Story [Avatar: The Last Airbender] Guide Me Home (Ursa/Hakoda, canon compliant) COMPLETE (more art added)

Good story, looking forward to seeing the reunion between everyone and their mothers/fathers.

 

Thank you Mi, G_Anakin, and whateveritis!

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Chapter Fifteen - Living for Today

The Southern Water Tribe received General Xu's message and sent one back, saying it would take some time to get there, and telling Hakoda when to expect them and where they would land. By the time they were expected to arrive, a month would have passed since Ursa and Hakoda's capture. Hakoda had decided to go out to meet them on the day of the rendezvous, since the location they gave him was several hours away from Xu's base, and he told Ursa he didn't want the men to have to come looking for him.

On the night before the scheduled meeting with the Southern Water Tribe men, he came to the room where Ursa was sleeping at the army base. "Can we talk?" he asked Ursa after she opened the door.

"Of course." Ursa stepped aside and motioned him into the room. She could tell something was weighing on his mind.

"Ursa," he began, "I was wondering what your plans are now. After everything General Xu has told us, I don't know if we're going to be hunting for spies anymore."

They had learned that when General Xu had been contacted by Ran, it was for more than warning him of the attack against the Northern Tribe and telling him of Ursa and Hakoda's escape. Ran was connected to Jeong Jeong, who had apparently also been working on uncovering the spies in the Earth Kingdom network. Ursa wasn't sure how Jeong Jeong had found out about the spies, but he'd had more information on the situation than the Earth Kingdom. He had found out that Zhao was the one who had sent spies into the Earth Kingdom, and they were all reporting back to him. Jeong Jeong had reversed the situation on Zhao by sending Ran to spy on him. Ran had gotten close enough to learn where many of Zhao's spies were stationed, and he delivered that information to General Xu. At that point, they didn't even know if Zhao had survived the invasion at the North Pole, and if he hadn't, what that would mean for any spies he had out among the Earth Kingdom underground.

"Until the Earth Kingdom sorts out what they want to do next with the spy situation, I don't think we'll be involved. In fact, I think it might be time that the Southern Water Tribe did the same thing that General Xu's been doing for the Earth Kingdom and reestablish communication with the Northern Water Tribe. It's been far too long since the Water Tribes had any communication with each other. I'll talk to the others about it when I see them, but I think they'll agree." Hakoda paused, and Ursa braced herself, knowing what turn the conversation was going to take. It was inevitable. "Ursa, I know it wouldn't be fair to keep you traveling with us, since you only agreed to help look for firebenders."

There was a weight in Ursa's chest bigger than a dragon egg, and she turned away from Hakoda, smoothing the blanket on her bed to have something, anything, to keep her hands occupied. He was right, of course. What use would she be if the mission was over? What would her purpose be? Was she supposed to just find some new Earth Kingdom town and set up there as a member of the Earth Kingdom underground?

She didn't want to do that. She was a little surprised at the strength of her conviction on that matter. She knew she could be helpful doing that, but the thought of trying to settle into a new town, meeting new people and starting all over again made her heart sink. She had thoughts about going to find Zuko, but she had nowhere to even begin looking for him, and was still worried that poking around and trying to find him would put him in greater danger.

"General Xu is offering to have someone escort you wherever you want to go. Or if you'd like, you can come with me tomorrow, and we could take you somewhere nearby."

"That's very generous," Ursa replied stiffly. She straightened, knowing how ridiculous it looked as she continued to fiddle with the bed when there was nothing wrong with it in the first place.

"But you're not happy about it."

Ursa finally turned back around. Hakoda was watching her with o

 

*Happy Squee* I loved this part. So perfect and sweet.

 

Thanks, Mi!

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Chapter Sixteen - Training Days

It was so good to be sailing again, to be on the familiar boats and feel the gentle motion as they cut through the ocean. Hakoda turned his face against the icy air as they headed steadily toward the North Pole, staring upward at the glittering stars and the bright moon. It was quiet on deck as most everyone else slept below. Notu was moving around on the other end of the deck. Across the water, the other three ships moved with Hakoda's. The only people awake were those that were keeping watch and making sure the boats stayed on course.

Toward the end of Hakoda's shift, Bato emerged from below deck. He had turned his boat over to Tamoru on the journey north so that he could catch up and discuss events with Hakoda. Also, Hakoda was sure, so that he could get to know Ursa a little.

Bato waved at Notu and went to stand beside Hakoda. "Strange few months we've had lately."

Hakoda smiled wryly. "In more ways than I could have imagined."

They talked for a while about a lot of small things that had happened to both of them in all of their weeks apart, until at last Bato broached the subject that Hakoda had known was coming. "So. Ursa." Bato eyed Hakoda. "She must be quite a woman for you to love her, Hakoda."

Hakoda didn't immediately reply. He wasn't surprised by Bato's observation. At this point, he would have been surprised if the whole fleet didn't know.

Thoughts of Ursa flashed through his mind. The first night they had met, when she was fleeing from the firebender after she'd fought free of him in her inn. The expression on her face when she tried stewed sea prunes. The way she had plunged forward into icy waters and snowy hills, still drugged after holding her own against Zhao's questioning. The idea of her sitting at a noble dinner party, playing with a napkin puppet. The way her smiles and laughter had slowly been drawn out of her as time passed with the Water Tribe. He thought of her passion and the fiery nature that sometimes slipped past her careful composure.

He recalled the sensation of waking up with her in his arms, of her mouth on his and her fingers burning trails over his skin. Walking out of her room the night before had been one of the hardest, most frustrating things he had done in past months, when his own loneliness had crashed headfirst into hers and he had wanted nothing more than to strip away everything left between them and just fall. He had no doubt that he would have, too, except for the knowledge that he cared about her far too much to be the cause of another regret added to the pile she was already sifting through. He may have realized just what Ursa meant to him, but he didn't know what he meant to her. He wasn't sure that she knew yet, not really.

He didn't realize he was holding his breath until he let it out. "She is," he finally said to Bato.

Bato gave him a half-smile and shook his head a little. "I saw how you felt about her on the first day I met her."

"Then you were a few steps ahead of me," Hakoda said.

"Sometimes it takes us a while to see the obvious in ourselves," Bato replied. "And to tell you the truth, I wasn't sure I would ever see you look at a woman this way again."

Hakoda rubbed the back of his neck. "What's the saying? 'Life is what happens when we least expect it?'"

"Sounds like something your mother said."

"It probably was. My father always said life is like an arctic hippo, and we have to grab on with both hands and hold on tight." That had been long ago and far away; Hakoda's father had died when he was young. "Right now, I'm just not sure whether the hippo's got me up in the air or under the water."

"No one said life wasn't disorienting, and we know what it's really like trying to ride an arctic hippo." Bato grinned at him and clapped him on the back. "It'll work itself out, Hakoda, whatever's going on between you two. And fair warning?quite a few of the men are making bets on how it will play out."

Hakoda shook his head slightly. Of course they were. "And what

 

Great job!

 

"What's on your mind?" Hakoda asked her after a long silence.

She sighed. "What isn't?"

"Arctic hippos," Hakoda said immediately.

Ursa stared up at him. "What?"

"Well, as dangerous as betting against you might be, I'd wager that arctic hippos are not on your mind."


Hakoda, I love you so much.

Nice job, hun!

 

Thanks, guys!

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Chapter Seventeen - The Northern Water Tribe

Watching Hakoda and Chief Arnook shake hands was a moment of history, and one that Ursa was honored to witness. Chief Arnook's council was present as Hakoda introduced the rest of the Southern Water Tribe, and then Ursa. They had already discussed what they would tell the Northern Tribe, because as much as Ursa would have preferred her nationality to remain secret, she knew she couldn't be a cause for potential trouble between the Northern and Southern Tribes. More than that, she wouldn't ask Hakoda to lie to the Northern Water Tribe on her behalf. It was one thing to avoid telling the Earth Kingdom, who already assumed she was one of them.

"This is Ursa." Hakoda motioned her to step forward. "She's been traveling with us for some months now."

If Chief Arnook or his council looked surprised that the men of the Southern Tribe had a woman traveling with them, they masked it quickly. "Ursa," Arnook greeted her. "You are from the Earth Kingdom, then?"

Ursa held herself straight and replied, "I'm from the Fire Nation. I've lived in the Earth Kingdom for a long time, and I work with them to help put a stop to my country's conquest."

There were the stares and murmurs she had expected, but Chief Arnook nodded. "I see. And you vouch for this woman, Chief Hakoda?"

"I wouldn't have brought her here otherwise," Hakoda said levelly. "We're telling you because we wanted there to be no dishonesty between us, but I would ask for this to remain between us, for Ursa's safety. We've had trouble with spies in the Earth Kingdom."

Arnook nodded. "So I've heard."

Ursa had a feeling that there would be more discussion about her when she wasn't around, but for now, she breathed an inner sigh of relief as Arnook moved onto other matters.

"I'm glad to finally meet you," Arnook said, turning his attention back on Hakoda. "And to have a chance to tell you how honored I am to have met your children. They left two days ago with some of the benders and healers in our tribe. The benders and healers will be going to the South Pole to assist there. Your children and the Avatar are traveling to meet General Fong at the Earth Kingdom base so that the Avatar has an escort to Omashu. Come, all of you, sit. We have much to discuss, and Chief Hakoda, you should know how bravely your children fought and how much they helped us. Also?" he glanced at Ursa "?you may be interested to know you are not the only one in the Fire Nation who endeavored to aid us. Even in the middle of a siege, there was one man who fought to protect the moon spirit against his countrymen."

They listened to the full story of what had happened before and during the Fire Nation siege and why the moon had gone dark. It was a tale of bravery and hope, of a waterbender from the Southern Tribe who forced the Northern Tribe to reevaluate years of stringent tradition so that she could learn to fight and not just heal. It was about a young warrior who fought to protect a princess, and a princess who gave her life to become the moon spirit. It was about an Avatar who ventured into the Spirit World to try to save them.

It was also the story of the Fire Nation prince who had fought against Hakoda's daughter to get to the Avatar.

This was the part that was hardest for Ursa to hear?to learn that Zuko had managed to get his hands on Avatar Aang for a little while, to know that he was still desperately trying to carry out this act so that he could go home again.

There was a glimmer of hope even in her devastation about Zuko, and that was Iroh. He was the one that had fought against Admiral Zhao to keep him from killing the moon spirit.

"Of course, we were curious about a man who would do such a thing," Arnook said. "He remained with your children and my daughter, Chief Hakoda, as Yue became the moon spirit. From what we have been told of him, General Iroh is Prince Zuko's uncle, and travels with him."

After the meeting with the Chief and his council, the Southern Tribe was given several huts as guest

 

Well, this chapter gets me caught up with everything I already had written and posted elsewhere. Now I'll just post chapters as I write them.

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Chapter Eighteen - Meeting with Generals

Hakoda was still there beside Ursa when she woke up in the morning. She was tucked against his body, warmer than she had been in any of her nights at the North Pole. She didn't move, knowing what a light sleeper he was and not wanting to wake him, and studied his sleeping face. She waited for panic to hit, waited to see if her perspective would look different in the light of morning, but she felt nothing except peace and a love unlike any she had ever experienced. She didn't even know how to explain it. She had thought that she had known love like this before, but only now did she realize that there had always been something missing.

Joy, she finally realized. Joy had always been missing.

I don't know what this is going to mean for my future. I don't know what this is going to mean for Hakoda's future. And that's all right. I'm all right.

I'm all right.

She shut her eyes, and it wasn't until Hakoda's fingers brushed her cheek that she opened them again. He was looking at her the same way she had looked at him the night before, afterward?as if he was checking to see if she had regrets. This time, it was her turn to smile reassurance at him. She pressed his hand against her cheek and whispered, "Thank you, Hakoda."

It didn't seem enough. How could she possibly convey the emotion behind everything she was feeling with words? She didn't know if she could ever explain to him what he had given her through the course of knowing him. He had helped her find things she had never thought to find again. Love. Faith. Trust. Even hope.

They lay in her bed, just talking, until Hakoda had to go to a meeting. As he dressed and prepared to walk out the door, she said, "Hakoda?"

He stopped and looked back at her.

"Will you come back tonight?"

His face creased into a smile and he nodded once. "Tonight," he promised.

The bed wasn't nearly as warm when he left, but it took Ursa a minute before she was willing to brave the cold air long enough to get dressed, and only then because she heard Mikko's voice calling her name from outside.

"Just a moment!" she called back. She dressed as quickly as she could, yanked on a heavy jacket, boots, and mittens, and then pushed through the cloth door.

Mikko was grinning at her, mischief in his eyes. "So," he began, holding out several wooden boomerangs toward her, "have an interesting night?"

Ursa fumbled with the boomerangs and dropped one. She quickly bent to pick it up. "What?"

Mikko just shook his head and beamed at her. "Thought so. Let's go. Boomerang practice."

There was soon no doubt that the Southern Water Tribe realized what had developed between Ursa and Hakoda. They were all very aware that Hakoda was spending his nights in Ursa's hut. It didn't change anything except for the sly looks and nudges she noticed the men giving each other or Hakoda.

It did, however, bring a conversation with Bato after he worked with her on defense against clubs, two days after Hakoda's sleeping arrangements had changed. Bato waited until the training was over, and as Ursa was preparing to head back to her hut, said, "Wait."

Ursa turned and faced him. He looked at her solemnly, and before he said anything, she knew what was coming. She had been expecting it. She might not have known Bato as well as she knew some of the others, but they had something in common. "Hakoda," she said simply.

Bato looked at her for a long moment. "Do you know what this means for him?"

Ursa folded her hands in front of her. "I think I do."

"I don't know how you see it, but I can tell you that for Hakoda, this means he is committed to you. He will never abandon you. No matter what you choose to do, he will never be unfaithful to you."

Ursa met Bato's gaze levelly. "I know." She did. Even if Hakoda had never said it in as many words, she knew. And it still amazed her how calm she was about it and how w

 

Chapter Nineteen - Chameleon Bay

When they arrived at the beach and met up with the rest of the Water Tribe, Hakoda held a meeting to explain their next goal. He spread a map out and pointed at a long inlet where they were currently harbored. "There are a lot of towns in the area, some along this inlet," he began. "Our next mission is going to be checking into the towns and seeing how much of a Fire Nation presence is there now. It's likely that the Fire Nation will be coming into this area, so we'll have to be careful." He paused, then added, "The fear is that the Fire Nation is going to turn their attention on Ba Sing Se, so we may very well find ourselves defending the city after we finish here. One step at a time, though."

They set sail, heading farther up the inlet. Notu was the one who approached Hakoda on the ship and said, "So. What happened at Fong's base that has all of you so unhappy?"

Hakoda rubbed his face. Two days, and he obviously wasn't the only one still bothered by their latest encounter with Fong. "Fong has some unorthodox methods."

"That's nothing new. We've been working with the guy for a long time now."

"Yes, but he never brought my kids into it before."

Notu's eyes narrowed. "Wait, what? Are Sokka and Katara?"

"They're fine, as far as the last news we got." Hakoda quickly filled him in on the recent disaster at Fong's base.

Notu, who had two young children of his own, nodded. "And I bet it took a lot not to turn into papa polar bear on Fong."

"I've known Sokka and Katara are facing a lot, but the idea that an Earth Kingdom general could do this really brought it home. Everyone's focused on the Avatar, and I understand why, but that also means everyone's focused on Sokka and Katara."

Notu squeezed his shoulder. "But you're proud of them."

"I am. More than I can say."

"They're going to be okay, Hakoda. Katara mastered waterbending fast enough to be the one teaching the Avatar. Sokka's always been smart as a whip and twice as creative. And we're going to keep doing everything we can to give the Avatar the time he needs to master the elements and win this war. One thing's for sure?when this is over, we're all going to have some crazy stories to tell our families."

The next weeks passed without any huge upheavals. The Water Tribe traveled along the inlet, sneaking into villages to see what the situation was. They found that some of the villages hadn't yet been touched by the Fire Nation, and they made sure the villagers knew of the situation. Some hadn't even heard yet that Omashu had fallen. There were other villages were there was a Fire Nation presence.

They received a few messages from the Earth Kingdom. Some kept them updated on current Fire Nation positions. One informed them that the Avatar was said to have found an earthbending teacher. This gave them all hope that the Avatar could now learn earthbending and then find a way to learn firebending. Another message said that the Firelord's daughter and several companions were personally pursuing the Avatar.

Ursa froze when she heard this last message, and her face shifted into that carefully blank expression that only came when she was feeling strongly about something and trying to hide it. Hakoda had seen it enough to recognize it, though it had been a while since she'd closed herself off about anything. He asked her about it later when he had a chance to talk to her alone.

"You didn't look pleased with the news about the Firelord's daughter."

Ursa was quiet for a moment before speaking. "Azula." There was a weighty pause, and her voice was equally heavy when she said, "She was only a little girl when I left. Even so?she was a very talented firebender. I imagine she's only improved her abilities."

And she would be putting those abilities to work against the Avatar and Hakoda's children. Hakoda squeezed Ursa's shoulder. "It's going to be okay."

She looked at him for a long moment, her mouth pressed in a thin line. She seemed unhappy and he thought she might retort with something, but she finally just sighed and said

 

Chapter Twenty - Battles

Hakoda woke the moment Ursa started moving around in her sleep. He reached over and touched her shoulder, quietly calling her name until she woke with a gasp and jerked upright. Her fingers landed on her boomerang, which she now kept next to her pillow, before she seemed to realize where she was. Her hand moved away from her weapon and she hugged her knees to her chest.

Hakoda propped himself on one elbow and rested a hand on her back. Ursa took a deep breath. "I'm all right." She sat still for a few moments, and then slowly lay back down.

Hakoda didn't expect her to say anything else about it. She never wanted to talk about her nightmares.

To his surprise, however, this time she apparently did want to talk about it. "It wasn't a memory," she said quietly. "Usually, I dream of my memories. This was just a plain bad dream." Her eyes slid over to his. "Would it be odd if I sad that it was awful, but almost refreshing?"

"Maybe. But I understand."

Silence fell again for long enough that Hakoda figured Ursa would just go back to sleep, but then she said, "My former husband had a brother." She stared up at the tent roof, no longer meeting his eyes.

"You've mentioned him, haven't you? You said your daughter burned a gift given to her by her uncle."

"Yes. He was?different than my husband. He had one child of his own?the only person he had left after his wife died. Just before I left the Fire Nation, we received word that his son had died in the war. His son was a good man, Hakoda. I know he was fighting on the Fire Nation's side, but he was a very honorable man." Another heavy pause, and then she said, "I dreamed of my nephew and my children. They were all dying?horrible deaths?and I couldn't stop it."

Hakoda reached out and took her hand, and she squeezed it. "I don't even know what they look like anymore. In my dreams, in my nightmares?sometimes I see them at the age I remember them when I left, and sometimes they're older and in shadow so I can't see their faces." She finally turned back to him. "I wish I knew what they looked like."

It was the last thing she said before she fell back asleep. Hakoda was still trying to get back to sleep when the warning shout went out from Pika. It woke Ursa again and she followed Hakoda out of the tent.

"More Fire Nation ships incoming! Three of them this time," Pika explained as he ran up to Hakoda.

"Position?" After the first Fire Nation patrol ship had fled, the Water Tribe had continued to work on extending their array of traps. The way it was set up now, they had several areas of tangle mines that any incoming Fire Nation ships would have to get through, and the first ones began as far out of the bay as they could manage and still maintain control over the sections they blocked. Hakoda had commissioned two of the lifeboats kept on their ships to be used as scout ships, so the men were alternating who rowed out to keep watch on the farthest areas.

"They hadn't even hit the first set of mines," Pika said.

The next while was a rush of preparing for battle and setting sail to wait at the closest of their tangle mine traps. Finally, a Fire Nation ship came into sight. Hakoda wasn't sure where the other two ships were; it was likely they had been stalled by the tangle mines. It hit their last row of mines, but it managed to get right up between Bato and Hakoda's boats before the seaweed stalled the propeller. The Fire Nation soldiers then threw hooks to hold their vessel to the Water Tribe ships, and lowering ramps into place so they could jump onto the Water Tribe boats.

Hakoda's deck became one huge blur of flashing weapons and fire. Hakoda focused on one soldier at a time, one moment at a time, fighting side-to-side or back-to-back with his men, driving the soldiers off of the boat. He got a glimpse of Ursa with her boomerang, but she was in such close quarters with the soldiers that she had no room to throw it, so she was using it for close combat. He couldn't focus on her, though; he had to hope that all of her hand-to-hand training would ke

 

Great job!

Good news (for me)! We've moved and got Direct TV again! I've seen Avatar for the first time in almost two years! I missed it

 

Hahaha, I can almost imagine Hakoda building up the courage to tell Sokka about Ursa, and just as he starts to, Aang shows up and takes off with Sokka. The timing would be hilarious.


Great job!

 

Thanks again, guys! ^_^

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Chapter Twenty-One - Between Enemy Fire

As night fell on the shore of Chameleon Bay, Hakoda sat next to a campfire with Sokka and listened to his stories of the past months. The bits Hakoda had heard from Earth Kingdom messages and from Arnook and others at the North Pole started to get filled in. He heard of Katara's talent as a healer and waterbender, of Avatar Aang's stubborn earthbending teacher Toph, of Aang, even of Appa and Momo, the two animal companions who traveled with the group.

"Katara wanted to come," Sokka said, "but the Earth King needed one of us to stay and help with our invasion plan. I'll tell you all about that, too. You'd be really proud of Katara, Dad."

"I am proud?of both of you." Hakoda clasped Sokka's shoulder, and then his attention was caught as Tamoru came into camp.

Tamoru made his way over to Hakoda and Sokka, and smiled at them before saying, "Everything's fine in town, Hakoda. Mikko was still out of it when I left, but he's stable."

Sokka straightened. "What happened to Mikko?"

"He was stabbed in a battle this morning," Hakoda explained, "but he's going to be all right." He asked Tamoru, "Ursa?"

"Worried," Tamoru replied. "You know how she gets. Hopefully she gets some rest tonight."

Now Sokka just looked confused. "Who's Ursa?"

Tamoru and Hakoda exchanged glances, and Hakoda considered how much to tell Sokka straightaway. He wouldn't lie to him, but he thought it might be better to introduce Sokka to Ursa before dropping "the Fire Nation woman who's sharing my tent" on him.

"She's a woman who joined us a while back. She started out working with us on uncovering Fire Nation spies?she has a talent for that," Hakoda said. "She lost her home and joined us in our fight."

One of Sokka's eyebrows rose and he seemed to consider this information. Then he shrugged and held up his hands. "Hey, if you're expecting me to say something about traveling with a woman, you're looking at the wrong guy. I have women who would hit me with rocks or fans or giant chunks of ice if I made any complaints about girls in battle. Trust me."

As horrible and jarring as the day had started out, it ended on the best note that Hakoda could have hoped for. All of his people were alive, and Sokka's visit put them all in the best spirits. Though Sokka hadn't been to the South Pole since before Winter Solstice, he had still been there far more recently than any of the men, and so he was able to tell them stories of their families and answer a lot of questions about them. Sokka was the one who told Ronook that his wife had given birth to a baby boy nine months after Ronook left.

This brought a lot of whistling and elbowing from the other Water Tribe men, but Ronook just looked stunned. "I have a son?" he stared around, his eyes wide. "I have a son!"

It was very late when Sokka and Hakoda finally said good night. Sokka opted to sleep out under the open sky, and Hakoda retreated to his tent. It felt empty without Ursa there, but for the first night in years, Hakoda fell asleep only aching to see one of his children.

The next morning, Tamoru went back to town to check on Mikko and Ursa, and reported them both to be doing well. "They're playing games. Ursa's winning."

One corner of Hakoda's mouth turned upward. "Of course."

The Water Tribe worked on constructing new mines, since they didn't have enough empty ones to replenish the ones that had detonated. They continued to fish for skunkfish and they gathered seaweed. Sokka jumped in with the gathering both. He knew they were for traps, but it wasn't until early evening when he'd helped gather as much of the skunkfish and seaweed as he could that he joined Hakoda and Bato, who were finishing stuffing one of the mines, and Hakoda explained in detail about the Stink and Sink plan. Sokka was much more enthusiastic about the name than Bato and Ursa had been, and Hakoda couldn't help but grin at Sokka's amusement. How he had missed hearing his son's laughter.

Aside from the tangle mines, they were also creating pac

 

Chapter Twenty-Two - The Fall of the Earth Kingdom

The next morning dawned with a somber air of pain and mourning. The events of the night seemed one huge haze in Ursa's mind. The Water Tribe fleet returned from their victory over the Fire Nation ships, though two of the Water Tribe boats were damaged and several of the warriors had minor cuts and burns. The earthbenders from town came to take charge of the prisoners, the tunnels were sealed off, and the Fire Nation soldiers' dead bodies were removed. Mikko limped into camp just before sunrise; once he'd awakened from his drugged sleep and learned what had happened, wild boarcupines couldn't keep him from returning to the bay. He was not the first to drop to his knees beside Ornu's covered body with tears falling down his face.

When the sun rose, the Water Tribe gave Ornu a water burial. Even that was a foggy space of time for Ursa. She heard the others speaking about Ornu, sharing stories of him and his life. She even heard herself speak when Bato asked her if she wanted to say anything, but her voice seemed as distant as everything else, strangely detached from reality, and later she couldn't remember exactly what she had said. Whatever it was, it surely couldn't do justice to Ornu or his life.

There was still much to be done after the funeral. They were out of mines and most of them had been used the night before on the Fire Nation ships. The bay was vulnerable to attack if ships were to return. It was with weary, heavy hearts that they began preparations for the next set of traps. Ursa threw herself into helping any way that she could.

Ursa finally found a moment alone with Hakoda that afternoon when she was holding the shell of a mine still as he poured the nasty smelling mixture into it. He finished it off by shoving a plug into the top of the mine. She reached out and caught his hand as he started to move away. He looked at her with dark, shadowed eyes and then knelt on the ground beside her.

"I'm sorry," Ursa whispered.

"It wasn't your fault."

"I know. I'm not apologizing for me. I'm so sorry for Ornu's loss."

Pain flashed across Hakoda's face and he rubbed a hand across his tired eyes. "I'll need to find a way to get word to his wife and children." He folded both of his hands around Ursa's. "I keep telling myself it could have been so much worse. If you hadn't noticed the firebenders in town and put the pieces together, then we might all be dead. We don't know how many soldiers were in that tunnel. But no matter how much worse it could have been, it doesn't make a difference for Ornu." Hakoda closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

Ursa wrapped her arms around him and he returned the embrace.

Those of the Water Tribe who were able to sleep took turns getting short naps. Ursa allowed herself a brief sleep, asking the men to wake her after an hour. She wasn't sure she would be able to; every time she closed her eyes, it was Ornu's scorched body she saw. But the exhaustion of not having slept in almost two days caught up with her and sucked her into a troubled rest. She dreamed of Ornu dying, and of Zuko's face burning, and of the scar on her chest bursting into flame and consuming her.

She woke with a silent scream caught in her throat when Bato shook her. "It's been an hour, Ursa."

When night fell, the Water Tribe loaded up the meager amount of traps they had constructed during the day and sailed out into the bay to set them up. It was a long, long night. Ursa slept a little more, but it was still a restless sleep. In the morning, they were still working on setting barriers, and they were interrupted by the arrival of the Avatar's sky bison.

"Appa!" Hakoda exclaimed as he flew down beside Hakoda's ship.

Ursa gazed in wonder at the creature she had only ever seen from the distance. Her attention, however, was captured by the group of people riding on Appa's back.

"Dad!" A young man who had to be Sokka jumped from the bison onto the boat. "We need help!" He reached back to help a young girl off of the back of the bison. Judging from the look o

 

Great job! I'm eagarly awaiting THE encounter.

 

Now that I've finally gotten caught up and watched the entire series (and learned who Ursa and Hakoda are ) I clicked on yuor story - adn got hooked. I just finished chapter eleven, and it's awesome!! I feel so bad for Ursa, everything she's been through. Hakoda is awesome And I loved Toph's apperance!

I can't wait to read more

 

G_Anakin- Thanks so much!

NYCitygurl- Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it! And glad you had a chance to catch up on the series--it's such an awesome show, isn't it?

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Chapter Twenty-Three - Ba Sing Se

The walls of Ba Sing Se were breached. It might have taken a while to find an entrance if Ursa and Okonu hadn't been on the channel that went to Ba Sing Se, but the Fire Nation had set up a way to get in and out of the city off of the water, presumably for all of the Fire Nation ships that would be called there now that it had fallen.

The entrance was a huge, smooth gap in the thick wall. From its appearance, Ursa was sure that the wall had been earthbended down, probably by the Dai Li loyal to her daughter. She had to wonder what Azula had done or said to get the earthbenders in charge of Ba Sing Se on her side. Ursa had always thought of the earthbenders as so strong and unbendable to Fire Nation persuasion. Ursa reminded herself that she really knew nothing of the politics in the city. Either the Dai Li were a different sort of earthbenders or her daughter had magnificent persuasion skills.

Okonu and Ursa hid their boat in some brush a short way down the river and walked back toward the entrance to observe it inconspicuously. It was getting close to dawn, and the only lights came from the torches at the entrance and the moon hanging in the sky. From what Ursa could see, there were only four guards at the entrance. There was likely some sort of post set up just inside the wall with more guards, and if that was the case, Ursa couldn't know how many there were inside. But it was the four at the entrance that were going to be the biggest hindrance.

Ursa turned to Okonu. "I have one more favor, and then I need to go on alone."

Okonu's brow furrowed. "Don't you think it would be safer if I just stay with you?"

"Not for where I'm going. I just need to get into the city. Then you should go back to the fleet as quickly as you can, before you get blocked off from them." She'd had several plans to get into the Ba Sing Se, most of them requiring she pass as a Fire Nation noble in hope of getting through, but now that she saw the breach, she thought this way might be easier.

Okonu didn't look pleased, but he asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"Can you restrain the soldiers guarding the entrance so I can go through? Without getting caught?"

Okonu looked between the guards and the river nearby. "I can do it," he said with determination.

They retreated back to their boat and Ursa changed from her Water Tribe clothes into her single set of Earth Kingdom robes. She would draw far less attention to herself that way. Then she slung her bag across her shoulder and she and Okonu crept back to the city walls.

They moved quickly so that Okonu would be able to do his waterbending while it was still dark. Not only would it make it harder for the Fire Nation soldiers to see, but Okonu would be stronger under the light of the moon.

"All right. When I count to three, you get in the gate as quickly as you can and I'll cover you," Okonu murmured.

"Got it."

"Be careful, Ursa. One?two?three."

Ursa didn't hesitate. She ran for the entrance, and as she did, she saw huge streams of water rushing past her. By the time she reached the gate, all four guards were pinned with ice to the side of the wall. She glanced over her shoulder to see Okonu right behind her, his body surrounded in water. He flung another stream of water toward a soldier coming toward them, but he was the only other soldier that Ursa saw. The others seemed to be inside a little rock hut that served as the guard post.

Okonu motioned to her to go and flashed a smile of assurance. She ran forward to the dark streets of Ba Sing Se. Her last glimpse of Okonu was him disappearing back out the wall, and she prayed that by the time the other soldiers realized their companions were frozen, he would be safely away from Ba Sing Se.

The sun was creeping upward in the sky and brightening the city as Ursa made her way deeper into it. She had heard plent

 

Just finished 15. So glad Ursa and Hakoda kissed!! But it sucks that they stopped - instead of at least one more kiss Looking forward to seeing some more


Edit: 17. AWESOME They finally slept together!!

Edit: 19. Good for Ursa, getting comfortable with the boomerang! And with Hakoda; that's really cute

Edit: 21. I'm so glad Ursa got to see an image of Zuko! Though what a shock to find out about the scar (And since this is canon-compliant, so it'll be a while before she meets him again ) Poor Ornu!

 

Woah. I just finishe. Awesome!! And ended on a huge cliffhanger. I'm dying for the nhext chapter!!

 

Thanks so much, NYCitygurl!! ^_^

And I am awful--I completely forgot to post the next chapter here when I finished it.

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Chapter Twenty-Four - Messages

Ursa was taken into a room in the palace that had no doors or windows; the only way in or out was through earthbending. One of the Dai Li remained with her. Ursa stood imperiously, refusing to sit on one of the chairs in the room.

She didn't wait long before the wall opened and a young woman stepped inside. Though it had been years since Ursa had seen her daughter, there was no mistaking her, and Ursa searched Azula's face with a relief and joy that wasn't dampened by her worry. After so many years, after she had wondered if she would even lay eyes on her children again, Azula was right in front of her, safe.

Safe, yes, Ursa thought, but not whole. Azula was a beautiful young woman, but there was a pinch to her face and a hardness to her eyes that reminded Ursa of Ozai. She moved not only like a firebender, but like a disciplined warrior. Every motion of her body was precise, calculated.

Azula stared at Ursa impassively for several seconds, and Ursa's throat was so clogged that it was a moment before she could speak, but Azula beat her to it.

"So it is true." There was the smallest flicker of emotion on Azula's otherwise passive face, so fleeting that Ursa couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. "What are you doing here, Mother?"

Mother. As a child, Azula had only ever called her that when she was particularly upset. Ursa wanted nothing more than to just pull her daughter into her arms and hold her close, but when she took a step toward Azula, the ground around her jutted up, enclosing her body and pinning her into place with her arms at her sides.

Ursa's gaze flickered over to the Dai Li standing quietly at the wall before returning to Azula. "I came to see you. To talk to you."

"You really expect me to believe you just came to talk? You betrayed your country and your family when you left us." Azula stared at her and added disinterestedly, "A lot of people think you're dead. If you had wanted to talk, why wait until now? What is it really, Mother? Did you hear how we took Ba Sing Se and decide to try to use our glory to get back into the graces of the Fire Nation?" She was watching Ursa shrewdly, calculating, so full of distrust and anger. Ursa could see it in her eyes, though she masked it well. Azula had always been adept at covering up her emotions.

"I have no desire to be a part of what you've done here, Azula. I heard that you and Zuko were here, yes, and I came to tell you the truth."

"The truth about what? Your betrayal? Don't bother. I couldn't care less."

"You should care. What our country is doing is hurting the world?including the Fire Nation. If you care about our country at all?"

"I care about it far more than you ever did. You think I don't know what you did the night you left? Zuko may be too thick to put the pieces together, but I know."

Ursa straightened her head, the only part of her body not encased in earth, and met Azula's eyes. "I did what I had to do."

"To protect Zuko." There was bitterness there, again well-hidden, but Ursa was discovering that even in five years, Azula's mannerisms were the same. She was much harder than she had been as a little girl, but her behavior wasn't so far off from what Ursa had imagined it could be.

"To protect both of you, Azula," Ursa corrected quietly.

"Father would never harm me."
Ursa looked at Azula and then quietly said, "I would have said the same thing once. 'Ozai would never harm me.' That was before he burned me and cast me away."

"Then you deserved it."

It was another knife in Ursa's heart, but she didn't flinch. "I think your father has harmed you far more than you can see."

"Is this your plan, then? To come here to try to turn me against my father? You should know it won't work."

"I know you love your father, Azula, but he is wrong. The Fire Nation is wrong."

"The Fire Nation is the strongest nation in the world."

"The Fire Na

 

I'm disappointed with Azula, but not surprised. It reminds me a lot of that "Ember Island" episode.

I'm glad Hakoda knows what happened to Ursa! It was kind of funny to see him consider that Ursa was the Firelord's wife, and then reject the possibility

Nice chapter!!

~Nat

 

Thanks, Nat! Yeah, I was trying to pull things from various points in Azula's life--and thinking about her future meltdown that involved hallucinating about her mother--when writing that scene.

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Chapter Twenty-Five - Awaiting the Dawn

Ursa wasn't sure how far under Ba Sing Se her prison was. She was led through areas with glowing crystals everywhere, deeper and deeper until she was taken into a tunnel that held a row of cells on either side. It was darker in the tunnel than some of the other areas, since there were only a few luminescent crystals along the floor. The cell she was thrown into was even darker. She could hardly make out the small cot in the corner.

Her Dai Li guard earthbended off the bonds he had put on her wrists and then locked her inside. She rubbed her wrists, staring at the metal walls and the door with its thin grated window, and she tried not to despair.

There's nothing else I could have done. She could almost hear the voices of the Water Tribe men in her head, reminding her that as long as she was alive, she couldn't give up.

The footsteps of the Dai Li faded as he walked away from the cell, and Ursa slowly sat on the thin cot. Her mind swirled with thoughts. Azula. Zuko. Hakoda. The Water Tribe fleet.

"What'd they get you for?"

The voice jolted Ursa out of her miserable thoughts, and her head turned to the wall on her left.

"Hello?" the voice came again. It was very young?too young, Ursa thought, to be locked in a cell in the depths of Ba Sing Se.

"Hello," she replied.

"So?" the voice prompted. It was more difficult than usual for Ursa to tell if it belonged to a boy or a girl, but as it continued, she decided it that it sounded more like a girl talking. "Why are you down here?"

"The new ruler of Ba Sing Se didn't like what I had to say," Ursa said quietly.

"Wait. New ruler?"

"I don't know how long you've been in here," Ursa said, "but the Fire Nation has control of the city now."

"What!? How?"

"That's a very long story." Ursa leaned back against the cold wall. "I'm Ursa. What's your name?"

A moment of silence, and then the voice said, "Smellerbee."

"That's a very interesting name?"

"?for a boy?" Smellerbee shot back sarcastically.

Ursa was certain now. "I was going to say for a girl."

"Huh."

"Smellerbee. What did you do to get put down here?"

"My friend Longshot and I got tossed in here. He's in the cell across from us. You could say we stuck our noses where they weren't wanted." Her tone was hard and bitter. "And we lost our leader before we were put down here. I thought for sure they were gonna brainwash us, but maybe since the Fire Nation took over, they stopped brainwashing? Or maybe we just weren't worth the trouble." She sighed?a very heavy sigh if Ursa could hear it through the metal wall. "We've tried everything to get out of here. I don't suppose you have any explosives or something that these lousy Dai Li didn't find on you?"

"Sorry. I'm fresh out of explosives."

"Times like this, I miss The Duke. Ah, well, it was worth asking. But we'll get out of here sometime, won't we, Longshot?"

If there was any discernible answer from the mysterious Longshot, Ursa didn't hear it.

Smellerbee cleared her throat. "So are you going to tell us how the Fire Nation was able to take over Ba Sing Se? However long the story is, we're not exactly going anywhere." There was a brief pause and then she added, "Yet."

:-:-:-:-:

Hakoda watched Appa rise into the night sky with his children, Toph, and their lemur on his back. They were going again?going to find Aang and to lie in wait until the day of the eclipse. Katara turned around on Appa and waved to Hakoda. He waved back as she disappeared into the clouds.

He missed them already.

At least Katara had finally opened up to him before she'd dashed away. Everything she had said to him?her pain and anger at Hakoda leaving the South Pole?had been what Hakoda had suspected was pent up inside of her. Each word and accusation out of Katara's mouth had been a knife to his heart, because

 

I really like Ursa befriending Smellerbee - and it was so cute that she knew Smellerbee was a girl!! I'm glad they're all out, though now Hakoda's in prison

 

Thanks! Hehe, yeah, the in-and-out of prison stuff...well, here's some more of it.

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Chapter Twenty-Six - The Missing Piece

The invasion had failed. Hakoda and the rest of the invasion team were imprisoned close to the Fire Nation palace. Even then, Hakoda clung to hope for the future. His children were still free with Avatar Aang. They could still win this war. They would win this war.

Everything Hakoda had?all of his Water Tribe accoutrements, even his clothing?were taken and he was given prison clothes. The only thing he had wanted to save, he had pressed into Sokka's hand right before sending him away on Appa. The betrothal necklace had been in a pouch, so he didn't know if Sokka would open it and find out what was inside, but Hakoda had simply asked him, "Please hold onto this for me."

Sokka had nodded in determination and pocketed the pouch, saying, "I'll get it back to you soon. I promise."

The prisoners had a chance to mingle with each other during certain times of the day, including when they were given small bowls of some kind of gruel. Hakoda met some interesting people during these times; he even met a group of young warrior women who said they knew his children.

There was one particular woman at the prison that Hakoda met during one of their dinners. He had just sat down on the ground with his food, and she came to his attention as she hobbled slowly in the line, waiting for her meal. She was a very small old woman with a knot of white hair pinned up neatly on top of her head. She looked like she was having a hard time walking, and when the soldiers shoved a bowl of gruel into her hands, it slipped through her fingers before she had a good grip on it.

After it spilled all over the ground, the guard loudly said, "You should have been more careful. You're not getting any more!"

Hakoda stood to his feet, holding his bowl carefully in one hand, and walked over to the old woman as she slowly made her way out of the line. When he got closer, he realized she probably couldn't see very well, if at all. Her eyes were filmy.

"Here." He spoke to her as he reached for her arm with his free hand so he wouldn't startle her. "Allow me."

Despite her fragile appearance, her grip on his arm was surprisingly firm. He led her over to the wall of the prison and helped her sit down. Then he set his bowl of gruel in her hands, making sure she had a good hold on it before he let go. "Eat this."

She turned her face toward him and squinted. "You need to keep up your strength, young man."

"I couldn't eat that knowing you would be without," he replied. "Please accept it."

"I will." She carefully began to spoon the gruel into her mouth, and when the bowl was empty, she said, "Thank you very much?"

"Hakoda," he supplied.

"Hakoda. A Water Tribe name. I had heard that there were Water Tribe people here now. Thank you, Hakoda. I'm Misaki."

Hakoda froze and stared at the woman. "You wouldn't be Misaki from Huang, would you?" he asked slowly.

"The very same," she said, "but I don't believe we've ever met. I would remember such a fine young man."

"No, we haven't, but I've heard a lot about you from Ursa."

Misaki's eyes grew huge, and she grasped Hakoda's arm. "You know Ursa? When was the last time you saw her?"

"A couple of months ago. I met her the night you were captured in Huang." He told her that his tribe had been on a mission to learn about spies in the Earth Kingdom and how they had come across Ursa when she was being chased by one of these spies. He explained that she had been traveling with the Water Tribe after that, but that she had gone to Ba Sing Se as soon as it fell to the Fire Nation. "I received a message from the Order of the White Lotus that she had been captured and they were working on a way to get her out. But that was weeks before I was captured and I heard nothing from them."

"The Order?if you're speaking freely of it?"

"Ursa and I have had conversations with General Xu. Ursa found a white lotus tile in your house the night you disappeared. She carried it with her eve