CHAPTER FIFTEEN
( THE NORTHERN WATER TRIBE )

BLUE. ALMOST EVERYTHING WAS blue – the water, the sky, the parkas; and if something wasn't blue, it was white, like the ice and the clouds and Appa's fur. Then there was Aang who stood out against everything in yellow and orange. Flo desperately wished she stayed in the Earth Kingdom, if only to just have other colors to stare at. The blue and white of everything just got boring rather quickly, and it didn't help that it was freezing cold, or that they've been flying nonstop for far too long. Flo knew her judgment probably stemmed from the frustration of being stuck on Appa for hours upon hours on end, but she really just wanted something different to stare at rather than the ocean and an occasional block of ice. If it was nighttime, she would feel a bit better, because at least there were stars in the sky to admire instead of the endless blue sky and the blindingly bright sun.

The calm of flying over the ocean was nice, she had to admit. At first. It was a good alternative to fighting the Fire Nation until now. Boredom filled her from head to toe with absolutely nothing to do. No trees to climb, no rocks, no land. Just water and ice and air. The atmosphere was way too calm for her liking. She itched to do something other than sit on the back of a bison with three others. The amount of thumb war games she played with them were too many to count, and sleep didn't come easily enough for her to take a nap to pass the time. At this point, she wouldn't mind if the Fire Nation appeared out of nowhere just so it would break the monotony of everything. She would rather them find the Northern Water Tribe, though.

She breathed out a heavy sigh. Her breath fogged above her because of the cold, and as she laid on her back, bored out of her mind, she did it again, somewhat fascinated by seeing her own breath condense in the air above her as of it hadn't been happening before. Katara laid beside her, though she was on her stomach and her hands propped up her head. When Flo sighed again, Katara cut her eyes to stare at her, both amused and annoyed at the older girl.

"I'm not one to complain, but can't Appa fly any higher?" Sokka petulantly spoke up from where he hung off of the back of the saddle.

"What, not enjoying the never ending ocean? Because I am. So much. Love it." Sarcasm dripped off of every word. Any other situation where she was over the ocean, and her words would be genuine. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. When they had left the Northern Air Temple, Flo had been fascinated and loved staring at the expanse of it. Now? Not so much.

"Well," Sokka said. "We now know how Flo feels."

She groaned and rolled onto her stomach, and placed her face into the crook of her arms after she crossed them. She needed off of this bison and soon. Who knew how much longer she could take before she jumped into the ocean out of pure boredom? "Forget about higher, can Appa go any faster?" Flo asked. Her voice got muffled by the parka, but the others still understood her well enough.

"I have an idea: why don't we all get on your back, and you can fly us to the North Pole?" Aang snapped. She had no idea if the words were meant for her or Sokka.

"I'd love to. Climb on everyone! Sokka's ready for takeoff."

Flo lifted her head just in time to witness both Momo and Sleemo jump on his back. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling in anyway, and let her chin rest on her arms. Ever since recognizing that she might have growing feelings Sokka, she began to distant herself from him to the best of her abilities. Unfortunately for her that was kind of hard to do with limited space. But the feelings hadn't really grown – they hadn't lessened, either.

"Look, we're all just a little tired and cranky because we've been flying for two days straight," Katara said.

"A little?" Flo murmured, glaring at the pointy blocks of ice as they passed them. There was something about them that didn't seem entirely natural. Katara gave her a look, one that she ignored with ease.

"And for what? We can't even find the Northern Water Tribe." Sokka now sat facing the others, and both the flying lemur and the hawk-cat were in his lap. "There's nothing up here."

Flo went to speak up to say that there was, in fact, ice and water until a splash a little ways away distracted everyone. None of them got the chance to question it as ice formed out of the water right in Appa's path. Aang yelled as he steered the bison out of the way, which then caused the others to shout at the abruptness of the movement, the three teens hanging onto the side of the saddle with tight grips so as to not fall off. Another sudden movement, more yelling, and Appa fell into the freezing ocean a second later. He skidded along the surface with a large splash.

Water sprayed on them, and Flo made a face at how cold it felt before she stood. She got ready to aim her bow and arrow at whoever attacked them, Sokka beside her with his boomerang raised. Both of them immediately lowered their weapons when they saw flat looking boats emerging from the pointy icebergs. Six men, all in different shades of blue, fur-lined coats, stood on each boat.

"They're waterbenders!" Katara stated excitedly. "We found the Water Tribe!"

+++

The Northern Water Tribe was, for lack of better words, stunning. Flo didn't think she would find it so as they traveled there with the men who found them – it would only be more water and ice, after all – but once she caught sight of a wall of pure ice with a beautiful circular design and watch towers on top, her mind immediately changed. The waterbenders moved in perfect unison to allow them in, shifting ice to water and vice versa if needed with complete ease. Flo was completely stunned, and that feeling merely grew once they got through the wall.

Canals as passages for boats, and walksways of ice for people to walk on. Bridges curved over the canals, and the closer everything got to the center of it all, the buildings got closer together as well as higher. Various tall structures stood along the edge of the canals. There were fountains here and there, spewing out streams of water. People walked along the walkways, bundled up with parkas of varying blue and white shades, and some wore fluffy looking hats. There were even a few animals Flo didn't know the names of, covered in thick fur that helped them stay warm.

"This place is beautiful," Katara said in awe.

"Yeah," she heard Sokka sigh dreamily, "She is."

Curious, Flo turned around, only for the other teen to whip around as fast as lightning, which caused him to nearly fall off of the saddle. Flo covered a laugh with a cough and went back to looking at the place, watching the people.

"Does the Southern Water Tribe not look like this?" Flo asked, the question a bit delayed both because of what happened with Sokka and because she got semi-distracted by a pretty girl with white hair as she passed by on a small boat. Flo leaned to the side a bit to get another look at her but her eyes eventually landed on Sokka, who was also watching at the white haired girl with an awed expression. Flo blinked and turned around quickly to face Katara.

Katara shook her head. "No. Nothing like this. It's..." She trailed off, obviously trying to find the right words.

"We don't have all this fancy stuff," Sokka explained for her. "A couple of small tribes here and there. There used to be a lot more of everything a while ago, before we were born, but," he paused for a split second and glanced at Katara, "the Fire Nation kept on raiding us."

Flo didn't say anything for a moment, mostly because she didn't know what to say. She had a feeling that the raids he mentioned had something to do with their mother's death, if the way Katara gently touched her necklace at the mention gave any indication. Neither of them looked too happy.

"Is that what happened to your m–?"

"So you said your dad is the Chief, right?" Flo asked, uncharacteristically loud and fast as she interrupted Aang. The boy clamped his mouth shut, and when Flo shook her head he gave her a guilty expression, probably also realizing that he shouldn't bring it up.

Sokka startled slightly at the sudden topic and Katara looked up, a bit surprised but thankful. "Um. Yeah, why?"

"Doesn't that make you, I dunno, like a prince and princess, or something?" she questioned after a short beat of hesitation, trying to come up with something to keep the conversation going. Flo had a feeling she knew the answer; one of them probably would have explained much earlier if they were actually something along the lines of royalty. Hell, Sokka probably would've boasted and bragged about it the first time they met.

"Oooh, Princess Katara," Katara said out loud as Sokka laughed. She then smiled. "I like the sound of that."

"No, we're just the Chief's kids. We don't have fancy titles," Sokka explained. He hesitated for a short second. "But I do like the sound of 'Prince Sokka,' now that I think about it..."

Aang smiled and leaned on the edge of the saddle. "You'd make a wonderful princess, Katara."

"Aww, thank you, Aang!" She gasped. "Oh maybe we can convince Dad to change it to where we do go by fancy titles when we see him again!"

Sokka quickly disagreed just to mess with her and the two of them jokingly argued back and forth for a few seconds before Katara eventually turned to keep talking to Aang. Barely a second later, Sokka moved to sit closer to Flo. "Did you change the topic on purpose?" he asked quietly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Flo lied. She kept her head lowered as she petted Sleemo. For the most part her hands stayed over the hawk-cat's ears, which were undoubtedly cold.

"Y'know, it's not smart to lie to a prince," he joked.

Flo huffed and only slightly rolled her eyes. "Yes, but nothing says it's wrong to lie to the court jester." She looked up and at him right as his jaw dropped. It made it hard to keep a straight face at his reaction.

"Court jester?! I am– what– I am so prince material!"

She made a noncommittal sound of disagreement and shrugged. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

+++

Walking on sidewalks that were made from ice was difficult, to say the least. Flo didn't have the correct type of shoes to make it easy and she was only a little bitter about how Aang had no trouble at all. At one point, Aang pushed on her back to where slid on her feet and Katara held onto her hands, walking backwards, to keep Flo upright. Sokka was laughing off to the side. Flo tried to talk the others into letting her just stay on Appa, but none of them allowed it, and after nearly falling on her butt five too many times Aang and Katara resorted to pushing and pulling her. It was a little embarrassing. But also kinda fun. She didn't say that out loud though.

Eventually they made it to the Chief, Aang and Katara introduced everyone, and after getting invited to his daughter's birthday celebration that night, they split ways.

Flo did not like that idea.

"Look, just let me carry you."

"No thanks."

Sokka groaned. They stood at the top of the steps – well, Sokka stood; Flo sat on the thick railing nearby. When she stood, it almost felt like at any moment she might slip, or slide, or lose her balance, so sitting on ice was the safer choice in her mind. Going up the steps earlier had certainly been interesting and she didn't look forward to going down them.

"It'll be easier," Sokka tried.

She raised an unimpressed brow. Really, Flo would much rather be with Aang and Katara, who eagerly and excitedly left to look around for a little bit before the Princess' birthday celebration. And yet here she was. With Sokka. She wanted to start her 'avoid her kind-of-crush as much as possible' plan, and spending time with him hindered that. A lot. Flo pursed her lips and glanced to the side, eyed the stairs, and then looked back at Sokka who seemed like he was trying to formulate some kind of plan in his head to get Flo to agree.

Another second passed by and she sighed to herself. "Fine," she finally relented. Sokka straightened up, about to say something with a grin, but Flo continued quickly, "But only a piggyback ride."

"Yes! You got it!" He walked up and turned around, and bent down some. Flo clenched her jaw and hesitantly placed her hands on his shoulders. Then, she stood and jumped. It wasn't that big of a jump, she was only an couple or so inches shorter than him; and Sokka tilted forward slightly before he quickly righted himself and stood straight, hands securely under her knees. "Ready?"

"You drop me, you're dead," was all Flo could get out. He just laughed.

Despite refusing to hug the others, Flo did like touch. Or she thought she did – she at least used to. But ever since Suki hugged her on Kyoshi Island and Flo ran off before she could burst into tears in front of her because she got hugged for the first time in whoever knew how long, Flo avoided it. She didn't know what that even was – what the reaction was, and why. In fact, the more Flo thought about it, the more she realized she was like that with the Freedom Fighters too. With her time with them, she really only hugged Jet, the Duke and Pipsqueak once in a while and on the really rare occasion, Longshot. She remembered the first time Pipsqueak hugged her, she had the same reaction when with Suki. But none of that really explained why. She knew she hugged her family a lot. Especially when she was upset.

But a piggyback ride wasn't a hug. Flo knew that. But it was still a sort of touch Flo wasn't used to, not anymore at least, and it was...odd. She actually liked this, it was nice, and she wouldn't mind it if they stayed this way for a little bit, but at the same time she wanted to wretch away and put a ten foot pole between her and Sokka. Flo bit at the corner of her mouth. Something told her that wasn't normal, not after watching Katara, Sokka and Aang together for the past month or so.

She ended up being so lost in her thoughts about it, that she didn't realize Sokka stopped walking.

"Um, Flo?"

"Hm?"

"You can get down now."

"...Oh." Flo didn't. She instead looked at the small building they were in front of. "Where are we?"

"Oh wow, you were really zoned out then," he said. "I found this place – asked a couple people about where to get shoes and stuff, and they pointed to here."

She nodded slowly. Then, she remembered that Sokka said she could get down, which then led to her realizing she had subconsciously moved to where she was basically holding on like a koala-pup. Her cheeks heated up instantly and she scrambled down, and only barely slid when she took a small step to the building's door. Sokka didn't say anything and followed her inside.

"—but Granny her birthday celebration is tonight and I haven't gotten her anything!" a girl's voice complained, words fast and panicky. "I don't even know what to get! Or make!"

There was a sigh, and a second later an elderly woman walked out from the back. She had two long, gray braids that looped up, and fabric in various shades of blue were bundled in her arms. Some even looked fluffy and brown or white, and Flo guessed it was fur from some sort of animal. "Akiko, how many times do I have to tell you that whatever you get or make, that girl will love it endlessly?"

"But it's her sixteenth birthday!" the same voice shouted from the back. The elderly woman noticed Flo and Sokka, and sent them an apologetic look as she set the fabrics down.

A third voice entered the mix – a boy. "You are too anxious about this–."

"Shut up, Takashi!"

"Meriwa, your granddaughter is freaking out," the boy stated and stepped out as well. He was clearly a warrior of some sort, if the weapon on his back was anything to go by. His hair was styled similarly to Sokka's, though the sides weren't shaven. The black hair ended just under his jaw, and there was a braid on one side.

"I am well aware," the woman chuckled. "But please, if neither of you are here to help, I need you to leave. Customers have arrived." She motioned to Flo and Sokka. The latter of the two waved semi-awkwardly.

The boy – Takashi – merely nodded, called the girl's name, and began to walk out. "Come on, Akiko! Bye, Meriwa. See you at the celebration tonight." As passed by, he nodded politely at the other two teenagers. A split second later, Akiko sped through. She was muttering something as she left, something about birthday presents still, and barely acknowledged anyone else. Flo didn't get a good look at her.

Flo and Sokka looked at one another; he shrugged at the slight confusion on her face.

"I am terribly sorry about that," the woman spoke up. "My granddaughter is best friends with the Princess and she's been having trouble deciding on a birthday present."

"But the celebration's tonight," Sokka said, and it came out more like a question then anything.

"Precisely. Now, what does a young couple like two need? You didn't move from one of the smaller tribes a few miles away, did you? I don't recognize either of your faces."

Flo blanched. "Huh?"

Sokka laughed nervously. "Whoa, uh, no. We aren't– like... that. We're friends. Just friends." He pauses and smirked, and rested an arm on her shoulder. "Flo wishes we were more, tho– oof." He doubled over some when she backhanded him in the stomach with a side glare. It effectively got his arm off of her and shut him up. Though, he still managed to grin at her in amusement.

"No, I don't," she said.

Meriwa just hummed thoughtfully.

Flo coughed into her fist, put more distance between herself and Sokka when Meriwa glanced away, and crossed her arms. She hoped to the Spirits that she wasn't visibly blushing too much.

"We traveled here from the Southern Water Tribe with the Avatar," Sokka finally explained once he stood straight again. "Me and my sister, this is. But Flo is from the Earth Kingdom, so she needs some boots to walk better on the ice here."

Meriwa nodded. "Ah. My apologies for the assumption, then." She beckons Flo over with a wave of her hand. "Follow me. We'll get you the right footwear in no time."

Flo hesitated long enough where Sokka gently nudged her arm with his elbow to get her to move. She elbowed him back in retaliation before she walked forward, and Meriwa linked their arms together when they were close enough. She tried to move away but Meriwa was resilient and practically dragged Flo away.

"Now, do you know your shoe size?"

+++

Meriwa was...nice. That's all Flo could say about the woman without complaining about the casual touches that both Flo craved and hated because the last people to link their arms together like that and drag her away were her sisters when they wanted to cause a little trouble, and the couple of hugs Meriwa gave her were way more than just 'nice' but Flo refused to explain that she felt like crying after each one. Flo tried to refuse the hugs but she also didn't want to seem rude or offend her in any way, so she sucked it up. Now, she tried to shove those feelings away. Really, Flo didn't understand why she felt the way she did about it all, or even why she couldn't stop wondering about it, so she did her best to just continue on with the day. Well, night.

The sun had set an hour-ish ago after she and Sokka finally left Meriwa's shop. Along with the right footwear, Flo also got some weather appropriate clothes that officially belonged to her and not someone else. After meeting back up at the motel room and joining back with Katara and Aang, they made their way to where the Chief said they were celebrating his daughter's birthday. It wasn't too long until Flo found herself seated between Aang and Katara, Sleemo in the hood of her parka for warmth, and Sokka leaned around his sister time and time again as they waited for everything to start to explain the food spread out on the table in front of them. Katara looked ready to stuff an entire bread loaf down his throat by the third time.

"Spirits, Sokka, do you want us to switch places?" Katara bit out.

He blinked. If Flo looked close enough she would be able to see how he blushed. "No...?"

Aang laughed on Flo's other side. "Are you sure about that, Sokka?" he asked. It kind of surprised Flo. He'd been silently pouting ever since he didn't get to sit directly beside Katara.

"Shut up," was Sokka's mature response.

"The Chief is right over there. Aren't we supposed to be making a good impression, or whatever?" Flo finally spoke up.

"Thank you, Flo," Katara said.

"Look, I am just trying to educate Flo on Water Tribe food."

Katara raised a brow in disbelief. "Right." She then smiled and laughed. "Sure you are, big brother."

"I am! Okay, see, Flo that's–."

Katara groaned. Flo rolled her eyes. Aang just laughed again.

Abruptly, Flo stood and gently kicked the siblings to scoot over. Katara took her former place and then Sokka took Katara's. Once that was done – Aang beamed and sat up straighter with Momo in his arms when he realized what just happened – Flo sat down beside the only other fifteen year old with a huff. "Better?" Flo asked.

"Yep!"

"Yeah."

"Totally."

A few or so feet away, some of the tribe's men carried a large platform of food to Appa. Appa roared when they set it down, and the men quickly ran away. A few even screamed. She nearly laughed and instead just watched it happen with amusement.

Barely two seconds later, Chief Arnook stood to address the crowd. "Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Souther Tribe and their friend from the Earth Kingdom, and they have brought with them someone very special, someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now... The Avatar!" The crowd cheered and clapped as Aang smiled and waved. "We also celebrate my daughter's sixteenth birthday." Chief Anrook moved to the side as the princess came into view, and Flo felt her mouth open from surprise at seeing the white haired girl from earlier. "Princess Yue is now of marrying age."

"Thank you, Father," Princess Yue said. "May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times."

"Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!"

Flo turned her attention to the three figures in front of a few waterfalls on a stage. The Master waterbender and the two students began to bend the water in various directions, making circles and lines and such. She watched until she felt a presence beside her, and only bothered with a short glance only to do a double take. Princess Yue's hair was pulled into two loops on top of her head, and on the sides two more pieces were twisted into braids. In the back, underneath, looked to be shaven; an undercut of some sort. Flo looked away again and to Master Pakku, but couldn't help it when her eyes moved to the side to subtly watch the princess.

But then Princess Yue turned slightly, smiled, and giggled. "Hi," she greeted.

"Um." Flo's gaze traveled around to try and land on anything but the princess, but quickly found herself meeting her gaze anyway. "Hi." Another best of silence. "I'm Flo, from the Earth Kingdom."

"Sokka, Southern Water Tribe." His voice made her flinch in surprise, having forgotten they were sitting beside one another. When she looked at him, he mouthed sorry with a sheepish expression.

Princess Yue giggled again, but composed herself quickly. "Very nice to meet you," she said.

Sokka just nodded and Flo muttered, "Ditto," that definitely didn't help the awkward silence that began to form around the three of them. "I like your hair, by the way," she blurted before she could stop herself. Usually she would definitely keep to herself, but the awkward atmosphere was too much. It didn't help she was stuck between a beautiful princess and a guy her brain decided to begin to form a crush on.

Princess Yue politely smiled at her. "Thank you." Her eyes moved to the side. "I like your...pet."

Flo turned her head slightly, and saw Sleemo. She poked her head out of the hood and stared with wide eyes at the other girl. "Oh. Thanks, um, she's a hawk-cat."

"Well, she is very cute."

Another blanket of silence covered them. Still awkward, but less so. Flo took a bite of the food the sat in front of her, and Sokka handed her a piece of bread that laid too far away for her to reach. She thanked him, somewhat surprised by the action, but didn't say anything else.

"So, uh..." He started not too soon later. "You're a princess, huh?" At the question, Yue nodded and smiled, and Flo leaned back slightly so they could see one another better. "You know, back in my tribe I'm kind of like a prince myself."

"Ha! Prince of what?" Katara asked, because despite their conversation on Appa earlier it was her sisterly duty to embarrass her brother. "Didn't Flo call you a court jester?"

"A lot of things! And Flo doesn't know what she's talking about." He leaned towards Katara with an annoyed glare, and Flo rolled her eyes. "Do you mind? I'm trying to have a conversation here!"

With a mock bow, Katara said, "My apologies, Prince Sokka."

"You know, being called court jester can be a compliment," Princess Yue said when Sokka finally leaned away from speaking with Katara. "It means you're funny."

He blinked, registering what she said.

Meanwhile Flo halted her chewing as she felt herself blush. "That's not– uh, I didn't mean it like that," she tried.

"You find my jokes funny?!" he exclaimed, grin wide and toothy and Flo wished she never said anything, ever.

"No," she said, mouth half full until she remembered to swallow the food. His grin only grew. "Only a few of them," she admitted. Some of the puns were funny, she couldn't lie about that.

Sokka continued to smile. "Nice."

She slowly nodded and turned to face forward again. On her other side, Princess Yue tried to hide some quiet laughter. "You two are cute," she said once she calmed down.

Flo ignored the compliment and the heat in her cheeks, and grabbed a random piece of meat to eat. If the rest of the stay in the Northern Water Tribe was like this, she had a feeling it was going to be an interesting one whether she liked it or not.

+++

The nighttime celebration went on like that. Stuck between Princess Yue and Sokka was awkward and, admittedly, a little entertaining between Sokka constantly trying to find a pun or a joke to make Flo laugh, and Yue making commentary. After a bit of time, once everyone had eaten until they got full, Princess Yue excused herself to go find a couple of friends and Aang left with the Chief to speak to Master Pakku. Eventually, Flo left to get away from the ever growing crowd; sure, she wasn't in the thick of it, but that didn't mean she was comfortable. She told Sokka and Katara she was going for a walk and was grateful when neither of them offered to come with her.

And that's how she found herself scaling the closed library an hour later. Well, she assumed it was closed.

It hadn't been her plan to do so, honestly. But she was kind of bored, and wondered if anything was in there to help her read, and before she could use any of her impulse control, Flo began to sneak in. It didn't help that she didn't want to go back to the room they were staying in just yet. It's been years since she actually slept inside somewhere (excluding Haru's family's barn) and the idea didn't sit right with her. She liked sleeping under the stars with no roof between her and them. It was comforting.

With a final pull and huff, Flo pulled herself through one of the higher windows of the Northern Tribe's library. Nothing caught her eye immediately when she first looked around the moonlit room. Sleemo got out of her hood and flew around. She landed on top of one of the shelves and walked on it, not once making a sound. Flo did her best to stay quiet as well. She ran her fingers across some scrolls and papers that had been woven into books. She made her way out of the room and hurried into another so she wouldn't get caught by any security – only to come to a halt.

Inside the room was a large, circular desk. Papers and scrolls and various types of tools laid on the surface, covering it completely. When she walked closer and leaned down to try and see better, her eyes widened. Hesitant excitement began to grow inside of her. They were star charts. Sectioned off maps of the night sky.

Flo suddenly knew where she was going to be for most of the trip.

***

A/N— new crack ship unlocked: yue/flo/sokka

Hello, Flo may not be able to read but she's still a giant nerd about stars and space.

I'd just like to say that in this fic a lot of things happen in the NWT episodes of ATLA, so each episode might get split into two chapters because I don't want to make them too long. They also might mainly be Flo/Sokka-centric since Aang & Katara both are more focused on waterbending. Other than that!!! Meriwa, Akiko & Hoshi, from my other fic Molten Ice, all had little cameos this chapter and they will most likely make appearances again until the end of this part of the story!

And I'm sorry if this chapter isn't the best?? After not writing Flo for so long, I have to get back into the groove of writing her and her story, so. Yeah lol. I'm trying I swear!! Still, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for reading :) xx

EDIT: changed Hoshi's name to Takashi :)