"Hey! Sleepy head! Wake up!"

Sora grumbled as she was awoken by a voice she recognized all too well. She turned over onto her stomach, letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Go away." She muttered.

"Aww, don't be such a grumpy seal!"

Sora felt the blanket on top of her be pulled off and she turned her head to glare at her very close childhood friend, who was grinning down at her with the blanket held behind his back. His dark brown, chin-length hair was messy, obviously not having been attended to yet.

"What do you want, Jimin?" 

"You promised to go penguin sledding with me today, remember?" Jimin said, jumping onto her back as she buried her head under her pillow. "Not gonna get up?" He teased.

"No." Sora mumbled.

With a swift movement, Jimin snagged Sora's pillow and started hitting her with it.

"Not gonna get up?" He repeated, giggling as Sora tried to take the pillow back but failed.

After a few minutes Sora finally gave up, letting out a loud sigh.

"Fine, I'll get up!"

Jimin clapped. "Yay!"

"Now get off of me!" Sora shoved him off and he rolled around on the floor, laughing. "Seriously, you're such a child!" She groaned, sitting up.

Jimin scooted over to sit beside her. "No, you're the child! Making a big fuss over waking up!" He rustled her hair. "That's one thing that hasn't changed about you. I'm always having to fight to wake you up."

"Then don't wake me up!" Sora pushed him over.

The two then started to wrestle, aggressively but also playfully. Pretty soon, Sora had Jimin pinned down on the ground, both of them laughing.

"Another thing that hasn't changed." Jimin smiled. "You can still kick my in wrestling."

"A thing you didn't want to admit for a long time." Sora recalled, helping him to sit up. "Now come here and let me fix your hair."

"Why? It's just going to get ruined when we go sledding."

"Just come here!"

She brushed through his hair, pulling half of it up into the tribe's traditional "warrior's wolf tail" and also weaving some sapphire blue beads through his hair on the left side.

"There, much better."

Jimin scooted around, motioning for Sora to do the same.

"Your turn."

Sora nodded and turned her back to him. As he did her hair, her body started to relax. She couldn't explain it, but Jimin just had this natural ability to calm her with just his touch. He was very caring and looked out for her, just like a brother would. They were both the only children in their families so having each other was like having a sibling.

The two became friends at a very young age. Growing up, Sora recived lots of attention because of who she was. When she was two years old, it had been revealed that she was the Avatar. Since then, she was given praise, love, and attention. At first, she'd loved it. But she soon came to realize that it was only because of her Avatar title. 

Jimin was the only one who treated her differently. When they first met, he didn't blabber on and on about how she would be a great Avatar or ask to be able to go with her when she would travel the world. In fact, on that day, he never said Avatar once. He treated her like any other human being. He was also a waterbender, and hoped to become as strong as his grandmother was. They began studying waterbending together, quickly becoming good friends.

Other waterbenders from the tribe left to go study in the North, leaving Sora and Jimin as the only waterbenders in the South. Eventually, Sora would plan to go to the North to learn, obviously taking Jimin with her, but for now she just wished to stay home.

After Jimin finished braiding her hair, the two quickly made their way out of the village to find the penguins.

~

General Chul stepped out onto the deck of the royal barge just as the sun finished rising. It was a peaceful morning and he took in a deep breath of the cool morning air. He looked up to the helmsman.

"How much further?" He called.

"We should arrive just after noon, General Chul, sir." The helmsman replied.

"Perfect." Chul smiled. "Right on time."

He stayed out on deck for a few more minutes before making his way to the royal quarters. Upon entering, he found the prince at his desk, reading a scroll. The general chuckled.

Always has his nose stuck in a scroll.

As the general approached him, the prince gave a slight glance before returning to the scroll. General Chul smirked as he leaned against the desk.

"Interesting read?" He asked, a little bit of amusement in his voice.

The prince gave a small shrug. "Just history." He replied, not taking his eyes off of the parchment.

Chul chuckled. "Which I'm positive you've already read before."

A slight smile appeared on the young prince's face then quickly vanished, but the general caught it.

"So how long have you been up?" Chul asked.

"A few hours." He replied, still keeping his attention on the scroll.

"Have you had any breakfast?"

"No, but I will later."

Chul chuckled again. "Alright. I'll be sure to ask the cook to fix you something special."

The prince didn't reply, completely engrossed in the scroll now and mouthing the words that he read. With a nod, the general began to leave the prince's quarters. At the doorway he stopped and turned his head.

"We should be arrving just after noon today. Be sure to be ready."

As Chul left, he heard the prince give a soft "Yeah," causing him to chuckle once again.

"I swear, that boy is just like his mother."

~

After fun racing with penguin sledding, Sora and Jimin returned to the tribe, ready to eat some early morning grub.

"I'm starving!" Jimin exclaimed as they entered the chief's tent.

"We could have eaten before we left." Sora said. "But no, you were too obsessed with going penguin sledding."

"Hey! You were the one that was being a lazy in the morning! Don't go criticizing me!"

"I see you two had an eventful morning." Sora's father, Chief Suk spoke. He was sitting on the ground by a burning fire, a pot cooking something over it. Sora's mother, Hana, was sitting beside the chief, stirring the contents of the pot.

"You're right in time. The seaweed stew is just about ready."

Jimin bounced excitedly. "Yay! Seaweed stew!"

Hana laughed as Sora rolled her eyes.

"Why do you always have to get excited everytime we have seaweed stew?" Sora scoffed. "We have it basically every day."

"Yeah, but your mom makes the best in the whole village!" Jimin hurried over to sit beside the fire, starting to drool. "It's so yummy!"

Sora went to sit beside him, playfully hitting him on the head. He responded by giving her a nudge, giggling as he did so. Hana poured stew into sepearte bowls and handed them to everyone.

"Thank you for the food, miss Hana." Jimin said before he started digging in.

"My pleasure," Hana smiled.

"So," Chief Suk looked to his daughter. "What are your plans for today?"

"Training mostly." Sora took a sip of stew. "Not really anything else."

"You wouldn't have nothing else to do if you went to the North."

"Dad." Sora shot him a glare. "Not now."

"All of the best waterbenders in the world live there. You would further excel in your training if you were to go."

"I'm doing just fine right here!" Sora couldn't believe he was bringing it up again. He never let it go. "Jimin and I are both getting better! What's the hurry? It's not like we're in the middle of a war!"

Chief Suk scowled. "Sora-"

"Excuse me. Chief Suk?" Came a voice.

"Yes, what is it?"

A man entered the tent, giving a slight bow.

"A messenger hawk just arrived with a letter, sir."

Chief Suk stood up. "Bring it here."

The man went over and handed the rolled up letter to the chief, bowed again then swiftly left the tent.

"A messenger hawk?" Hana stood up as well, moving to her husband's side. "From the Fire Nation?"

"Yes." Chief Suk replied as he read the letter. "It seems we will be having a guest later today."

"A guest?" Sora questioned. "Who?"

"A royal barge will be arriving." The chief replied.

"Royalty? Is it the Fire Lord?" Jimin said.

Hana shook her head, having been reading it as well.

"No. Not the Fire Lord."

Chief Suk gave a slight smirk. "General Chul and the crown prince of the Fire Nation."

Sora's eyes widened. "You mean...?"

"Our guest is Prince Jinyoung."