Aang turned around, looking at the group with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Ok, first time flyers, hold on tight! Appa, yip yip!"

The bison leaped into the air, letting out a low groan, before crashing back down into the sea and beginning to swim.

"Appa, you alright buddy?" Azami asked, a little concerned. Appa had never had any troubles flying before, at least not when she was around.

"Cmon Appa, yip yip!" Aang exclaimed.

Sokka deadpanned, before rolling his eyes. Clearly, the two were delusional. "Wow. That was truly amazing."

Azami shot Sokka a glare - insults to herself she could take, but insulting Appa? No. No way was she going to stand for that. "Appa's probably just tired. Believe me, you'll be eating your words before you know it."

Sokka scoffed, turning away from the princess. Katara, on the other hand, didn't lose faith in Appa, leaning down to rub his side gently. She was still in a bit of shock at the idea that there were actually still living Airbenders. After a minute, she felt a pair of eyes watching her, so she looked over at Aang to see him smiling at her. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Oh... I was smiling?"

Sokka let out a sound of disgust as Azami tried to cover her laugh, sending a knowing look in Aang's direction. So much for being a monk, she thought to herself.

Katara shifted, an uncomfortable silence settling on the group again. "So... Azami? How did you and Aang meet?"

"Oh, Aang and I have been friends for years," Azami replied. "We met when we were kids... long story... but we've visited each other a lot, either me traveling to the Southern Temple where Aang's from or him visiting me in the Fire Nation."

Katara frowned - none of this added up. How did an Air Nomad just walk into the Fire Nation without being killed on sight? And why would a Fire Nation Princess be visiting a temple, which to all knowledge, had been abandoned for nearly a century?

As she contemplated the situation, an exciting thought crossed her mind. "Hey, Aang?"

Aang looked up at her, just laying back comfortably on Appa's head. "Hey. Watcha thinkin' about?"

"I guess I was wondering... with you being an airbender and all... if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar?" Katara asked hopefully, though not daring to hope too much.

Azami and Aang sent a knowing glance at each other, coming to a silent agreement, before he replied, looking quite uncomfortable as he did so. "Uhh... no. I didn't know him. I mean - I knew people that knew him, but I didn't. Sorry."

Katara looked a bit disappointed, but still hadn't given up yet. "What about you Azami?"

"Well... Aang's one of the only airbenders I actually got to know, so if Aang didn't know him I probably didn't either. Sorry," Azami replied, feeling a little guilty about keeping the truth from her.

"Okay, just curious. Good night Aang... Azami."

"Sleep tight," Azami said softly, Katara already having laid down.

The whole time, Sokka had been sitting at the back, playing with his boomerang, a small scowl on his face. He still couldn't wrap his head around this - he didn't trust Aang, he definitely didn't trust Azami... so why didn't he feel more concerned? He wondered if it was because he had a bit of a weakness for pretty girls, and he did find himself staring at Azami on occasion...

Ew, Sokka, no! Don't think like that, she's the enemy, remember? Needless to say, Sokka was more than a little divided. He had actually become so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice Azami trying to talk to him.

"...Sokka? Helloooo? Earth to Sokka, you there?" Azami was getting a little frustrated by the boy who seemed solely interested in staring at her.

"Huh? What?"

"I was asking you why you were staring at me," Azami huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she was starting to feel uncomfortable.

"O-oh, sorry, I didn't notice," Sokka replied sheepishly, before pretending to yawn. "Well, I... uh, I'd better get to sleep," he said quickly, before lying down and facing away from her, trying to avoid the questioning look on Azami's face.

Azami simply sighed, what on earth did she do to make these two kids so uncomfortable? She knew that not everyone was fond of the Fire Nation, or of royalty, but that had never impacted her ability to have a simple conversation with someone before. She simply looked down at Aang, who had now also fallen asleep, before smiling softly and laying down herself. Feeling a little chilly, she again brought her hands up close to her face, letting a soft fire appear in them, warming her up before falling asleep.

She didn't notice that Sokka had rolled over, his eyes widening in surprise at the way she gently used her bending.

~Timeskip brought to you by lazy writing~

Aang screamed, trying to pull Appa's reigns up as the storm clashed violently with the sea around the trio, as Azami was holding onto Appa's saddle for dear life. The sea rose into the largest wave they had ever scene, preparing to swallow them and drag them to the ocean floor...

"Aang? Aang, wake up!" Katara said frantically, as the young boy tossed and turned in his sleep before he sat up, gasping. "It's okay, we're in the village now. Come on, get ready, everyone's waiting to meet you!"

Aang looked around, panicked for a minute, before sighing as he realized it was just a dream. He got up, putting his clothes on as he did so, before Katara grabbed his arm rather firmly and dragged him out of the tent.

The sunlight was just as harsh as it was yesterday, and Aang had to blink multiple times before his eyes adjusted. Surrounding him was a group of women and children, each wearing similar baby-blue parkas. "Aang, this is the entire village. Entire village, Aang," Katara announced.

Aang bowed towards the group, but they all slightly backed away in fear, much to his surprise. "Uh, why are they all looking at me like that?"

"Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years," the eldest woman commented. "We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you and your... friend."

"Extinct?!" Aang said, frozen in disbelief. There's no way! I just left home a few days ago!

"Aang, this is my grandmother, Kanna," Katara introduced them.

She deadpanned. "Call me Gran-Gran."

Looking around, Aang noticed Azami was nowhere in sight. "Uh, where's Azami?" he asked, turning towards Katara.

"She's still asleep, when we got back we brought you two inside so you didn't freeze to death out here. I'll go wake her up." Katara offered, leaving Aang with the group outside.

Katara went to go in a nearby tent, fully expecting the princess to still be asleep. What she did not expect was for her to be meditating, with a tiny white flame hovering in her hands. Even from the entrance to the tent, Katara could feel the heat radiating off of it. She cringed a little, still afraid of even the idea of firebending, although Azami remained perfectly still.

"Hello, Katara," Azami said softly, opening her eyes as the flame went out.

"How did you know it was me?" Katara asked, a little shocked.

"The last thing you want to do when meditating is become ignorant of your surroundings," Azami replied. "I heard you talking to Aang and the others outside. What exactly did your Gran-Gran mean by the airbenders being extinct?"

"Well, that's... you really don't know, do you?" Katara asked softly. "Neither of you do."

Azami just shrugged, concerned by what she had learned, but she just didn't believe that it was possible for airbenders to be extinct - for spirit's sake, she had just visited the Southern Temple a few days ago, and they were all still alive and well.

"It's hard to explain. Why don't you come penguin sledding with Aang and I, then we can talk about it after?" Katara offered.

Azami looked up quickly, excited by the prospect. "Really? Penguin sledding? I've heard Aang mention it before, but I never got to try."

Katara just chuckled softly, the princess's enthusiasm was obvious. "Yeah, it was like the first thing Aang asked me to do when he woke up."

"Sounds great, let's go see him. Oh, and by the way, do you have anything warmer I could borrow? These robes aren't doing a very good job," Azami sighed.

A few minutes later, Azami and Katara walked out, wearing matching light blue parkas, to see the village watching as Aang flew into a large pile of snow that looked like a sad attempt at a tower.

"My watchtower!" Sokka cried out, running to try and pat down the snow.

Azami and Katara both laughed as they ran to go pull Aang out of the snow, ignoring the glances of fear from some of the older villagers as they passed by.

"Cmon Aang, you have to watch where you're flying. Haven't you seen enough lemurs flying into trees to know that already?" Azami laughed, tugging at one of Aang's arms. He just chuckled slightly in response, as a pile of snow proceeded to bury Sokka.

"Great," Sokka grumbled. "You're an airbender, Katara's a waterbender... together you can just waste time all day long."

Azami and Aang both looked over to Katara, impressed. "You're a waterbender?" Aang asked in surprise.

She laughed nervously. "Well, sort of. Not yet."

Kanna shook her head lightly. "Alright, no more playing. Katara, you have chores."

After leading Katara away from the village, Kanna stopped and looked at her granddaughter rather seriously. "Young lady, would you care to explain why you brought someone from the Fire Nation into our village?"

Katara just shrugged. "Normally, I'd agree with yours and Sokka's sentiment, but Azami just hasn't come across as threatening in any way. She's been really nice so far, and seems just as much a kid as Aang is. Besides, I told you, they're the real thing, Gran-Gran! I finally found some benders who can teach me!"

Kanna frowned, the name Azami sounding familiar to her, but she couldn't place it. "Katara, try not to put all your hopes on these two. We still don't know why the girl is here."

"But they're special, I can tell! I sense they're filled with much wisdom," Katara smiled, looking over to see Azami and Aang laughing as they had gotten into a rather serious snowball fight, a bunch of the kids cheering from the sidelines.

~another timeskip~

After finishing her chores, Katara looked around the village, trying to spot the two benders, only to find Sokka lecturing a bunch of young boys who looked about ready to explode. "Have you seen Aang or Azami? Gran-Gran said they disappeared over an hour ago."

She didn't have to look far or long however, as the two came running over from a nearby igloo.

"Wow, everything freezes in there!" Aang shouted, pointing back at the igloo that Katara quickly recognized as the outhouse.

Azami wrinkled her nose slightly in disgust, but didn't comment - it wasn't like Aang was wrong about that.

Sokka stamped his foot in frustration - how was he supposed to teach the kids to protect themselves from firebenders when there was literally a firebender watching, right there! "Ugh, Katara! Get them out of here! This lesson is for water-tribe warriors only!"

Katara just rolled her eyes as the kids ran past her to go play on Appa, using his tail as a slide. Sokka just let out a scream of frustration when he noticed his entire class had disappeared, before he ran up to chew out the two benders.

"Stop! Stop it right now!" Sokka yelled. "What's wrong with you two? We don't have time for fun and games with a war going on!"

Azami and Aang just stared at him, utterly confused. "What war?" Azami asked. Aang nodded in agreement. "What are you talking about?"

Sokka deadpanned, before raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"

Azami frowned, about to say something, but before she had the chance Aang's face lit up and he screamed at the top of his lungs: "PENGUINNNNNNN!!!!!!!!"

Before anyone could even blink, Aang had sprinted out of the village, chasing after the penguin that was desperately trying to run away from him. Azami simply shook her head, laughing softly, before she raced after the young airbender.

Katara and Sokka both gave each other knowing looks. "She... they're kidding, right?" Sokka asked. Katara simply shrugged before taking off after Azami.

Simply standing there in shock, Sokka tried to process what was happening. Did Aang and Azami really not know about the war with the Fire Nation? If so, it would explain her strangely relaxed attitude around everything. He wasn't going to take any more chances than he already had though - letting her stay the night in the tribe was already dangerous enough.

---

Meanwhile, Aang was busy trying to capture a penguin so that he could go sledding. 

"Hey, come on little guy! Wanna go sledding?" Aang tried to convince the penguins that sledding would be fun, but for some reason they just kept running away when he tried to jump on them. He tried jumping on another before landing, again, on his face.

Hearing footsteps, Aang turned around, lying on his back as he looked up at the two girls. "Hehe... I have a way with animals, huh?"

Katara shook her head, laughing to herself. "Tell you what, Aang. I'll help you catch a penguin if you two can teach me waterbending."

Azami looked at Katara, a little shocked, before Aang jumped up, excited at the prospect. "You got a deal!" he said, airbending himself up into a sitting position. "Just one problem though. I'm an airbender, and Azami's a firebender. We aren't waterbenders. Isn't there someone in your tribe who can teach you?"

Katara looked at Azami, a little frightened, before she said sadly, "No. You're looking at the only waterbender in the entire South Pole."

Azami shook her head. "That's not right. A waterbender needs - and should be able - to master waterbending."

Aang looked thoughtful for a moment, before he stood up excitedly. "What about the North Pole? There's another Water Tribe up there, right? Maybe they have waterbenders who could teach you."

Katara scoffed, the idea was preposterous. "Maybe, but we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in a long time. It's not exactly turn right at the second glacier. It's on the other side of the world."

Azami perked up, a thought coming to her. "You forget, Aang has a flying bison! Appa and Aang can fly you to the North Pole, and then drop me off at the nearest Fire Nation port on the way! We'll find you a master, every bender deserves one."

"That's a great idea!" Aang chirped.

Katara just looked uncomfortable. Azami's offer, minus the whole "drop me off at the nearest Fire Nation port" thing, had filled her with hope and excitement. The possibility of becoming a real waterbending master was enthralling for her, it was all she had ever wanted. But leaving home... that was a big decision. "That's... I mean, I don't know. I've never left home before."

Azami smirked. "Well, you think about it, at the very least. In the meantime however, I do believe you mentioned something about teaching us how to catch a penguin?"

Katara grinned. "Very well. Listen closely, my young pupils. Catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art. Observe!"

Reaching into her parka, Katara pulled out two fish, throwing one to Aang and one to Azami. Within seconds, the two were being attacked by penguins, all three kids laughing.

A few minutes later, the three were laughing as they rode the penguins down a tunnel in the glacier. "I haven't done this since I was a kid!" Katara exclaimed.

"We still are kids, Katara!" Azami shouted back, absolutely loving the experience. She could easily see why Aang had been so keen on doing this earlier. She'd had some fun experiences before, but there was something so satisfying in sliding on penguins. Well, for her at least. Probably less so for the penguin.

Soon the tunnel ended, and the terrain levelled out. Coming to a halt, the three got off their penguins, thanking them for the ride, before staring up at a wrecked Fire Nation ship.

"Whoa! What is that?!" Aang exclaimed, the massive boat towering over them.

"That's... that's a Fire Navy ship, Aang," Azami managed to stutter out, completely in shock. She had no knowledge of any Fire Navy deployments this far out of her nation's waters. Turning towards Katara with wide eyes, she asked, "How did it end up here?"

"It's hard to explain, but..." Katara sighed, she knew this moment was coming.

"Azami, there's no easy way to say this. The world has been at war with the Fire Nation for nearly a hundred years."