Author's Note: In studying the ATLA world map, I've recently discovered a glaring error in this fic I never noticed before: the Western Air Temple is actually north of the Fire Nation. So in Aang and co's journey to the Golden City, they passed over it early on to head to the Western Air Temple and then went back to the outer islands of the Fire Nation. In addition, the Fire Nation is small. Like, really small. Considering how much the Gaang travels around the world in the show's series finale alone, they could easily cross the entirety of the Fire Nation in like a day or two tops, especially in this world when they don't have to stay hidden as much.

With that in mind, I'm going to change two canon facts from the show. In the Distorted universe, the Western Air Temple is actually more to the west of the Fire Nation. Also, the Fire Nation is bigger and has a whole lot more islands extending to the south, so now there's a southern archipelago (where Zuko and Azula's village is) and an eastern archipelago (like in the show). I've spent the past few weeks trying to figure out a way to fit this story to more accurately reflect the canon world map but there's really no easy way to do this because I've come too far so I'm going with the excuse that Aang's literally in a different world.

Interlude: Sorrows of the Moonlit Mother

Eight Years Ago

The capital of the Southern Water Nation, Aniak'to

The old woman rubbed the length of mooseram pelt between her fingers and tutted to herself over both the quality and quantity of it. "Pah," said Kanna. "This is all the hunters could bring home?"

She glanced over at Kya out of the corner of her eye, a much younger woman, who absentmindedly wove a basket from tussock grass, but even from across the room Kanna could tell she did such a bad job of it that it would never hold any water. Kya stared out the frosted window, her forehead creased just slightly, barely paying any attention to the sorry excuse for a basket coming together in her hands.

"This wool is far too fine," Kanna continued. "Almost brittle. We can't do anything with this - what do they expect us to weave from this? Silk?"

"I suppose so," said Kya, who kept staring.

Kanna frowned. "The wool from our own livestock is not enough to last us through the winter. I'd hoped that they would find more out on the tundra."

"I fear for those who live in tents." Kya turned her focus back to her work. "We are lucky to live in a palace of wood, ice, and stone."

"There is nothing we can do for taboo-breakers," Kanna said, her voice low. She examined Kya's basket more closely and realized it was not meant to be a basket at all - it had grass, but also discarded yarn from other projects dyed blue. Spirit beads had been woven into it in a way that signified the piece as a protective amulet when laid flat, though quite a larger one than normal. "Is that for them?"

"It is," said Kya, speaking quickly. "I know it is forbidden to give them food or clothing or anything to directly help them through the long winter, but this is just an amulet. Made from things we don't need."

"One that will also provide insulation in their tents," Kanna observed. Protective amulets were not forbidden to give to taboo-breakers; if anything, it was encouraged to help them see the folly of disrespecting the spirits, who could be merciful. "You're very kind. And clever."

Kya breathed a sigh of relief and returned to staring out the window, across Frostmirror Lake and to the scattering of tents on the opposite shore, outside the safety of the city walls. "I have faith in the spirits to protect them, even despite what they did. And don't worry, I know not to get too close to them, lest the spirits confuse me for one and label me taboo-breaker as well."

Kanna chuckled. "Now you sound like my worthless husband."

Kya turned to her with an abrupt gasp and looked around nervously, but the room was only big enough for the two of them, the loom, and baskets of weaving implements. "Mother! You can't let anyone hear of you disrespecting the emperor that way!"

"Oh, I won't tell anyone if you won't."

Kya laughed and they returned to their textiles. Kanna stood from her simple bench to rifle through the baskets filled with bolts of cloth; wool from the animals in the South Pole, silks from the Fire Nation, cashmere and cotton from the Earth Kingdom. She'd hoped to save the wool for a nice quilt, but Sokka grew quickly and he needed a new parka. But there wouldn't be enough time for that tonight - the whale oil lamp burned low, and with it their only source of light. This room was too small for a hearth flame, so the two women kept warm with layers of clothing, blankets, and fur-lined hats.

She stretched and wiggled her fingers for warmth and circulation and was about to suggest heading to sleep when a servant announced herself from behind the draping of animal skins that served as their door.

"Come in," said Kanna.

The young woman prostrated herself on the cold granite floor. "Venerable Queen," she said, for the wife of the emperor was never Empress. "Lady Kya. Prince Hakoda has returned from his campaign on Kyoshi Island."

Campaign. That was one word for it. Kanna would have called it a "massacre." She nodded to Kya and her daughter-in-law stood; that meant they couldn't end their night quite yet.

The emperor's palace and surrounding grounds covered a wide area, nearly a quarter the size of the surrounding city and elevated above it. The parts of the palace composed primarily of wood and stone occupied only the ground level, surrounded by concentric square walls with the warmest and most secure part in the center. The central chamber, known as the Whale's Belly, felt positively humid compared to the rest of the palace, with a blazing fire taking up the center of the room tended to at all hours of the day by royal servants. A pleasant ashy smell permeated the chamber.

The imperial family took their meals in the Whale's Belly, which also had corridors leading off to their separate bedchambers. Stretched animal skins depicting historical battle scenes lined the walls and provided another level of insulation. A whale's rib cage hung from the ceiling, giving the room its name, and polar bear pelts covered the floor. The most striking part of the Whale's Belly, however, was the grand staircase made of ice leading to the palace's upper level, a pair of three-tiered stone fountains flanking the sides of it. Kanna and Kya walked up these stairs carefully as they were slick with melt. The upper level of the palace, dubbed Winter's Heaven, was carved entirely from ice. From the outside, onlookers would see it surrounded on all sides by smoke from the palace's numerous chimneys. Before the woodsmoke could stain the ice black, waterbenders climbed onto the palace roof daily to maintain the pristine, otherworldly quality of the ice palace that looked as if it floated in the sky.

Winter's Heaven was made up of only a few chambers aside from the throne room, mostly for ice sculptures and rooms for the royal family to practice waterbending or meditation. A few chambers had been devoted entirely to spirit worship. Kanna did not spend much time up here anymore if she could avoid it - every chamber had a constant chill due to a lack of any fires, for obvious reasons, and it made her old bones ache.

The throne room was the biggest chamber in Winter's Heaven by far. Ice pillars ornately carved with fish and seals lined the room all the way up to the raised platform upon which the throne sat, with waterfalls instead of walls all around the room. In the depths of winter, only a few weeks from now, even the waterfalls froze. A pair of bonfires in raised plinths sat on either side of the emperor - an old man who sat on a wide chair draped with fur-lined animal skins. Kanna took a seat on a far less grand teak bench to the side and slightly behind her husband while Kya sat on a longer two-tiered ice bench meant for the rest of the royal family behind even Kanna. Right now, she sat on it alone.

Emperor Kvichak said nothing to his Queen Consort or daughter-in-law as they arrived. His skin was wrinkled and leathery and hung from his jowls, making him look sickly. Kanna had always been reminded of a pelican-gull when she looked at him, not helped by his hair turning as white as snow when he aged, currently in braids piled on top of his head. Normally, he would signal to his guard to allow the advisers and royal court to filter inside, but due to the hour it would only be Hakoda. The true battle debrief would take place in the morning.

Hakoda strode into the throne room still dressed for battle with his wolf helm - the symbol of the royal clan - on his head. A little girl trailed at his heels wrapped in layers of thick blankets, no more than seven years old. Roughly the same age as Kanna's oldest grandson, Sokka. She shivered with either fear or cold but probably both, especially since she wore only a simple blue robe tied with a darker cloth belt and a pair of shoes. Her hair was a dark shade of auburn, which meant this girl was not Water Tribe. Kanna exchanged a quick glance with Kya, who wore concern for the child all over her face.

The prince fell to one knee before his emperor and removed his helm. The little girl looked up at them with wide eyes before remembering her manners and fell into a deep bow, her forehead pressed against the ice.

"Welcome home, my son," said Kvichak. "News of your success has already reached me. The spirits smile upon you."

"Yes, father," said Hakoda. He was a strong man with a proud warrior's wolf-tail and loose hair on the sides, with beaded braids hanging near his left ear. His neatly trimmed beard and prominent cheekbones gave him a distinguished air. "The rebellion on Kyoshi has been crushed, its leaders and their homes put to the torch so that they will not rise again. The spirits did, indeed, smile upon me." Facing downward, they could not see the scorn in his eyes when he said his last sentence, but Kanna heard it in her son's voice.

Kvichak nodded his head to the girl and spoke in a clipped tone. "Who is the child?"

"A daughter of Kyoshi," said Hakoda. "And a gift for my wife." He fell back on his knees and looked up at Kya, gesturing to the girl. "Her name is Suki, and she's a descendant of the island's woman warriors. I have adopted her as a ward. Now you have another daughter."

"Woman warriors," Kvichak grumbled, waving his hand dismissively. "Pah."

Hakoda's eyes twinkled with amusement. "They weren't very good, obviously, which is why we crushed them all so easily."

Kya gave the girl her most encouraging smile and stepped down from the royal platform to put her arms around the child, who accepted the gesture as if in a daze. If anyone else had been present in the throne room, Kya's action would have been considered improper. "You will be safe here, sweetie, don't you worry. Oh, you're so cold."

Kanna pitied the girl. She was safe, but only as long as the people of Kyoshi Island continued to behave. Nothing more than a hostage.

Kvichak leaned back in his chair. "The palace already has one of their dancers in our employ, don't we? We don't need another."

"Mizuka has gotten quite old, father," Hakoda reminded him. "She is the same representative of Kyoshi Island that we've had since the island was conquered in the first place nearly eighty years ago."

Kanna decided now was the best time to speak up. "Mizuka is the last survivor and practitioner of their native art now that the rebellion has been crushed, correct?" At Hakoda's nod, she continued. "Then perhaps it would be prudent for the girl to learn the dances of her people. It would be a shame if all traces of their culture were lost - and I've always liked Mizuka's dances."

Kvichak peered at the girl with his icy eyes who had already fallen asleep in Kya's arms, her exhaustion winning out over fear. "Very well. The girl can take dance lessons."

"Thank you, my husband," Kanna said, nodding toward him.

"Tomorrow, we will celebrate my son's triumph," said Kvichak. "A feast for the spirits who have enabled his victory over the rebels!"

This time, Kanna did not miss the derision in her son's eyes.

One Year Later

"Katara, put that down."

"But Dad! How come Sokka can play with it?"

Kya dropped to her knees in front of her daughter. "Come on, sweetie. Hand it over, that toy isn't for you."

"It's not a toy!" Sokka sputtered, dropping his boomerang. "That is a brutal Water Tribe killing implement! It's my favorite club!"

Hakoda glared down at them all and Kanna felt the chill of the emperor he would one day become. Even with the fire blazing in the hearth of the family's private quarters the skin on her arms and neck prickled. "Katara, you know little girls are forbidden from using those." Her face fell and she dropped the club on Sokka's foot, which had the boy squealing in pain and hopping on one leg. "Sokka, be a man and suck it up. If you used those weapons better you wouldn't have to worry about your little sister taking them from you."

Sufficiently cowed, both children bowed their heads. "Yes, father."

The prince shot a look at Kya and departed through the curtain of caribou-panther pelts, leaving Kanna and Kya to prepare the children for breakfast with the emperor. The family quarters, emulating the look of a roundhouse used by the people in town but with more rooms branching from it, were a mess of weapons and polar dog skins draped over various objects that Sokka used to play pretend hunting games.

Kanna clapped her hands together. "Sokka, put back all of your father's weapons," she said. "On the racks, in their proper places." Sullen, the boy picked up armfuls of spears and mumbled something to himself. "Katara, go find Suki. She should be at her dancing lesson."

With a pout, Katara jerked her thumb toward the blubber lamp and alcove with the children's sleeping furs. A shelled swordfish hung on the wall over the alcove, as if for protection. "She's right there. She never went."

Suki's head popped out from the pile of furs and she sheepishly clambered down from the raised platform. "Sorry," she said. Even a year later, the girl from Kyoshi still made herself scarce whenever Hakoda was in the room and had not yet warmed up to the rest of the family, at least when the adults were around.

"Why does she get those lessons if she's not even gonna go?" Katara asked. She stood underneath a pair of antlers hanging on the wall. "I wanna take them instead!"

"Because you're not from her island, dear," said Kya, fixing a beaded circlet in her hair.

Katara kicked at a loose piece of ice. "So what?"

Breakfast, as always, was a sullen affair, and taken in the Whale's Belly. Kvichak sat at the head of the table while Kanna sat at his left and Hakoda on his right. This morning, they ate poached petrel eggs and tubers with akutaq made with cloudberries prepared by the servants rather than Kanna or Kya. Hakoda began trying to discuss his latest invention, a whale ship - a low boat with a curved tail above water while the majority of the ship's bulk stayed submerged, perfect for offshore raids. The prince argued that his ships would effectively obfuscate the size of their invading force, but Kvichak silenced him, preferring the traditional tribal ships they'd used to great effect already all through the war.

"This is alright," said Hakoda, after he finished chewing. "But I wish you had made breakfast this morning, Mother."

Kanna smiled. "Kya and I are planning a wonderful supper tonight. Seaweed stew made with sculpin and char. And I may throw in some of your favorite… sea prunes!"

"See, kids? This is why I say to always treasure a mother's wisdom." He tipped his tea toward her and grinned back. "You know what sounds good with that? Chickenpig over a bed of spiced rice, shipped from the territories."

"If that is what you desire, my son, then we will see what we can get."

"No."

All heads turned to the emperor when he spoke and Hakoda frowned at him. "Why not, Father? Isn't the whole point of this war to partake in the rest of the world's bounty so we don't have to settle with the scarcity of our resources in the poles? To punish them for their greed?"

"The fruits of the sea are plentiful enough," Kvichak said with a scowl. "We must be grateful for all the spirits have given us! You are a fool to not understand that."

Hakoda had been about to retort when Sokka let out a loud yelp, his arms flailing. "Ack! Ith fozen to my fathe!" His cup of tea hung from his upper lip, its contents turned to ice that stuck to his mouth.

Kanna's eyes immediately went to Katara, who covered her mouth to keep from laughing together with Suki.

Hakoda stood and waved his hand to melt the ice, causing the teacup to fall to the floor and shatter, spilling its contents. "Katara! What did you do?"

The girl's eyes widened and she crossed her arms, petulant. "It wasn't me! Sokka's just a bad waterbender."

"Control your daughter!" Kvichak seethed, slamming his fists against the table. He turned on Kya. "You are the first woman married into the Wolf Clan to bear more than one child since before my grandfather's generation! And you give us that unruly, misbehaving girl! Begone from my sight!"

Kya stood and bowed deep, grabbing Katara by the hand and pulling her out of the room. Kanna followed after her and Kvichak said nothing. From the fierce look on Hakoda's face, she suspected Sokka would be due for a reprimand as well. Poor Suki shrunk into her chair so that her wide eyes could barely be seen over the table.

Kanna, Kya, and Katara retreated down the corridor back to the family chamber, where Katara promptly ripped her hand out of her mother's grip and turned on both of them. "Why does grandfather need to overreact so much?"

"You're not supposed to use your waterbending for things like that," said Kya, her voice stern. "You know that, Katara."

"Why not? I'm a better bender than Sokka is! It's not fair!"

Kya let out a deep sigh and knelt down to the same level as her daughter. "Your brother will be emperor one day," she said. "And you have to use your power to support him and your future husband however you can. There's no shame in the duties we are expected to carry out for our tribe and our family."

"But I don't wanna do that," Katara said. "I wanna fight."

Kanna folded her hands in front of her. "Katara," she said. "Your mother is right - there is no shame in healing or cooking or building a home." Katara had been about to raise her voice to protest but Kanna held up a hand to stop her. "But I do think that every woman deserves the choice of whether to follow those traditions or not, even if our people do not believe that. I planned to wait until you were older, but now I offer this choice to you: if you like, I can teach you how to use your waterbending to fight. To defend yourself."

Katara's eyes shone and she joined her hands together in front of her face. "Yes! Yes, Gran-Gran, please, please, please!"

"Be warned, my granddaughter," she continued, her voice low. "It will not be easy and you must keep it a secret from anyone except us."

And thus Katara's tutelage under her grandmother began, late at night and after her healing lessons. She took to it well, and Katara kept her word about keeping it a secret, though Kanna was unsure of what she would do when Katara got older and stronger. With formal training, she would do better than Kanna and Hama ever did in their youths, who had trained and taught each other based on what they observed from the men. She still hadn't told Hama that she had begun training Katara, either.

Another evening found Kanna and Kya alone together in the weaving room again. This year the hunters brought back even less and now they worked with the previous year's scraps. The worry that this winter would be more brutal than the last lingered at the backs of their minds. With fears like that came desperation on the part of the other clans. As usual, Kya sat at her chair near the window overlooking Frostmirror Lake, gazing across the city with an occasional sigh.

"You worry for the children," Kanna said, sewing a patch onto Sokka's trousers.

"Of course I do," she admitted. "I fear for them and for what the other chiefs may try to do."

"We don't know if the other chiefs are behind the attacks," said Kanna, her voice soft. She reached over and patted Kya's knee. "You cannot let the fear get to you. Hakoda had also been targeted by rival clans when he was young and his grandfather rooted out his enemies. Kvichak will do the same." Kanna did not know if that last part was true, but she had to lie for Kya's sake.

"My children have been targeted more than Hakoda ever was," said Kya, locking her eyes with Kanna's and speaking in a harsh whisper. "You said it yourself. The other clans have never been so brazen. They think our emperor to be weak. He spurs on his enemies and alienates his friends. I have not been to my home at the Penguin Clan hall in three years."

"Hakoda will protect the children," Kanna said, neglecting to mention that it had been nearly fifty years since Kanna had been to her home among the Tigerseal Clan in the north. Kidnapping attempts while the clans volleyed for power among each other were a fact of life among the Water Tribes, especially under Kvichak's rule. Past emperors maintained a hold over rival clans like iron. "Have faith in your husband, at least. Even I will do what I must to keep them safe."

"As will I," said Kya, her gaze resolute. "Even if I may be powerless."

Kanna sighed and fished for a topic that might distract Kya and put her in a better mood, rubbing her hands together for warmth and smiling when she thought of one. "Have I ever told you the legend of Seiryu?"

Kya pursed her lips. "The first emperor?"

"No, no, that was never his true name," Kanna said, waving away the thought. "Emperor Aniak took the name Seiryu out of a grand desire to be seen as an all-powerful spirit. Think of it as a little family secret. The real Seiryu is a water dragon, the serpent of the cold moon."

"The cold moon," Kya repeated. "The one that Emperor Aniak used to begin this war."

"Indeed," said Kanna. "It was said that, in ancient times, Seiryu wed Sedna, the ice spirit who lived in the far north, during a time when there were always two moons in the sky. Their love was so strong that Seiryu soared with her all around the world, bringing ice and snow to the highest of mountains. In the winter, when Sedna was at her strongest, they would descend from the mountains and the skies and blanket the whole world in snow."

Kya chuckled. "This sounds like a child's story. How old do you think I am, Mother?"

"Never too old for a good story," said Kanna, and she lowered her voice because she loved telling stories as dramatically as possible. "Anyway, their love was passionate like fire, and though it was strong, passion with no understanding brought frequent fights. Every time they separated, they would split as far away from each other as possible, which is why the North and South poles are covered in rime and snow. Eventually, Sedna had enough of all the fighting and left him for good, and in his anger and sadness Seiryu retreated to his cold moon, visiting his former love every hundred years to see if she would take him back."

"And she never does, does she?"

"Only for three days at a time," Kanna said with a chuckle. "And then she gets tired of him again and kicks him back up to the sky! Tui and La, the ocean and the moon, always take the side of Sedna."

Kya shared her laugh. "I wonder what they fought about."

"It depends on who tells the story," Kanna said. "One version goes as far as to say Seiryu cut off her fingers to keep her from escaping him in her canoe. In others she doesn't even have fingers, but the flippers of a sea lion. But she always leaves him in every version of the tale, and so she has inspired many women to walk away from marriages they don't want." Kanna herself sometimes wished she could be that brave, but now she was old and settled with her lot in life, and more things were expected of her than other women.

Kya wrung her fingers together as if worried someone would come cut them off right then and there. "That sounds horrible!"

"Incidentally, Emperor Aniak did have a wife named Sedna, you know," Kanna continued. "She died in childbirth after having Kvichak's father. But before that, many believed her to be the ice spirit herself taking human form because Aniak's waterbending power so impressed her, which further supported his lofty idea of conquering the world under the name of the spirit Seiryu."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I've never been impressed by a man's waterbending!" Kya put a hand over her mouth as soon as the words escaped it but both women erupted into laughter anyway.

"I've seen seal jerky that's softer than your skin."

"Did you hear, Kanna? Some airbender nuns called and they want their robes back."

"No, Hama, they got confused because they saw you and thought one of their own stood up and started walking again."

"Are you losing your wits, you old bat? You used that same insult three minutes ago."

"Ha! As if. But I did say your hair looks like a pile of eelsnakes sitting atop your head, in case you were too deaf to hear me."

The two old women fell into step with each other as they climbed the icy staircase from the Whale's Belly to Winter's Heaven, hiking up their skirts and hobbling from the arthritis in their bones from the cold. Once they reached the top, Hama hooked her arm in Kanna's and beamed at her.

"Do you think that firebender man is going to be there today?" she asked Kanna, adjusting her shawl. Purely decorative, it was so thin and made out of a sheer material that it resembled a veil of frost. "The one who never wears a shirt, even in this cold?"

"I think his name is Xai Bau," said Kanna, considering the question. "He is rather new to the court. Kvichak prefers not to keep foreigners around for congregations involving only tribal matters."

"I thought he preferred not to keep the foreigners from the territories around at all," Hama said. "Your son must be getting to him."

Kanna smiled, swelling with pride. "He is taking charge more often, yes."

"Pfehh. Better than my halfwit sons." Hama waved her free hand dismissively but then gave Kanna a smirk. "Oh, well. If the firebender's there at least we'll have something nice to ogle."

Kanna tried to stifle her cackle to no avail. "You naughty girl!"

"You're thinking the same, don't deny it!"

Both women sobered as they entered the throne room and Kanna took her customary seat on her bench behind the throne while Hama took her place on the floor with the chiefs, as matriarch of the Crab-Spider Clan. Kanna caught Kya's eye on the elevated ice platform next to Hakoda. As more clan chiefs and advisers took their seats on the rug emblazoned with the Water Tribe insignia, a herald beat a drum to signify the beginning of the meeting. Everyone kept their parkas on - it had gotten so cold that the waterfalls around the room had frozen into an icy cascade and everyone's breaths fogged in front of their faces.

Xai Bau did attend, it turned out. And, as usual, the only thing he wore on his upper body was a bronze gorget. Hama looked pleased.

Kvichak stood and spread his arms wide. "On this night of the full moon we call upon the spirits to bear witness to the proceedings today. In prayer, may they grant us their wisdom to make it through the perilous winter."

Kanna saw more than a few people scoff and roll their eyes when the emperor bowed his head to pray.

When the emperor opened his eyes again, a gruff voice spoke up from the back of the crowd. "Will prayer make the herds of buffalo-yak return? Will prayer send more fish into our nets and meat to our bellies?" The man stood and Kanna recognized him as the grizzled chief of the Buffalo-Yak Clan, Kuskok. His son, Bato, stood with him. "The spirits have done nothing to help us. We face one of the worst winters in recent memory and there are plenty of resources within our grasp but you do nothing as our people starve and freeze to death. For what reason do we fight this war if not to seize the lands of the other nations for our benefit? Your father and his father before him did not display such foolishness."

"You dare speak such sacrilege?" Kvichak's voice boomed, his jowls quivering as spittle flew from his mouth. "This war is our mission to carry out their divine will, to spread the beliefs of our people. The spirits gave us the impetus to begin this war and they will give us the strength to end it."

"What strength?" Kuskok continued, arms spread wide as he looked around. "I see an old man who hides away in his palace, his glory days far behind him! What happened to the man I fought alongside at the Battle of Quorong? In our victory we showered in wine and Earth Kingdom gold! Now, as recently as a year ago, you have even the weaklings of Kyoshi thinking they can claim back their land from your rule!"

Hakoda stood and pointed a finger at him. "You speak out of line!" Kanna wondered if her son ever knew that Kuskok was once sworn-brother to Kvichak, before he was even born. Any friendship and camaraderie the two men shared had long since faded away. It was a shame - Kanna had always thought Hakoda and Bato would have made good friends, since they were of age.

Kuskok slammed the butt of his spear on the floor. "Do I? Or do we have a weak emperor who cannot even maintain the safety of his own progeny? You have not sacrificed nearly as much as the rest of us in order to survive."

A rumble of mutterings resounded through the room and several men even jeered. The admission and the challenge were both clear: Kuskok's clan was behind the attempted kidnappings and he expected Kvichak to declare Sedna'a - a duel of canoes - for the disrespect. But all present knew that Kvichak would lose. If he simply had Kuskok killed or imprisoned it would only validate the chief's claims. If Kvichak faced him and lost, his leadership would be called into question even more and he would be overthrown if Kuskok didn't just kill him right there.

Kvichak tugged on the ermine tails hanging from his collar. "You disrespect my manhood and my family," he said, his voice low and cold. All fell silent when he spoke. "For your words and your actions you will be trampled under a herd of buffalo-yaks."

The throne room erupted into shouts as men protested his declaration and Kuskok spit in defiance. "Coward!" he bellowed.

Kanna bit the inside of her cheek. If the congregation of chiefs all decided to overthrow Kvichak, she did not know what that meant for the rest of the family. She might be spared from their rancor along with Kya and Katara, but Hakoda and Sokka could potentially share the fate of the emperor unless Hakoda defeated Kuskok in turn. Xai Bau the firebender stayed calm while everyone else rose and he stared directly at Kanna. Something about his expression unnerved her and she looked away.

"Furthermore," Kvichak continued, speaking over the din. "Let it be said that I also do my part to sacrifice just as much as the people of our great tribes. To the spirits, I extend an offering of my own blood. To the spirits, I offer my granddaughter, Katara. May they accept my personal sacrifice and reward us with mercy through the winter. At tomorrow's Glacier Spirits Festival when we meet with our brothers and sisters from the North, Chief Kuskok and the girl will both meet their fates."

Kanna and Kya both shot to their feet and stared at each other in shock and horror, completely unnoticed by Kvichak as he preened under the roars of his chiefs. With that declaration, Kvichak had simultaneously removed a rival and showed his strength through personal sacrifice, deftly handling Kuskok's accusations. She hoped Hakoda would say something, anything, to defy his father, but he looked away with his jaw clenched.

Only Kya had the strength to say something, tears streaming down her face. "No! I cannot accept this!"

"Be quiet," Kvichak ordered her. "Spare us your hysterics."

Kya veered back to her husband. "Hakoda! How can you allow this?"

Hakoda's voice came out low and heavy. "I cannot deny the will of my father. Our emperor."

Later that night, Hakoda departed from the palace. Kanna did all she could to comfort Kya, told her she would speak to Kvichak and urge him to reconsider. Kya did not cry after her initial outburst and instead departed to her chambers with quiet grace and Kanna resolved to do the same. In the privacy of their own chambers, Kanna would make her husband see reason.

Kvichak climbed onto the sleeping furs with a low groan while Kanna sat in front of her mirror, unclasping her betrothal necklace and placing it on her desk. He had made it for her, many years ago now before they had even met, when their fathers arranged for them to be married and she still lived in the North and loved another man. A dutiful man, Kvichak never loved her. Not like Pakku did.

Ceremonial spears taken from defeated enemies crossed on their frozen walls. On the opposite side hung a blade that once belonged to a general at Ba Sing Se, its ornate scabbard now long since blackened by the soot of their hearth fire. A woven tapestry made by Kvichak's own mother years and years ago. An altar to the spirit Seiryu bearing the vibrant blue scale of a great serpent. Many things covered the walls of the bedchamber shared by Kanna and Kvichak, but none of it reflected anything from the life they had together. If not for the stuffed tiger-seal, representing Kanna's clan before she had married him, one would never know she lived here at all.

After she had changed into her bedclothes and let her hair fall loose, she joined him in the sleeping furs, but sat up instead of resting at his side. "Kvichak," she said. She glanced at her distorted shadow as it danced on the rounded wall, cast by the flickering hearth fire in the center of the room. "Isn't there another way?"

He did not even bother to open his eyes, to look at her as he condemned their granddaughter. "Of course not. Go to sleep."

"You can sleep peacefully after making such a declaration?"

"My heart is not as soft as yours."

"Clearly. Your heart is not soft at all. There is ice where a heart would be."

He opened his eyes and looked at her with something like disbelief. The two of them scarcely ever spoke to each other in private, and never like this. "A leader is destined to have a heart of ice to make difficult decisions."

She scowled at him. "What do you know of destiny? You, who had it laid out for you since the day you were born, free to do with it as you like, to be strong and just and kind. But instead you've been weak and you dragged everyone down with you in order to make yourself seem strong." She felt the weight she always carried on her back lessen as she spoke, the years of pent-up feelings pouring out. "Difficult decisions? The idea to sacrifice Katara came easy to you."

He propped himself up on his elbows, his face ruddy with anger. "Kanna! What makes you think you - "

She cut him off with a single gesture, flattening him against the furs again.

Kvichak sputtered. "What is the meaning of this? You can bloodbend?!"

"And you could never figure it out," she said, flexing her fingers. Now, her voice came out low and steady and dangerous; she had never expected using bloodbending on him would feel so good. After all the years of training with Hama, this was the first time she had ever used it on another person. "Even with all the power of a full moon in your veins. And it took me until tonight to realize I have always been stronger than you."

He strained against her hold to no avail, the color draining from his face. "You - will - unhand - me, woman!"

Kanna could have forced his jaw shut to prevent him from screaming or shouting for help. But she knew his pride would keep him from doing that anyway, knew that he would never suffer to be seen at a woman's mercy. "I made a promise to protect my grandchildren," she said. "You never bore any love for anyone in this family. And I will not let you lead our entire tribe to ruin."

"I love my tribe," he choked out. "I love the spirits."

"Well... both of those have forsaken you."

His eyes flicked back and forth as he groaned through grit teeth, his whole body quivering. She held her hand over him and slowly clenched it into a fist and he whimpered and his eyes looked ready to pop out of his skull. She felt nothing as she made him squirm. No satisfaction or triumph - just the certainty in her task. For an absurd moment, she felt a sense of gratitude toward the spirit Sedna before that too drained away. Blood pumped through his body, furious and desperate, its movement in and out of his heart as known to her as any current. His heart convulsed in her grip and when her fist tightened his whole body spasmed once more and he let out a breath. The last of his life escaped with it.

Kanna's hand dropped to her side as she stared at his unseeing eyes reflecting the firelight. Disconnected from the power she had wielded over him, the gravity of what she had done started to settle in. Even with clarity, free of the tantalizing influence of bloodbending, the seduction of it… she knew she did not regret killing him.

She did not know if she sat on the pile of furs and stared at Kvichak's body for minutes or for hours but at one point in the night Hakoda entered her chambers, tense and armored and ready to spring into action. She knew the consequences of her actions would come, but not that they would be this swift. For a woman committing murder, punishment was severe. Particularly for the death of kin. Clan chiefs faced each other in Sedna'a all the time and those ended in death more often than not, but the victor claiming chiefdom over another clan was considered the honorable way to resolve a dispute.

Such laws did not apply to an emperor. None could declare Sedna'a on an emperor - only the other way around.

"Father, Mother," he said, announcing his presence quickly. "Kya and the children are gone."

At his words she gasped and clutched a hand to her breast. "Any sign of a struggle?"

"No," he said, and they both knew she had taken them and fled at Kvichak's proclamation without having to say it. Hakoda's eyes fell on his father and narrowed and then looked to Kanna in an unspoken question.

"A heart attack," she said, genuinely somber. "Let me come with you to help find them."

He did not move from the shadow of the doorway and from there she could not detect a shred of emotion on his face. "You stay here," he said. Terse and unemotional, without a hint of surprise as if he knew what she had done and why she did it. He probably did know; she wondered if her crime was plain on her face. "I'll find them. You deal with… this." He swept a hand over the room. Over his father.

But after he left, she put on her parka, mitts, and boots and departed for the city. She had an idea of where Kya might have gone.

Falling snow obscured any footprints fleeing from the palace but Kanna did not need those to guide her way. Ahead she saw the light of torches as a search party descended into the city but the old woman decided to circumvent Aniak'to proper and constructed an ice ramp leading from the palace grounds down to the surrounding walls and then used the same water to slide around the city's perimeter. In this weather, none would see her, even if they did happen to be looking in her direction. Snow pansies grew on the palace's mountainside but Kanna buried them in her haste.

A blizzard churned and the full moon beckoned to her, unseen but felt. In conditions like these a waterbender was at her strongest.

She knew Kya was not foolish enough to go out to the tundra beyond the city walls, into the hazy darkness and certain death. Instead, Kanna made her way to Frostmirror Lake at the southern border of the city. Frozen over and with a blanket of snow covering it, anyone unfamiliar with South Pole terrain would think it an alluring gap in the city's defensive wall, an open field just asking to be traversed. But snow concealed treachery.

She gave the lake a wide berth and made her way to the exposed cluster of tents and lean-tos and tiny igloos, a village of its own. Home of the taboo-breakers and common recipients of Kya's kindness. From here, across the lake, she could see most of the city alight with the dull glow of searchlamps. The search party would make their way here soon but Kanna had to find Kya before they did.

Kanna had been about to check the first tent when she heard a distant cry carried to her on the wind. She followed the sound around an igloo and found Kya, Sokka, and Katara facing a man in a buffalo-yak helm and she hurried to their side.

"I'm trying to save you kids!" the man shouted over the wind. With a start, Kanna recognized him as Bato and wondered what he was doing as part of the search… unless he planned to kidnap the children for himself, as his clan had tried before.

Sokka hurled his boomerang to no avail. "Leave our mom alone!"

"You're a bad man!" Katara yelled, hurling a wave of snow at him. Sokka copied her move and his snow barely came up to Bato's knees. The warrior swept their attacks out of the way with a gesture and moved to grab Kya but Kanna slid toward him and blocked his way.

"Leave us," she said, glaring up at him. "I can handle things from here."

Not willing to disobey a direct order from the queen, Bato scoffed, rolled his eyes, and turned away. "I'm going to go find Hakoda," he said, departing.

"Gran-Gran!" Katara exclaimed, beaming. Kanna smiled at them all but did not fail to notice the children shivering, their noses pink.

"We need to get you home," Kanna said, looking to Kya. "All of you."

Kya shook her head. "Mother, we can't. It's not safe for them. I have a friend who lives here, Nini…"

"You and the children cannot be seen in the home of a taboo-breaker," said Kanna, frowning. It alarmed her that Kya considered one of the taboo-breakers her friend; that she knew and used the woman's name. Taboo-breakers were not spoken of as individuals - they were like ghosts, unmentionable and never addressed directly. Even looking upon them was a risk. The ban on their existence lifted only if they survived through the subsequent winter. If they died, they would simply be forgotten. "You know that. Besides, you don't have to worry anymore."

"I don't care about any taboos!" Kya's voice came out hard and anguished, cutting through the roaring winds. "I just want to keep my children safe. We need to get them out of the cold."

Katara swayed on her feet and stumbled but Kya caught her. "Mom…"

With a glare at Kanna that hurt more than she could describe, Kya lifted her daughter and bowed into the nearby igloo. Sighing, and wanting nothing more than to get them out of the blizzard, Kanna ushered Sokka inside. Her concern for all of their safety won out over her fear for superstitions.

Rather than a massive hearth, this igloo had a tiny campfire being tended to by a mousy woman in a patchwork parka Kanna assumed to be Nini. With the igloo bare of any decoration and only the simplest tools that the taboo-breaker had to have made herself, Kya removed Katara's wet parka and then her own to hold her close and warm her with her body heat. Sokka sat himself in front of the fire and fell asleep in minutes while Kanna looked over both of the children, frostbite and hypothermia chief among her concerns. The taboo-breaker's home had only one thin fur blanket that Kanna draped around Kya and Katara, no medicine, and a cairn holding a pathetic supply of dried meat. Nini offered all that she had to Kya and the children and Kanna found herself wondering what the woman had done to live this kind of life, doomed to perish to obscurity in the winter.

"I plan to petition the aid of the northern clans tomorrow, when they arrive," Kya said, absently stroking Katara's cheek. "They will help their princess."

Kanna had just judged the children to be okay - simply exhausted from the journey - and almost told Kya about Kvichak when they heard shouting outside and Hakoda himself entered the tiny igloo. Bato clambered in right behind him and then it felt crowded. Both men avoided looking at Nini.

"Bato, bring the children back to the palace. Safely," he said. Kya rose in protest but he spoke over her. "Leave us." Kanna knew that order was for the taboo-breaker even though he did not look at her. He lowered to his knees since the igloo was too low for any of them to stand straight.

Nini scampered out of her own igloo but Kya blocked Bato's way with her body. "No!"

"Move out of the way," Hakoda said, his voice colder than anything the blizzard could throw at them. "The children will be safe there."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How can we be sure?"

Kanna averted her gaze and said nothing.

"Kvichak is dead," Hakoda said.

Kya lowered the arm she used to cover Sokka, stunned, and Bato scooped the sleeping boy into his arms and passed him off to another soldier outside. Sokka stirred and mumbled something, tried to reach for Kya, but exhaustion claimed him. She didn't fight back when he took Katara and left the igloo, either; the night's events catching up to her all at once put her in a sort of stupor.

When only the three of them were left in the igloo, Kya stared at Hakoda with tears of anger swimming in her eyes. "Bato was here," she said. "You've been in league with the Buffalo-Yak Clan all along, haven't you? The kidnappings were your doing."

Realization dawned on Kanna and she gasped. "You meant for them to get found out," she said to Hakoda. "So that your father would challenge Kuskok to Sedna'a and lose, and then you could become ruler."

Kya's voice came out low and shaking with the effort of holding back tears. "But when he declared Katara would be sacrificed you killed him. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because Hakoda didn't kill him," Kanna said, staring at the dwindling campfire. "I did. I should have realized you might do something. I am so, so sorry."

"So you kidnapped my heir and brought him to the taboo-breakers," Hakoda said, his voice cold and heavy. "The Moonlit Mother is too much of a respected figure to ever be accused of murder." It took Kanna a moment to realize he spoke of her; it could only be her title once Hakoda had become emperor, which she supposed he had. "And if it becomes known that my dear old mother paved the way for my ascension it would cast doubts on my own strength as a ruler, more so than even my father's. But if I openly take the blame I will simply be labeled a kin traitor."

Kanna put her hands over her mouth and gasped while Kya's face remained hard, a tear falling. All three of them had committed treason that night but Hakoda meant for only one to take the blame.

"There'll be rumors," Kya said. "Rumors that you simply made a grab for power, even if you don't openly confirm them."

Hakoda crossed his arms. "Let them be just that, rumors. I have the support of most of the chiefs regardless. Tomorrow, when the northmen arrive, High Chief Arnook will recognize me as Emperor. But as for you… your love of the taboo-breakers is known and they love you in turn. And soon the chiefs will know that you fled to their aid in your attempt to kidnap my son after poisoning the emperor."

His words stunned Kanna into silence. She wanted to shout at her son, wanted to take the blame that was rightfully hers, wanted to curse and decry the tribe's traditions that led them here. But years of putting her head down and bearing it - years of inaction punctuated by small rebellions of strengthening her waterbending and a single moment where she felt free - had taken their toll, and so she said nothing. Did nothing.

"I declare you taboo-breaker," he said to Kya. "And furthermore, I banish you to the wilderness, never to return to your children." Hakoda pushed himself to his feet and gestured for Kanna to follow. "Come, Mother."

Hakoda did not look back; after all, Kya no longer existed, the secrets she carried dying with her even if she were to shout them in their ears. After they emerged from the igloo, Kanna looked back at Kya one last time, knowing she shouldn't but not caring. Kya followed them out and departed for the tundra, a spirit in the blizzard passing over a ring of snow pansies. She left without looking back at Kanna, at her betrayal and her mistakes.

Kanna bowed her head against the wind, her tears hot against her face.

All through the Glacier Spirits Festival to its end at the winter solstice, Hakoda made only one mention of the taboo-breaker who poisoned the emperor in her cowardice and dishonor. Sokka and Katara asked for their mother for days afterward until Hakoda forbade them from speaking about her ever again. Even the other chiefs eventually seemed to forget Kya had ever existed.

The new emperor had a different outlook on the other nations and soon enough he brought in a slew of advisers and dignitaries and merchants from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation. One cold morning when she sat alone in Winter's Heaven, long after a spice merchant from Gaipan had departed, she found herself in the company of Xai Bau the firebender when he sat at her side.

"I always wondered why you chose to live here in Aniak'to," she said to him. She did not care about being polite. "Why you turned against your own people. You seem like a prideful man."

"I have my pride," he said. "But I do not see it as turning against my people. I believe in a world without borders. A world with no nations. And I believe in your country's mission to make the other nations share their resources. It is a step toward my own beliefs."

Her response came out gruff. "No one's sharing."

"I like to think they might, one day," he conceded. He held out his hand and flipped a round, wooden tile between his fingers - a white lotus piece, she realized. "We played a game of Pai Sho together once, do you remember? Might you humor me with another game? I'd hoped to show you a new gambit."

Author's Notes: A quick note about the Wolf Clan family tree. In the show, the creators admitted to doing their math wrong because there should have been an extra generation between Sozin and Azulon, so I added one between Aniak and Kvichak. His name is Kanektok. He's not important. Aniak, Kanektok, Kvichak, and Hakoda are all the only children of their parents. But yeah, "Seiryu" never fit Water Tribe naming conventions so after my hiatus I scrapped the idea that that was the first emperor's real name and came up with this and now I think it fits better.

Also, Yue became an additional ward to the family some time after this, when Hakoda became emperor. I didn't forget to include her.

As I mentioned waaay back in "The Western Air Temple," Sedna (from Sedna'a, or a "Sedna Kai") is a goddess of the sea and marine mammals in Inuit mythology. I changed things around a little bit to suit the world of Avatar (and we already have a spirit of the ocean), but the little detail about her losing her fingers is part of her mythology!

Before I begin Book 3 proper I'm planning to edit some Book 1 chapters so you'll probably see updates to them if you follow this story. Unfortunately I don't think fanfiction or AO3 say which chapters get changed so I'm putting the dates individual chapters were edited at the beginning author's notes, and when I post a new chapter I'll say which ones were edited if you want to go back and read them, as I have been doing.

LAST THING, I PROMISE: On that note, I made some edits to the Book 1 chapter "The Eruption." Check out that chapter for more details about what's different.

I hope everyone enjoys Shadow of Kyoshi! I know I am already! Please tell me what you think of this chapter!