"The official Fire Nation eagle brought the orders," Zuko said as he approached Shisui, who was waterbending with long roots from a nearby forest.

"Huh? Do we have to work with this Zhao guy?" asked Shisui as he twisted the roots into a gnarled staff that he brought closer to his hand.

'What a good stick, too bad no one can value it,' Shisui thought with some reluctance as spots of chi emerged from the hand holding the root cane.

"Yes, these are my father's direct orders, they even used the traditional method of sending them instead of asking Musu to bring them," Zuko watched as Shisui made small sprouts emerge from the branch he was holding, feeling that his brother-in-law was becoming increasingly unpredictable.

Making sprouts grow from roots using only his chi? He never expected to see that, but as it was Shisui, one could always see a lot of strange things, so Zuko didn't even pay much attention to what Shisui did next.

Leaving the root stuck in the ground, Shisui manipulated the water inside the roots, but also stimulated the vitality contained within, causing more roots to emerge, consuming nutrients from the soil to expand.

"I've always wanted to do this... Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!" dense roots erupted from the earth, spreading everywhere like great writhing pythons trying to catch whatever it was.

"That must have been exhausting," Zuko commented as he saw Shisui lying on the ground, stretched out like a starfish.

"Stimulating root life is too exhausting, it's not like I can influence my own life, roots have a very high spirituality and tend to resist, but it serves as a finishing touch, don't you think?" Shisui's voice sounded hoarse but full of happiness.

"I don't know why you call them 'special' attacks. But..." Zuko brushed the orders aside as he put his hand on the scabbard of his sword.

Zuko's temper went from affable to fierce, a fiery and sharp presence spread from him as a source, attracting the attention of many people, even the Dai Li who was always locked up in Ba Sing Se.

"Hey Zuko, wait up... FUCK!" shouted Shisui, who had regained some of his strength and was now fleeing the place with orders in hand, looking at the hell the Prince had unleashed.

Zuko unsheathed his sword at a speed almost invisible to the untrained, creating a ring of fire around him that was solid in consistency and carefully shaped to have a sharp edge.

This ring expanded from Zuko several dozen feet away, cleanly severing all the roots Shisui had previously created, and then a cylinder of fire shot into the sky.

Zuko was in the center, in an area free of flames, though very hot. His breathing was labored from lack of oxygen, but a smile broke out on his face as the fire soon rearranged itself on his sword, which was an unusual black color.

In Zuko's hands, a sword appeared covered in solidified flames, which were soon extinguished before the lord fell to his knees from exhaustion.

"Worthy to be Roku's grandson," Shisui praised as he turned back to Zuko, watching as the roots he created were charred and the ground glazed over from the intense heat.

"What do you think, can you come up with a name?" asked Zuko, making the worst mistake of his life... well, no.

"Cool final attack! You should name it after Prince's Pillar Cutting Ring!" a terrible name came out of Shisui, causing Zuko to almost trip over the absurdity of the situation.

"Shisui... do you know why no one asks you to name pets or some things?" asked Zuko suddenly, causing Shisui to stop smiling and look at his brother-in-law suspiciously.

"Jealous," Shisui blurted out before looking around at all the destruction in the area.

"Zuko, you will help me reforest," Shisui said in a cruel tone, although he was tired, Zuko was more tired than him, then dragged him into a work that would benefit the world.

At that moment, at the southern end of this world...

"So how does it feel to live on the southernmost side of the world, Aang?" asked Katara to the Avatar, who was holding a strange staff as he watched the starry sky above him with fascination, especially the southern auroras.

"A little cold, but a friend taught me that my element is more than it seems..." With Aang's words, a gentle breeze enveloped Katara, making her look surprised.

She felt warm. Katara could tell that the wind covering her was different from the usual cold wind of the South Pole, no wonder everyone in the tribe wore rather thick coats.

But now, she felt like she could take off her heavy coat and her teeth wouldn't chatter from the cold. Besides, she could tell that the wind was coming from Aang, who gave her a mischievous grin when he saw the amazement on her face.

"What do you think? It took me a little longer than I thought to get the hang of it, but... now I don't have to be in these restrictive clothes," Aang said as he took off the fur coat he was wearing over his body.

Although he was a vegetarian, Aang knew the special needs of humans and did not want to impose his culture on others. He knew that for the South Pole Water Tribe, eating meat was about the only option they had besides importing expensive fruits from the Earth Kingdom.

Besides, living in a place where the ground had been frozen for who knows how many millennia didn't leave much room for growing your food. Aang had a vague idea that maybe in the future he could find an edible plant that could grow in such an inhospitable environment.

"I never thought you could make hot air, I thought Airbenders only made air," Katara said with a hint of embarrassment in her tone.

Even though she was educated with academic materials, not that she had much knowledge stored in her mind, Aang did not react badly when he noticed this lack in Katara, on the contrary, her eyes sparkled when an idea popped into her head.

"The elements are very interconnected, Katara! I told you about meeting Shisui, didn't I? In the spirit world. He taught me for a while and made me realize that we don't have to limit ourselves to our element.

Though he called me an impostor for having direct access to the four elements, Shisui told me that a waterbender can heat water and even control steam; as a firebender, heat is at your disposal," Aang relayed some of Shisui's thoughts on the elements, causing Katara to look at Aang in disbelief.

"I can make ice and control mist a bit, but hot steam? Can you do that? And... is that useful?" asked Katara, this time more animated and with more curiosity in her eyes.

"Yes. You can even heat your water without a flame, Shisui told me. I know the Fire Nation has done bad things...but Shisui is a good person, and you shouldn't put everyone in this village in the same box for the actions some people have committed," Aang advised Katara, who looked a little uncomfortable at the mention of the Fire Nation.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Though the attacks on the South Pole had stopped, the wound on the tribe still lingered. The men resorted to piracy for medicine and educational materials for their children, while the women could only pray that no wild animals from the South Pole would attack the tribe during the times they were alone with their children.

For example, Sokka had scars on his body from fighting the Polar Bear Dogs that occasionally approached the tribe, and though he always told Katara not to help him, she did.

This made for a good synergy and fighting experience between the two siblings against the dangerous creatures of this cold place. But the rest of Aang's words made Katara think deeply.

Could she replicate what Aang was saying? She had never tried because she never thought she would need to, and her first thought when she heard about it was that she could not.

It was like trying to grab water she couldn't see, which was why the occasional cold mist was so tedious for her to manipulate. But now... Katara began to move her arms in graceful motions, drawing the snow around her toward her.

Aang watched with interest and noticed something strange; Katara's movements were outside the normal standard one would expect, but in that disorder, he could see the Tai Chi symbol.

'Shisui was right, there are some wonderful and cool people besides the Avatar,' Aang thought as he watched Katara melt the snow and turn it into water.

This was easy, she could do this before and it was no big deal. But now, in the Waterbender's eyes, this was like the first step of something bigger. Katara's blue eyes glowed brightly as her movements became a little stiffer.

The water she was controlling trembled, and she became anxious, but suddenly she felt the warm wind around her gently raise her arms and make them move in a certain way.

She watched as Aang did waterbending basics move, but bending the air. The soft, warm breeze guided Katara, patiently showing her what to do.

"Water does not force its states, it just moves towards them. Remember, water has many concepts, one of them is its ability to change, its many changes.

Change with the water, flow with the water, be the water," Aang's last words made Katara release the breath she was holding, this time letting go.

The water Katara was handling stopped shaking and quickly turned from cold water to bubbling. Water vapor condensed around it as it continued to flow with the movements Aang was instructing.

'I'm not helping her anymore,' Aang thought as he stopped helping Katara and let the water evaporate, controlling a cloud of extremely hot steam.

"This is..." muttered Katara, amazed at what was in front of her.

How easy it was! Well, easy because she had excellent guidance during the process. When she remembered the help Aang had given her, her cheeks got quite warm, but it was hardly noticeable because of her skin color.

Katara then condensed the steam into small drops of water and let them fall like rain. Then she picked up those water droplets to freeze them, melt them, make them steam, and start the cycle again.

It became easier and easier for her to make these kinds of transitions, but soon she had to stop manipulating the water because she had run out. She was sweating and breathing heavily, but there was a smile of excitement on her face.

"Congratulations," Aang said, causing Katara to nod as she looked up at the southern lights in the sky.

"Aang, do you know Waterbending?" asked Katara, causing Aang to lower his head as he laughed in embarrassment.

"No, I only know the basic moves, but I don't know how to do Waterbending," Aang answered truthfully, and a smile appeared on Katara's lips as she approached him.

"I can teach you what I know! Though I have learned much from your words now, perhaps I could use my teachings as payment for your knowledge," Katara suggested, causing Aang to look into her eyes.

"Good! I would be more than happy to study with you. I see you are very talented in waterbending, you will surely make an excellent teacher," Aang complimented, causing Katara to let out a small chuckle of satisfaction.

"Yes, first learn to keep an arm's length," Sokka's voice was suddenly heard in the distance.

The young warrior stood with his spear on his shoulder, his back resting on a large mound of ice. Aang had already sensed his approach by the change in the airflow, but he had been distracted by Katara long enough to forget a key point.

Sokka didn't like him getting too close to his sister.

"I'm an adult now, Sokka!" Katara complained loudly, causing Sokka to shake his head as he looked at his sister with his blue eyes that seemed to glow quite brightly when his face was in the shadow of the ice.

"Katara, being an adult doesn't make you mature. There are certain things in this world that you have to understand first," Sokka advised before he started to walk towards them, almost stumbling.

"Katara, I told you not to play in the snow like that," Sokka growled under his breath as he avoided falling again because of his sister.

She had tangled her brother's feet the first time, but as always after that, Sokka started doing little hops to avoid permanent contact with the ground.

Soon, Sokka moved closer to them and hugged Aang's shoulder, noticing the unusual temperature the boy was emitting. Without thinking about it, he pulled the Airbender away from his sister while pointing at some stars in the sky.

"Hey Aang, do you know anything about astronomy? It's a very useful tool for long journeys... When are you going to leave the Water Tribe?" Sokka's questions made the atmosphere a little tenser, but Aang just laughed.

"Don't worry, I'll travel when my purpose here is fulfilled," Aang said without feeling uncomfortable about Sokka's attitude, he could even say he liked seeing how overprotective the young man was of his sister.

"Sokka, you fool! Aang will learn from my waterbending, and what better place to learn than at the South Pole?" Katara retorted, bending several snowballs as she threw them at her brother.

Sokka, demonstrating his ability to react and defend himself, freed Aang while quickly swinging his spear, leaving behind remnants. He then swung his weapon quickly, pushing back all the surrounding snow, preventing his sister from easily playing a trick on him.

"Your spear technique is quite good," Aang praised, genuinely impressed by Sokka's skills.

"Your flattery doesn't work," Sokka said with a straight face, although there was a bit of happiness in his tone.

"Sokka! Why are you being so rude to Aang?" asked Katara, trying to tug at her brother's ear, but he just shook his head.

"Because he's the Avatar, Katara. Who knows what dangers his enemies will bring to our people? What if he makes the Fire Nation want to wipe us out completely this time? We cannot withstand their attack!" Sokka pointed at Aang as he said these words, causing the Avatar's smile to tighten.

"I don't think so... huh?" as Aang was about to say something else, he sensed something strange in the area and soon knew the answer.

A rather fat ethereal cat was running towards him at high speed. Soon, an orange cat materialized in full form, with an envelope in its mouth, which it dropped as it looked at Aang questioningly.

"Musu! How's it going?" Aang bent down to pick up the envelope and tried to pet the cat as he looked at the two brothers.

"Look, guys! A friendly spirit brought me a letter!" Aang waved the envelope in his hand, but Sokka and Katara's actions made him uncomfortable.

Sokka aimed the tip of his spear at Musu, the chi coursing so furiously through his body that it even pushed the air around him. Meanwhile, Katara had covered her arms with soft tentacles of water and looked askance at the orange cat.

"This is what I was talking about! Avatars are followed by danger and strange situations, a spirit? It could be like that monster from back then!" said Sokka with anger in his voice, but there was also a deep touch of fear in his words.

"Aang! Get out of the way, it's a spirit!" said Katara, who tried to pull Aang away from the orange cat with one of her water whips, but Aang just dodged and grabbed Musu with his hand.

"Stop!" yelled Aang, and the tip of Sokka's spear stopped right in his chest, where he was holding the fat cat, who just looked at the whole situation with a very humanized look of derision.

"It's not dangerous, it's a friend... well, a friend of Shisui's," Aang said, releasing Musu, who quickly started licking its fur as if it didn't want to have any traces of Aang on its body.

"Are you sure? Spirits are never good, especially weird-looking ones," Sokka said suspiciously, while Katara believed Aang and let the water out of her arms.

"It's a cat, it's not weird. And it even brought me a message," as Aang opened the letter to read it, Musu let Katara stroke its chin and let out a soft purr.

"Can a cat be that fat?" Sokka's question made Musu's fur rise wildly, but the young man just pointed his spear at him menacingly.

"Yes, it can," Aang replied carelessly, causing Musu to meow in protest.

"You say it's friends with Shisui? What strange tastes," Sokka said mockingly, drawing an ugly look from Katara.

"No, he seems to be Princess Azula's pet, Shisui's fiancée," Aang finally finished reading the letter, feeling several complex emotions at the moment, hesitating whether to tell the two brothers.

"Oh, no wonder he's fat, he's noble!" sneered Sokka again, causing Katara to throw water from the nearby sea at him in annoyance, but he dodged it.

"Guys... I think I need to talk to you about something important," Aang finally said, knowing that hiding the situation would only make things worse.

It was best to tell them about Shisui's upcoming mission to the South Pole with a certain Vice Admiral Zhao so that they could at least all coordinate to solve this situation.

"Zhao? Zhao?!!!? Well, Aang, well, put me in touch with that Sage... my revenge is about to be fulfilled," Sokka said with deep hatred, and the burn on his back seemed to burn again, even though it had healed.

He's going to use his new technique on that bastard Zhao!