ᵃᶜᵗ ᵒⁿᵉ┊͙✧˖*°࿐𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖽𝖾𝖾𝗉 𝖻𝗅𝗎𝖾

☽𖤓

𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 since the siblings had returned to their village with the young Airbender and his bison. Much to Sokka's delight Appa still hadn't shown any signs of flying, though Aang insisted that he was just tired and needed time to rest then he would be soaring through the air.

It was only shortly after that Aang had been escorted into an empty tent so he could rest for as long as he needed.

Touka was mildly surprised when he awoke only a short while later, her younger sister tugging the tattooed boy out to meet the tribe. The meeting was tense for a moment seeing as no one had seen an Airbender since the start of the war over a hundred years ago.

The kids were easily swayed when Aang had flown through the air on his glider. Touka was amazed at how he glided through the air, looking as comfortable in the sky as he did on the ground. A giggle could be heard when the monk crashed head-first into Sokka's leaning watch tower that she had been waiting to collapse for many days.

After the airbending 'show' was over the village was still wary but were less on guard than they were before.

However, despite the new presence in the village chores still needed to be done so nothing would get behind. Their grandmother always told them if one person doesn't carry their weight, everyone suffers as a result.

As one of the few young women in the South Pole Touka did most of the same chores as everyone else. Washing clothes, cooking, sewing, and everything in between. Except as one of two water benders that was trained and had healing abilities she had quite a few more chores added on.

Touka was expected to use her healing for the elderly when they were in pain or as a way to ease their suffering on their way into the next life. She would also use it for the kids when they would get hurt fishing or hunting.

Coincidentally enough Sokka injured himself so often that she felt like she never stopped seeing him, despite him saying 'he was a man and could patch his wounds'. His words were quickly swallowed when he realized he had never learned to dress a wound properly in his life, sulking as his older sister healed him with a sharp slap to the head.

Outside of healing, she was commonly asked to help keep the wall around the village intact. The wall often fell weak in some places, leaving it unstable.

Unfortunately in Touka's mind that was where she had found herself after everyone had dispersed away from Aang and carried on with their work.

Blowing away a stray white hair that fell into her face, she huffed converting the large amount of snow that had fallen from Sokka's watch tower into water. Raising her arms, Touka furrowed her brows in concentration. The water sealed over the gaping hole in the side, looking better than before.

The leaning from the tower after fixing the hole was a concern, knowing she would be forced to rebuild it if it were to fall. So, Touka went ahead and bent the snow, pushing the tower into a straighter stance, freezing the ice to make it last longer.

Touka wiped the snow off her gloves and released a breath of relief knowing one chore was done for the day.

A sharp sound cut through the air startling the girl and the rest of her tribe. Touka's blue eyes searched the sky, landing on a flare-like light shooting up into the clouds making her heart drop.

That light came from the same direction as the Fire Nation ship that was wrecked in the icy plains, having sat and rusted for many years untouched. Touka clenched her hands in worry as Sokka came running towards her, his club in hand.

"It's the fire nation!" He shouted causing gasps to sound around them. Sokka raised his brow at Touka who could only look at her brother with narrowed eyes. "I told you both that he was a spy, he goes off with Katara, and suddenly a flare shoots into the sky from a warship that no one has entered in over a century."

Touka chose not to say anything, choosing to look at the snow beneath her feet. Aang was not evil, that much she knew for certain. He was an Airbender, he had no reason to side with the same people that massacred his own.

Sokka turned when he heard no response, stomping off only to turn his head to look back at her with a firm and pointed look that made her feel like the younger sibling.

"He's leaving. Today. Before the Fire Nation comes to take us all out."

☯︎ ⋆.° ₊ ⊹

The tension amongst the tribe was unbearably thick, everyone was on edge waiting and listening. Eyes searching the sky for the black snow to appear, the sign of the Fire Nation, a sign of fear amongst the Southern water tribe.

Touka had been waiting at the entrance of the village with her fingers picking at each other. She had been hoping she would spot her sister and Aang before they reached her so she could warn them about Sokka. Her plan soon crumbled when Sokka spotted her near the entrance and quickly tugged her behind him with their Grandmother and the other villagers.

The girl had spoken to him in hopes he would listen to her. That he would at the very least hear what the young Airbender had to say before he accused him of being an ally of the Fire Nation. Sokka only scoffed, kicking the snow in front of him before he stalked away from her.

Now, Touka could only sigh and close her eyes in frustration when her eyes fell upon Katara and Aang walking up the snow towards them. From behind Sokka, Touka could see her brother practically shaking in anger, his fists clenching as they drew closer.

The children had seemingly forgotten the threat that Sokka believed Aang was and ran towards him with large grins on their faces, their boots crunching the snow beneath their feet.

It was only happy for a short moment.

"I knew it!" Sokka spoke up, his voice loud, and caused all eyes to fall on him. "You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare. You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"

Touka stepped away from her Grandmother to stand beside Sokka, her blue eyes sympathetic when they locked with Aangs confused brown.

"Aang didn't do anything." Katara attempted to redirect Sokka's mistrust in the boy. "It was an accident."

From where he stood beside Katara, Aang brushed it off with a small shrug of his shoulder. "Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and, well, we--we boobied right into it."

Touka winced when everyone's suspicions were confirmed, they had gone onto the abandoned ship even after Katara knew they were never supposed to even go near it.

"Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship." Gran Gran's voice held a tone of disappointment that Touka had rarely ever heard directed towards one of them. "Now we could all be in danger."

The weight of what they had done seemed to hit Aang at that very moment his hand immediately being raised into the air. "Don't blame Katara. I brought her there." His eyes fell to the ground. "It's my fault."

"The traitor confesses!"

Touka rolled her eyes, kicking the back of Sokka's boot when he pointed at Aang. Her kick didn't do any good, once Sokka's mind was set it was nearly impossible to change it.

"Warriors, away from the enemy! The foreigner is banished from our village."

Touka's eyes softened in sadness at the devastated looks on not only the children's but Aang's as well. That alone made her look away.

Clenching her fists, Katara's brows furrowed in anger. "Sokka, you're making a mistake."

Sokka had barely let her words leave her mouth when he spoke again, his hand swiping the air in front of him. "No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad. I'm protecting you from threats like him."

Touka didn't know what to say, there wasn't anything she could do besides watch. She had already tried to reason with her brother and knew he wasn't budging with this even if his sisters were right and Aang was innocent.

"Aang is not our enemy." Katara tried once more, her face although furrowed in anger held desperation for Sokka to understand. "Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time--fun."

"Fun?" Sokka blinked, exasperation clear in his words and his expression. "We can't fight firebenders with fun!"

The monk smiled at the boy. "You should try it sometime."

A smile of her own pulled at Touka's lips then fell quickly back into a frown when Sokka shouted at Aang to leave their village once again. Touka's fist clenched when her sister pleaded with their grandmother, the desperation in her voice continued to chip away at the older teen's heart.

Their Grandmother did not hold the same sympathy within her, however, looking at the display with a stoned face. "Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right, I think it best if the Airbender leaves."

Touka's eyes fell closed in defeat.

"Fine, then I'm banished, too." Katara spat out toward them making Touka's eyes open up in surprise, her lips parting. "Come on, Aang let's go."

Touka took a step forward to go after her younger sister who had taken Aang's arm in her hold and began tugging the boy in the direction of Appa.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka questioned stepping forward beside Touka.

The next words seemed to hurt Touka more than anything Katara had ever said to her before that moment.

"To find a water bender that can actually teach me. Aang is taking me to the North Pole." The inexperienced water bender hadn't realized the weight they held when she spoke them towards her tribe. Towards her sister. The words were like venom.

Touka knew her training with her sister had not been easy or smooth, but Katara was young and it would take time for her to learn the basics. She thought Katara understood this about water bending, and that she was patient due to the complexity that came with bending one of the four elements.

Touka took a step back, realizing she was wrong.

Sokka called out for Katara while his sister just took another step back behind him after she whispered Katara's name under her breath.

The call of her name halted Katara in her footsteps, her head turning to look back at her tribe and family.

"Would you really choose him over your tribe," his eyes fell to Touka who was messing with her gloved fingers. "your own family?"

His words struck a cord in Aang, a deep frown forming on his face. The boy stepped beside Katara, whispering a few words of his own to her that Touka and the rest of the tribe couldn't hear. The duo only spoke for a few moments before he flew up onto his bison using his bending.

"It was nice meeting everyone!" Aang smiled sadly, taking Appa's reins in his hands.

Touka raised her hand and waved towards him with a small sad smile, not wanting to see him go just yet so soon after meeting him.

"Let's see your bison fly now, airboy." Sokka mocked with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

Watching silently, Touka had hoped this was the moment that Aang could prove her brother wrong about Appa before he left them for good.

Aang gently tugged the reins encouraging Appa to fly.

"Yip-yip."

Appa grumbled deeply as he stood from the snow-covered ground. It was quiet for a moment as all the bison did was stand, refusing to fly as Aang had asked of him.

Touka slowly turned around with a sorrowful expression, turning to glance back at Aang once more before she walked away. She left her tribe and siblings standing there, waiting for the Airbender to leave. The white-haired teen only listened to the soft crunch of the snow underneath her feet as she made her way back to her tent.

☯︎ ⋆.° ₊ ⊹

What seemed to be hours passed and nothing that Sokka predicted had yet to happen.

Touka was still clinging to her hope that he was wrong about Aang, that the chances of the Fire Nation showing up to their small village after all these years were slim to none.

She held on to that hope as she placed a fur blanket over one of the elders in the healing tent. Touka rolled her shoulder when the same ache from when she had first climbed on Appa's back returned as she made her way over to a bowl containing warm water and rags.

Nothing seemed to ease the ache that had set ablaze in her shoulder, not even her attempts at using her bending to heal herself had even put a dent. It would vary from burning to aching in cycles, nearly sending her to her knees.

Touka only shook her head and clenched her jaw, her hand massaging the burning skin beneath her thick coat. Her crystal eyes watching the water in the bowl below her begin to ripple without having touched it.

Her confusion continued even when the ground began to rumble and shake underneath her, her hands immediately shooting out and securing the walls around the igloo. The protection of the old in her care had been her top priority but once their safety was assured she took off outside, pushing the flap to the side.

The ground seemed to shake even harder after every passing second. Her eyes widened in fear when they fell upon the large ship that cast a shadow down upon them.

A crack formed in the ice, and the tribe's people ran in varying directions in an attempt to reach safety inside their homes.

Touka stomped her foot into the ice below, slowing the crack down that had quickly begun approaching a young child who stumbled. The movement had given Katara enough time to run and scoop the child into her arms and carry them away.

Touka released her bending, the crack continuing to shatter the ice in its path once released. She chose to ignore it to join Katara in helping their people.

It was only then that she noticed she hadn't seen her brother since she spotted the ship, her eyes then falling onto his figure that was dwarfed by the ship drawing closer to him and their village walls.

"Sokka, get away from there!" Touka shouted towards him, raising her hand to break the ice away sending her brother sliding down towards the ground once again, a breath of relief leaving her chest.

The relief had only lasted a brief moment.

An eerie silence encompassed the air around them, Touka holding onto Katara's wrist tightly as they could only watch with bated breath when the ship door began to lower. A cloud of smoke surrounded the entrance, cutting off their sight from seeing inside.

The cloud didn't hover for very long, dissipating within seconds, the soldiers marching down toward them.

Sokka's bravery was something Touka admired, even outnumbered and outmatched he still tried to defend their home. That was something she could acknowledge.

Even if she admired and acknowledged his courage it didn't mean she thought running at a group of Fire Nation soldiers was the best plan either. It only caused her head to fall when her younger brother took off with a war cry towards the invaders with nothing but his club.

A heavy sigh escaped her when the first man simply kicked the club from Sokka's hands and then whipped his leg back to shove Sokka off the side of the lowered door.

Touka kept herself in front of her sister and Grandmother knowing she was their first and only line of defense. She hoped that they would take what they wanted and leave without harming anyone, she would expose herself if that's what it took.

Her racing heart didn't stutter once as the apparent leader closed the gap, his scarred eye-catching her blue when his face turned toward her, the boy's eyebrows furrowed deeply.

"Where are you hiding him?"

His voice sounded young making Touka tilt her head underneath her hood that hid her pale hair from view.

A sharp pain surged through her shoulder the moment their eyes connected for a very brief second, she rolled it back slightly pleading with it to hold off until this was over.

A gasp escaped her lips when the boy's arm shot between her and Katara, grabbing their Grandmother right from them. Touka stumbled, narrowing her eyes at the hold he had on the woman's hood.

"He'd be about this age, master of all elements."

Confusion was clearly laced in Touka's features, was he talking about the Avatar, the same one that hadn't been seen in over a hundred years? Why would he search for him in the Southern water tribe of all places?

It didn't make any sense to her.

Touka held her arms out, catching her Grandmother when she was tossed back their way. She handed her over to Katara, taking her stance back in front of them.

A flash of heat and the sight of a surge of fire made Touka turn her body in defense her arms raised to shield her face from the overwhelming warmth.

"I know you're hiding him."

Another war cry made Touka lower her arm, her eye twitching in annoyance when she saw that Sokka had freed himself and was running toward the same soldier that had beaten him only a few minutes prior.

This time was no different the soldier merely ducked sending Sokka flying over him and bottom-first into the snow. Though if not for his quick reflexes the boomerang that Sokka sent his way soon after he turned would have made contact.

The anger on the enemy's face was apparent when his eyes turned from the boomerang and back to Sokka who swiftly caught the spear one of the children threw his way.

Touka winced when Sokka failed for a third time, the end of his spear being pushed into his head repeatedly then being tossed into the snow, broken and in multiple pieces.

The sound of metal being hit hard made Touka flinch, her crystalline gaze widening when she realized Sokka's boomerang had come back. The impact sent the soldier jolting forward with a grunt.

To their unfortunate luck that was all it managed to do besides make him angrier than he was before, fire daggers forming in his palms.

Touka knew she would have to reveal herself if he continued to move towards Sokka, not having much of a choice. She reached out and grabbed his shoulder shuffling him back to where she and Katara were. The sound of snow being moved made Touka's ears perk, her eyes moving around them in an attempt to spot the source.

There was no need as the source of the sound came flying in seconds later, the force of his entry sending the leader of their attacks into the air and face-first into the ice.

A wave of relief washed over Touka at the sight of the monk who had suddenly appeared in front of them. It was a brief moment of relief when the wave pulled back and the fear returned once more when the soldiers surrounded the Airbender.

  "Looking for me?" Aang held his head higher than most would given the circumstance causing the others to watch while holding their breath when the snow fell back down.

Steam rose from the apparent leader's body, the ice melting away to reveal the surprise hidden in his narrowed eyes. "You're the Airbender? You're the Avatar?"

Touka couldn't hide her surprise, her hand falling away from her shoulder in her moment of shock.

  "No way." Sokka mumbled without tearing his eyes away from the scene in front of them.

The silence was almost eerie in a way though it only lasted for a second when the two boys started circling one another.

  "I've spent years preparing for this encounter," the scarred teen started, his voice much softer than before but Touka could hear the quiet resentment. "training, meditating. You're just a child."

Aang tilted his head in innocent confusion, his eyebrows raising. "Well, you're just a teenager."

Touka took a step back when the Fire Nation boy started throwing fire towards Aang who could only do his best to deflect it away from the tribe directly behind him.

Touka could feel Sokka's hand holding onto her wrist from where he was still sitting on the ground, refusing to allow her to use her bending no matter what happened.

Her eyes softened knowing he was thinking about their mother.

The white-haired teen broke out of her thoughts and shielded her head when a wave of fire made it past the Airbender, shrieks from the children ringing through the air.

The sound made Aang halt his movements, his eyes sad and regretful when he saw the fear in the people he was meant to protect.

  "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?"

Touka could only watch with a feeling of sorrow as Aang sacrificed himself for them. An action that although she admired, she could not accept.

  "Aang." She whispered when the leader stepped out of his fighting stance and nodded at the boy's words. The soldiers immediately closed in, pushing the monk towards the ship.

Touka had to gently grab Katara by her sleeve when she ran forward.

The cracks in her sister's voice were pleading for something to be done, for someone to help Aang.

  "No, Aang, don't do this."

Aang only pulled a gentle smile, no hint of malice at all shown on his features. "Don't worry, Katara. It'll be ok."

His eyes watched them until he was shoved harshly but he only regained his composure and met Katara's eyes once more. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back."

Those were the last words spoken before he was pushed through the entrance of the ship, the door rising from the snow, enclosing the Airbender inside.

Touka clenched her gloved fist, her free hand holding her sister's arm. She squeezed it gently when her blue eyes noticed a silent tear trailing down her cheek.

The water bender met her brother's eyes, both teens having similar ideas. Touka nodded at him making the boy huff as he stood and trailed off towards one of the huts to grab a bag.

+.*.｡𝖺𝗎𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗋𝗌 𝗇𝗈𝗍𝖾!.｡*ﾟ+

𝗂 𝖺𝗆 𝗌𝗈 𝗌𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗅𝗈𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝖺𝗂𝗍!
𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝖻𝗂𝗍 𝖻𝗈𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗆𝖾 𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗈 𝗐𝗋𝗂𝗍𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍. 𝗁𝗈𝗐𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋, 𝗂'𝗆 𝗇𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗅𝗒 𝖽𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗇𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝖼𝗁 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝗀𝗈𝗂𝗇𝗀!

𝖺𝗌 𝖺𝗅𝗐𝖺𝗒𝗌 𝗂 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗀𝗎𝗒𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗂𝗍, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗁𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗎𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌! <𝟥𝟥

𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗍: 𝟦𝗄