Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender purely begins to Mike and Bryan. This is just my vain attempt to live past the series finale.

Prologue: The Story

Summary: As the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara must and will do whatever it takes to keep her people and her nation safe, even leaving it in order to become a servant in the home of the Fire Nation's Royal Family for infiltration. Instead of the war and destruction she expected, she finds beauty and life, shown to her by the Fire Nation Prince himself.

There was a crowd of people waiting anxiously as the large metal ships pulled into the docks of the Southern Water Tribe. The women waited patiently in the large igloo in the center of the now flourishing village— the central igloo was the southern version of the Northern Water Tribe's Chief Temple, though with much of the same functions such as meeting space and a hall for celebrations.

Among the women, there was an elderly woman with long, grey hair that had long lost its brown hue. Her tan skin had shown signs of a long life, wrinkled and delicate but her blue eyes were lively and filled with subdued excitement. She laughed good naturedly at the rambunctious young children running around the banquet hall.

Soon, masculine voices began ringing through the space and Kanna looked up and saw her husband walk into the hall, a small smile on his face while he walked in more children, though they were different from the other children due to their jet black hair and eyes in shades of gold and hazel in comparison to the common traits of brown hair and blue eyes.

The two groups of children joined together quickly, easily introducing themselves and playing games together. A group of three remained with Pakku and made their way to Kanna before hugging her tightly.

With another cheerful laugh, Kanna embraced the children tightly and saw Pakku smile down at them, as well. She stood up and felt them tug on her arm to lead her out of the banquet hall. Many of the women smiled at them while they exited and walked through the snowy town. Outside of the grand igloo, there were even more children running around, their laughter mixed with the sounds of families and friends being reunited.

The sky was darkening. The wide expanse of the sky was bright blue at one end of the spectrum, a mixture of fuchsia and orange in the middle, and a pearly grey and dark blue at the other. Kanna and Pakku led the children into their igloo, the grand structure having grown and improved in recent years from the cramped living quarters it was once.

"Gran-Gran! Pakku!"

The elderly couple were used to the greetings and waved back genially, or at least Kanna did. Usually, unless he actually liked the other person and knew him or her well, Pakku responded with a stiff nod— sometimes even a small twitch of his lips that, for him, constituted a smile.

Kanna looked at her husband adoringly while he shut the door of the igloo behind them. The sky was now almost completely black. She took off her heavy jacket, using spark rocks to light the fire in the center of their living room, holding her hands out to feel the warmth. She turned her attention back to her three great-grandchildren sitting on the bear pelt in front of the fire.

"So where are your parents?"

The oldest child explained, while her younger two siblings made a face at their parents' absence, "Mommy said that she and Daddy have to talk to Grandpa about something boring."

Pakku let a rare, gentle smile curve his lips. "'Something boring'?"

The middle child made another face. "Something about trade," he sneered, his lips pursed in a hard line.

Kanna and Pakku shared a look. Kanna's eyes widened and she laughed, her long, silver braid swinging slightly behind her back. "You are just like your father." Pakku joined her in her laughter at how the young boy seemed to puff his chest out proudly at the comparison to his father.

"And you are just like your mother, thank the spirits," Pakku said to the eldest, who grinned brightly back at him.

Kanna took the youngest in her arms and the toddler looked up at her with her bright blue eyes. "You, why you're simply precious."

Pakku looked at the only boy and raised his eyebrows. "Well, Sika seems to understand that your parents have important things that need to be done. You should remember that, Sato." He looked at his wife and asked quietly, "Did you know that Sokka and Suki are still dealing with the drought problems on Kyoshi island?"

"I suppose so. I haven't been told anything in Sokka's letters."

"They asked if I could come back with the kids and if we could have the kids for the night until they resolve this issue with Hakoda— he's staying on Kyoshi Island with Sokka and Suki until they can figure out trading arrangements until they get some rain. They should arrive here in a few days."

"That's perfectly fine. In fact, I think that it's time for the three of you to go to sleep. It's late and you must be tired from traveling. Have you already eaten?"

Sika nodded, "Yes, Gran-Gran." She narrowed her eyes at Sato, who shook his head. "Liar. You're such a pig!"

"At least I don't look like one!" He pulled his nostrils up at Sika to imitate a pig's snout.

Kanna walked down the hall and put Sena in the crib that they, as grandparents and great-grandparents, learned should always be in their home. The two year old looked up at Kanna with blue eyes that were identical to her father's. Lovingly, she pulled the blanket over her and watched Sena drift off into sleep.

When she returned to the center of the igloo, she remarked, "I don't expect that the two of you will go to sleep that quickly, will you?"

Sato pursed his lips and sighed as he shook his head. "No way, Gran-Gran."

"Hmph. Exactly like your father," Pakku deadpanned. "Did I tell you about the time he tried to get away with calling me Gramp-Gramp? Or Grampakku?" The elderly man shuddered in distaste at the memory.

Inspired by Pakku's small mention of the past, Sika bit her lip excitedly. "What if you tell us a story, Gran-Gran?"

Kanna and Pakku shared a look. Kanna raised her silver eyebrows. "If I tell you a story, you promise you'll go to bed?"

"Promise!" the two children yelled enthusiastically.

Kanna joined them on the fur while Pakku sat on a nearby chair, an amused expression on his face. She sighed and asked them, "So you want a story. What kind of story would you like me to tell you?"

"Romance. With a prince who fights for the girl and a happy ending."

"Adventure! With lots of action and fighting and… and cool battles and warriors!"

With a patient smile, Kanna tried to satisfy both children's preferences. "I think I have just the right story to tell you." With a glance towards Sika, she assured the young girl, "It has plenty of romance and love and there certainly is a prince charming and a happy ending. But," she continued with a pointed look in Sato's direction, "There are plenty of sword fights, bending fights, and warriors and armies."

"Is it a true story, Gran-Gran?" Sika asked, with wide eyes, the turquoise shining in her irises, illuminated by the flickering orange and red light of the fire.

The question grabbed Sato's attention as well and Kanna nodded softly, sparing a glance at Pakku who smiled in realization of the story his wife was about to tell. "It is a true story and it happened before any of you were born."

"It must be pretty old then," Sato commented.

"You're very young, Sato, and lucky to have been born in such an era of peace and love," Pakku reminded him gently. "Yet the story is only ten years old."

Sika and Sato looked at him wide slightly awed expressions, their mouths open and eyes wide open. Sika breathed out, "Wow."

Pakku was about to reply when the sound of a whistling kettle cut through the silence and he raised a hand so that a stream of boiling water left through the kettle's spout and through the air into the four mugs on the table. "Before you start telling the story, I thought I'd make us some hot drinks. Tea?"

Kanna took the mug from him while the two children made faces and he snickered softly. "I had a feeling you two wouldn't want tea, so I put ground cocoa and milk in your cups so you could have some hot chocolate."

Now, they eagerly got up from their places on the fur rug to take the warm ceramic mugs before returning to their seats in front of their great-grandmother. They sipped the hot liquid, sighing happily while staring at her from over the rim of their mugs, the steam swirling above them.

"Are you sure that you want to hear this story?"

Her great-grandchildren nodded excitedly. "Okay. But everyone needs to hold up their end of the bargain. This is a pretty long story so I won't be able to finish it in one night— and the two of you will need to go to sleep eventually."

Sika and Sato's faces fell considerably.

"However, if you two sleep when I tell you to, and if you like the story, then I promise that I'll finish telling you the story before you leave to go back home to Kyoshi Island with your parents when you're done with your visit." She raised her eyebrows at them. "Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, Gran-Gran," they chorused in unison.

"Okay, now this story, as we said, took place about ten years ago. You see, for a hundred years before that, the entire world was in a state of war." Sato's face lit up with excitement. "The Fire Nation had attacked with the power that Sozin's Comet had given them. The Air Nomads had been wiped out and we thought that we had lost the war, especially because the Avatar did not come to stop the Fire Nation."

"A hundred years passed and the Fire Nation continued conquering and the Avatar still did not appear. Brave men and warriors, like your grandfather often left the village to fight and try and stop the Fire Nation. Also, the Northern Water Tribe and Southern Water Tribe were separated and often had nothing to do with each other. With the war, they reconciled because the Southern Water Tribe was weakening. So its sister tribe sent some of its warriors, healers, and Waterbenders to help us— including your great-grandfather."

She paused, allowing the history to sink in the minds of her great-grandchildren and she was pleased to see them absorb the information well and wait patiently for her to continue. From the lack of surprise on their faces, Kanna realized that Sokka and Suki did not hide the past from their children, though she was sure that they left out many details.

"At the time that this story begins, all of the men from the two tribes were trying to figure out a way to end this war and to finally ensure peace for the entire world. At this point, two Fire Lords had already reigned and the current one was cruel, both to his people and especially to everyone else— even his own family."

"It was ten years ago… your father was sixteen years old and your Aunt Katara was only fifteen. Even though they were young, Grandfather Hakoda wanted his children to be safe. And so, he sent them to the Northern Water Tribe where Sokka trained with the warriors while Katara trained under Gramp-Gramp—"

Pakku had sent her a dirty look that she felt even though her back was to him and Sika and Sato laughed.

"— and she became a Master Waterbender. They had only been up North for less than a half a year. Your aunt was Master Pakku's best student, even if she was a girl."

Sika grinned smugly at her younger brother, who stuck his tongue out at her. "See? Just like how Mom beat Dad up the first time they met."

"That doesn't count!"

"Do the two of you want me to finish this story or not? You're supposed to return home in less than a week."

Immediately, the two became quiet and listened attentively.

"So there was a big war meeting and everyone was deciding how to bring down the Fire Nation and end the war. At the meeting, the war council decided that the Fire Nation was too powerful and that even a huge army would be the wrong way to end this war. After a century, their army had grown and so had their machines and weapons in sophistication and power."

Pakku interjected, "We decided that a small infiltration… a spy was what we needed. The spy would be able to tell us all of the Fire Nation's plans and secrets and then we would be able to slowly stop them by ruining everything— including production of tanks, weapons, everything the Fire Nation Army and Navy needed to continue their conquests."

"Is this where the warrior comes in?" Sato asked impatiently.

"Yes. In fact, at this meeting, we chose two people to go to the Fire Nation and try and accomplish this dangerous mission. We needed someone brave and smart and skilled. After all, if they were caught, then they would surely be captured and who knows what the Fire Nation might have done to get back at us?"

Kanna nodded gravely in agreement. "One of them was your father."

"He was the warrior?"

"He acted bravely and he was a warrior, but he wasn't the hero of this story. It was your Aunt Katara." With an inclination towards Sika, she added, "Of course, she had the help of her own prince, too."

Edited April 2019