𝑨𝑪𝑻 𝑶𝑵𝑬 ━ 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑬𝑬

𝐊𝐘𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐍𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐆𝐄, again, she was sure no one saw her well at least she thought so. Either way she needed to get out of there, everything was getting out of hands in the tribe. People kept talking about Aang, asking questions and honestly, she didn't blame them but them crowding her was too much.  

The chatter of the village had become overwhelming, everyone buzzing with excitement and curiosity about Aang's sudden appearance. 

It had been a hundred years since the world had seen an airbender, let alone one emerging from an iceberg. She understood their excitement.

Kya was now walking towards the abandoned fire nation ship that lay on the icy slope. She knew this might be a bad idea, but it had been a while since she last waterbended and she just wanted to see if she was still decent. 

Kya walked into the shipwreck, the icy wind stopped ruffling her hair as soon as she walked in, the metal walls caging her in. She felt at peace, but it felt weird to think so, this was the enemy's ship, but she felt calm here. 

No one could see her or disturb her. She knew why Katara liked to come here. It just felt calmer.

Kya walked up to the ice hole that stood right in the middle of the snowy ground. The water was clear and as blue as it could have gotten, she bent down and leaned forwards, touching the ice-cold water with the tips of her fingers. 

The chill of the water sent a shiver down her spine, but she welcomed the sensation, feeling more alive than she had in days, it had been too long since she had done this. With a sigh, Kya withdrew her hand from the water.

Kya took in a breath and slowly formed her hands into the proper position, one after the other, she then slowly directed her hands towards the water and made a pull motion upwards. The water slowly but surely was drawn upwards into a sort of stream.

Kya smiled. She was still as good as last time. She slowly moved her arms from left to right and watched as the water moved easily, following her every movement like an extension of her arms. She slowly raised her right arm upwards and made a whipping motion, the water followed with viciousness. 

It was relieving, knowing she could still bend as well as she did back in the Northern Water Tribe, although she wasn't even supposed to know the fighting stances, she had found her way. As she moved her arms from left to right again, the water responded.

With a flick of her wrist, Kya sent a stream of water swirling through the air, its movement guided by her command, it hit the metal wall of the ship, a dent now evident on it. It was powerful. With each practice session, she grew stronger, more confident in her abilities, although she wished she could teach Katara, she knew she couldn't.

Deciding it was enough for the day, she sighed happily and walked back towards the village.  The sound of her footsteps crunching in the snow was the only thing she could hear. As the village came into view, Kya quickened her pace eager to see the siblings and Aang again. 

As she rounded the corner to one of the huts, Kya saw Katara and Aang speaking. Curious, she walked closer deciding to eavesdrop on the pair. 

    "We all did. We're never really ready until we have to be." said Katara as the two had stopped in front of the opening, that had been where Kya was a few minutes ago, though she took another route. 

   "They were part of the Fire Nation's first attacks on the Water Tribe. The Firebenders were ruthless. Since then, the Fire Nation has conquered most of the world. But the Waterbenders are still fighting back, especially in the North." said Katara.

The North. It had been so long since she'd seen them, eight years was a lot and Kya was tired. It was wrong of her to not be there, to help her kingdom, to be at her father's side to lead the soldiers, or even just to be there as their princess. It was wrong of her to have stayed away for so long, to have abandoned her responsibilities as princess of the Northern Water Tribe

She had left those responsibilities to Yue unknowingly. As the next in line to the throne, Yue had been forced to step into Kya's shoes, to shoulder the duties that rightfully belonged to her elder sister. And Kya couldn't forgive herself. 

Kya sighed. She looked back up at Katara and Aang.

   "And the Earth Kingdom is still holding strong. We hope." finished Katara, gulping at the thoughts. 

   "I had friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation. I used to visit them." said Aang sadly. Kya felt bad for him, she truly did. 

   "No one visits other nations now. We're only friends with our own kind." said Katara, Kya knew it, it was all true. 

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏, 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 Kya would have tried to stop them, but since she was there just now before them, it felt wrong. And maybe a little bit unfair. But with that, she went out to find Sokka who by now was probably running after some of the soldiers, the kids.   

But just as she had gotten to him, she felt something on her hand, it felt warm, warmer than usual. It felt like soot, black smoke, oh no, this was not good. She was dreading the conformation; she ran closer to where Sokka was through the crowds of people rushing everywhere. 

   "Sokka!" yelled out Kya. 

   "Kya! Thank the spirits, you're here." said Sokka, putting his hand on the girl's shoulders and sighed, he had spears in his other hand, "I think I spotted a―."

That was when Katara and Aang came running towards the duo, Sokka looked at the two and dropped some of the spears on the ground for others to take. "Sokka! Sokka, the Fire Nation. They're. . ."

   "I know. We spotted them." replied Sokka. Kya was right, what she had been dreading was happening right now. "Get to your posts now!" he yelled at the others. Kya watched as the people scattered to get their weapons to defend themselves.

   "Sokka, the racks..." one of the younger boys came up to him. 

   "Get them loaded." said Sokka without letting him finish. He went up to the racks and helped with the loading while Katara and Kya helped everyone put on their protective gears and help put the kids in safety. 

Sokka kept yelling at everyone, "All right, ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!"

   "I don't understand. Why are they here?" said Katara as she helped Sokka put on his protective gear. "After all this time, what could they possibly want?"

   "Him." said Gran Gran as she walked closer to the four. "He's more than the last Airbender. Aren't you?"

   "You are the Avatar."

Kya could faint right now, she could not believe her eyes, maybe Gran Gran was wrong, there was no way he was the Avatar. Aang, the Avatar? Kya took in a breath; she looked back at Sokka who looked ready to punch. This was surreal, the Avatar was here, after 100 years. 

But despite the incredulity of the moment, Kya couldn't ignore the hope she felt. If Aang truly was the Avatar, then perhaps there was hope for their world yet, maybe he held the key to restoring balance and harmony to the four nations.

   "Aang?" asked Katara.

   "I knew he was hiding something." said Sokka, pointing at him. "When the world needed the Avatar the most, he vanished because he's a coward."

   "Sokka!" whispered yelled Kya. "Stop it. He must have had his reasons, right Aang?"

   "He ran, and people died." argued Sokka, he was now fully glaring at the airbender.

But before anyone could say anything else about the revelation, one of the boys came up to them, "Sokka, they've landed."

   "You guys need to go hide." said Sokka towards the two girls. Kya frowned, she knew it was for the best, but she couldn't help but feel wrong. 

   "Sokka, We wanna..." argued Katara but once she saw his look, she faltered. 

   "Katara, now. You can't fight." said Sokka. 

Kya frowned even more, he was wrong, they could fight. "Sokka. We can help―."

   "Kya. Not now." replied Sokka, and with that he walked away. 

Kya sighed, she knew he thought they couldn't help, and so she looked at Aang who looked conflicted. "Come on. We need to get somewhere safe." said Katara. Kya followed after the two, unsure what else to do. 

The atmosphere was tense, no one dared to speak, they all stood behind the gates with weapons surrounding them. They were in the main hut again where all the elders, and young children were hiding out from the fire nation. 

Sokka grabbed his spear and looked at Kya and nodded. She knew, he wanted her to if anything happened, to try and help. And without looking back to her, and anyone else, the male walked back out of the hut, towards the gate.

They could hear the soldiers, the fire nation was at their doorstep, only a few metres away from where they were. She could feel their warmth. The fire nation was going to destroy their village, and she knew it. 

The gate was between the village and Sokka, and the fire nation, Kya only wanted to go out and be by his side, just because she thought him going alone was way more dangerous. But she couldn't, she knew she couldn't.

With a heavy heart, Kya clenched her fists at her sides, she whispered a silent prayer to the spirits. She could tell Sokka was scared, it was evident on his face when he walked towards the gate. 

   "I am Prince Zuko. Firstborn son of Fire Lord Ozai. We have no desire to take your homes." said a fierce voice behind the gates, Kya could only see glimpses of the 'prince' behind the gate. "We merely seek someone who does not belong here. Someone who is not one of you. Turn him over now, or I'll burn this place to the ground."

Sokka turned away from the gate and Kya could see his train of thoughts. He was going to and over Aang to them. "Where is he?" said Sokka.

Katara and Kya lunged forward and grabbed Sokka's arm, but failed miserably at stopping him, Katara spoke, "Sokka, you can't give him to them..."

   "He doesn't belong here." he replied. Kya frowned, so did she. She wasn't from here. But she knew he meant no ill doing. 

   "It's wrong. You know that!" said Katara.

   "We can find another way―." joined Kya. 

   "What I know is Dad told me to protect the village." argued Sokka. Katara had had enough, and she walked in front of him and stopped him. 

   "Yes, but remember what Mom told us too." said Katara. "She said that we have to protect those who can't protect themselves. He's lost everything he knows." 

But Sokka didn't seem to understand, he turned and walked around Katara only for Kya to now block his path. "Sokka, don't be stupid, can't you see? He's the Avatar!"

Sokka shook his head at her, "And he lied to us about it!"

   "I know how hard this responsibility has been for you, but there's more to being a leader than just catching fish." said Katara joining Kya's side. "You have to give people something to live for. That's what the Avatar is. He's hope."

   "And we need that just as much as we need food and shelter." continued Katara sadly looking away. "I know I do."

Sokka sighed, he felt it, defeat. He knew he couldn't do anything about the current situation, but he knew what he had to do. 

Walking out of the gates, Sokka shouted out his words. "I am Sokka. Son of Hakoda. Lord of, uh, Snow and Ice." 

Kya snorted behind the gates, well there was royalty here and not just Prince Zuko, but she couldn't let that be known could she. Prince Zuko seemed young, maybe a few years older than her, but what she couldn't help but stare at the burn scar on his face. It felt wrong, he seemed wronged. 

   "On behalf of the Water Tribe Village of Wolf Cove, I demand that you leave immediately!" yelled out Sokka. Kya held in a breath. 

   "If this is the path you've chosen, then so be it." said Prince Zuko, he turned to his army who got ready to attack, but was interrupted by Sokka, who quickly said, "Let's settle this between us! Leader to leader. You really need an army?"

Kya couldn't tell if the prince was considering it, he turned back around to face Sokka once again while the latter continued. "I thought you Firebenders had some guts." 

Prince Zuko seemed like he was getting irritated, and Kya wondered if she should go out there and help Sokka, but before she could do anything, the prince's right-hand man, or well it seemed like he was his right-hand man, spoke.

   "Don't fall for it. We overpower them. It's no contest."

In turn the prince turned to him and said, "Well, where's the glory in that?" 

Kya knew. He was going to fight Sokka, himself. And she was right because as soon as he said that he turned again to Sokka who now looked a bit scared and said the final words.

   "I accept."

He gave Sokka no time to react and immediately he threw a jet of fire towards Sokka who dodged quickly. Sokka scrambled to his feet, manoeuvring his boomerang as he lunged towards Prince Zuko. 

But Prince Zuko, anticipating the attack, swiftly dodged out and with a swift kick, a burst of flames knocked Sokka off balance, sending him tumbling backwards with a grunt of pain. Sokka staggered to get back up, and narrowly avoided another blast of fire from Prince Zuko.

Prince Zuko was good, Kya envied him, he looked like he had a trainer or a master that helped and taught him his firebending, whereas the only master who could help her was never going to do so. 

Sokka was now on the ground, while Prince Zuko stood over him, a flame dancing on his fist, he yelled out, "Who needs an army now?"

But then something happened, that Kya was really not expecting, a gust of wind had thrown the whole army and Prince Zuko on the ground.

The warriors grunted as they fell down. Sokka had time to get back up to his feet and walked to the gates where Kya ran forwards and held him up. Aang had saved Sokka. He had saved his life. 

   "Leave him alone! You're looking for me?"

And with that all hell broke loose and Kya was not ready for it. . .

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❪ ៸ 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 ━━━━━ ! ﹆◞ ❫
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❪ . . . the third chapter for kingdom come everyone!!!! ❫
❪ . . . IDK IF I LIKE IT BUT HERE YOU GOOOO, ZUKO FINALLY MET KYA... 2.7k words ❫
❪ . . . PLEASE tell me how you guys feel about it ??❫
❪ . . .PLEASE don't be a ghost reader, comment and vote, I love to reply to everyone and interact with my readers, love all of you darlings <33 ❫