𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍, sokka

six.

"this," yue says, gesturing to a small oasis with a waterfall and green, vibrant grass, "is the spirit oasis."

"wow," katara says, shrugging off her parka. "it's so warm in here."

"this is the center of all spiritual energy in our land," yue says.

kierah and yue also shrug off their parkas, and the three leave them in a pile by the entrance.

"are these the water and moon spirits?" kierah asks, spotting one white and one black fish in a small pool of water. momo tries to grab one of the fish, and kierah looks at him, irritated

"yes," princess yue says.

"you mean, you've never been here before?" katara asks, confused.

"no," kierah says, looking dejected. "i wasn't allowed to do much of anything except healing and preparing to get engaged."

"you're engaged?" katara says, shocked.

"no, not yet anyways. as soon as i turn sixteen, it'll probably happen. no one has ever actually said thats what i've been preparing for, but what else could learning to cook, clean, and be polite be for?" kierah says, now going into a full-blown rant.

"i'm sorry," katara says. "i had no idea."

"no, i'm sorry. i don't talk have anyone to talk to it about, so when i do i start ranting. i shouldn't have unloaded all my problems on you, especially at a time like this."

"sorry to interrupt," aang says from his position on the grass meditating ("huh," kierah thinks, "when did he get over there?") "but there's kinda a battle happening right now?"

"sorry, sorry," kierah says, her and katara backing up to the edge of the oasis, giving aang some space.

"if you ever need to talk about it," katara whispers to kierah. "i'm here."

"thanks," kierah says softly. she is at a loss for words to explain how much that means to her, but she knows katara understands.

"katara, kierah?" yue asks, seeming kind of frantic. "why are the avatar's eyes glowing?"

"oh, he's just gone into the spirit world," katara says, relieved. "now we just need to protect his body. it's his way back to the physical world."

"do we need to get some help?" yue asks

"no, he'll be fine," katara says. "we can protect him." she turns to kierah, who nods, and the two of them move to stand on either side of aang.

"well, aren't you a big girl now." someone in the shadows said.

"no..." katara says, dismayed. "zuko."

"zuko? as in prince zuko? of the fire nation?" kierah says, shocked.

"yes." katara assumes a fighting stance. "he's been following us since aang got out of the iceberg, but we thought we lost him before we came here. he wants to capture aang."

  kierah assumes her stance as well, right before zuko starts shooting blasts of fire right at them. kierah and katara work together, throwing up water shield after water shield, and, when they could, firing a blast right back at zuko. to kierah, the battle seems to last only a few moments. she knocks zuko back against the wall with a well-placed jet of water, and then katara freezes the water, incasing the fire nation prince in ice.

  as the sun rises above the horizon, kierah and katara turn back to aang's body, to make sure he wasn't hurt in the fight. while their backs are turned, a blast of fire knocks the both of them backwards. kierah and katara each try to create a shield, but they were too late. zuko blasts the both of them into the wall of the oasis. katara is knocked unconscious immediately, but kierah clings onto consciousness just long enough to see zuko standing over the both of them.