Chapter Twenty: Change Is Chaos In Disguise

"What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?"

Arnook looked down at Katara with a steel gaze that indicated that he was sympathetic to the situation, and I mentally groaned. The Fire Nation could breach the North Pole at any moment, and Pakku was daring not to train Aang because of Katara. This was so ridiculous it made my blood boil. However, it wasn't my place to speak out. Putting Hahn and the other stupid boys who challenged me in their place was one thing, but confronting the royalty of another nation on a long standing tradition when I was an outsider was asking for trouble.

Even Katara was at a disadvantage, and I watched her sigh and slowly nod. "Yes. Please."

Arnook shifted his gaze from her to Pakku and back. "I suspect he might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologize to him."

She looked back at Aang with a furrowed brow. His training was the most important out of all of us, and there weren't any other options.

"Fine." Katara's tone was reluctant, her eyes slightly narrowing at Arnook and Pakku.

I felt my lip curl with disgust at the smug grin that formed on the old master's face.

"I'm waiting, little girl," Pakku said.

What I wouldn't give to wipe that grin right off his face, and it seemed Katara felt the same. I had witnessed glimpses of her bending ability, but it wasn't until now that I realized how much potential she truly had. She screamed at Pakku, Arnook, Yue, and the rest of the councilmen, rage filling her voice, and with each rising octave of her tone, the throne room reacted. Massive cracks split through the floor, pots shattered, splashing their contents everywhere, and the whole hall shook with fury.

Aang glanced around with wide eyes. "Uh, Katara?"

She stared up at Pakku. "I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me!"

Yue, Arnook, and the other councilmen gasped at her declaration while Pakku looked unmoved. Without another word, Katara stormed outside, and I decided to quickly follow. She stood at the top of the massive staircase, her body shaking.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright, Katara?"

She flexed her hands into fists. "No, I'm not! Who does that old man think he is!"

Sokka and Aang came running after us.

"Are you crazy, Katara?" Sokka stopped beside her. "You're not gonna win this fight."

She pulled off her parka and tossed it into her brother's arms. "I know! I don't care!"

Katara rushed down the stairs, and we followed.

"You don't have to do this for me." Aang ran up beside her. "I can find another teacher."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not doing it for you. Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy."

We reached the bottom of the stairs and waited. Pakku came trotting down not to long after, and he walked past us without so much as a glance.

Katara stepped forward. "So, you decided to show up?"

"Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong," Pakku said while keeping his back to us.

Katara's anger filled her eyes, and she whipped Pakku across the back of his head with a stream of water. That seemed to get his attention, for he turned around with a glare.

"Fine! You want to fight so bad?" He raised his hands into a starting form. "Study closely!"

A fight broke out, drawing the attention of Arnook, Yue, Yugoda, and other citizens that were close by. Katara had no chance of beating a master, but she was holding her own better than most would've expected. A heavy dose of adrenaline and anger always provided the perfect power boost.

Aang glanced at Sokka and me. "Do you guys really think Pakku will change his mind?"

Sokka was about to answer, but he was pummeled by a stray stream of water from the fight. After realizing he had only been slightly stunned, I looked at Aang.

"Shouldn't you already know the answer to that?" I said.

He furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

"Katara is Water Tribe, so she can do whatever she wants. However–" I folded my arms. "I find it a little hypocritical that you think Air Nomad traditions should be respected no matter what, but you have no problem disrespecting someone else's."

"But this is different," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Is it?"

My attention returned to the fight as gasps erupted around us. Katara had been trapped under a dozen icicles, and Pakku's precision was so perfect that she hadn't been harmed. Her hair had come undone, and she glared at him while struggling against the ice trapping her.

"This fight is over." Pakku turned to walk away.

"Come back here!" Katara continued to struggle. "I'm not finished yet!"

"Yes, you are." His face remained calm, but there was a small trace of a smug grin. "I admit you have some skill, but you are still a girl. I have no interest in training you or the Avatar. You can accept this or leave."

"That does it," I mumbled through gritted teeth and stomped out into the open field. "You really have some nerve, you arrogant jerk!"

Pakku glanced me up and down with a sneer. "What's this? Another little girl who think she has the right to fight?"

Oh yeah. I'm not wearing my nation's colors. To answer his question, I took a deep breath and punched at the tall, icy wall that bordered the field.

Just like before, a tight, compressed ball of air struck the wall and created a huge dent. Gasps erupted behind me. Pakku shifted his gaze from me to the damage I made before his eyes slightly widened. He glanced me over a second time, his stern expression weakening with realization.

"You…." he said.

"I don't need your permission to fight." I clenched my fists at my sides. "And how dare you refuse to train my friends! The only reason we came here is because the Fire Nation completely wiped out the water-benders of the Southern Tribe! Katara's the last one!"

Pakku gave a small shrug, his face returning to its usual calm and slightly stern expression. "While that is unfortunate, this isn't the Southern Tribe. We have customs and rules that deserve to be preserved and adhered to."

"And what about Aang? He's the Avatar. The Fire Nation will be at your gates any day now, and you're willing to put your whole tribe in danger for some stupid, sexist crap!" I said.

Narrowing his eyes, he approached me. "Then the Avatar should've obeyed my rules. I'm not going to be pushed around by bunch of ignorant children, especially an outsider like you."

I stood my ground. "Then maybe we will leave!"

"What?" Feeling a gust of air, I noticed Aang had sped over to stand beside me. "No, we won't leave. Tashi didn't mean that."

"Yes, I did. If Pakku refuses to teach you, then there's no point in us being here." I looked away from Aang to meet Pakku's gaze. "And when the Fire Nation comes knocking with their hundreds of ships, when the Avatar is long gone, when your people are lying dead in the snow, when you and the other water-benders, including the women, are rotting away in prison, when Chief Arnook has been dethroned and killed, and when Princess Yue has been stolen to serve as a concubine for the Fire Lord, hey, at least you can pat yourself on the back for not teaching an icky, little girl how to fight."

Once again, gasps erupted amongst the crowd at my audacity, but I didn't care. It was the truth, and I was never one for subtly. The distasteful frown melted from Pakku's face, and he quirked his eyebrow with what seemed to be amusement.

"It appears you've inherited Kalsang's abrasiveness. He was never one to mince words either," he said.

Aang cocked his head to the side with a questionable hum while I blinked. Whatever rebuttal I had prepared was robbed from my lips, and I tried process what transpired. No way. It couldn't be, but it was the only explanation if he knew my grandfather. This grouchy jerk was a member of the White Lotus?

Noting my stunned silence, Pakku smiled. "However, you make a fair point. If your friends care so much about the tribe's well being, then they will apologize."

With a simple glance at Katara, the icicles imprisoning her melted.

His mouth drooped into a frown, and his eyes narrowed. "Starting with her."

"Why should I?" Katara picked up her necklace while she strode over to us. "There's no reason why women can't learn, especially with a war going on. And as Tashi said, we didn't come here for a vacation. We're on a mission to defeat the Fire Nation, and I need to be able to fight."

Pakku was silent, and when I turned my gaze towards him, I saw that he was completely stunned. His eyes were fixated on Katara's necklace as she fastened it back on.

"Where did you get that?" he said.

Realizing he was addressing her, Katara raised an eyebrow. "Get what?"

"That necklace." He pointed at her neck. "Where did you get my necklace?"

She stepped back. "This isn't yours. My Gran-Gran passed it down from my mother to me."

His calm expression started to fall apart, and desperation filled his voice. "What was your grandmother's name?"

"Kanna," she said.

Blinking a few times, Pakku glanced her over, and his whole demeanor changed. His brow furrowed, and his eyes softened with what I interpreted as sorrow.

"How did I not see it before? You look just like her," he muttered more to himself while he shook his head. "I made that necklace for your grandmother sixty years ago. She was the love of my life."

Her eyes widened. "My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?"

He nodded. "I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her, but then she left without word. No one knew where she went."

"She left because she didn't love you, did she? It was an arranged marriage." She folded her arms. "Gran-Gran wouldn't let your tribe's stupid customs run her life. It must've taken a lot of courage."

Pakku mulled over Katara's words. "Your grandmother… is she well, or…?"

She smiled. "Gran-gran's alive and well. She's watching over the other women and children in the Southern Tribe."

"I see." He still seemed to be deep in thought, and it was a few minutes before he addressed us again. "Then I will agree to teach you."

"Huh?" I blinked.

"What?" Aang's jaw dropped.

Katara's smile grew from ear to ear. "Really? You mean it?"

He nodded. "I'll see you and the Avatar at sunrise."

Pakku turned and continued down the path that lead to the rest of the citadel.

"Oh, thank you, Master Pakku." Katara waved. "I promise I won't let you down!"

I placed my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow. "So a win through nepotism. Who'd have thought?"

Aang furrowed his brow. "Nepotism?"

"Who cares how it happened?" Katara did a small jump and giggled. "I finally have a chance to master water-bending! Yes!"

….

That night, Katara, Aang, and I had retired to the guest house. Aang was playing with Momo, and Katara was absolutely giddy and rambled on about all of the things she was going to learn. I had enveloped myself in preparing dinner. Despite having more ingredients and cookware at hand, it was proving to be a more daunting task than I expected. I just wasn't familiar with Water Tribe cuisine and tried to make due with two pots of soup. One was filled with seaweed noodles and fish that I had crisped over the fire while the other was plain noodles.

Katara wandered over and smelled the steam rising from the first pot. "How's it coming along?"

"Good. I hope." I dipped the spoon and held out a bit of soup for her to taste. "What do you think? I used some of the herbs we had left over, but I'm still not sure."

She tasted it and smacked her lips. "Not bad for your first try."

I took out another spoon. "Here, Aang. You can try the other one."

He walked over and tasted the spoon. "Hmm. At least it's not sea prunes. Although, I wish we had some tofu or dumplings to go with it."

Sokka pushed his way through the thick curtains that served at the door to the house. A crestfallen look drenched his face, and he kicked his sleeping bag with a huff.

Katara looked at him. "Let me guess. Princess Yue?"

He groaned. "Turns out the reason she ditched me last night is because Chief Arnook arranged her engagement with someone else. This is so unfair. She likes me, and we can't even go out on one date together."

"Well, what did you expect, Sokka?" I continued stirring one of the pots. "Yue's a princess, and royalty and nobility have to follow certain duties. You can't just go running off with them for some fleeting love affair."

"But arranged?" Katara moved to sit down on her sleeping bag. "I mean, it's just so wrong. How can they justify marrying people to someone they barely know? That they might not even love?"

"Hey, your grandmother was a special case. It's way more common than you think." I set the lids back on both pots, so they could simmer. "That was actually gonna be my fate until everything went down in flames."

"Really?" Aang said.

"Yeah. I can still hear my grandmother now." With a small laugh, I did my best to mimic her voice. "Tashi, you're so pretty. You'll be the most beautiful girl in the village, and all the boys'll gladly go to war for you. When you turn sixteen, we'll take you to Ba Sing Se. You'll marry a rich noble and have many air-bender babies. At least ten or twenty."

Katara furrowed her brow. "And you were fine with that?"

"Of course. Before Aang returned, I was the only air-bender left. I simply accepted it as my responsibility," I said.

She glanced away and bit her lip. "Do you regret not being married now?"

"What's to regret? Things changed. Some for the better and some for the worst." I shrugged. "I tried to fulfill my grandparents' wishes with Jet, but at this point, I'm not gonna worry about it until after we defeat the Fire Nation."

Katara patted her brother on the shoulder. "Maybe you can just be friends with Yue."

"Yeah. But I was hoping…." Sokka sighed. "Never mind."

Aang walked over to the doorway. "Hey, Tashi, can I speak with you alone?"

I stood. "Sure. Katara, could you watch the food? It should be almost done."

"No problem." Katara took my spot next to the pots.

I followed Aang outside and shivered a little from the abrupt change in temperature. He stopped once we were a good distance from the guest house.

I folded my arms. "What's up, Aang?"

"Katara and I had a talk, and I've been rethinking about training you," he said.

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "And what changed your mind?"

"I don't agree with what you plan to do, but I also realized that you're choosing this path because it's all you've ever known. You think that the only solution to your problem with Zhao is through revenge and violence, and that's just not true." He smiled. "You need to be shown that there can be another way, and you won't learn that if I abandon you."

"Fair enough," I said.

I had no interest in being deterred from my intentions. However, learning all that I could from Aang would be beneficial. It was quite the dilemma.

I frowned. "And what if I don't change my ways after everything you've taught me?"

His smile faltered a little, but he shook his head, his eyes shining with confidence, or perhaps over-confidence. "You will. As my friend, Bumi, says, 'You just have to keep your mind open to the possibilities.'"

I nodded and bowed. "Very well. I'll take you up on this challenge, Master Aang."

His smile brightened, and with a laugh, he bowed back. "I won't let you down, my new pupil."

I looked up to the night sky. It was clear, giving an amazing view of all of the stars, and the moon was still a small crescent. I grimaced, my thoughts wandering back to Zhao.

"It'll be such a shame. Your skin looks its most radiant under the moonlight."

Anger filled my stomach, and I tried my best to quell it. Once again, I knew that training under Aang would be difficult, but I also couldn't blame him now. He couldn't help but be naive at his age.

Aang walked over to me with a furrowed brow. "Are you okay?"

For the first time, I decided to be honest. "No, I'm not."

"Come on, let's go back inside." Aang took me by the hand and led me back to the guest house. "Always remember that forgiveness is an option."