I'll Walk You Home pt 45A

Chapter 14

pt. 1A


Letters


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The young earthbender and the water tribe teen walked up the ancient winding road into the mountains. It was a fine fall morning and within a couple of hours the sun was bathing the forest in low warm syrupy amber light, which was totally lost on the young "not a couple".

The young girl, whose cramps were still bothering her, was incapable of seeing the amazing effect the sun was having as it sent shafts of light through the trees. The young man, whose blue eyes could see the effect, was not registering the beauty of it in his brain, since he thought he was going to need a shoulder-ectomy not to mention a back replacement, due to the load he was carrying.

"We were just here like an hour ago!" The blind girl accused coming to a stop on the road. "Is this stupid road going in circles, Meathead?"

Toph was not happy, and her mood was reflected in her voice. She was now carrying over twice the load she had started this trip with, having to carry half of the food they had purchased in the town as well as most of the clothing she had bought, not to mention the cramps, which weren't as bad as they had been but they were definitely still there.

Sokka stopped and walked back down to his friend. The gap between the two had been growing as they had walked along. He wiped the sweat from his face on the sleeve of his robe, being careful to avoid the throwing knife holsters on his forearm. The load on his shoulders was equal to the weight of the young bender and all she was carrying, and going uphill was making him wish for the days back home when all he had to do was drag a sled with a tiger seal carcass across a nice flat, snow covered, ice sheet.

"We're not in the same spot." He answered, looking over the downhill side of the road. He could just make out the lower section of the highway through the trees.

"We're about… oh, say thirty paces higher up the valley then we were." He explained. "And it was only about a half an hour ago, not an hour."

"So you're saying we spent half an hour just to walk thirty paces." The girl asked, exasperation at the slow progress more than evident in her voice.

"Well, yeah." The boy said defensively. "In order to keep a three percent grade the Roamers built switchbacks. The road cuts back and forth up the side of the valley. For every thousand paces we go forward, well sideways actually, we go up thirty. It's like tacking into the wind."

Toph's hands bunched into two fists as she listened to Stupid. There he goes again! She thought. Using words she didn't understand to explain things that didn't make any sense. She was going to hit him with a rock someday when he did that.

"Come over here!" She commanded standing in the middle of the ancient highway.

The young man dutifully stood next to the young girl, who grabbed him by his shirt and set him in the spot behind her.

"Grab my waist!" She ordered.

The blind bender felt the young man's large hands settle on her waist, just above her hips, and even in her current state of anger and frustration with the boy, the contact sent a warm thrill through her.

"Hang on!" She told him, as she took her horse stance.

Sokka watched as the earthbender rose up onto her toes while raising her arms over her head. His stomach felt funny, at first he thought it was just due to his close contact with the beautiful young girl, but then looking around her realized that the ground under them was sinking.

They were soon in a deep, steep sided bowl composed of the solid paving stones of the Roaming road. Then Toph dropped down onto her heels as her arms shot down to her sides, and the young man lost all contact with his stomach as the earth rebounded and the two of them where shot up the side of the valley.

The warrior looked down on the tops of the trees far below him.

Happy Place! Happy Place! Happy Place! He chanted in his mind as they flew over the forested slope.

The tribesman would have liked to have closed his eyes but then he wouldn't be ready for the landing, so he had to watch through the whole gut wrenching experience. Soon enough they were slowing in their ascent, then they were falling towards the road three switchbacks farther up the slope. Just before they touched down the road surface began to recede into the earth gently slowing their descent, as Toph repeated the form. Then her arms came down, the earth rebounded, and they were flying high over the forest again, towards the next opening over the road.

Happy Place! Happy Place! Happy Place! The young man continued to chant to himself.



XXXXX



Katara sat alone in the Gaang's house in Ba Sing Se. Sorry… The Avatar's residence, as it was starting to be called, she corrected herself with a little bitterness.

This house is too big! The Water Tribe teen told herself. That was the problem. She didn't care what Toph, or Zuko, or Mai, or Ty Lee, or Iroh, or anyone else said about what a small comfortable little house it was. They had all grown up on estates, or in palaces. The young water bender had spent her life sharing a small one room snow hut with her entire family, except for the times she had shared an even smaller tent with that same family. So to her this two bedroom, one bath house was huge, her village could live in it comfortably.

The late mornings and early afternoons were the worst. In the early mornings Aang would fly the young water bender to their training ground outside of the city. There were plenty of training areas for earthbenders in the city but none that really were any good for waterbending, so the two of them had, early in their stay in Ba Sing Se, flown on Appa scouting for a place that was unoccupied and had a good source of water. They had found a good spot near the river and Appa flew them there every morning.

Iroh joined them on some mornings. Fire bending was not very popular in a city that had been occupied by the fire army. Few people recognized the Dragon of the West who had liberated Ba Sing Se. The only time the old master was recognized it was as the kind old man who owned the Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop.

But after training, Aang was off to meetings, and Iroh was off to the tea shop and most days Katara spent all alone in the big house. Back home at the South Pole the young woman's day was filled with activity. Cleaning the igloo and the clothes, scraping and tanning skins, making clothes from those skins, preparing meals, and any free time was spent fishing to supplement her brother's hunting. It required two people to survive in the harsh environment of the Southern Water Tribe, one to hunt and one to do everything else.

That wasn't quite fair and Katara knew it. Her brother had a tremendous work load having to supply the entire village with food. When he could he would help with chores at home, but he spent most of his time roaming the ice on foot, or paddling his kayak searching for game.

And that was the problem. The young woman had nothing to do, and no one to do it with. Oh yes, she was a member of the International Council but it only met once a month. Aang as the Avatar was on many more councils and committees and was busy almost every day. Iroh was at his tea shop most of the day and evening. She missed her friends.

The dark skinned girl even missed Toph. She didn't like to admit it but she had grown to love the sarcastic, spoiled, willful little earthbender as she would a sister. And although the blind girl could drive the water bender insane she was family, and a lot of fun.

Most of all Katara missed her brother. It had been two weeks since he had left and this was the longest time he had ever left her on her own. Even when he was out hunting he would usually be back before the week was out. Sokka was not just family, but he was her friend and companion as well. He was the one who could always be counted on to be there for her no matter what. Now he was gone for Tui knew how long, and she was all alone.

The young bender whipped the tears from her eyes. Her morning visitors would be here soon and she should have tea ready for them.

First there would be Chung Yee from the World Council secretariat. Her brother had arranged that any mail sent to the Avatar would be delivered to the Council. There was too much for one person to handle. The Secretariat had a group of scribes that read the letters (over a hundred pieces of mail a week at this point). Answered all they could and forwarded them on to the proper authorities for action. Most of the time, the response was that the Avatar could not attend the opening of the restaurant, shop, street, etc… due to prior commitments. Anything that actually concerned Aang was forwarded to the house and delivered the next day by Chung Yee. Who would stay for an hour or so discussing current events, Council business (she was a member after all, even if the Council only met once a month) and trends in the correspondence with Katara.

The next would be Miu who was a young woman, fresh out of the University, that Sokka had hired to take care of his different business interest in the city. Apparently her brother's charcoal pen and note book were big sellers at the University book store, and there was even a team of craftsmen and earthbenders installing rain baths in the city, all being run by Miu and financed by Sokka's ill gotten gains.

The young water bender loved Toph as a sister but she thought the young earthbender was a very bad influence on her brother sometimes. The two were constantly pulling scams, mostly against the gamblers in the Lower Ring. Sokka used the money to pay for his other interests, which at least was a constructive use of it.



XXXXX



Iroh opened the door to the tea cupboard of the Jasmine Dragon and inhaled deeply. The cupboard was actually a small room, the walls lined with chests of drawers, twenty small drawers on top and two larger tilt bins in the bottom of each chest. Ten chests for two hundred drawers, two hundred teas or blends from all over the world. From the most exotic one of a kind, to the most common place everyday blends in the larger bins. The aroma made the old man's heart sing in his chest. Anyone standing in the room would have seen the glint of the dragon in the firebender's golden eyes as he looked upon his treasure.

The gray bearded man smiled as he walked into the room, a teapot held in the crook of his left arm as his right hand traveled along the rows of drawers. There were perquisites that came with being the Grand Master of the Order of the White Lotus. The Jasmine Dragon was an excellent cover for the society. No one remembered the old firebender who liberated Ba Sing Se, few had actually seen him on the day of Sozin's Comet, and those who had did not associate the old tea shop owner with the Dragon of the West. Some of his old customers still called him Mushi.

No one questioned all the letters and small packages that arrived at the shop from the old man's "freelance tea buyers" throughout the world. Thus information flowed in and orders flowed out with not one eyebrow raised, or one question being asked.

Iroh stopped at one of the bins of black tea. Not his favorite but he had a lot of work to do today and he could use the energy the tea would give him. After all, this was his first pot of the day (which wasn't actually true. He had had a pot when he had gotten up this morning, but it was a small two cup pot so he really didn't count that. Then he had a pot when he had returned from his training session with the Avatar and the waterbender, but it was actually the same two cup pot with new tea in it so it still didn't count as a real first pot of the day.).

The old man ladled the tea into the pot. One for the pot, once for each cup the pot would hold (four), and a last one for himself.

The firebender warmed the pot in his hands as he walked to his office in the back of the shop.

After pouring in the hot water and gently swirling the tea the Grand Master of the Order set it on his desk to steep, and took up the first letter of the morning mail. It would be the first of many. There were always more reports after a weekend.

The old man scanned through the reports from all over the world. Disturbing reports of opposition to peace and the new Fire Lord from inside the Fire Nation court, and the Fire Army, Navy, and Air Forces, which would have to be looked into and action of some sort taken to prevent a possible coupe, or worse an all out civil war.

Then there were the reports of unusual meetings and intrigue within the Northern Water Tribe court. Chief Arnook was up to something but Pakku had been unable to find out just what was being planned. Even Pakku had been kept out of the loop on what was going on.

Then there were the reports from all over the Earth Kingdom. The absent king was still missing and no news of his whereabouts had come to any members of the order, let alone any sightings of the monarch, not even in rumor. This could lead to very serious consequences for not just the kingdom but for the world as well. Without even a figure head the country could devolve into anarchy and civil war.

Although there were not even any rumors of Kuei's location there were plenty of rumors running through the kingdom. Mostly about the 'Dark Ones', or at least the 'Dark One', rumors that the male twin had been seen deep in the Si Wong conducting strange and arcane rituals.

Iroh grunted in frustration. These reports of the Dark Ones always came from subjects of the earth kingdom and assumed that the reader knew more than the old general did. He had once asked Bumi about these legends of the Dark Ones but the mad king's reply was, well, crazy and disjointed to say the least, and made no sense to the old firebender. The Grand Master would have to find someone familiar with Earth Kingdom legends that would be able to explain the Dark Ones to him in an intelligible manner.

Then there were the rumors of innocent young people that had been turned into secret assassination squads by the Dai Li during the war. The old general was familiar with these rumors. They had started in Ba Sing Se a month or two ago, usually after some trouble with gamblers, and a lot of destruction of gambling houses. But now they had moved out into the country side to the far south of the city, with the destruction of a restaurant and a town square. Chaos seemed to be reigning over the Earth Kingdom.

There was one glimmer of hope in all the reports, the rumors of this Black Lotus. The Black Lotus who had single-handedly nearly ended the slave trade in the Si Wong. Who was now said to roam the land defending the helpless and restoring hope to a war ravaged world.

This brought the old firebender to a report he had dreaded reading. It was from Piandao's acolyte, the young water tribe warrior.

Iroh remembered the first report from the young swordsman. The beginning had been full of his terrible calligraphy and illustrated with his ridiculously bad drawings, but it was a joy to read with all its terrible puns and jokes and pictures of battles with sea serpents. But then there had been the hurried scrawl of kidnapping and pursuit and battle and death. There were no more illustrations after that, just terse notes and sad reflections. It had saddened the old general to see the bright young man's spirit so broken.

The old firebender picked up this latest report and was happy to see that the illustrations, no matter how badly drawn, were back, as was the hope. With descriptions of the ancient road and the villages that the young swordsman and the small earthbender had traveled through.

Piandao had made a good choice there. Iroh thought to himself as he read the letter. The blue eyed teen was smart and had a good mind, and the old general enjoyed reading this new report from the young man's travels, even if the calligraphy left a lot to be desired. The young man was very clever. The old man thought but then an unbidden memory came back to him of his first night in the house he was currently sharing with the Avatar and the water bender.


XXXXX



It had been after the musical performances and the old man was just leaving his shared bedroom to make a pot of tea to sip as he settled into bed for the night. The door to the girls' bedroom was just across the hall and he could not help but hear the raised angry voice of the commander of the Kyoshi warriors.

"If you're going to miss him so much why don't you just go with 'Dreamy' and you can share him with his little Cave Troll!"

The door then flew open and the general was presented with the tear streaked face of the young acrobat. As the pretty young girl's eyes blinked through her tears the old man saw the recognition in them as Ty Lee saw Zuko's uncle in the hallway before her. The young girl ducked her head and issuing a quiet wail of hurt and embarrassment she ran down the hall disappearing into the bathroom at the end of the hall. The firebender looked back at the still open door to the girls' room and saw the face of the Kyoshi leader, tears running down her hurt angry face as she slammed the door shut.

Never having been comfortable with women's tears, The Dragon of the West retreated quickly to the common room of the house only to be confronted with the young waterbender, sitting on the couch being consoled by the Avatar as she wept tears of loss.

"It's just we've never been apart before." The teen girl gulped out between sobs. "I just feel I'll never see my brother again."

This last ended in a storm of tears that drove the old general out of the room into the garden for some tranquility. Tranquility was not in the garden at the moment, but the small earthbender was. She was sitting on a stone bench, her face in her hands as she wept bitter tears.

"Oh… Meathead!" She cried. "Why do you have to ruin everything?"

The gray bearded firebender ducked quietly back into the house, finally arriving in the kitchen, where the cause of all the weeping and wailing was sitting on a stool eating leftovers.

"Quiet night." The boy observed, completely oblivious to the havoc he had created around him.


XXXXX


Iroh picked up the letter and looked at it again. Yes Piandao's student was smart, well smart in some departments… The old man thought shaking his head. …but completely lacking in others.

The old man read through the letter. The beginning was about an incident in a town called My Lot. The young man extolled the professionalism and skill of the first sergeant and the executive officer of an Earth Kingdom cavalry company controlling the town. There was also a paragraph explaining that the death toll in the Si Wong incident was now up to five, all earthbenders. This struck a familiar note in Iroh's mind, reminding him of an earlier report from a member of the order, concerning the activities of the Black Lotus. He made a quick note to himself using his new Charcoal Pen in the blank book he had recently purchased for this purpose.

The old firebender did not like these new things, he found them esthetically lacking but in the short time he had them they were just so convenient that he now found he could not live and work without them. Even his staff was using them to take orders in the shop.

The old general was glad to see that the style and writing was much more flowing now then it had been at the end of the last report, though much less legible. The report told of conditions on the road and even had a sketch or two to illustrate different points of interest. The young swordsman had even asked for any information the order might have on two young people. A young swordswoman named Smellerbee and an archer named Longshot. The request had a bad sketch of the two along with a written description, and that they were last seen in the tunnels of the Dai Li under Lake Laogai.

The old man thought back, there was something familiar about the pair. Then he remembered, it was aboard the ferry to Ba Sing Se. He had met the couple and had mistaken the young girl for a boy, much to his embarrassment. He made another note to himself to send out inquiries to the members of the order, especially those working on the records of the Dai Li.

The letter ended with a sketch of the young earthbender sleeping quietly by the ancient roadway. The old man smiled. It was good to see that the young warrior had recovered and apparently the young girl as well.

The next report was from the member of the order who called himself "the RealLee", which brought a smile to the old firebenders lips. He would like to meet this other old man who had a dry sense of humor and a quick mind.

Iroh was on his third cup when he finished reading the last of his correspondence. He picked up the letter from Piandao's acolyte again.
"Interesting." The old man said as he looked at a large map of the world attached to his office wall.

The map was covered with pins. Each pin had a small colored flag attached to it, and a small note written on the flag. These were ostensibly locations of tea farms and trading centers all over the world but some were of more interest to the Grand Lotus then they were to Mushi the tea shop owner.

Iroh put down the cup and searched for the first report he had received from the water tribesman that had come in the week before. This one had the full report of the incident in the Si Wong.

"Five dead." The gray bearded man said looking at the report. "All benders."

The son of Azulon put the first report on top of the one he had just received. There was no mention of this Black Lotus in either report. He took another sip of his tea as he thought.

The firebender put down his cup and picked up the report from The RealLee. He held the three letters in front of him comparing what was said in each, and looking at the map for confirmation of his theory.

The old man put down the reports and poured himself the last cup of tea from the pot, held it to his nose to savor the aroma and mulled over what had been in the reports he had been receiving.

There had always been two groups within the Order of the White Lotus. One part, usually the majority, had always seen the society as an organization strictly for the gathering of information. But as the war had dragged on, a second group had risen. This smaller group made up of the more active members of the order, had seen a need for the society to take action, to choose sides and make a difference in the world. The ultimate triumph of this second faction had been the liberation of Ba Sing Se.

But now that the war was over the first group was reasserting it's self. They wanted the order to retreat back into the safety and anonymity of a strictly information gathering society.

Iroh sipped his tea and looked down at the report from The RealLee. It was full of rumors and reports of the Black Lotus. Lee was convinced that the water tribe teen was this secret warrior for good. Lee even asked if this was a new group within the order that had been sent out to protect the weak from the strong, a group to act where all others had failed.

"A group to act where all others failed?" The firebender asked his cup of tea.

The Dragon of the West smiled and the glint returned to his golden eyes.

"Not a group, but one man." The firebender said. "A sword to act where none would."

In the Fire Nation there were old, old legends and prophecies of a great hero know as the "Sword of Agni", who would return one day to save the world from evil. Perhaps it was time for the Order of the White Lotus to have a sword, too, if not to save the world, at least give it a nudge in the right direction.

It was an excellent compromise. One man acting in the interest of the society, but without any overt ties to the Order. The conservatives would still object but they would not be involved and it was far more discreet than a group of master benders flying the flag of the White Lotus going into battle.

Piandao's acolyte was the perfect choice. He had already started his own legend in the Si Wong, and from what Lee had reported the water tribesman was very good at covering his tracks. Lee was almost convinced that the blue eyed teen knew nothing about the Black Lotus.

The teen's own reports only told of the stories but made no claims for credit or glory. Yet this one action had nearly ended the slave trade in the desert. That was true discretion.

"The Sword of the White Lotus." The Grand Master said with a smile.

The old man liked the sound of that. It would be up to the Order to feed the young man the information he would need to take action, and to support him on his missions. Yes Piandao had chosen well. This young man was not a bender but he was smart, decisive, courageous, and from his own modest account an accomplished warrior.

The old sword master had been correct, it was time for new, younger men to be brought into the Order. Dedicated young men, who would, on their own responsibility, take action for the good of all. Who would lead the White Lotus into this new world that had been created by the end of Sozin's War.

The Grand Lotus sipped his tea and thought. It would not be too early to look for a replacement for himself. This young warrior had much potential and with the right guidance and training could become the man that the Order needed, that the world needed.

The Dragon of the West smiled as he finished his cup of tea. He then pulled a blank sheet of paper from the stack and began to write new orders to the members of the society.


XXXX




Katara was just heating the water for the tea when she heard the knock on the front door. Chung Yee is early. The water bender told herself as she hurried to answer the knock.

"I wasn't expecting you..." The fourteen year old started to say as she opened the door, but the words died in her mouth by the sight before her.

There were four people standing on the patio, three men and a woman. All had dark skin and blue eyes. All four were dressed in blue robes with white fur trim. And all four looked uncomfortably warm in their heavy clothes.

Katara almost wanted to cry. Her heart leaped in her chest to see four people of her own tribe standing there. She had been homesick before, but now, seeing people that looked like her and her brother, standing at her door made her loneliness even more intense. She just wanted to hug these strangers.

"Good morning." The youngest of the group, a handsome man in his twenties said. "I am Dai herald to the court of Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe. This is the Elder Hahn..." the young man indicated and older man, who seemed to be staring at Katara's chest. "The Advisor to the Chief for Internal Affairs. And this is Woo Shi..." The herald's hand indicated the oldest of the four, an old man who was at least looking at the water bender's face, or was it her neck that he was examining? "... Advisor to the Chief for Protocol and legal affairs. We are looking for Sohkka, son of Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe."

The young man having finished his introductions looked expectantly at the young water bender, his eyes only occasionally flicking down to her chest. Katara's eyes were staring at the fourth member of the group. The thick set woman in her late twenties, to early thirties, was standing a pace or two away from the men. Her eyes were downcast as she waited patiently at the rear. To the fourteen year old it looked as though this woman was used to waiting patiently.

There was something about the woman that struck a familiar chord in the Southern girl's mind. All four looked familiar in some way. The waterbender had probably seen them at the court of Chief Arnook during her stay in the Northern Water Tribe city all those months ago, but the woman looked especially familiar. And it wasn't just her skin and clothing, or that the woman wore her dark brown hair in the falling style traditional to the Northern tribe. Katara had her own hair up in the traditional Southern style with the small bun, long braid and hair loops of her people. It was the woman's face and manner that was familiar to the young bender.

The herald, looking up from his study of female water bender anatomy, noticed the teen was looking to the back of his group. Following her eyes he saw the fourth member of his party standing there.

The chief herald had warned him that the Southerners were strange and did not follow normal protocol so he should be open and aware. Dai prided himself on his quick thinking and adaptability, he believed, and rightly too, that this was the reason he was given this important and delicate mission.

"This is Ah Too Aat." The young man said indicating the woman at the rear. "A healer to the Royal Family."

Katara looked down to the herald and back to the woman. She noted the unhappy "Harrumph" from the Advisor on Protocol. Typical of a Northerner! She told herself with an internal sneer. The name the young man had pronounced sounded strange yet familiar much like the woman herself.

"Atuat?" Katara asked using a name from the old language that was used for naming in the Southern Tribe.

The older woman looked up and smiled at the younger.

"That's how my grandmother used to say my name. I was named after my great, great grandmother." The woman said. "Yes, I am Atuat. You're Katara aren't you?"

"Yes, I am Katara, child of Kya, of the Wolf Clan of the Southern Tribe." The teen said, using the correct formula for giving one's name.

The Southern Tribe traced their line through their mothers. After all, as the old women used to laugh, you can never be sure of who the father is, but there can be no doubt as to who the mother was.

All four looked at her expectantly, waiting for something more. The fourteen year old stared back not understanding what they thought was missing.

"Betrothed of…?" The eldest finally asked.

"What?" The teen responded confused.

"Katara, betrothed of…? The son of…?" The herald prompted.

"I am not engaged to anyone." The fourteen year old told them, folding her arms across her chest in irritation.

This at least got the Elder Hahn's eyes to move up to her face.

"But the necklace you wear?" The herald asked.

"Was my grandmother's, who gave it to my mother, who then gave it to me." The young woman explained.

"Remember my lords." The woman at the back admonished the three men with a bow. "She is the granddaughter of Kanna betrothed of Pakku."

This information elicited a round of "Ahhhhs" and head nods of understanding from the three men.

"Anyway," The teen told them. "My brother is not here. He is escorting a friend home."

"Would it be possible for us to wait for him to return?" Dai asked.

"Sorry." The young bender replied. "I wasn't clear. Our friend lives in Gaoling. Sokka…" (She made a point of pronouncing her brother's name correctly) "won't be back for six months or more."

"Six months?" The herald asked in shock. "That's much too long. We need to speak to him in the next few weeks at the latest."

"Well, if he sticks to his schedule he should arrive at the Bei Fong estate in two weeks." Katara told the Northerners. "If you went by sea you should be able to get there before he arrives."

"At the Bei Fong estate?" The young man asked.

"In the city of Gaoling." The fourteen year old affirmed.

Katara stood in the doorway for a moment then let her homesickness get the better of her.

"Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?" The young girl asked the Northerners.

There were looks and nods among the three men, who ignored the woman standing in the background, then the youngest of the group turned to her and said,

"Yes, thank you. That would be very nice."



XXXX



Sokka stood leaning on the railing of the ancient bridge and watched the river roar through the valley. Toph had used her bending to shoot the two of them up over the mountain and down this side into the gorge and the water tribesman had asked for a short break to walk across the Roaming bridge that spanned the river. The earthbender stood beside him impatiently waiting to be on their way.

The young man watched as the river tore down the valley, crashing over giant boulders and stones, the white spray sprinkling his face as he leaned over the railing. Must have rained recently up in the mountains, he thought judging by the amount of water in the river. The sound of the rushing water throwing itself over the rapids and the sight of it was fascinating to the tribesman.

"Oh Toph…" The boy almost sighed. "I don't know…, can you feel the river?"

The small earthbender turned and leaned on the stone railing, her face turned towards the rapids.

"I can feel it pushing on the stones." She explained, after a time.

"I wish you could see it." The boy told her, his voice revealing his excitement at the sight before him. "I know you don't need to see, but it's just so amazing. All the power and beauty of it, the way the water roars and sings over the stones. Then there are places where it is so still you can't even see the water, just the green moss lining the pool, and the places where it is churning and swirling, and the wave of foam as it crashes over the great boulders, flying up into the air. It's just so amazing, and powerful, and magnificent. It's like you that way, so beautiful and magnificent. I wish I could give you one of my eyes just so you could see the world the way I do. I just don't have the words or the skill to tell you how wonderful you are."

The young girl had been leaning on the rail, using her bending to feel the young man's strong heart as it pounded against his ribs, the excitement in his voice echoed by the beating in his chest. She knew he spoke the truth. She knew that her friend meant every word he had just said to her. She turned her face to him, and thought of the only thing she really ever wanted to actually see in this world.

Sokka turned at the movement and looked into Toph's pale green eyes as they looked through him. He knew he would never be able to see what she saw. No matter how quickly, or how many times he turned his head to try and catch whatever was behind him that she always seemed to be looking at.

The blind girl reached out towards the young man beside her. He slid his hand to hers and the two clasped hands, their fingers intertwining. The two stood for a moment feeling the spray from the river fall on them.

"We should be going." The tribesman finally said.

"Yeah." The young girl said turning towards the far end of the bridge.

The young man walked beside the blind girl, his heart light and happy in his chest, but his mind sad and wistful. The small earthbender turned her face down stream for a time so her friend would not see the tears threatening to roll from her eyes down onto her cheeks.


XXX


Katara dug out the large tea kettle from the cupboard. They had not used it since her brother had left two weeks before. She easily filled it using her bending and set it on the stove to heat. It would take a long time. She had made only a small fire in the stove and by the time she added more charcoal and it started to burn, it would be at least a half an hour before the water was ready for tea. Then she remembered something her brother had suggested to her.

"If you can freeze water, you should be able to heat it as well." Sokka had told her once after they had been practicing. "Use the same form, just think hot instead of cold."

Well it's worth a try. The waterbender told herself. She took her back stance then shifting her weight onto her front foot while pushing her hands forward and blowing through her mouth she thought Hot!.

By the third pass she was rewarded with a small trickle of steam from the spout of the kettle. After the fourth pass the trickle was a stream and the kettle was giving off a quiet hiss.

The fourteen year old broke her stance with a smile on her lips as she shook out the tension in her hands.

"Did you just use water bending to heat that water?" A woman's voice asked.

Katara turned and saw the northern healer standing in the doorway to the kitchen, with an amazed expression on her face.

"Well… Yes." The young woman told the older one. "If you can freeze water you should be able to heat it."

The teen then turned and pulled a tray down from the cupboard and set it on the counter, but her guilt finally got the better of her and she explained,

"My brother figured it out and told me how I might be able to do it."

"Kanna's child." The healer said shaking her head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katara asked her hands on her hips.

"Forgive me." The older woman asked bowing to the younger one. "I forget that you and your brother really are Kanna's children, or grandchildren actually. In the north your grandmother is rather infamous. She was of a noble family, a high noble family, and was betrothed to the man who obviously would become the greatest bender of his generation, perhaps the greatest bender of this age. Yet she left the tribe, even though he truly loved her, she ran away from all she had. So now whenever there is someone who does not obey the rules, or who thinks differently, we call them one of Kanna's children."

"Oh…" Katara said thoughtfully.

"You have to admit that you and your brother have done nothing to dispel the legend." Atuat told the teenager.

"I don't understand." The younger bender replied.

"Well I mean the two of you show up with the Avatar. You behave like the typical Southerners. You're the willful, sensual woman, you have the Avatar falling all over himself to please you, who challenges Pakku to a duel, and forced him, against all custom, to teach you waterbending."

Katara raised an irate eyebrow, while crossing her arms across her chest, at the description the healer gave.

"And your brother…." The older woman went on, oblivious to the younger ones anger. "The typical virile Southern warrior, who won't let anything stand between him and the woman he loves, not custom, or rank, or law. Who makes the princess, the most beloved of any royal in my life time, fall in love with him, even though they are doomed to always be denied to each other. And Yue, so in love with him and knowing they will never be together, willingly sacrifices herself for the tribe, instead of living a life without her one true love. And he, holding her in his arms, sharing one last kiss, as she passes over into the spirit world. Young girls in the tribe still swoon when they hear the story"

The fourteen year old was about to say something but was stopped by the sight of tears glistening in the healer's eyes. The story of her brother and Yue affected not just the young girls of the tribe it would seem.

"I tell you…" The older woman went on. "…Young Lihua will be the envy of all the girls in the tribe."

"Who?" The southerner asked.

"What?" The healer asked pulled from her thoughts.

"Leewaa?" The young bender asked, trying to remember the name.

"Leewaa?" The older woman said, consternation evident on her face, followed by recognition, then perhaps embarrassment or was it fear, the teenager was not sure.

"Lihua." Atuat said after a second. "Oh... that's only an expression we use. Anyway I came in to help with the tea, so what can I do?"
Katara thought for a moment not sure if she wanted to accept the explanation, but finally relented.

"Well, since Iroh isn't here..." The young bender told the older woman.
"You can get the milk out of the cool cabinet over there."

The teenager pointed to a wooden cabinet against the wall. It was oddly set up with two heavy doors in the center with a lot of blank space above and below the doors.

"Iroh?" The healer asked walking to the odd cabinet.

"Our house mate." The young woman explained, while pulling out a large porcelain tea pot from a cupboard. "He has a fit anytime I put milk in my tea, but since he's not here..."

"Kanna's child." Atuat said smiling.

The woman stared at the cabinet for a time, trying to figure out how the heave latches on the doors worked. She finally got the top door open and seeing a small pitcher of milk reached in to get it out.

"Cold!" The healer said in surprise and delight.

Katara looked up from where she had been adding loose tea to the tea pot.

"There is a block of ice in the top." The young water bender explained.  "And the cold air and melt water run down inside the walls keeping the cabinet cold. Every few days I move the water from a pan in the bottom where it drains, up to the top and refreeze it. It keeps things fresh much longer."

"I wish it was big enough to crawl into." The older woman said with a smile. "Is this another of your brother's ideas."

"Sokka is not the only smart one in our family." Katara told the woman, going back to loading the pot with tea.

"Sorry." The healer said, closing the door and placing the milk on the tray.
The teen gave up on scooping tea into the pot. She had lost count at some point and now had to dump it all back into the box and start all over.

"No… I'm sorry" The fourteen year old told her guest. "It was my brother's idea, he designed it and had it made."

"Having a brother like that must be very…" The Northerner began but was cut off by the Southerner.

"Irritating!" Katara said, dumping out the pot.

"I was going to say intimidating." Atuat finished.

"Yes that too." The young water bender agreed. "You don't know what it was like. I was the reason the war had come to the village. I was the reason the war party had left, probably never to return. He was the reason we were still alive. He was feeding all of us. His ideas kept us alive and warm."

"It must have been very hard on both of you." The healer told the teen. "The only one close to your own ages were each other. Your only playmate, your only friend, was your brother. And it must have only been getting worse as the years went by. Soon your brother would be sixteen and would need a wife and from the stories you were the only girl even close to his age. You must have felt so alone."

The young water bender set the tea pot down on the counter. The healer's words brought back a time during the first winter after the war party had left.

XXXX


To Be Continued


XXXXX


Disclaimer: "Avatar the Last Airbender" the characters and the world were created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko and owned by Nickelodeon and Viacom or Paramount or some huge corporation. This is purely a work of fan fiction because I wanted to play in their world and I love the characters that they created.