Three ships were docking on the harbor.

Darshi hid behind the snow drifts, her clothes blending into the snow surrounding her.

“They couldn’t just let us be,” Jungkook hissed, tense and ready for battle. Darshi put a steadying hand against his shoulder, grounding him. He couldn’t allow emotion to overtake him. Doing that would be giving the fire benders the win before the battle even began.

“Go already.”

Darshi nudged him in the direction of the village. He turned to leave, but then unexpectedly slammed himself into Darshi squeezing her against him in a tight hug, tears glimmering in his eyes. Then he was gone, the warmth dissipating into the air as if it had never been.

Now she was alone.

The bow of the ships dropped down in unison, allowing platoons of Fire Nation soldiers to disembark into the ice cliffs. They stood in formation, their army more organized then Darshi’s ever would be.

If she could call a group of less than twenty an army.

Years ago the Southern Water Tribe never would have allowed the Fire Nation to get this far onto their land, but the old tribe was dead. This was the best they could do. Dashi stood, revealing herself to the benders if they should care to notice her. When they did nothing, only continued to face forward, Darshi took one step after another. She analyzed the ships. They looked as impregnable as ever, and she wondered faintly if they would break if frozen in the ice. She came to the conclusion that if it were that simple it would have been done already.

A stout man that had to be at least be in his fifties came out the bowels of the ship. His stomach bulged beneath his uniform, but his stance was firm. Twenty years ago he was probably a formidable fire bender, but age had ravaged him. Two people stood on the deck of the ship in the center. She couldn’t see them well, but one had something gleaming from his top knot and the other had on shades of blue. She focused back on the man clumping down the metal plank, taking in the enemy soldiers surrounding her. There had to be more than a hundred.

The Southern Water Tribe wasn’t viewed as much of a threat anymore with that amount. A hundred men to take out the rest of the Southern Water Tribe.

“State your name,” the grumpy man commanded.

“Darshi.”

His smile gleamed from behind his helmet. “The new chief of the Southern Water Tribe? How… quaint.”

Darshi lowered her head, biting her tongue. “How did you know?”

Not even all her people knew she had been voted in as chief.

He gestured towards the air. “We intercepted a few of your letters. You introduced yourself as ‘pro tempore Chief of the Southern Water Tribe’ if I recall correctly.”

Darshi fought the blush burning her ears a ruddy red. She hadn’t know how else to end the letters, and if she didn’t have a title she thought everyone would ignore her. Royalty did not answer the pleas of citizens from random nations.

“Alright then,” she murmured.

“Why are you here?”

She could barely make anything out on his face behind the visor. Only a slim film of light hit against the bump of his nose and the half grey beard beneath.

Darshi turned away, gesturing towards all the soldiers around her. “To stop you, of course.”

His laugh was deep, not bothering to fight the pure amusement he felt upon hearing her words. He clutched his stomach as it jiggled, pulling his helmet off to wipe at his eyes. “You’re funny, girl. Perhaps we’ll keep you.”

She arched a brow, a secret smile playing across her lips.

“Perhaps I’ll keep you.”

His mouth slid open, brows furrowed in confusion as he worked out what she was saying. She was already letting out a war cry, a few of the soldiers jumping at the sudden noise that pierced the air. She pulled as much as the snow as she could to her, flinging it out against the soldiers. At the same time, five separate parts of the ice broke off dumping many of the fire nation soldiers into the frigid ocean. With their full armor on it would be a death sentence for most of them.

She smirked at her work. Although her water benders could not feel others through their element, they could hear her. They had been digging tunnels non-stop since Darshi had come up with this new means of transportation, and Darshi had told them if this day ever arose to listen to her voice. When they heard her they were to let off as strong a blast as they could. There was no guarantee it would work. It wasn’t like they could practice it without the Fire Nation figuring it out. All of this hedged on her faith in them, and she felt a distinct pride to see how strong they had bended. Even Jungkook, who never found much use for his element, had done well. After her wall of snow hit the Fire Nation soldiers it had flung many of them backwards, taking even more down to the murky depths of the ocean.

The commander had burned his way through the snow, although he had lost his helmet in the process. “You!” he growled, hands bursting into flames. “You’ll pay for that!”

Darshi steadied herself, letting all the fear and anxiety flow off her in waves. She didn’t hear the shouts of panic as men sunk beneath the surface, nor the sound of her heart beat thrumming loudly in her ears. She was her element. She was calm. The most important thing was the Southern Water Tribes survival, and to do that sacrifices had to be made. All of the children