A. N. Okay, this is the first real fanfiction I've posted here. It should be relatively easy to determine who the characters are, and where they are, but for some reason I didn't want to come right out and use their names. Hopefully this will intrigue you; R&R please! Questions, constructive crit, and comments are always appreciated, but please don't flame/bash/gloat, and respect other people's ships. Thanks for reading!

A Princess's Legacy

Chapter One

A Night To Remember

My mother told a different story every night, but one in particular stands out in my memory. A story of a fateful day for the Nothern Water Tribe, one she witnessed in person. My brother was learning to play Pai Sho from my great-uncle in the next room, and my parents and I were all sitting on the bed, watching the candle flames flicker.

"I was traveling with my brother and the Avatar - Aang," she began.

"Uncle Aang?" I asked, using the unofficial title for the family friend. I'd always loved Uncle Aang. He was still young at heart, and when he came to visit with my aunt he would always bring plenty of presents.

"Right," she confirmed with a small smile. "Uncle Aang.

"We were flying on Appa, his flying bison. We traveled all the way to the North Pole, so that Aang and I could learn waterbending from a real master."

"Weren't there any masters in the South Pole?" I'd taken frequent vacations to both poles to learn my heritage and see my family. There were plenty of talented waterbenders in my mother's birthplace.

"No, sweetie. There weren't." Her smile faded for a moment, and Dad put his arm around her shoulders. She sighed and continued.

"When we arrived, we were welcomed by the people of the North Pole. We attended a celebratory dinner, both for us and for Princess Yue's sixteenth birthday. Princess Yue was the only daughter of the chief of the Northern Water Tribe. At sixteen, she had just become eligible for marriage. She was very beautiful, and she was the only person in the North Pole to have pure white hair." I looked at my own black locks in surprise and Dad laughed, a quiet sound that seemed to lift Mom's spirits.

Mom went on with the tale. "Yue caught Sokka's eye immediately, and the next day he followed her around, trying to get a chance to talk to her. When he finally made plans to see her, he fell into the water." She laughed at the memory. "Your uncle was always very awkward around beautiful girls back then."

"But not around Aunt Suki, right?" I asked.

"Not around Aunt Suki," she repeated. "Somehow they never had that problem. That doesn't mean that he's not the same bumbling idiot he was when we all lived together.

"The next night, when Sokka met with her, Princess Yue was very upset. She didn't seem happy, and she told Uncle Sokka that she shouldn't have asked him to meet her. She left, running off into the night."

"But why?"

Mom stroked my hair. "There were...complications. Princess Yue had been betrothed to a warrior from the Northern Tribe. She didn't love him, but she felt that it was her duty to marry him. She had responsibilities to her tribe, as her father's only daughter. Later she told Uncle Sokka that even though she wanted to be with him, she couldn't."

I was instantly sad both for the Princess and my uncle. "But didn't love find a way, Mom? Like in the story of Oma and Shu?"

"Sometimes it works out that way, honey, but this was during a war, when the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe were against each other. Maybe it could have been different..." she mused. After a moment, she continued.

"A very foolish Admiral named Zhao had decided to invade the tribe. Your uncle Iroh was on the ship, and advised Zhao to wait until dawn, when the firebenders would be at an advantage. Waterbenders draw power from the moon, but firebenders draw power from the sun." She exchanged a look with my father. "But Zhao told Iroh that he planned to remove the moon as a factor. When your great-uncle heard this, he immediately warned the admiral to leave the spirits be. Zhao did not take Iroh's warning seriously, but agreed to postpone the invasion.

"And so at dawn Zhao attacked and began breaking through the walls. Once he reached the Spirit Oasis, he revealed his plot." Mom paused and glanced at her husband. My father nodded, a slightly pained expression on his face. She kissed him quickly on the cheek before continuing.

"There were, and still are, two koi fish in the pool at the Spirit Oasis, the most spiritual place in the entire Northern Tribe. They are the ocean and moon spirits, Tui and La. Long ago they gave up their immortality to become part of our world. They are Yin and Yang, brightness and darkness, and they have created a balance that the world depends on. Zhao knew this, and he knew what could happen if he disturbed this balance. Your uncle tried to stop him, but in his ambitions, Admiral Zhao ignored logic and grabbed the moon spirit. He burned the koi fish. The Avatar was not there to stop him, and the sky turned red from the moon's light as the fish thrashed in pain."

My eyes were wide now, and my voice trembled as I asked what happened next. Another query burned deeper in my thoughts...Why hadn't Aang been there? But something told me that I shouldn't ask, and I listened to the rest of the story in silence.

"Your uncle Iroh went into a state of rage. Admiral Zhao had burned the moon spirit deeply, and suddenly there was no light in the sky at all. Iroh attacked the admiral for his crime and eventually only he, Uncle Sokka, Yue, and myself were left by the pond.

"Yue then told us why her hair was white. When she was born, she had been very sick. Her father had been told that she would not survive the illness. He and her mother pleaded with the moon spirit for help and set their baby in the pool. Her hair, at first dark, had turned white, and she had opened her eyes. The sickness was gone. The moon spirit had given some of its life to her.

"She told my brother that she needed to repay the debt. He refused to let her go, but she took her hand from his and placed both on the body of the fish. The life she had been given was taken back, and the moon spirit was alive again. But Yue was gone. She fell back into Sokka's arms, the life drained from her body, and then she disappeared."

I buried my face in her arms. My mom rubbed my back as the tale ended.

"Now she was the moon spirit. Her spirit appeared to Sokka. Yue told him that she would always be with him. Now she remains in the sky. She gives me my waterbending, and she gives you yours."

My head snapped to the open window to my right. Yue was full tonight. I could feel the strength pounding through me, enhancing my powers.

For the first time since the beginning of the story, Dad spoke. I loved his voice. When he would tell stories, the quiet, sandpaper sound could lull me to sleep. Thoughtfully he tucked a strand of the black hair I'd inherited from him behind my ear.

"But she gave you more than that. She gave you your name."