Spirit child

"Suddenly, they heard something down the hall in the dark. Oooh ... It came into the torchlight ... and they knew the blade of Wing Fung was haunted! Ooh-aaah!" Sokka said finishing his ghost story "I think I like the man with a sword for a hand better." Aang said unimpressed "Water Tribe slumber parties must stink." Toph said "No, wait! I've got one! And this is a true Southern Water Tribe story." Katara said.

"Please don't share anything scary, I'm not good with scary things" Cordelia said "Is this one of those "a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happened to" stories?" Sokka asked "No, it happened to Mom" katara said as Sokka stiffened.

"One winter when Mom was a girl, a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks. A month later, Mom noticed she hadn't seen her friend Nini since the storm. So Mom and some others went to check on Nini's family. When they got there, no one was home. Just a fire flickering in the fireplace. While the men went out to search, Mom stayed in the house. When she was alone, she heard a voice. "It's so cold and I can't get warm!" Mom turned and saw Nini standing by the fire. She was blue like she was frozen. Mom ran outside for help, but when everyone came back, Nini was gone." Katara said.

"Where'd she go?" Sokka and Cordelia asked holding each other while trembling "No one knows. Nini's house stands empty to this day, but sometimes, people see smoke coming up from the chimney, like little Nini is still trying to get warm." Katara said before Cordelia let out a scream "wahh! Now because of you guys I won't be able to sleep tonight" Cordelia cried before Toph shut her up.

"I hear people under the mountain. And they're screaming." Toph said standing up "Pfft! Nice try" Sokka said assuming she was joking "No, I'm serious. I hear something." Toph said "please tell me your joking, my heart is too weak for this" Cordelia said trembling as she held on tightly to Katara and Aang "You're probably just jumpy from the ghost stories" Katara suggested "It just ... stopped." Toph said "All right, now I'm getting scared." Aang said not releasing his grip before someone showed up behind them.

"Hello children" a woman said appearing behind the three "Ahhh!" Cordelia screamed before soon fainting as her friends ran to toph side.

"Ah!" Cordelia screamed waking up alerted "good to see that your okay" Katara said "what happened?" Cordelia asked scratching her head "you fainted after Hama greeted us" Katara said as the two walked to the dining room. "Thanks for letting us stay here tonight. You have a lovely inn" katara thanked sitting in the chair "yea, thank you and I'm sorry for suddenly fainting like that, it must have seemed rude" Cordelia apologized.

"Aren't you two sweet? You know you should be careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you were camping in" Hama said pouring them a cup of tea "What do you mean "disappearing"?" Sokka asked "When the moon turns full, people walk in and they don't come out." She said "please don't say anything again I think I'll faint" Cordelia said placing her hand on her forehead stressed "Who wants more tea?" The woman said cheerfully.

"That Mr. Yao seems to have a thing for you. Maybe we should go back and see if he'll give us some free komodo sausages?" Katara suggested as they shopped "cmon Katara, I'm sure we can go for something more than Sausages" Cordelia said "You two would have me use my feminine charms to take advantage of that poor man? I think we are going to get along swimmingly!" Hama said cheerfully.

"Why don't you take all those things back to the inn? I just have to run a couple more errands. I'll be back in a little while." Hama said before leaving. "That Hama seems a little strange. Like she knows something, or she's hiding something." Sokka said placing the bags on the table "That's ridiculous. She's a nice woman who took us in and gave us a place to stay. She kinda reminds me of Gran-Gran." Katara said "I agree she's really nice, she's letting us stay here without paying" Cordelia said "But what did she mean by that comment, "mysterious children"?" Sokka asked.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because she found four strange kids camping in the woods at night? Isn't that a little mysterious?" Katara said "I'm gonna take a look around" he said "you can't go snooping around in other peoples homes like that!" Cordelia called out as Katara followed after her older brother.

Later

"It's amazing, I haven't seen another water bender from the southern water tribe other than katara" Cordelia said after Hama bended them a portion of their soup "That's because the Fire Nation wiped them all out. I was the last one ..." Hama said "So how did you end up out here?" Sokka asked "I was stolen from my home." Hama said with a grin look before explaining her story.

"That is so cruel, what happened next?" Cordelia asked "yea, How did you get away? And why did you stay in the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked "I'm sorry. It's too painful to talk about anymore." Hama said shaking her head "We completely understand. We lost our mother in a raid." Katara said "I also lost my sister in an attack" Cordelia said placing her hand on Hama shoulder "Oh, you poor things." Hama said "I can't tell you what it means to meet you. It's an honor. You're a hero." Katara said smiling.

"I never thought I'd meet another Southern waterbender. I'd like to teach you what I know so you can carry on the Southern tradition when I'm gone." Hama said "but I'm not-" Cordelia said before katara stepped on her leg "Yes! Yes, of course! To learn about my heritage, it would mean everything to me." Katara said clapping her hand together.

"Growing up in the South Pole, waterbenders are totally at home surrounded by snow and ice and seas. But as you probably noticed on your travels, that isn't the case wherever you go." Hama said as they walked outside the next day "I know! When we were stranded in the desert, I felt like there was almost nothing I could do." Katara said.

That night

"Can you feel the power the full moon brings?" Hama asked standing under the moonlight "when you have the power of the moon spirit in you, the power can sometimes get uncomfortable" Cordelia whispered to katara "For generations it has blessed waterbenders with its glow, allowing us to do incredible things!" hama said flexing her limbs.

"What I'm about to show you, I discovered in that wretched Fire Nation prison." Hama said explaining her life as a prisoner "But ... to reach inside someone and control them? I don't know if I want that kind of power." Katara said unsure "we don't, water bending is not meant to be used in that kind of manner and enforcing your will on another person is wrong" Cordelia said "The choice is not yours. The power exists. And it's your duty to use the gifts you've been given to win this war. Katara, they tried to wipe us out, our entire culture, your mother and sister!" Hama said trying to convince the two.

"...You're the one who's been making people disappear during the full moons!" Cordelia said "They threw me in prison to rot, along with my brothers and sisters! They deserve the same! You must carry on my work!" Hama said "we won't! We won't use bloodbending and we won't allow you to keep terrorizing this town!" Katara said before Hama used blood bending to bend their hand.