( Pakku POV )
Kaito, of course, had no idea what he was being given. Yet he took to it as though he'd been born as Pakku's grandson instead of a warrior and his wife.
He'd chosen well.
...
So, too, thought Arnook, who for a reason neither of them would disclose, beca friends with the young man. Pakku supposed that they shared similar values, and so long as Kaito made another friend, of which he did not seem to have many his age, much like Pakku, who had never bothered with it, he was doing well enough.
Although constantly annoying the princess, who would, in all likelihood, soon hold so power over him, was unwise, Kaito continued to do so indefinitely.
Pakku deed him a Master as soon as he had handed over the last family secret as though it were sothing all others were privy to as well, and Kaito seed to do little with his newfound freedom other than drink and celebrate. Pakku never did manage to beat so decorum into the brat.
And then, another death took Kaito's seemingly last will to struggle with her. His mother whom he had been caring for since he was a child himself.
Pakku was no longer his teacher. He would not intervene, for the young man was an adult now, in his eyes, and ought to fix himself up to a presentable image soon enough. Pakku had managed it, after all and he'd taught Kaito almost all he knew.
It was fortunate, he decided, that Kaito's friend Hahn had less inhibitions.
And, the day of the invasion, Pakku knew he'd chosen right. He was surprised by the tactical mind his forr student displayed over the course of the invasion. And the other waterbenders appeared to think similarly, for they took to his orders disguised as suggestions well. In the back of his mind, Pakku began to think of the possibility of retirent.
It would all co differently. With the near-death of the Moon Spirit, the Fire Nation had gone too far. It was ti they ended this war.
There was hope for it, too, with the Avatar awakened, and Pakku's legacy carried into the corners of the world.
...
( Arnook POV )
Life growing up as the younger brother to the next chief of the Northern Watertribe was in equal parts carefree as it was one of being constantly overlooked. Arnook, for the most part, got to do what he wanted, and with only his elder brother to really look out for him, he explored the city. He got to know all sorts, and liked them, for the most part.
He t his future wife during these exploits, and they started out as playmates while his brother went to patrol their territory's borders. They were enamoured with each other from the very beginning. She was the reason he never succumbed to jealousy.
She, too, was the reason Arnook was able to listen and guide instead of simply forging ahead. His brother and he, they made a good team, he felt. That was, until his brother died in a Fire Nation raid. It was ti for him to take over, and even as he did his best not to, he found himself hardening in response to the growing burdens placed upon his shoulders.
Once again, his wife reinforced her place as the light of his life by gifting him with a daughter, pure and lovely. Arnook was aware of his own shortcomings, and he'd known, had the Spirit of the Moon not granted her life, he would have… perished. Much like his wife did, a few short years after the incident. An infection, noticed far too late to save her. And there would be no second miracle.
He found a way to be grateful with what was left to him: his daughter, and his tribe.
Arnook always thought the unruly student of Pakku's would make it far in their tribe. He was spirited and wild, and talented.
And unrepentant, lying through his teeth about being sorry, that's for sure. Arnook couldn't help but like him. His daughter hated the boy with a passion he'd rarely seen from her.
It made him think that perhaps, one day, they would fall in love. It would be an amusing story to tell his grandchildren. But then they both grew older, and Kaito turned into soone who resembled Arnook's deceased elder brother. He grew determined, and sohow tempered with intelligent eyes assessing all those around him.
Arnook thought, in an odd sense of twisted belief, perhaps his brother's soul had been reincarnated into this boy. He had died in the month Kaito must have been conceived. And so, in order to not see his reborn brother die once more, he kept him close.
And, from the night of Yue's sixteenth birthday onwards, they beca friends.
There was much of his brother to be found in Kaito, and he was glad for his decision to keep him inside the city as much as possible. When he learned of the infatuation of his Captain's son with his daughter, he even ntioned the possibility to her. He would feel odd about his brother's soul marrying his daughter, after all.
Then, the invasion happened.
Yue… beca the moon.
Arnook's heart shattered.
He cried into his brother's shoulder, glad so of his family remained, no matter that they did not share any blood. He felt it fitting that the dagger he received from his wife long ago would remain in deserving hands.
...
( Katara POV )
She's always been the special one.
She tried not to rub it in Sokka's face too often. She knew, had he been only a few years older, he would have left her to go with their father, and most days she was grateful he didn't, couldn't.
But she knew, she was the gifted one. She was the bender, after all.
That was dangerous, she knew. It was her the Fire Nation was after, every ti they raided the village.
He protected her and their village as best he could, but her was only a boy. And she was only a girl. Her mother's death still ached. And, to not make her sacrifice aningless, she couldn't act. Not, when they dragged soone from their ho, not when they destroyed hand-crafted property. She was helpless in the face of the Fire Nation. But, one day, she would travel to the North Pole and learn from the waterbenders there. Then, she and Sokka would join their father and fight the Fire Nation, and defeat them. Then it would be them that felt helpless and weak.
Along with harbouring these plans for revenge, Katara was also smart.
She knew that, too. Not as clever as Sokka, no, but intelligent all the sa.
Talented, and she knew it. Katara always got what she wanted, whover she wanted it from. People didn't tell her 'no'.
Until Pakku.
Even so, she wore him down in the end. She argued, and won. (It would be a long ti until she understood that it was never about winning or losing.)
However, she wasn't special to him except for through her grandmother and that she was the first girl he taught. There's nothing about her that he really found exceptional. No, that honour was reserved for Kaito. He acted like he was so superior, and the worst part was that he was. It grated, made her bristle worse than when the others were being immature and all the work was dumped on her again.
But how could she, soone who never had a teacher until Pakku hold up against soone who'd been taught by the sa man ever since he was two years old?
She couldn't. That fact hurt worse than any insult anyone had ever thrown her way. She was no longer the favoured one, the most special or talented, or gifted. She felt, for the first ti as though she understood her brother when he said that life wasn't fair. Sohow, for once, she wasn't enough.
Katara wanted, and could never have.
And he was so aggravating! So arrogant, so nonchalant, so easy-going and unappreciative of his privilege. How could she not despise him?
And yet, he treated Aang and her brother like… she didn't know, had never seen interactions like this, but sohow, he looked out for them. So why was she different? She knew her feelings were irrational. Why didn't he see it?
And the invasion. He just went… cold.
A block of ice, where before there was a twisting river, splashing her face at every opportunity. How could she not be suspicious after he helped the Prince of the Fire Nation escape? Soone, who'd hunted Aang ever since she and Sokka discovered him in the ice.
He bent blood.
There was sothing so wrong with that, she didn't even know how to say it. (But he saved that warrior's life.) Pakku just accepted it. And then Yugoda did the sa, and Katara didn't know any more what was good and what was right, and where the difference lay.
It turned out she never knew anything, because once she'd seen him and Pakku 'spar', she knew the old man never took her seriously. She wasn't worth his concentration as Kaito seed to be.
Then he just… out-argued a general, all casual and matter-of-fact-like. He put so much into perspective. At least they could agree on one thing: Aang was not a weapon.
Then he bent the clouds. Clouds! While he'd been high!
And when Omashu happened, and sohow things went all wrong, before they managed to get the resistance out of the city, she was sohow glad he was there, no matter his hungover state. He sohow always knew what to do. She tried not to think about how gently he handled the Fire Nation baby even while she knew what those hands had done.
He ntioned prisoners and it touched too close to her heart for her not to get upset at the mory of her mother. Their conversation about expectations when he followed her to apologise sends her reeling once more, questioning anything she ever thought was true.
Aang is twelve, she realised, and not a god. How could he be? He was twelve, and she'd been expecting him to defeat the Firelord. She still did. And did it make her feel guilty.
So, when it ca to learning to bend the clouds, she grudgingly listened. And, oddly enough, his advice helped.
Much later, when he defeated both the princess and that other girl, rescued them all with the help of Bumi and O-Ting, all she could do is follow his orders while he headed into the heart of danger. Upon his return, she was glad he'd co back. No matter his lazing around, his mocking gaze, he took care of Aang, of them. And he made them leave him behind.
He made them leave him behind with reasons to worry far more than they had so far. Cot. Spirits, this was so much worse than she thought it would be. No wonder he thought she needed the extra incentive to be better, train harder.
Sohow, as she gave him a brief hug goodbye, trying not to think about how safe it made her feel, she got the feeling that he'd sent them off, knowing they couldn't stomach what he was about to do.
The invasion was bad enough.
Katara just hoped that sohow, they would get to be just Aang, Sokka and Katara for a while. Their ti as four was so real, so much at once, and too many revelations stacked one after another that she felt like she was going to topple. At least for a little while, they would be… just them.
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