him?” Zuko asked me, and I thought for a moment.

“Well,” I said, “if you don’t mind, I think we should name him Sokka. His middle name should be Hakoda, after out father and his grandfather. Is that okay with you?”
“He looks like a waterbender,” Zuko replied, “but yeah, it’s okay with me. You know how I do things, Katara. I want you to be happy.
“Okay then,” I said, “Sokka Hakoda it is. Hmm, I think he might actually be a bender.”
“Oh?” Zuko exclaimed, “What makes you say that?”
“It’s just a feeling I have,” I replied, “but I guess we’ll just wait and see...”

“It comes from being a waterbender, doesn’t it?” Zuko told me, “a waterbender can feel another waterbender’s presence, just like earth, or fire... and probably air as well...”
“I think so,” I replied, “it’s just a feeling I get...”
“Well,” Zuko declared, picking up the child and then embracing me, “either way, we’ll love him and raise him with good standards. He’ll become an excellent waterbender too...”

4 years passed, and we gave birth to another child. This one was a beautiful baby girl. However, she was ill for a long time, and we thought we were going to lose her. Her name though, was interesting. Zuko didn’t even ask me what he was going to name her. I just happened to overhear him one night as he was comforting our child. We had not yet figured out a name—or, I hadn’t; Zuko seemed to already have one.

I opened the door a crack to see him holding the baby girl and comforting her from her sickness.
“There, there, Katara,” he said, “you’ll be alright... daddy’s got you.” The baby cried again.
“Katara,” Zuko exclaimed, as the baby went limp, “Katara Altina—come back! Don’t leave now!”

“What is this,” I exclaimed, chuckling as I saw the baby’s head come back up again, “who’s this Katara Altina I’m hearing about?”
“That’s what I’m naming the baby,” Zuko replied, “whether you like it or not. She seems a lot like you. She gives me this vibrant feeling of you.”
I took my child in my arms and looked at her. She seemed so weak and she looked like she had a breathing problem. Oh well, it was probably just something that she would outgrow.

“That’s strange,” Zuko commented, “I feel a strange closeness to this child when I hold her.”
“And,” I added, “I feel a strange closeness to Sokka when I held him,” I commented, “you don’t think... you don’t think that she’s a firebender, do you—our little Katara—a firebender?”
“It’s possible,” Zuko replied, “but with you, Katara, anything is.”
We embraced each other again, and I asked him another question,
“So,” I said, “of all the middle names to choose, why Altina? That’s the last name of the woman who some years before was one of the most foul traitors on the face of this world,”

“Yeah,” Zuko replied, “but I think she’s changed. Seething about her name... it’s... it’s so beautiful...
I agreed with him, and the name Katara Altina stuck for our second child. She ended up growing up okay for the first year of her life, where, similar to how Sokka showed signs of being a waterbender, Katara showed signs of being a firebender. She still had a slight breathing problem, but she was just a small child, so it was nothing life-altering.

However, one day, everything changed. It was about a year after Katara Altina’s birth.
There was a knock at our door. I opened it to fine myself looking upon a familiar woman. She was dressed like an earthbender, and had huge, long, pointed ears and glowing yellow eyes. I recognized this as Tera, and for a second, I took the defensive. However, I lowered by guard when I saw her face. She looked as if she was going to cry.

“Tera,” I said, “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve reflected on how terrible a person I’ve been,” Tera replied, “and, I’ve come to say I’m sorry. I’ve changed, I promise. And I bring you a warning: Clazdian is coming for you both. Run while you still can.
“Who’s Clazdian?” I asked,

“Clazdian,” said Tera “was my master. He was the one controlling me, similar to how I controlled you two. He is my higher authority. He had been poisoning my mind for the last while. Katara, may I ask you a favor please. This is not really just a simple request, this is a beseeching from a former enemy who admits that she has done wrong and never wants to do such foul deeds again. Katara... can... can you cleanse my mind... just help me relax please? If you do then I can ensure the safety of your children, and, if you two which to follow, then you two as well. I will make sure that your children are not killed. Please... I just want to help now... being evil is really not my style...”

“You said something about Clazdian approaching,” I replied, “can you elaborate?”
“He wants to kill your family,” Tera replied, and I could tell she was serious. Here, come with me. We must take your children somewhere safer. Come, I know just the place.”
I followed, but I noticed Zuko was not coming.
“Zuko,” Tera called out, “you must come with us.
“Yeah, Zuko,” I added, “what’s going on?”
“I’m staying here,” Zuko answered, “I’m gonna try and find out more about this guy and why he wants to tear us apart...”
“You can’t do that,” said Tera, “he’ll kill you...”
“Your intentions may be good, Tera,” said Zuko, “but I must do this...”

And with that, Zuko disappeared as Tera led the children and me away through a passage that I had no knowledge of. I had just submitted myself to her hands, so if she was lying, I was doomed. However, Tera led us there without any problems. It seemed that she had changed. She took us by the hand and we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of an old friend. She was a Kyoshi warrior who had many years of experience. However, she wasn’t very intelligent, but her overly positive attitude about everything and her inclination to laugh about anything made her hard to dislike.

“Zuki,” said Tera, “can we leave these children here?”
“Of course,” Zuki replied brightly, “so, what are you up to?”
“I wish we could talk, like in old times, Zuki,” said Tera, “but Katara and I have some business to attend to. We’ll be back in a while...”
I was slightly confused, but I followed Tera. She took me back to the place we had just left. She stopped. She seemed to be detecting something.

“Katara,” she said somberly, “I... I don’t think Zuko... made it...”
“What,” I exclaimed, “What are you...”
“I’m...” Tera closed her eyes, “I’m deeply sorry...
“Tera,” I shouted, “you... I... Zuko... not...”
But I was out of words. I knew she was right, for I could feel a malicious presence directly above me. I knew also that Zuko was not the only one taken that day. I also knew why Tera had taken me to Zuki—she did not want the children knowing what happened—they’d be too young to understand.

Over the next 3 years (which would lead us to the present time) not much about me changed, except my hair. That was one thing Zuko had always admired about me—and, without him, I couldn’t bring myself to ever fixing it up again. 3 years of neglect did things to it, and by now, it was an uncontrollable mass of curly brown fluff. I however, had mad a turning point during those three years: I planned to help Tera, no matter how secretive I had to be. It was because of this that I was not part of Kai’s group at the moment. my time though, would soon come...

~Katara~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 10: SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE
We thought we were on the outside wall of the palace, but these walls were actually the outer ones. Nonetheless, we got in. in here there were a lot of slum areas surprisingly. We looked around. Everyone looked like a thief. We kept our guard up, and everything seemed okay on our trip towards the palace.
“What’s in that bag?” Ty Lee asked, pointing at my mother’s sack,
“Just various things,” my mother replied, “all of my treasured possessions for starters, and some food and other necessities. Why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering,” Ty Lee replied brightly, “and truth be told, I’d keep it closer to you if I were you—people around here do steal things.”
“Okay,” my mother replied, and I held my own bag closer. If someone stole mine, I could probably catch them. My mother, who was middle-aged by now, might not be able to.
We kept walking until a rogue looking man bumped into my mother.
“Oh,” he said, “I’m sorry... and he took off running.

“it was my fault,” Kai replied, because she was always the better person. It was me that noticed that he had taken her bag though.
“Kai,” I said in my usually ditzy tone, “he stole your bag!”
Kai looked down. “Well so he did,” she said calmly, “and I cannot allow things like that to go un-remedied...”
“Mother,” Kai II pleaded, “you’re not in that sort of condition to outrun someone in the prime of their youth...”
“Yeah,” I added, “we’ll go get it for you.” We were about to run after him, but my mother stopped us. We had since picked up our pace. We could still see him, and we were at a jogging pace after him.
“I need that bag back,” my mother replied, “and you two should not have to do my dirty work. Just follow if you want to.”

What my mother did next not only made my jaw drop, but Ty Lee’s as well. Also, the jaws of people she passed dropped too. My mother, a 55-year-old woman, had just shot off after this man. She was gaining on him. Ty Lee laughed.
“A middle-aged woman is gaining on a man in his prime...” she commented, elbowing me, “you’ve got an awesome mom.”

We both raced after my mother, and we had to go fast to keep up. The man realized we were gaining on him, so he seemed to want to find a retreat. Nonetheless, my mother kept full track of him, and we ended up cornering him in an alleyway. However, he whistled, and a large bunch of other men about his age suddenly sprung out.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, “It’s not fair to have 20 men in their prime beat up an old woman!”
They didn’t listen to me though, but I had figured they wouldn’t. Kai stopped me from doing anything. Kai II was watching, right beside me,
“Just leave this to me,” she said, and turned to the men. They were actually more like boys—probably around 18 or so, and their auras were dirty—they were obviously thieves.
“Look, grandma,” one of them said, “there’s no way you can take us. But on that note, how did she catch you, Lerej?”
The man, named Lerej, did not respond.
Kai was still calm. “I do not want to fight you. If you will give me my bag, I will leave you all alone. If not, then we might have to settle some differences.”
“fine, grandma,” said the gang, closing in on her, “we’ll settle differences. No bending from anyone. We’re using pure, raw, fists and feet.”

“if this is the way it must be,” my mother replied, “then I am sorry. Nonetheless, so be it.”
What happened next was slightly hard to recall, but was incredibly awesome. Any sense of “logic” was defied as my mother, a 55-year-old woman, used her martial arts skills on everyone around her save the leader. She stopped to face him.
“It’s just me and you.” She said, “This is your last chance.”
He paused for a second, and then aimed a right-handed punch at my mother. However, Kai surprisingly stopped it with her left arm.
“Please never take my things again,” Kai replied, slipping her bag from the thug’s right arm to her left, and then suddenly, her left fist had reeled back and had collided with his face, sending him a good 14 feet or so. Kai said nothing, but motioned for Ty Lee and me to follow her. After the fight, she looked a bit tired, but was still hale.
“Mother,” I exclaimed, “how did you do that?”
“I might be old,” she replied, “but I never forget something once I learn it. It is how I became who I am. Anyways, Ty Lee, Kai, come—we need to get to the palace.”

Kai led us right into the palace. We got past the guards without an invitation because the new Earth Queen said she could care less. I thought it’d be fun to see my good friend Toph again, even if she couldn’t see me back. However, when we got in, there was a puzzle in front of us. I didn’t quite recognize it, and neither did young Kai.
There were 9 spaces in front of us. 9 switch to be exact. If you stood on one, an elemental symbol would show up. Where the middle button should have been was a table. On it, a particular element symbol was lit up. I had no clue what you had to do. There were not 8 elements. I stood on one, and a fire symbol popped up.
“Ty Lee,” Kai exclaimed, do not move.”
“Why?” I asked, yet I didn’t move,
“It’s a puzzle,” Kai replied, “and the concept is simple. See that table; whatever element is on there is the one that must be found. There are two buttons with each element. We must find the other one. If you make a mistake, I don’t recall what happens, but it’s not pretty.”
“So,” I said, looking over at the central table where there was a fire symbol glowing, “luckily I picked the fire one. Where’s the other fire symbol?”
Luckily, Kai seemed to remember. She directed her daughter to it. Once Kai II stood on the button, the symbol on the table turned to a water one. Kai directed us where to go, and then it turned into an air symbol. After Kai showed us where those two were, we led ourselves to the last two buttons, which were earth symbols. After that, the door opened, and a symbol of the avatar was glowing on the table, meaning we had completed the puzzle.
“So,” I commented as we were let past another door by some Dai Li, “if Toph is blind, how does she get past that door?”
“Simple,” Kai replied, “she just metal-bends it.”
We ended up finding ourselves in the Earth Queen’s chamber a few minutes later. Toph was sitting sideways on her throne, lounging about, disregarding her ranks, or where she was. She appeared to be asleep. However, Kai I took a few steps toward her, and Toph’s trademark grin crept over her face.
“Kai,” she said, “it’s been forever since you came to visit. And you brought some buddies!”
Toph got up and embraced Kai, and then without even turning, checked who we were.
“Ty Lee,” she said, “it’s been a while, and Kai, you brought your daughter... last time we met she was just a little kid. She feels just like you.”

Toph had not felt me, but I knew she said “feels” instead of “looks” because she was blind.
“You three feel exhausted,” Toph continued, “here, go back there and get some rest. I was just thinking about doing that too.”
Toph got up and went to the door. She grabbed them both and slammed them shut. She then moved her hand over the seam as if she was bending some lock into place.
“Tomorrow,” she said, for night had fallen by the time we had reached the palace, “we’ll do stuff.”
Toph chuckled, and showed us our rooms. As was expected they were very luxurious, and yet Toph was still the same carefree class-indifferent girl I had met when I was a child. We thanked her and then went to sleep. Tomorrow would come the story that would help me learn earthbending from Toph—the greatest earthbender in the world.

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 11: RELEVANT MEMORIES (I)

That night, as I slept, I was revisited with a dream. I remembered it vividly, and would always remember the event which it was based off of. I dreamed I was back with my mother in the Northern Water Tribe, and she was teaching me waterbending. My mother had never told me, but her style was very unique and unusual. Incidentally, I would later learn that all of my teachers had unusually and unique styles, but for now, I was just getting the hang of waterbending. We were alone, in a somewhat secluded place out of the way—just like us. We were always out of the way, but were there to help when a tribesperson needed us. One thing we were always looked strangely on for was the way we dressed. No matter where we were, we always had on the same sleeveless shirt and baggy pants—and we were always barefoot—even on ice. My mother had said that a master waterbender was completely immune to cold. This legend had spread, and soon we were no longer questioned. Everyone knew my mother as the greatest waterbender in the world. Kai Serenes I had told me, her daughter, that I was destined to be a master waterbender too, for she dressed me the same as her since I was a child, and I never recall being cold.

Anyways, we were alone. I already knew the concept of bloodbending, but today, my mother was going to teach me her secret techniques that she had created herself. I was also going to learn about how to use bloodbending regardless of the time of month. This worried me, because I figured she would make me do it on her. I was not sure I had the heart to do that, nonetheless, I listened to my mother.

“Waterbending,” she said, “is a smooth and defensive art. A waterbender generally does not make the first move. Naturally, it is the opposite of firebending—it is slower, defensive, and cunning rather than fast, offensive and impetuous. However, being learned, I know how to operate it either way. Therefore, I am going to come at you, and I want you to defend yourself from my attacks. At your ready...”

My mother took a fighting position, and I was slightly nervous. She attacked with a swift, yet cunning move that knocked me down.
“Kai,” she said calmly; I had completely disobeyed her and yet she was still calm, “you are too tense. In order to truly waterbend, you must relax. Just close your eyes and breathe deep.”
I listened to her council, and she began massaging my shoulders. She had such a smooth touch, and her water was doing something to me that I enjoyed. I stood up, embraced my mother, and got into position.

“I’ll try not to mess up again,” I said,
“Kai Serenes II,” my mother said quietly, “the only way you can mess up is if you refuse to try, and make mistakes. Making a mistake is part of the process. Now, we must continue.”
She came at me, and I resisted her attacks, using the defensive maneuvers she had shown me. She had shown me one, called “counter”, which I used against her on her most powerful attack. I ended up launching a devastating blow upon her, and she was sent sprawling.
“Very good, Kai,” she said, and she was not getting up,
“And now our next lesson—revival. I redirected your counter attack into my vital areas, and now I am dying. I have taught you how to revive someone. I will be dying now. If you do not know what to do...”

My mother did not even finish. I stopped everything, felt for signs of life, but there were none.
I did everything in my power to keep from screaming at the top of my lungs in agony. I knew that I would not be able to live without my mother, so I did everything in my power to try and restore her. It seemed that as I was waterbending through her body, that I was almost directed to the areas I needed to repair. A few minutes later, my mother’s eyes opened. I heaved a huge sigh of relief, picked her up and embraced her.

“Please don’t ever do that again,” I begged—I was crying. “That was the scariest moment of my life. I could not live without you.”
“Congratulations,” my mother said calmly, “you have now mastered the art of revival, Kai. Oh, and I’m sorry I made you scared. It was how I learned the technique though; I knew you needed as much motivation as you could get, and I wanted you to be very careful. I want you to be that careful with anyone who you might happen to desire to revive in your life. Anyway, you made no mistakes. I’m very proud of you.” My mother got up. She told me to go back to where I was standing.
“My next lesson is bloodbending again,” she said, “when you control me, you do not have to make me do anything—making my move my arm or take a step is bloodbending. If you do it right, you’ll know. So, just concentrate. It is very simple.” She paused, and then blindfolded me.

“Feel for the presence of water,” she said, feel for it in my body and try to bend it like normal water. If you succeed, you will be able to tell.
I paused, and felt for it. My new lack of eyesight with the blindfold actually made me sense my mother better. I swung my fingers in the bloodbending manner, and I heard her do what I wanted her to. I made her cross her legs, sit down, and twirl water of her own between her hands. I lifted up my blindfold with one hand and kept her under control with my other. I noticed she seemed to be trying to get up, yet my power was over her. I released her immediately and handed her the blindfold.

“You are a swift learner,” she told me, “and you now know that eyesight is often a distraction. If you have ever seen me bloodbend, you will notice that my eyes are always closed. Remember this when you waterbend. Many people try to deceive with looks and illusions. A girl named Sanaki Li Chan taught me about that a few years ago when she was but a child. Kai, you may be young, but you are insightful as well. The way you revived me showed it. You’re a swift learner.”

I had some sort of feeling that my mother was planning something. She had slowed down and was circling me. This usually meant that she was going to try and unexpectedly attack me to see how well my reflexes were. Sure enough, she came at me. We fought back and forth, sending water and ice everywhere. We both glided along the icy ground, and my ice spikes turned into her water bullets, which turned into my tidal wave which turned into her hailstorm. My mother may have been old, but she was just as agile as a young man in his prime. She was very swift—almost as swift as the Sanaki Li Chan she had mentioned earlier. I blasted her off her feet with one of my attacks. However, as she was spiraling through the air sideways, she managed to turn it into a flip and landed swiftly on her feet, where she blasted a wave of ice at me. The move was reminiscent of an earthbender. I figured since this was ice we were standing on, a style like that would be worth a try. I stomped my foot, disrupting my mother’s wave, and I kicked a huge chunk of ice towards her. As it was flying towards her, she kicked it and it shattered. I had been expecting this, so right when it did, I made it melt and reform, and this time it hit her. She recovered almost instantly, which did not surprise me. She sent a low wave of water at my feet, which she immediately froze, pinning my feet to the ground. As she did, she aimed a swift kick of water at my face, sending my skyward. She then blasted herself upward and began smacking me with huge bolts of water time and again, as if like a sword. After a few more strikes, she knocked me back to the ground and came plunging down towards me for her finishing blow...

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 12: RELEVANT MEMORIES (II)
I knew that my mother might have wanted to kill me during our spar, but I knew it would not be permanent, even if she did. She had done it before, but she always revived me immediately. I was knocked unconscious after her final plunge, but I got hp and quickly healed myself. My process was painful for a split-second, but after that, I was as good as new.

“Good job,” my mother said, “you have mastered the Kai Serenes self-healing technique.” She stopped our little spar and began massaging my shoulders again. This made me feel even better than I did before her attack. “Of course, after I tell you a few things, we are going to continue. I need to instruct you on the four special moves that I tend to use against enemies when peaceful methods are not possible.
The first one is probably my most deadly technique that does not involve bloodbending. It involves encasing an opponent in a bubble and attacking. Brace yourself, Kai Serenes II.”

Before I could react (and I knew this was coming anyway) my mother had formed a huge bubble of water around me. I struggled to get out of it—or even to breathe, but my mother knew what she was doing. I trusted her too, so I knew I would be alright in the end. In the meantime, Kai began bending the bubble, throwing it all over the place like a ball, just by moving her hands. She finally broke it back on the ground, where I lay motionless on the ground, sopping wet.
“Are you okay, Kai?” she asked, walking calmly towards me,
“Aye,” I replied, “I’m a little beaten, but such is to be expected, right?”
“Actually,” my mother replied “unconsciousness was to be expected. You have the blood of a true Serenes—you didn’t get knocked out.”
Again, she was healing me, and I had expected that.

“Now,” Kai I, my mother, continued, “First, you must try to form the bubble as swiftly as possible from the water around us. Try it.”
I made a few small, swift movements with my hands, but Kai said I was too slow for some reason.
“Unlike most waterbenders think,” she said, “using your feet for bending is absolutely necessary. Although for some types of bending wearing shoes makes little or no difference, the best types of bending come from people who fight with bare feet. Watch my movement.”

My mother did the same type of movement I did with my hands. However, I also looked down and noticed that her feet had moved slightly. Her bubble had formed twice as fast as mine had—which said something, for mine had formed in slightly less than a second.
“Try the foot movement first,” my mother suggested, and every time I did, part of a bubble would form before disappearing. I put the two movements together and began forming bubbles in front of Kai. I decided to test my mother’s reflex and made one around her. She was fast, but I was faster. I had trapped her, but immediately released her.

“Perfect,” my mother said, “and now I can show you my 2nd move. This one was the one I showed you that will normally knock someone out. It’s very effective. Just kick your foot up as high as you possibly can with a mass of water at the end.”
I kicked my foot up, and a ball of water followed it.
“Aim it at someone like I did, and it’ll stick, like this.” She continued, and did her movement again. Her ball of water hit my in my upper chest and lower chin area, and it pulled me up with it.
“From here,” she said, you propel yourself up with your own water.”
She let me fall back down, and this time I practiced propelling myself until I reached the exact height of the ice column my mother had created to help me find my desired height.

“Now,” she said, “put those moves together.”
It did not take me many tries before my mother said I had mastered that move as well.
“And now we move onto my 3rd move.” She said, “This one’s a little tricky, but can be done with ease by a waterbending master such as you. Remember the water whip move I told you about? Well, you’re going to need it here again.”
“Okay,” I replied, and I conjured up two water whips and began spinning them rapidly at my sides like my mother had taught me to do when I was not using them.
“You’re also going to need a slick approach,” my mother continued, “So what you do is you bend some water with your feet and freeze it. It will make you slide a few feet towards your foe, which is necessary for them to be in range of this attack. Try that part first.”
I froze water onto the soles of my feet with ease. I had lurched forward when I did this, and got the slide my mother said was desired.

“Now,” she said, “when you slide, get those water whips and combine them like this. Also, taking the water from your feet if you’re fast enough will only enhance your attack.”
My mother showed me what she meant, and continued.
“After you combine them, spin them so it looks like they form a circular shield in front of you. If done with enough water, it will actually work as a shield too. Try it.”
I did as I was told, and my mother began launching volleys at it. They were unable to penetrate my shield.
“It also works as an attack,” she said, referring to the spinning whips, “so if you ever have to use it, be sure to do so.”
My mother smiled at me and then embraced me.
“I love you, Kai,” she said, “and I hope you understand why I attack you.”

“Of course I do,” I replied, “you are teaching me—and in a very effective manner I must note. I love you too, mother, and I am not going to view you any differently just because you attacked me to teach me. It is a logical approach that should be used more often.”
“Thank you, Kai,” my mother replied, “I should have asked you if you were okay with it before we started though, just to make sure.”
“Kai Serenes I,” I said, “you’re my mother. You can do whatever you want, for you are the parent and I’m the child. It is how the world works.”
“I know,” my mother replied, “but a parent should not do something to a child without the child’s approval... especially something like what I was doing. I feel guilty.”
“It’s okay, mother,” I said, “Now can you show me the 4th move... please?”

I smiled at her, and she smiled back and ran her fingers through my hair. My hair was relatively short and done up in a bun like my mothers, but I still enjoyed that feeling of her fingers in my hair.
“Now,” said my mother again, “the 4th move—this one is quite amusing. I always enjoyed this from when I was a young child. It is very simple to pull off, yet it is probably the most effective of the four moves I have shown you.”
My mother suddenly surrounded herself with ice columns. She then spun around, and swift currents of water and ice surrounded her. She spun around for a few seconds, shattering all of the ice columns she came intact with. This move was like a miniature whirlpool with much more power in proportion to its size. I smiled.
“That looks easy,” I said,
“it is,” my mother replied, “try it.”
My mother bended a few more ice columns for me to attack, and I did that move. I spun around much faster than was normal, but that was because bending was aiding me. I had succeeded in learning my mother’s four moves. I had mastered waterbending from Kai Serenes I.

“Congratulations,” my mother said, “you’re now a full-fledged waterbending master. After all, anyone who can learn these things in a few hours is obviously a master.”
I smiled. I was a waterbending master. That thought sort of made me feel... powerful. And yet serene I would remain. I woke up and remembered this dream, and how real it had been. I now looked forward to learning earthbending which was the next element on my avatar element cycle. I was expecting more unique ways...

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 13: THE EARTH KINGDOM QUEEN (I)

I was roused the next morning by my mother, who said that Toph was waiting for me and that I should hurry. I quickly got myself together and went after her. I found her in her courtyard. She was standing tall with her arms crossed. Of course, she was still 2 inches shorter than I was, but I said nothing—not that Toph would have minded. My mother had said Toph was easy-going as a child, and said she hadn’t changed.
“You’re late.” She told me bluntly,
“You never set a time,” I said, “but if I’m late I’m sorry.”
“I’m just messing’ with ya, Kai,” she said, “I was checking if you really were just like your mother—you are; serene, yet real smart.”
“So,” I said, “can we begin?”

“The sooner the better,” Toph said, punching the ground. When she did, a huge shockwave radiated from her hand and want all the way out and under everything.
“Watch this,” she said, and she suddenly earthbended us both up so I could see the walls of Ba Sing Se from where we were. Toph couldn’t, but I knew she could feel the earthen walls vibrate from here.
“In a few seconds, you’ll see those walls appear to twitch. That’s from my shockwave.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the walls twitched for a second. Toph’s shockwave had gone underneath everything, and yet nothing was out of place.
“And by order of the Queen of the Earth Kingdom,” Toph continued, bringing us back down, “you are hereby my prisoner until you can do that move as well as I can.”
“What?” I exclaimed, “But I’ll never be able to—”

“With that attitude, you’re right.” Toph replied bluntly, “Kai, if you’re ever gonna become a master avatar, you’re gonna have to buckle down and do this.”
“How did you know I was the...” I exclaimed,
“I could feel it,” Toph replied, “and you just told me.” She grinned. I turned and noticed my mother was watching us. She smiled.

“So,” Toph continued suddenly, “since I can feel that you wish to continue, continue we shall. First order of business: the technique. My style of earthbending is different from the norm, but since you chose me to teach you, and I gladly accepted, you’ll learn it my way. Are there any questions about this?”
“No,” I replied calmly, “none at all.”
“Good, good,” she said, smirking again, “you really are just like your mother. Anyways, put this on. Knowing you, you won’t try to deceive me.”

She handed me a blindfold. I knew that a lack of eyesight while bending was her intention, and I knew that it would be easy to catch on to—after all, my mother, who had perfectly able vision as well, had taught me how to waterbend while blind. She said that the eyes were a prime target to disabling most people from fighting effectively. I took her advice, and now I listened to Toph and put the blindfold on.

“Now,” said Toph, “I’m gonna throw rocks at you with earthbending. You need to dodge them, and feel them. Oh, you’ll also need these...”
Toph earthbended a set of bracelets and anklets onto my wrists and ankles; they were made of rock.
“Before I can attack you and feel good about it, you need to sit down and feel the earth on your wrists and ankles. I notice you are barefoot as well. Never wear shoes. They’re totally overrated—and, they reduce your earthbending abilities. Stay in contact with the earth and the earth will stay in contact with you. Can you feel the earth?”

Surprisingly, I could within a few minutes. I told this to Toph, and she was surprised. She said that it usually took almost half an hour for her students to learn that and I had just mastered it in 7 minutes.
“Keep those on,” she said, “it’ll help you become stronger.”
I had not learned how to bend the earth yet, so I had no choice at the moment. Toph just laughed.

“Earthbending is about feeling the earth you bend.” She said, “And, it’s about waiting and listening. If a lack of eyesight had to be given to benders of one particular element, it would be earth. The badger-moles, the original earthbenders were blind, and they were my teachers.”

“On that note,” my mother told me from behind, “the original waterbenders were my teachers. The moon’s forces taught me what I knew. Your teachers are seriously the very best, Kai. Listen to everything they say.”

I nodded. Toph grinned yet again.
“Like your mother said,” she said, “listen to me, and you’ll be fine. Now, to start out, I want you to smash my rocks. I’m going to attack you with them, and the move I use will soon be one of the moves you learn.”
“How do I smash the rocks?” I asked, and rubbed my hands. Surely my bare feet or hands were not able to shatter rocks.

“Wait and listen,” was Toph’s answer, “as it’s coming towards you, feel for the weak point and then hit it. Once you come in contact with the rock, bend it outwards. It will shatter if done correctly. You might get hurt if you don’t try hard enough, so if you do, you can’t say I didn’t warn you. Now, begin!”

Toph began throwing rocks at me. She started with huge powerful rocks instead of small, swift ones. I wondered why, but soon found out. These rocks shattered easily, and gave me ample time to stop them.
“Good, good,” she said, “keep going.”
“Her rocks got smaller and faster, until she was punching rocks out that were about the size of my foot. These ones, however, were the fast ones that I had to start dodging too. However, when I did this, Toph earthbended a slab of rock at me that nailed me in the gut and sent me sprawling on all fours;

“I’m sorry,” I said, “What did I do wrong?”
“You don’t dodge like that if you take lessons from me,” Toph said, “you either block and stand your ground, or just... slip away.”
When Toph said “slip away”, she had disappeared under the ground and reappeared behind me to help me up onto my feet.
“Try it,” she said, “it’s really easy.”

She earthbended me down so that I was underground; I earthbended myself back up, but back where I started.
“Nice job,” said Toph coolly,
“But I didn’t go anywhere,” I replied, peeking through my blindfold,
“That’s fine,” Toph shrugged, “the fact that I didn’t hear you screaming for help and having to go and get you means you are learning fast—very fast. Therefore, you will be rewarded. That move with the rock punching—I’m gonna teach it to ya. You can take off the blindfold, as you’ll need to watch my movements closely...”

I did as I was told. I watched as Toph got into her stance, stomped the ground once so it cracked, and then began jabbing the air. However, instead of jabbing air, she was throwing out rocks with her fists. They were coming from the ground and shooting out with her fists.
“If you notice,” she said, “when one of my fists is out, the other moves slightly, and the rocks will bend upward. Just focus on your targets and the rocks will come to you.”
“Sure enough, after some practice, trial, and error, they did. I was able to punch rocks by standing there.
Of course, Toph’s teaching was not over the course of a day. The total time spent was over a month. It was day 5 that I mastered the rock punching and day 9 that I mastered Toph’s “dodging”. It was after this that Toph planned to teach me a new move.

“This one may look and sound painful, but it’s really not.” Toph said, “basically, you earthbend a column like I taught you, but at such an angle that it hits you towards your opponent. If you hit yourself just right, you’ll do some sort of midair series of flips which will screw up your opponent real bad. Thus, it’s a good move. Try it.”
Our next few days were spent mastering this move and others that complemented it. Toph said that I had learned 2 out of the 4 great earthbending moves she had coined. She had also taught me how to counter with earthbending. However, my earthbending training was far from done.

~Kai~

[Teяa253]

CHAPTER 14: THE EARTH KINGDOM QUEEN (II)

My earthbending training with Toph continued. Toph had told me that with the rate I was learning it; I could be a master earthbender by the end of the 5th week. We were at the beginning of the 4th week when Toph began teaching me the 3rd of her 4 moves.
“This one may not seem to be an earthbending move,” she said, “but it is, and that’s what makes it deadly. Watch me.”
I found it somewhat ironic that Toph was telling me to see and watch things, but I dared not question her training. Her first words to me
had still not left me.

“Kai Serenes II,” she had said, “if you listen to everything I say, no matter how stupid it may seem, you’ll become an earthbender as good as I am. Just never question my logic and you’ll be alright.”
In the meantime though, Sokka had showed up. I had forgotten that he was the Earth King, since he was married to Toph, who was queen. However, it seemed that of the two, Toph was the one with the authority. Sokka however, did not seem to mind. Occasionally we’d see him walking by, but when Toph and I were training, we had the whole ground to ourselves.

“Anyways,” Toph continued, “watch me closely.” Toph stood back, bent down as if she was picking up something, and then dashed right into me, knocking me down.
“Why did you do that,” I began to ask, but then took it back. “Sorry.” I said, for I feared that I was questioning Toph’s logic.
“Gee, Kai,” she said, “I don’t get angry over every little thing you do. My logic isn’t here to be worshipped—every student of mine needs that barefoot rudeness that makes them question the truth, not worship it.”
“I’m sorry,” I said
“Ah,” she exclaimed, “you’re doing it again!” Toph got up behind me and patted me on the back.

“Look,” she said, “I’m blind, I’m crude, and I’m queen. Do what I say, and I say don’t worry about it. You’re my best student I’ve ever head, and you’re not even from the earth kingdom. Now normally I’m not one who praises people, but you’re special, kid. Remember that, for I don’t say that often. Now, as for why I did that—that is the 3rd move. However, if you quickly do this before striking, you’ll do much more damage.”
Toph bended some earth in front of her entire body and stood there in her attack stance.

“Now normally I would have already dashed forward, and you would have been down. However, I think I’ll let you refresh your healing skills.” Toph paused, and turned to my mother, motioning her to come here. She seemed to know something I did not.
“Mother,” I exclaimed, “what are you doing?”
She did not respond. I suddenly put two and two together and knew what Toph had in mind. Sure enough, to my horror, I was right. Toph had gathered herself with earth and surrounded herself with earth. In that selfsame split-second, she had linked this with the other part of the move, and shot right into my mother. Kai Serenes I was blasted off her feet and landed several feet away, unconscious.

“What did you do!?!” I exclaimed, horrified at what I had just seen,
“I demonstrated the awesome power of the move I’m about to teach you,” Toph replied, “so heal her quickly and I’ll show you.”
I looked over at Toph, calmly standing there, a grin on her face, her arms folded and her legs crossed. I quickly raced towards my mother and used my abilities to revitalize her.

“Mother,” I exclaimed, “don’t do that, please! You know how much that scares me—that’s my worst nightmare. I can’t lose you—I just can’t!”
“Kai,” she said calmly, acting as if nothing had happened—my healing had done the trick; “I was the one who suggested that to Toph. Originally she was going to do it to you, but she knew it would be more motivating if you saw it happen to me. I understand your feelings towards me Kai, and I respect them. Some lessons must be learned in difficult ways though.”

“So,” said Toph from behind us, “you ready to continue, Kai?”
A hug from my mother made me smile again, and she smiled back. I worried about her more because she was getting older.
“So to begin,” said Toph abruptly, “first concentrate on dragging earth in towards your face. This move will obscure your vision, so remember the lesson I taught you about waiting and listening. It is invaluable for this movement.

I practiced bending the earth from around me onto my face, chest, and limbs. Last week Toph has taught me how to bend earth into a rock to throw, and so this was not too much different. I then dashed forward at her. She delved underground and dodged it, and so I did the same, appearing behind her and hitting her this time with her move, sending her sprawling on all fours.
“Yeah!” she said, “now you’re busting out some real earthbending skills.”

I smiled. I had finished Toph’s 3rd move. A couple days later, she was coming to teach me the 4th and final move.
“Now,” she said, “compared to the other moves,” she said, “this one is relatively simple. All you do is crouch down and punch the ground. That earthquake move I showed you on the first day is part of that. The only difference is you hit the ground multiple times, while that one you only hit the ground once. It’s best used if you get on your knees, but if you only have time to crouch down, it’s okay.”

Toph paused, and then said one last thing;
“You have to feel the earth. If you have a strong will and firm resolve, you’ll be able to master it.”
I had this. My strong will was in the support of my mother and the love of everything good. I fell to my knees and began nailing the ground. Toph mimicked my movements, or, rather, I was mimicking her.

“Excellent,” she said after I had mastered the move a few days later. It was the end of the 4th week. My first two had been spent on the basics and the first 2 moves, and these next two had been for the other 2 moves. I now had the key to my “freedom”.
“Toph,” I said, “I’m going to accept your challenge.”
“Huh?” she asked, but then understood what I meant. “Go for it.”
I jumped up and hit the ground with sheer force. After I did that I went straight into her earthquake move and began hitting the ground.

“I’ll check for the initial shockwave,” she said, chuckling, and sure enough, a few minutes later, the walls twitched.
“Congratulations, Kai,” she said, “you have completed my training. However, if you want a bonus, you can learn one more technique form me that I teach only to those deemed worthy of facing the Earth Queen herself—that’s me by the way.” She laughed when she said this; “if you can do it by the end of today, I’ll even join your group.”
I looked at my mother, and she nodded indicating it was my choice.

“Okay,” I said gently, “I accept your challenge.”
“Thing is,” said Toph, “Just like with earthbending training, if you fail, you stay till you learn it, but get no reward.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling confident, “what is it?”
“Follow me,” she said, and took me into a chamber surrounded by two metal doors. She pushed me in and locked them.
“Your objective,” I heard her say from the other side, “is metalbending. Bend the doors open and escape—if you ever want to.”

I closed my eyes, remembering the subtle hints Toph had dropped regarding this. I felt the doors for a long time for the “impurities” in them. I could feel them after putting my hands there.
“I’m waiting,” said Toph from behind the doors. She had been standing there for several hours waiting for me to learn her trick.
I tightened my resolve, stuck my fingers in the crack in the door, and pulled them apart, bending them with my newfound earth—and metal—bending skills.

“Congratulations, Kai,” said Toph happily, “not only have you gained the Earth Queen as a member of your group, but you are also now a metalbender.” Toph then took me back outside, where I watched the sunset with my mother. Next up was firebending, and I wanted to see who the new Fire Lady was...

~Kai~