Princess Yue walked alongside Sokka, showing him her place of birth. Buildings around here were different from ones Sokka remembered from his home. Princess doubted that her friend was truly interested in architecture, but he walked with a straight back, a stoic face and a faux dignity she knew the elders had.

He tried to make an impression of being polite and gentlemanly, but from time to time he would get distracted or forget himself and his real persona would show.

They approached icy railing and stopped, the Princess pausing her explanation to rest a bit. Sokka looked around with a dazed expression like he hadn't really listened to anything she said and rested his back on the railing, his elbows propping him up.

He just relaxed, without the proper decorum he displayed previously. Princess Yue looked at him in his natural state, so calm and carefree. She could see something special in him and understand why he called himself 'cool'. Although, right now he looked more distracted than usual.

"You seem troubled Sokka, is something the matter?"

His head snapped to her and he realized where and with whom he was and he tried to stand up straight but stopped when he heard the Princess giggle, her mouth hidden by her hand, but the corners of her mouth showed her smile. He leaned back against the railing and pulled his head back. Exhaling a tired sigh he told the Princess what he was thinking.

"It's Katara. She wants to learn waterbending, but Master Pakku doesn't let her because she is a girl. She learned healing well enough, but for anything else she has to come up with some scheme. I'm a little tired from the whole situation, especially because there is little I can do."

The Princess hummed in quiet contemplation before replying.

"You know Sokka, there might just be something you can do. While most of my tribesmen adhere to traditions, there is one master who vocally disagrees with them. Luckily, he recently came back from traveling and can be found easily. He is a well known tradesman as well as a waterbending master. Let's get your sister and meet him."

Sokka perked up at her words and became excited. He was almost jumping up in place and immediately rushed away. The princess smiled at his antics and waited. A few moments later he came back, looking embarrassed.

"Sorry Princess, I became too excited. Could you please walk with me to get my sister?"

"I'd be glad to. Lead the way."

The two people, one dignified, the other excited, walked away at a sedate pace.

After half a minute, Sokka turned to the Princess.

"So, where exactly are we going?"

"Oh, actually you've been to this place before. It's Brewmaster's, you told me it had tasty food and recommended it to me." Princess smiled at him sweetly, and Sokka felt he was a butt of a joke for some reason.

"Really? The food was tasty, but the person there was just some old guy, he didn't look like a master to me."

"Oh, no, he is just a student of the master I want to introduce you to. There are Brewmaster's everywhere he travels. It acts like a restaurant and like a school for benders where they can practice their bending."

"Really? You can use bending to cook? If my sister knew how to do that instead of getting me wet with her splashes, I would appreciate her bending more. If that guy can do it, he must be a wise old man and a master chef."

Princess smiled at him again. He felt something go way over his head again.

—-

"There, you see? Brewmaster's! That building has the man we need."

Sokka pulled his sister's hand excitedly while dragging her behind him. He saw their destination.

"Sokka, slow down. We've left Princess behind, it's not like the master will fly away right this second, we can afford to wait a few moments."

Sokka stopped and looked towards where his sister was pointing to see that they had in fact left the Princess far behind. She however smiled and waved them off, slowly walking toward them.

"I will apologize to Princess Yue when she catches up, but don't you see. If there is really a waterbending master in there, we can ask him to teach you and you won't need to bother Aang. Now come on, let's go."

Exasperated, Katara had to follow behind her brother. They quickly approached a restaurant with a big sign that said "Brewmaster's" on it. There were people sitting inside with cups and bowls of steaming liquids. The counter was manned by a middle aged man with slight wrinkles on his face, while behind him a bear of a man stood, two heads taller than either sibling, his fur coat bulging around his arms, chest and belly. He seemed to be a massive man and his voice seemed to be just as great.

He had a booming laugh while he talked about something. He quickly mixed a bowl of different toppings while a stream of liquid seemed to flow around him. Originating in some casks and barrels that stood behind a counter, the liquid seemed to flow by itself without any prompting from the man. Katara was stunned. While she wasn't an expert waterbender, she could not imagine the mastery needed to make water flow with just a thought, but the man seemed to do nothing, while liquids danced around him and into the bowls he prepared.

As they got close, Katara couldn't help but gawk at the display before her. She had to know.

"How are you doing this? This can't be any normal bending."

"It's because it is not. It is the new way of bending that I, Viteq, invented."

Without even looking the man replied, his voice loud and clear. He finished preparing a meal to be served and turned toward the siblings. He took in Katara's looks and leered at her.

"Ah such a tasty little morsel that came to me. 'Will you walk into my parlour?' Said the spider to the fly."

The siblings were stunned by his greeting and the way he talked.

He then quickly scanned Sokka, looked behind them seeing someone else and his face changed.

"Ah sorry, it just slips out sometimes. You are a pretty girl, although quite young and my mouth got ahead of my brain. Forgive my crass words."

He waved a greeting at them, inviting them to come closer. He quickly assembled a few bowls with different toppings and filled them with streaming broth coming from different casks. He offered one each to each sibling.

"Shrimp and vegetable noodles for a lady and mixed meat noodles for a young warrior. Eat, it's on me."

The two took the offered treats and cautiously sipped them. Immediately their taste buds were flooded with rich tastes they never knew of before. Sokka immediately started gulping down his portion like he was starving. Katara tried to act more dignified, but she too ate her portion like it was the first meal she had in weeks. It was savory and flavorful, the texture was excellent and it melted on their tongues. They almost lost all sense of time. By the time they were down, there were two cups of tea set before them and another one was picked up by Princess Yue, who finally caught up to them.

"Yue, good to see you. I've missed you, your beauty was one thing I missed most while traveling. I even brought you your favorite dessert."

The man ducked out of view for a few moments, before bringing back a wooden stick with colored balls on it. He offered one to the Princess, then he put a bowl of different sweets before the siblings. He smiled at the Princess with slight melancholy

"You are just as radiant as ever. Too bad I can't marry you, I would be the happiest man alive. Alas."

Sokka spat his tea at that.

"Hey, how can you be so rude towards the princess?"

The man smiled towards him, showing his teeth.

"Oh, are you perhaps jealous, Sokka? You don't have to worry, Yue is like a sister to me. Besides, we are of different standing, a ruffian like me could never be with a lady such as Yue. It is a sad tale as old as time."

Yue smiled brightly at the man.

"Viteq, there was the one time father made an offer to let me marry you. I remember how you turned red and sputtered. My father does too."

The man pouted for a second. He waved his hands dismissively.

"Bah, what do you know, woman? I am a man of adventure, I cannot stay in one place for too long, shackled to one woman. I would wilt and die. Besides, when I was little and snuck away to play with you, it was you who called me brother. It was also you who denied my confession when we got older. It still stings my pride at how you dismissed my feelings so easily."

The man jabbed his finger at the princess accusingly, who in response closed her eyes and sipped her tea, her lips curled into a slight smile.

Sokka and Katara were stunned. Such interplay between the two, a delicate and dignified princess and a massive man with little to no manners.

Viteq tutted at the princess while shaking his head.

"Anyway, it seems the time has come."

He cupped his chin and nodded his head sagely. As did the Princess.

"Yes, Viteq the time has come."

The siblings looked at the two puzzled. Katara couldn't help but ask.

"The time for what?"

"Time for me to pack my things and accompany the Avatar and his companions on their journey."

"How do you know about… hey wait a minute, how did you know my name?"

Viteq looked at Sokka and smiled.

"People talk often, especially in a place like this. Customers love to gossip as much as my grandma did. But, I always knew there would come a chance for me to meet the Avatar and join him. You see, Sokka and Katara, I am a person who has died and was reborn, bringing with me the wisdom of arts and sciences, tales and knowledge of a distant world. I escaped the wheel of Samsara and was brought here with great destiny."

He took a pose in front of them, attempting to look dignified, wise and sagely. It was an attempt alright. The people around them murmured, some with humor, others dismissively. Only Princess Yue nodded at everything Viteq said, accepting what he said as fact.

Sokka, looked at him and somehow felt he met a kindred spirit, a deep sense of comradery bubbled from deep within. Still, he was very confused.

"Listen, I have no idea what any of what you said means, but we came here looking for a waterbending teacher for my sister. This all has gotten out of hand quickly and I am kind of lost right now."

Sokka turned to his sister, looking for guidance, but got a confused look in return. Viteq deflated at Sokka's words but quickly propped up again.

"Well, you are in luck. I am one of the best waterbending masters around here. Even master Pakku admitted that I am a great waterbender."

"True." Princess Yue added, still sipping her tea, which Viteq topped up from time to time.

"He also said that I was his best student and acknowledged my talent…"

"Not true."

He sputtered and deflated. The siblings looked at Princess Yue for clarification.

"While Viteq had the gift of waterbending early on, it took him extra four years to start bending at a basic level."

They turned back to the man in question. He grumbled but clarified.

"Turns out I was too smart for my own good. Instead of learning basic forms and learning from the ground up, I made up lots of wrong assumptions which stopped me from being a proper waterbender. It took years for me to realize that I was bending improperly, instead of bending water like a waterbender, I was bending water like a firebender."

Katara looked at Viteq in shock and confusion.

"Bending water like a firebender? What?"

"Yes, I don't know if you know this but you don't change the temperature of the water while bending. You can turn it to ice or fog, but it will stay as cold or as hot as it was before you started. I, on the other hand, couldn't move water or turn it into ice, but I could make tiny waves and change temperature. In fact if it wasn't for the one time I left my tea unattended for too long while helping my mother and came back to drink the first cold tea in years, I would have been stuck for much longer."

Katara absorbed the new information with interest and looked at him, hoping to hear more. Viteq gestured to his restaurant, filled with casks and barrels.

"Do you see any fire going? From the moment I realized how my bending worked, I trained every second of every day, lugging around casks full of water, trying to keep their temperature just right. My first coin was earned from the tea I brewed with my bending. My stall, my cooking and brewing are all an extension of my bending and training, preparing for this moment, the moment when I can train the Avatar and you, Katara.

"I eventually figured out my mistakes and learned to waterbend normally. But I set out to travel to learn other forms of bending. I watched earthbenders and firebenders, I sought out every source of gossip and folktale. I learned a lot and I practise it everyday. Alas, I know next to nothing about airbenders.

"Other than a few scrolls with their forms, I have nothing else. And while I made progress, I need more. I need to understand airbenders, how they practice their art, how they think, how they move. And that is why I am going on the journey with you. I have things I can teach and I have things I must learn."

Viteq turned away from stunned siblings and from the happy Princess and began to put away his things. Katara took a second to gather herself.

"Wait a second! Why do you think you can just start traveling with us? Maybe Avatar won't take you with us."

Viteq turned to her with a smirk.

"I don't know. Perhaps Aang will dislike me enough to leave me behind, but we won't know until you leave on your journey. Until then, you need a teacher and your options are somewhat limited."

He returned to packing with a smile, while Katara turned away with a huff, annoyed at how presumptuous he was. Viteq loaded his things on a sleigh and pulled it behind him.

"Well, I am ready. Let's go meet the Avatar."