Chapter 14: The North Pole.

Drums blared loudly in the streets, and the music reverberated throughout the north, announcing to everyone that the Avatar had returned. People laughed and drank wine, celebrating that they finally had a chance to win this long war.

But that wasn't the only reason for the celebration, with a meal from Captain Smollett, Yue's sixteenth birthday was truly a big deal. Considering how much provisions were on the ship, there was enough food for everyone. Smollett was, of course, upset that more provisions didn't reach the bad areas, but Arnook – the head of the Tribe – promised that pretty soon all of his men wouldn't be working to the bone just to get scraps.

Sokka, Katara and Aang celebrated with everyone because they knew that the chances of Michael already being at the North Pole were very slim. But the fact that their friend wasn't with them left a bad taste in their mouths.

The twin brothers Han and Khan, who spotted the Avatar, decided to find out if their new friend was actually part of Gaang.

Michael, meanwhile, was sitting under the covers in the hotel room, his eye twitching with every beat of the drum. This week he really rested, just lying in bed and reading books that he stole during his little trip. A couple of those books were shameless smut, but he didn't complain, they were at least some kinds of entertainment.

"What's going on there anyway? I don't remember any holidays in the North besides the princess's birthday… Oh crap, is it today?" He muttered, looking at the ceiling. "No… there was something else." Knowing that he would not be able to remember anything important, Michael took out earplugs made from the wool of a strange mutant rabbit and went to bed. Today was the last day of his week-long vacation, after all, and he intended to spend it sleeping.

But the universe decided otherwise and Michael heard three pairs of legs running up the stairs towards his room. He groaned loudly and reached for his knife, but decided that using Waterbending would be easier. He waved his hand and the door became part of the icy floor and wall, leaving only a wooden doorknob as evidence that there was once a passage. Three people stopped outside his room, and the ice holding the door in place melted, causing Michael to groan even louder.

The door opened and he began to speak before anyone else could open their mouths. "Listen, if someone accuses me of some shit, then I didn't do it. Blame it on Cthulhu–" Three loud shouts of "Michael!" interrupted his speech, and Katara, Sokka, Aang and Momo all jumped onto him in a group hug.

Michael blinked a couple of times and looked at the three crying teenagers who all tried to say something to him, but kept interrupting each other – not that he considered himself an adult, but he certainly had the right to call himself one – only Momo, who stuck to his head, remained silent.

"–we thought you died! But–" "–to the Spirit World, how did–" "–Sokka got so serious, it was scary! I thought it was impossible!–" "–I met a Spirit lady who said that you were fine, even Iroh said so–" "–d'you know how worried we were?! I–" "–rivers of tears–" "–an Air Nomad Temple full of people–" "–Admiral Zhao got so pissed–" "–Bato told us–" "–Aunt Wu was creepy–" "–Earthbender broke his arms–" "–Jet is a bitch–" "–and the pirates!"

Michael gave them a couple of minutes to let their emotions out, but eventually he got tired and clapped his hands sharply, silencing his three friends. "All good? Nobody died?" The three shook their heads in unison and Michael relaxed. "Great, I can end my vacation week early and walk around today's festival with you lot. I think we should trade stories." He looked at his blanket and frowned. "But first, shoo. I need to get dressed."

Momo stayed with Michael in the room, but Aang, Sokka and Katara went out the door. They were happy to know that their friend survived and that they were reunited, but they had so many questions! Aang was jumping up and down trying to contain his interest, Sokka almost vibrated in place with excitement.

"How much do you want to bet that he will tell you something incredible?" Katara asked Sokka with a smirk.

"Sucker's bet. He was sucked into the Spirit World, naturally something incredible happened to him." He muttered in response.

---

The Gaang went outside and told Michael about their adventures. He heard what he expected, not noticing big changes in the canon, but a couple of things bothered him.

"Yeah, Zhao was scarred badly. Very recently too…" That was the first flag.

"Aunt Wu told us our future, but everything was too strange. I don't even remember what she said, except for talking about a huge battle that turned into a small obstacle."  Second flag.

"Spirit lady? Yes, I saw a woman with a face hidden behind a veil. She didn't give her name, but she said you were fine…" With these words, Michael turned into an alleyway and screamed his soul into the snow. He knew it was the Nameless Goddess, but he just couldn't understand why would she do what she does.

"What happened to you?" Four pairs of eyes looked at him with interest and Michael began to speak.

"Well, first I was stolen by some silver Spirit who wanted to drown me in the lake. But I talked to Iroh, good man, by the way." Sokka tilted his head, as if taking advice from an unseen companion, deciding something about Iroh. "I had to go through the jungle for several days, and then swim for several days on the sea with the Spirit of Air – a kind girl, name is Sylphy." Aang looked at Michael as if he had grown a second head. "Oh, yes, I also saw a Water Spirit that looked like an octopus. Then I ended up on an island with several Air Spirits, from where I passed through the portal to the Earth Kingdom. That's where I snuck into the Circus, where the lead acrobat dragged me on a date." Katara was looking at him strangely now too, but Sokka was still listening to his story with interest.

"I got drunk and forgot what happened that night, but now a man named Zabuza is wanted in the territory of the Fire Nation." Sokka made a note in the notebook that came out of nowhere, silencing Michael for a second. "After that, I joined Smollett's voyage and sailed with his crew to the North. Everything was fine if we don't count the huge Spirit that rose from the Sea and made dozens of holes in my body. I think I even died a little, but then I would have seen Jasmine." Michael gazed dreamily at the sunset. "The perfect woman, to be honest."

Sokka slammed his notebook shut, drawing attention to himself. "Now I understand what always seemed strange about you. I tried to unravel your secrets from the very beginning, but finally I have a suitable theory!"

Aang and Katara looked at Sokka like he was crazy. In the past few weeks, he's taken up a new hobby: finding new conspiracy theories. "We've already talked about this, you can't just–"

"I can, and I will!" Sokka interrupted her words and tucked his book into his belt. He turned dramatically to Michael and pointed at him with a wooden pointer taken from the same place as the book. "You, my dear friend, are actually an alcoholic Spirit who came into this world to bring chaos! To end wars! To eat the scariest sea monsters!"

There was a chuckle from the left of their group, and Michael finally noticed Princess Yue's silver hair. Sokka immediately stiffened like a statue and his cheeks turned red, Michael could understand why. If he was interested in princesses, he would definitely want to date Yue.

"A Spirit that came to eat sea monsters? I haven't heard anything like this before." Yue looked at Sokka with interest and he regained his confidence, but didn't have time to say anything because Michael beat him to it.

"To be honest, I think that theory might be true. At least the alcoholic part." He sipped something thoughtfully from his flask.

Aang snatched the flask from him and shook it near his ear. His brows furrowed for a moment, but in the next second, his entire face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Hey! I know this wine, it's even older than me!"

Katara took the flask from Aang and sniffed at the wine, but winced as the smell hit her nose. "Where did you even get it?"

Michael opened his mouth to answer, but closed it without making a sound. He turned to Yue, who was talking to Sokka, and waved in her direction. "Hey, if I confess to stealing from the Fire Nation, will I get in trouble here?"

Yue thought about it, but ended up shaking her head. "As long as you don't steal from our territory, you'll be fine." Her eyes narrowed on Michael's clothes, specifically his Northern Tribe sweatshirt under the black trench coat. "You didn't steal anything from here, did you?" No matter what anyone said about the soft nature of the princess, Yue could pass judgment when needed.

"Oh, look at the time!" Michael turned sharply on the spot, and quickly walked into the alleys. "Time for me to fuck off as far as possible!"

Wagging between the houses, Michael quickly went to the central market. The nights in the North were getting much colder, and he urgently needed new underpants. This time he wasn't going to steal anything, because underwear stealing was not his profile. So, Michael spent the next hour choosing the right clothes.

His brief depression about his clothes and appearance ended in him deciding to wear more bright colors. Never in his life had he wanted to become an edgelord, nor did he intend to become one in the future.

But his shopping spree somehow ended up being dragged by the young Avatar to meet the Master who would train Aang. Pakku.

"Master Pakku, meet your newest student, the Avatar." Arnook pointed towards Aang. Michael looked around in confusion, trying to figure out exactly how he ended up here.

"Just because you're destined to save the world, don't expect any special treatment." Pakku sneered, looking at the hundred– and twelve-year-old Avatar like one would look at an unruly child, which – to be fair – Aang basically was.

"My friend and I can't wait to start training with you! After we relax for a couple of days." Aang smiled, barely standing on his feet. Two days of flying over the sea and the party immediately after that drained all the juices out of him and his friends. Only Michael felt fine, but it would be strange if he was tired after a week of rest.

"If you want to relax, then I suggest visiting a tropical island. If not, I'll see you both at sunrise. Good night." He snapped and turned on his heels. Pakku left the meeting place and Michael couldn't help but frown.

"And this man teaches your Waterbenders?" Even watching the show in his original world, Michael didn't like Pakku. He didn't like bitter old fucks – except for Igorevich – who took out their grievances on the younglings. But he especially disliked traditionalists.

Oh, he didn't see anything wrong with traditions, but Michael always chose progress first. The techniques that Pakku passed on to his students had been in use for over a hundred years, at least that's how Michael saw it. The show didn't have a big style change in The Legend of Aang, but already in The Legend of Korra, people started to evolve.

That's what Michael wanted for this world. To change it for the better.

Arnook shook his head and looked at Michael, understanding his displeasure. "Despite his strictness, Pakku is a good teacher. Many Waterbenders have grown up under his watch, even if there are few who we can compare them with."

Waterbenders mostly lived only at the North Pole, so new Masters were born and raised here. A dozen or so wandering Waterbenders were scattered around the world, but due to the war, few of them could have time to develop enough abilities to become a Master. Of course, there were also hidden Tribes with unique Bendings, but they were too reserved to share their experience, so no one knew if they had Masters at all.

"How many generations has he taught? Three, four?" Arnook winced. "Your Bending will die in stagnation if this continues." Michael muttered; Momo only patted him on his head to calm his friend down. Michael had too many problems with Pakku's teaching to not get angry, so he decided to sleep in and leave the problem in the hands of his future self.

Aang tilted his head, trying to understand what Michael was talking about. "Stagnation…?" He began to roll to the side, but sneezed and flew a couple of meters into the air. Aang landed on his feet and slammed his fist into his palm. "I got it!" Aang looked around to find someone to share his discovery with, but noticed that he was alone in the street. "Aww…" He pouted. "Well, I'll tell them later!"

He forgot what they were talking about in the next thirty seconds.

---

In the hotel with ice walls lay all the members of Gaang. Michael asked the manager to bring a couple more beds into his room so everyone could fit inside. Momo still hadn't let go of Michael's head and didn't look like he was going to let him go anytime soon.

"Man, how did you even live to the seventeen if this is happening to you all the time?" Sokka asked in shock when Michael finished telling the full story of his travels in the Spirit World. His story was too incredible to believe, but Aang heard worse.

Aang stared at the ceiling, trying to imagine how he would fight against the silver Spirit, Gotl, but his mind gave out blanks. He couldn't even imagine life without Bending, let alone trying to defeat a Spirit with such a disadvantage. Aang knew that his job as an Avatar was to maintain a balance, not only between people, but also between Spirits. He could not remain a pacifist mindset forever if he wanted to maintain peace.

Aang knew that every life was priceless, that no one had the right to just end it, that even he didn't have such a right, even despite his Avatar status. But he couldn't stop thinking about the countless lives cut short by the Fire Nation soldiers on Ozai's orders. The only way to stop the war was to stop the Fire Lord. But even without his lead, most of the soldiers wouldn't stop, so Aang nervously bit his lips and thought about the future.

Katara fiddled her fingers with a frown on her face. A couple of days before Michael was abducted, he became part of her family, and she let him disappear so easily. Her determination to become a Master Waterbender intensified, igniting a fire in her eyes. If she had been better, then Michael would not have had to go through such trials.

Intellectually, she understood that no one in this situation would have had time to help him. Only a few Spirits knew about the "cracks in reality", and despite Michael's failure, one of these Spirits wanted to kill him. 'Maybe there is some Bending art with which I can control the Spirits…? No, not control, confront them.' Katara had a lot to think about.

Sokka has already decided what he needs to do so that all his friends can survive this war. He should become much smarter than he is right now. Strategy, personnel management, politics, he needs to learn that and more. Sokka shuddered. He really didn't want to touch politics even with a fifteen-meter stick, but he was the son of the Leader of the Southern Tribe. Sooner or later he would have to pull himself together, so he decided that there was no better time than now… Or tomorrow, but only after lunch.

Completely unaware about his friends' changing minds, Michael made himself comfortable in his bed and cracked open a book. Tomorrow morning, he was going to kick some ass, but now was the time to relax. The fact that the book he had at hand was nothing but pure smut was just a coincidence.

---

"I've waited for this day my whole life. I finally get to learn from a real Waterbending master!" Katara almost jumped for joy. Needless to say, for her, this chance to learn was an incredible opportunity.

Michael rolled his eyes, already wishing he never left his coat at the hotel. He pulled the gloves over his hands and clenched his fists a couple of times, testing their comfort. The thick white skin of the Bear Whale was brilliant, but expensive.

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"Am I not a Master? Yes, I only gave you a couple of tips, but you were learning." He put his hand on his heart and wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "I'm so sad – my first student doesn't even think I'm a good teacher."

Katara slapped him on the shoulder, giggling. Aang scratched his head as he searched for their new Master. Pakku stood with his back to them and concentrated on Bending a stream of water.

"Good morning, Master Pakku!" Aang said cheerfully and Michael grimaced. Aang's screaming in the morning was far from being the sound anyone wants to hear.

Water fell to the floor and Pakku rubbed the bridge of his nose. "No, please, march right in. I'm not concentrating or anything." He muttered sarcastically.

Michael tilted his head in confusion. 'This old fossil taught more than one teenager, is he still not used to sudden loud noises?'

Aang exchanged glances with Michael and both frowned. "Uhhh… This is my friend, Katara." He pointed to Katara, who bowed slightly to Pakku. "The one I told you about?"

Pakku looked at Katara and then at Michael. "I'm sorry, I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friend was a girl – I thought that I would be teaching you, and the young man beside you. In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn Waterbending."

Michael closed his eyes and raised his head to the sky, foreshadowing the scream match that was about to take place. But to Michael's surprise, Katara at his side spoke in a calm and even voice.

"So just because I'm a woman, you won't train me to fight?" She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Pakku. "If the Avatar were a woman and came to learn from you, what would you say? 'Oh, excuse me Avatar, but because I'm a complete ass, you'll have to look for another teacher.'"

Pakku glared right back. "Here, the women learn from Yagoda to use their waterbending to heal. I'm sure she would be happy to take you as her student, despite your bad attitude."

Between the two Waterbenders, the air seemed to be electrified, students and ordinary passers-by looked at their conversation from the sides.

"You didn't answer my question. Good to know that the first real Master I've met is a sexist bitch." Katara shot back, causing Michael to choke on the air. Aang looked at the angry Katara with huge eyes, he had never seen anything so beautiful before.

"It's not about whether I'm a... bitch or not. Our tribe has customs, rules, traditions–"

"Stagnation." Aang spoke for the first time, interrupting Pakka. The Master Waterbender turned to the Avatar and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "How many years have you been teaching only men? How many clear minds have you beaten into obedience with your traditions?" His questions were met with silence, so Aang continued to speak.

"I've never been to the North before, although I had friends all over the world. And from what I've heard, the North hasn't changed at all in a hundred years of war." Michael opened his eyes in surprise and looked at Aang. "Now I get it, you just refuse to change." Aang stopped smiling a long time ago, and began to look like the Avatar one hundred percent.

"Traditions are in place for a reason, Avatar. I thought that you should know it. Air Nomads were evident about keeping traditions, after all."

"The Air Nomads followed tradition in lifestyle, not in the art of Bending. Just to become a master, one had to invent a new technique. We didn't restrict people from learning." Aang put his hand on Michael's shoulder, but was too low so he stopped to tap on his ribs. "There is a man in front of you who knows nothing about the traditions and rules in Bending, he never had a teacher, so he taught himself. And I would confidently call him a Master, but unfortunately I cannot make decisions without the participation of the Elders."

Pakku looked like he had eaten a dozen lemons. "Does this monologue lead somewhere, Avatar?"

Aang smiled, but there was no hint of friendliness behind that smile. "How about a spar between a Master and a Candidate Master? I'm sure after that you will be able to see that tradition is far from being the most important thing in the art of Bending."

Michael slowly turned his head to look at Aang, finally realizing what the kid was trying to do.

'Holy shit, that's just evil. I like it!'

Ten minutes later, Michael stood opposite Pakku who was set in a fighting stance. Even if he knew that a couple of his more secret techniques could kill a person in twenty seconds, this was the first time he had to fight a Master. Michael had enough experience fighting people in close combat, but when it comes to Benders… Well, he had too little experience here.

Of course, Michael met Firebenders who attacked him, he even fought a couple of Earthbenders, but all the battles ended in a couple of seconds. Airbending– no, aerokinesis was a dangerous power. Given that Michael also had hydrokinesis, he was a truly intimidating opponent.

During his week of rest, Michael realized that what he was doing couldn't be called Bending anymore. His control over water and wind was too strong, so he figured that Jasmine had given him hydro– and aero– kinesis, which was using his Chi to use. 'Or is it some other energy? A question for later.'

The arena in which they stood was very familiar to Michael. On either hand of the two "Masters" were two wells with water, which anyone could use in spare. Pakku still looked like an over-confident asshole, but most likely he had every right to look like that.

"This spar will stop as soon as one of you bleeds, surrenders, or is rendered in a state where they can't continue fighting." Sokka announced as the referee for the day. "You start at the sound of the cannon."

Michael turned to the crowd, looking for the cannon, but found only a smiling Aang. "Please tell me that Aang will not act as a cannon." Sokka chuckled and moved away from the two Waterbenders.

Pakku looked at Michael with interest, not fully understanding exactly how he felt about the Avatar and his friends. 'Where did this upstart with a strange name come from?'

“Who are you?" Pakku finally asked, determined to fish out some information. "A grunt that follows the Avatar? Or is there something more to your character than that?"

Tilting his head, Michael crossed his arms over his chest. Provocations have long ceased to work on it. "I'm just a man looking for his home. Nothing more, nothing less."

Clicking his tongue, Pakku concentrated on the sound around them.

Silence fell on their makeshift arena and the crowd gathered around holding their breath in excitement. Aang cupped his palms around his mouth and in some incredible way made the sound of a firing cannon.

Michael attacked first, sliding his foot forward and sending multiple spikes into Pakku's limbs at once. Pakku didn't look surprised and with a smooth movement of his hands, he melted the ice into water and wrapped it around his body like a shield. Which was the right decision, because a few smaller spikes fell into the water. Pakku threw his hands forward, sending a mixture of water and ice at Michael, but he knocked it aside with a wave of his hand.

"So much power in a body so young?" Pakku asked without stopping the flow of water. "Who were your parents, boy?"

Michael sneered and raised his hands above his head, the water followed his command and rose behind him in a wave. "Nonna and Yor." The wave surged forward, lifting Michael with it. Before the waves turned into a wall of ice spikes that approached Pakku with great speed.

Pakku kicked off the floor and rose above the wave on the ice column. "What?" The old man felt the wave break the base of the column and jumped into the air, taking enough water with him to attack. He landed on a wave that had already begun to subside and hit Michael's neck with a water whip.

"Nonna Yor fucking business!" Michael yelled and grabbed Pakku's water whip with his gloved hand. Ice immediately began to rise up the whip and covered Pakku's hand.

Without giving Pakku time to react, Michael solidified the ice and pulled the old man towards him.

The wave had already touched the ground and became only a huge puddle around the fighters, so they were both standing on solid ice. Well, Michael was standing, and Pakku was flying towards him.

While spinning in the air, Pakku collected water from the ground and hurled it at Michael's chest, but he intercepted that attack as well, sending it flying into the air. Once close enough to Michael, Pakku moved into close combat – ice daggers appeared in his hands. Michael noticed this and grinned, daggers were his specialty.

Pakku swung and stabbed Michael, but Michael caught the old man's wrist, pulled him towards himself and headbutted him in the nose. Luckily, Pakku's nose was stronger than usual and he remained intact, although a little disoriented. Touching the Blade with his hand, Michael turned it into water and sent a strong stream right into Pakku's face, the old man stumbled back a couple of steps, losing his balance, and received a kick in the chest.

As Pakku wiped the water from his eyes, he was immediately met with a whip heading towards his face. But he was a Master in more than just words, so he jumped to his feet and lifted the ice wall in front of him in one fluid motion. The thin wall cracked from the whip, but withstood Michael's attack.

Throwing his arms out to the sides, Pakku gathered water around him again, but this time surrounding Michael as well. The huge circle of water began to narrow, but Michael didn't even move. He abruptly dropped to one knee and hit the floor with all his strength, sending icy dust into the air and disappearing from people's sight. The circle of water immediately narrowed, swirling around Pakku.

Pakku did not wait for the dust to settle, he waved his hand and it disappeared in drops of water, but Michael was not in his previous place. The crowd blinked in unison and looked around for Michael, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Ah, he's a sly one." Pakku muttered a moment before the floor beneath him shattered in half.

Dozens of arms rose from the ice and grabbed Pakku by the ankles, climbing up his body and freezing instantly. Michael fired from the ice just behind his attack and promptly landed an uppercut to Pakku's jaw, but his fist met ice.

"When fighting a Bender of the same element as you," the ice around Pakku turned to water and pushed Michael to the other side of the arena. "You should remember that they can use your weapons against you."

Michael wiped the water off his face and looked at Pakku with interest. In front of him was THE Master Waterbender, but even so…

"You missed it?" Michael asked.

Pakku frowned and raised his hands in preparation for another attack. "I missed wh–"

"And the winner is: Michael!" Sokka yelled and the crowd exploded into cheers.

Pakku looked at his body in confusion, not noticing any bleeding wounds. But as soon as he lowered his head, a drop of blood fell into his eye. He touched his forehead and was shocked when his fingers came back bloody. Pakku looked at Mike with his mouth open. "When did you…?"

In response, Michael only raised his hand, creating a thin senbon from the drops of water on his hands. "I've only recently been able to learn how to control large and powerful attacks, before that I only worked with the precise, quiet and deadly kind." The senbon fell from his hand and pierced the ground.

Pakku looked at Michael, re-evaluating him. An inconspicuous face, but if you look closely, you can see that the young man was quite handsome. Broad shoulders, tall, eyes of different colors and black wavy hair reaching to the shoulders. Hidden under the guise of an inconspicuous person was a Master, and Pakku couldn't blame his age for missing that detail.

Michael was already surrounded by his friends and received congratulations. It's not every day you can see a duel between two Masters, even if it was short and ended rather boringly.

'And this man learned all this on his own? His fighting style is too chaotic to be complete, or thoughtful. It adapts to every attack without any precise plan.' Pakku scratched his beard in thought. 'But he definitely had someone who taught him to fight in close combat, even if I hadn't seen such a martial art before. And what do we end up with? A man who has bound himself with chains, but at the same time is free from them. Strange…'

Pakku did not trust strange people, a habit that is driven into all members of the White Lotus. He did not know anything about the young Master and it was dangerous, not only for the North, but for the balance of the whole world.

"It's like he found out he's a Waterbender only recently, but at the same time he's never seen other Benders fight…" Pakku muttered, still looking at Michael. "Just who are you?"

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