Azara awoke the next morning and walked towards the palace, humming to herself as the sun rose behind her. She waved to Aang and Katara as they continued their lesson with Master Pakku, before walking over to the lesson Kesuk was teaching. The children in front of him couldn't be older than five as Azara sat in the snow, observing the lesson.

She had spoken to Kesuk about her interest in learning waterbending techniques. Her uncle had always mentioned the importance of understanding all elements, especially waterbending. Uncle Iroh had shown her some moves he had learned from waterbenders, but Azara wanted to expand her arsenal.

"Alright, everyone into your stances," Kesuk instructed, standing in front of the group. The children mirrored him, following his movements as he extracted a ball of water from the ground. "Now, you have to concentrate, otherwise you'll lose the water." 

He continued to swirl the water around in his hands as he walked between his students. He called out some suggestions as one boy behind him lost his concentration, the water dropping to the ground. The child stared sadly at the water as two other kids snickered at him. 

"Hey, we don't make fun of our peers here," Kesuk snapped, causing the two kids to straighten up. Lowering himself down to the other child's level, Kesuk placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled encouragingly. "Hey, it's okay. We're all learning here. It's okay to fail."

"But I want to be a great waterbender. And I can't do that if I can't do any of these techniques," the child replied, a small pout on his face.

"Everyone has to start somewhere. Master Pakku can tell you that I wasn't always this good. I made a lot of mistakes too when I was learning waterbending. But, it's important to learn from your mistakes," Kesuk explained, causing the child to smile. 

Azara's heart warmed at Kesuk's statements to the child, a small smile on her face as she continued to watch the end of the lesson.

"Alright, that's enough for today. Make sure you practice what we learned," Kesuk called as the boys laughed, running free and back towards the city. Shaking his head good-naturedly, Kesuk's eyes widened when he spotted Azara approaching. "Hey, Azara! What are you doing here? Looking for another spar?" he joked as Azara chuckled.

"No, I was actually hoping to learn some waterbending techniques," Azara replied, clasping her hands together in front of her. Kesuk's eyes widened in surprise at the suggestion.

"I never really thought about learning from other bending techniques before," Kesuk admitted openly.

"My uncle learned from some of your waterbenders and encouraged me to do the same. Except, I've never really met a waterbending master before now," Azara shrugged as Kesuk nodded.

"Sure. I'd be happy to teach you," Kesuk smiled, before motioning for Azara to stand next to him. "I've never taught a firebender how to waterbend before."

"There's a first time for everything," Azara chuckled before copying Kesuk's stance. He took her through several techniques, including the ones showcased the night of the feast.

"Now, you try," Kesuk stated, stepping to the side as Azara nodded. Taking a deep breath, Azara copied the technique Kesuk had showed her, swinging her arms around as the flame she congured followed her movements. Dissipating the fire, Azara turned to Kesuk, who smiled and nodded. 

"Almost, just when you turn . . ." Kesuk walked up behind her, fixing her arms, and placing his hands on her hips to move them. Azara blushed at the action but followed Kesuk's instructions and reattempted the waterbending move.

Sokka trudged up towards the palace, looking for Azara. Katara had mentioned how she had seen Azara there earlier, and Sokka felt even more guilty for how he had yelled at Azara, and knew he had to apologize. 

Walking up the stairs to the courtyard where the waterbenders often spared, Sokka's eyes widened when he spotted Azara laughing as Kesuk adjusted her stance again. They were standing awfully close and Sokka couldn't determine if the red on Azara's cheeks were from the cold or the boy standing behind her. 

He narrowed his eyes at Kesuk. Despite Azara's insistence that he only had good intentions, Sokka couldn't help but be suspicious of him. "You're an amazing bender, Kesuk," Azara complimented as they stood up, bowing to each other as the lesson finished.

At her statement, Sokka's eyes widened slightly before he slumped and turned around, walking away with his head hanging low. Of course, Azara would go for a guy like Kesuk. She was an incredibly powerful bender; Sokka didn't even need to see other firebenders up close to know that. He shouldn't have been surprised that she'd find another powerful bender to hang out with. 

Sokka decided that he'd apologize to her later before walking off to warrior training. Azara turned around, swearing she had heard footsteps, but spotted no one. "You okay?" Kesuk asked, looking at her with concern.

"Yeah, just zoning out again," Azara chuckled, brushing off her suspicions. 

"So, is there anything else I can teach you or help you with?" Kesuk offered as Azara forced the memories of Aunt Wu's prediction to the farthest back corner of her mind. Blinking to clear her head, Azara thought over her options, before turning back to Kesuk. 

"Actually, do you think I would be allowed to sit in on a healing lesson? Katara showed me some healing abilities and I've always kind of wondered if there was any transferrable skill with firebending," Azara shrugged as Kesuk nodded and motioned for her to follow him.

"I'm sure Yagoda won't mind. She might be surprised, though. I don't think anyone's ever tried to convert our healing techniques into firebending. Fire's usually so—" Kesuk stopped himself from continuing as Azara glanced up at him.

"I know you probably think I'm crazy. Firebending has been taught as a tool of power, of destruction. But, my uncle and one of my firebending teachers always pointed out that the sun, the greatest source of fire, is completely in balance with nature. In fact, we'd all be dead without it. I have to imagine there's some good use for firebending out there."

"I never thought of it that way," Kesuk nodded, looking at Azara with amazement. "You're incredibly wise for your age, Azara."

"Well, I try," Azara joked as they reached the healing hut. Kesuk lead the way in, Azara trailing behind him.

"Kesuk!" some of the little girls cheered as he approached.

"Are you coming for a healing lesson?" Yagoda joked, rising to her feet.

"No, but I have someone who's interested," Kesuk smiled, stepping to the side, and revealing Azara. "In observing, I mean." Yagoda blinked at the reveal before smiling and walking forwards.

"Of course! Princess Azara is always welcome in my healing hut," Yagoda nodded as Azara bowed respectfully.

"I'm honored to observe you all. And please, call me Azara." Yagoda motioned for Azara to take a seat. Bidding Kesuk goodbye, Azara sat on the floor as Yagoda started her lesson. Azara watched with interest as Yagoda directed the water around the mannequin, demonstrating the flow of chi and the process of healing.

Following the end of the healing lesson, Azara walked over to Yagoda to thank her. "Thank you for allowing me to sit in on this lesson. It was very interesting and insightful," Azara nodded as Yagoda smiled at her.

"Of course, though I have no idea how you'll transfer any of that to firebending," Yagoda replied, a kind smile on her face.

"I don't either, but hopefully I can figure something out. It would be nice to find some kind of healing property for firebending, if there is one."

"Well, I wish you some good luck," Yagoda replied, before glancing behind her. "It seems like you have a few shadows." Azara raised an eyebrow before turning around to see the five Water Tribe girls from the lesson smiling up at her.

"Uh, hello?" Azara laughed as the girls crowded around her.

"You're Princess Azara, aren't you?" one of them asked as Azara smiled.

"Well, yes. But you guys can just call me Azara."

"You're so pretty," another girl gushed.

"Thank you, so are all of you," Azara returned as the girls laughed among themselves in response. Azara moved to leave, but the girls continued to stare at her expectantly. "Uh, did you guys want to come with me?" Azara offered as the girls nodded, following her out of the healing hut.

Ten minutes later, Azara found herself sitting on the ground as two of the girls braided her hair back into a traditional Water Tribe style. "So, you really saw a giant eel?" one of the girls asked as Azara recounted her travels with Aang, Sokka, and Katara.

"Yeah, it even almost ate Aang on more than one occasion," Azara chuckled as she smiled at the Water Tribe girls. They gasped in amazement.

"But the Avatar got away?"

"With a little help of Katara," Azara winked as the girls nodded.

"She's the one who's allowed to learn waterbending, right?" one of the girls questioned as Azara nodded, a proud smile on her face at her friend's accomplishment.

"I want to learn waterbending," another girl spoke up, a dreamy look in her eye.

"We're not allowed to," the girls standing behind Azara reminded her, causing the girl to pout. Azara turned to look at the Water Tribe girls with concern.

"You girls can become whatever you want to be. Don't let cranky old men tell you what to do," Azara stated as the girls looked up at her in wonder. "You know what? Why don't we have a little field trip? There's someone I'd like you to meet."

Azara led the girls through the streets back to the courtyard where waterbending lessons usually occurred. Katara and Aang were practicing some of the waterbending techniques of the day when Azara called out to them. "Hey, Katara! Aang! I have some people who'd like to meet you," Azara smiled, gesturing to the five girls behind her.

"Hello," Katara waved, walking over with a kind smile on her face.

"Hi," the girls chorused, looking up at Katara with wonder.

"They want to be waterbenders too, but they say that they're not allowed to," Azara explained as Katara's face hardened at the statement.

"Well, we can't let that stop us. Can we girls?" she asked the girls, who cheered. Azara smiled as Katara led them through some of the basics. The girls chattered excitedly as they went through the moves. With some of the basics in mind, the girls ran around chasing Aang and Momo as Katara and Azara shared a smile to the side.

"You're inspiring another generation of Water Tribe girls, Katara. You should be proud," Azara spoke softly as Katara smiled at the compliment.

"Thanks, Azara," Katara smiled, placing a hand on Azara's shoulder. The two girls nodded to each other as Aang interacted with the assembled Water Tribe children, including some who had wandered over from their separate lessons or the town.

A.N. Kind of a filler chapter, I know, but we're almost to the end so please stick around! One more "original chapter" and then it's the Siege of the North episodes!