A Prince and A Princess

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After the less than warm welcome from the northerners, the chieftain has decided to throw a party for the arrival of the avatar and the birthday of his daughter Princess Yue. While some of the residents of the northern watertribe weren't exactly welcoming to the fact that there's a firebender in their midst now, the knowledge that he's the avatar at least gives them some clarity on the matter. Seated beside Aang and Sokka, Zuko pokes at some of the strange dishes that the northerners eat. Knowing from his experience with Batou a few weeks ago not to go anywhere near the sea prunes. Though the meat is a bit too fatty for his liking, the food was at least good and Zuko could always cook it more to his liking with his bending. "Thank you for coming, we are gathered tonight to welcome the arrival of Avatar Zuko as well as two members of our sister tribe. Additionally tonight we celebrate the 16th birthday of my daughter Princess Yue. She is now of marrying age." Chief Arnook declares raising a cup of a beer-like drink called Tulpi which was offered to both Zuko and Sokka. "Enjoy the feast our finest hunters have provided for us, and meet our guests as tomorrow Avatar Zuko begins the next step on his journey to learn the elements."

"Is this seat taken?" The kind voice of Yue asks as she approaches an empty spot beside Sokka. The southern watertribe warrior looks up from his plate of stew, with part of it sticking out of his mouth, to meet Yue's gaze. Quickly, and slightly painful for that matter, he swallows everything whole so that he can speak.

"Yeah, I was saving it for you actually." This statement causes Yue's face to glow with a slight blush as she sits down beside Sokka to begin eating her food. "So, you're a princess huh? Y'know I'm kind of a prince myself." This statement causes his sister to snort at him.

"Pfft, on what planet would you be a prince of anything?" His sister jives but she is quickly shot down by Zuko.

"This one." Zuko says, "Chief Arnook is her father making her the princess, and your father is Chief Hakota of the southern watertribe meaning both you and Sokka are royalty like I am." Katara stares at Zuko dumbfounded for a moment as Aang does some mental math with counting on his fingers to help.

"He's right." Aang says after reaching the same conclusion. "What am I though?"

"By default? The airbending grandmaster." Zuko responds prompting Aang to look wide eyed for a moment then start connecting the dots again in his head.

"So... would you like to do an... activity together tomorrow?" Sokka asks nervously, stammering his way through the request to the princess. Though she giggles to herself hearing how nervous he is.

"Sure since you're the first to ask. I'm going to be with Master Pakku tomorrow morning. Father said that since Katara is going to be trained in waterbending, I can also be a part of those classes." Yue says, perking Katara's attention from this.

"You're also a waterbender?" She asks the white haired young woman.

"I know how to use it to heal but I haven't done any proper bending. I guess we'll be learning together alongside the avatar. Do you know how to heal with water?" Yue responds shortly before Zuko gets up from his seat.

"Well, I'm going to head to bed. I'll see you two in the morning." Zuko picks up his cup of Tulpi and downs it before leaving the dishes in his spot then heading off to where the group is staying.

The following morning, Zuko is one of the first people awake and going about the day. Thankfully even as far north as they are the northern watertribe still has access to tea which is one of the few pleasures Zuko gets to enjoy. On top of a large staircase leading up to the bending grounds, Zuko sits on the ice looking out at the rising sun. The blue parka he's wearing soaking in the heat as the sun cascades down the frozen city. As the crunching of snow beneath him gets closer and closer, Zuko calmly sips from his tea as he meditates. Coming up the stairs beneath him is Master Pakku who's slightly surprised to see the firebender already awake and having beaten him to his own training grounds. It's still a few minutes before any of the other students arrive, allowing the water bender to watch as the small particles of snow float gracefully around Zuko as he meditates. While Pakku had heard stories of airbenders in his youth, never in his entire life did he expect to see one right in front of him, with that bender being the avatar no less. Pakku turns slightly hearing the scrunching of snow as Katara and Yue are approaching his training ground, but instead of interrupting Zuko he merely stands silently.

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