No Time To...

Present

•Eight years later•

A large fire nation ship rocked softly on the sea while a full moon was above them, it moved through the water with smoke coming from the top.

"Did you hear that the earth rebellion is still making a fight?" A man leaned on the side of the ship as the crew took a break.

"With fire lord Azula still leading the army they won't have a chance, king Ozai will let her kill whoever she wants if it means giving him power," another man scoffed as he drank a dark liquor to keep them warm in the cold night.

"Theyre still looking for the avatar ya know?" He smirked at them a little.

"Everyone is," a woman rolled her eyes as she took some of the liquor from the men.

"I think he's dead, it's water tribe that's probably hiding the next avatar," the man smiled looking over the water.

"The cycles not broken, a avatar is still out there but no one knows if it's the air bender or whoever is next," he sighed a little taking a swing.

"You sound disappointed almost," the woman raised a brow.

"No, but I doubt it'll be a hundred years again till one shows up, I don't blame the king and fire lord still looking, one avatar and that's all it'll take for them to win if they mastered it all," he scoffed shaking his head.

"Do you hope one is out there?" A younger woman walked up as their backs were to her.

"If there is one it's a child, not the one from eight years ago," the man looked back at the young woman but froze. She wasn't fire nation, she had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes that looked like that they almost glowed in the moonlight.

"Who the fuck are you?" He took out his sword as everyone were shocked seeing a complete stranger in the middle of the sea.

"No one special," she moved her hands up and bender the water around the ship as it tilted everyone to the side with screams. The wave went down and the ship rocked opposite, she brought up again till the water was high enough to tilt the ship over in the water making everyone yell in shock and fear of the water bender that took out a fire nation ship alone.

—

Twenty two year old Katara walked from the shore of the sea to the sand with a yawn as she collapsed in the dry sand while the sun rose in the distance.

She laid with her arms over her face to block the light, her longhair was pooled around her head, she was a few cute inches taller and her face slimmed down a bit but her body collected scars over the years of fighting a war. Now fighting alone. She hasn't seen her brother, her friends, in five years and it's been eight since she's seen Aang.

She had a scar on her jaw and a few on her arms and legs, and one on her stomach. From battles and personal fights, she had to get stronger either way.

There was a low groan from the side and she looked up hearing loud stomping and smiled seeing appa approaching her. She's been traveling with the flying bison for the past five years, she stayed with Zuko for a year then went to join her father to fight the war and stayed in the North Pole for another year after, but since she left she's been fighting personal battles like with the river village and freeing those who weren't able to free themselves. She wouldn't turn her back on those who needed her.

She touched her stomach gently and sighed getting up.

"Hey appa, miss me?" She smiled walking to the bison who licked her hand. She rubbed his nose and hugged him enjoying his soft fur.

"You stink, let's find a river and give you a bath," Katara gagged at his smell.

She couldn't leave appa behind, not with the North Pole or the white lotus, he needed to travel and be in the sky, not a house pet.

She brushed the sand off her legs and pulled her hair up in a bun to get her wet hair off her back. Appa followed her through the woods as she took the lead to find the river near by.

Five years and it felt like the water tribe and earth rebellion have barely made a dent against the fire nation, like before the avatar was in the world again. It frustrated her, it was frustrating to the whole group when they disagreed about what to do, or even if it was worth trying to find Aang after three years a searching. She was losing hope so she took it into her own hands.

Azula was able to become fire lord and that put fear into everyone, even her own people since she's losing her mind after the years. Maybe that's why Zuko also dropped off the face of the earth. He didn't want to be like his family. Even iroh hasn't seen him in five years... but they write back and forth. He's somewhere in the earth kingdom hiding. That's all she knew... that's all she wanted to know.

They had a big fight, worse argument she's ever had and she left, she didn't look back in a fit of rage and tears as Zuko turned his back on her as well. They refuse to speak to each other since.

"Should we use some of the oils appa? I think you deserve a little spa day," Katara crawled to the saddle and appa made a sound in response.

"I'm taking that as a yes, stinky," she giggled a little sliding down and she set a bottle on the grass as they found a river. She bended the water to take off appas saddle since she couldn't do it alone, rinsed appa off as he stepped in the river and laid down with a groan enjoying the cool water.

She used a little of the oil and bended it to spread so it could cover more of the giant and rubbed it on the back of his ears and horns to keep him clean.

Appa closed his eyes letting her pamper him, she babied the giant a lot more when it was just them. She wondered his appa knew if Aang would come back or not, or if he just thought Aang abandoned him. She knew appa loved his person and probably would run straight towards Aang if he saw him.

"Man I really feel like a certain prince, must find the avatar and regain my honor," Katara chuckled but her stomach dropped at the thought of Zuko. She felt guilty for leaving him on bad terms, for the way she left him...

"Tomorrow I'm going to head into town and see how the white lotus is doing, if there's any updates on the fire nation," she told the bison even though he might not understand her. She felt like she was going crazy.

"I need to be around actual humans, no offense appa, yours a great listener,"  she smiled up at him.

"Alright now close your eyes so I can rinse you big guy," she backed up and bender the water to wash the winter coat of fur off.