[ Northern Water Tribe ]
A year had passed since the Southern Pole residents arrived at the Northern Water Tribe. By now, they were indistinguishable from the native northern population — everyone had managed to blend into their new life. After all, their way of life didn't differ much from ours.
Already now, in the city itself and the tribes located nearby, you couldn't find a single person with health problems. You could confidently say that the Northern Water Tribe was the healthiest nation in this world. With each passing month, my life energy reserves were enough to heal an increasing number of people — roughly one more person per month. At first, it was unpleasant to feel exhausted every day, but I got used to it fairly quickly.
A month ago, I seriously took on Katara and Sokka's parents and grandmother. They really loved her, and Kanna returned their affection completely. Even Yue wasn't deprived of her attention. Now the parents looked a bit younger than their actual age, but without the developing ailments that quietly make themselves known with age. I don't want to interfere too strongly for now — I should learn the parents' own opinion later. Making such serious decisions without them would be wrong.
There was a time when the training grounds were the center of the entire city's attention. Such excitement was caused by whole performances of the male population trying to attract the attention of the female benders who were allowed to begin proper training with instructors. The things young guys did... Some of their actions made me feel ashamed myself — I think this is called secondhand embarrassment. But such clowning brought smiles even to the most unsmiling and serious people.
The girls quickly showed that waterbending didn't divide people into strong and weak sexes. Even before properly beginning their training, some of them managed to wipe the icy floors of the training grounds with students who had been learning for years. Such demonstrative victories quickly showed the masters that neglecting their training wasn't worth it.
As an acting waterbending master, I also took Katara, Kaya, and Yue as my students. Now their waterbending training didn't need to be hidden at father's private training ground. There were many who wanted to become my students, but my current students are enough for me. And it's definitely not because they would take away my rightful time for flirting with Kaya...
Over the past year, I managed to visit the Spirit World two more times — during the summer and winter solstices. These times, my stay in the spirit world didn't end in such a chaotic manner as my first visit. Everything was stable and expected, if such a thing can even be said about the Spirit World...
The only thing that saddened me was Dria's unknown whereabouts. Each time the barrier threw me out into different places where I definitely hadn't been before. And each time, seeing peaceful spirits, I asked if they had seen the girl I described. There were leads — in some settlements she had stayed for up to a month, but this is Dria we're talking about. Her restless nature still leads her who knows where.
As I suspected, the transition from middle rank to higher would be much more difficult. The difference in both energy density and quantity was too great. During my campaigns against dark spirits, thanks to absorbing them, I managed to raise the energy level of each element to some average value. But approaching the higher level required increasingly more energy. Before long, I might have to fight a higher-level spirit — such forecasts are unfortunately realistic. So be it, but I'm not standing still either. New techniques are being mastered, mastery in subjugation is improving, energy quality is increasing. I won't fear higher-level spirits for long — soon they too will become my "snack."
There was one encounter with an ancient spirit that made my hair stand on end and my skin crawl. This happened right when I appeared in the spirit world. The barrier simply "spat" me out onto a mountain of corpses of various creatures. The feeling of dozens of that monster's eyes staring at me stayed with me for a long time [ image ]

I didn't expect such a quick retreat even from myself. For several more weeks, I didn't take on treating open wounds in patients. Lucky that I wasn't very interesting to this spirit. If it had been otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have gotten away.
Once a month, I returned to the Southern Pole so as not to miss the appearance of a round ice block underwater. Who knows how history will unfold in this world, but I want to have at least some control over the situation. I even dove underwater, but never found any traces. Maybe the last Avatar is still floating somewhere far on the ocean floor, and only closer to the ninety-ninth year will his body wash up at the Southern Pole... I absolutely can't miss this, but I think for now I should stop such active searches and return to this closer to the date from the cartoon.
Already on my second visit to the Southern Pole, I noticed numerous traces of people who had recently been to both Southern Tribe settlements. The Fire Nation "barbarians" left no stone unturned in the village, and each house had been built with soul. It would be interesting to know what reason they invented for themselves — the disappearance of two ships and an entire settlement are both extraordinary events.
***
For hours now, I've been training in my personal underground training ground, feeling with my whole being how the door leading to opening the first chakra is gradually unlocking. Another round of my invented exercise had ended. Using earthbending, I made a staircase that I need to climb while carrying a heavy stone on my shoulders, helping to hold it with my hands — of course, without using earthbending, purely physical strength.
The first attempts went quite freely and naturally, sometimes even with jumps. But starting from the second dozen, muscles "stiffen," sweat begins to blur my vision, and each step becomes increasingly difficult — and this is exactly what I need.
Step and another step, right foot, left foot, now shift the center of gravity a bit, the stone is slipping. Speaking each step in my mind and trying to overcome my limits, I didn't notice how I fell into some kind of trance. My body automatically continued the unhurried ascent, while my mind was in some kind of fog. Strange voices seemed to whisper, as if picking a key to my soul, searching for the most hidden things.
"Maybe you're afraid of being rejected by your family?" asked a chirping voice right by my right ear.
"No-no-no, I think he's afraid of losing his memories?! Yes?! YES?!" screamed another terrible voice, now from the left side.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha, getting close-close!" both voices laughed unpleasantly in unison.
"He fears death, everyone... fears it..." sounded a third voice.
"Found it!" they suddenly screamed in my ears. "You think all this isn't real, don't you? That all this is a very long dream? An entire life in your favorite series will turn out to be unreal when you simply wake up in your bed. There never was Yue, Katara, Arnook, Jun, Kaya — all this was invented by your sick mind. Accept it, accept it..." With each moment, the voice continued speaking more confidently, and I... so want to agree with it...
"Yes, this is all... just... a dream," my lips whispered weakly. My body stopped on the second-to-last step, my hands were already beginning to drop, when scenes with people dear to me flashed before my eyes. Here's Jun teaching a very serious little one to read, here's Yue saying her first words. In this memory, Kaya, after a long waterbending training session, sat down to rest next to me, but after half an hour was already sleeping on my lap. Here Katara, with a blush on her cheeks, gives me a scarf she knitted herself. Each new memory gave me more and more strength, and my body, which had recently been on its last breath, began to come alive.
"Get away!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. In that same second, the voices began to disappear, along with the strange haze that clouded my mind.
But the process of opening the chakra was just beginning. All my muscles, even ones I didn't know existed, cramped up. My body, falling from the stairs, began to bend at unnatural angles. In such moments, my mind, as always, shows miracles of wit — I wanted to scream:
"There's demonic possession here, call a holy father!"
The sensations were so-so, but slightly better than receiving a new element. Bones crunched, moved, bent. Joints clicked, and sweat poured in streams. You could say I was a kind of orchestra for a full fifteen minutes.
For another minute, I just breathed steadily and thought about how I felt like I'd never been to a bathhouse my whole life, and then suddenly they prepared one for me — with the best temperature, the best birch branches... Everything top-notch, and then the moment of truth — you step out into fresh air, in a village, with a forest nearby and a river ahead. Isn't this happiness?
I didn't even expect such fear from myself. Although no, I actually did expect it, which is probably why my subconscious pushed it away. My respect for the guru increased many times over — going through this is really like a second birth, especially since the path of the body gives a weakened version of what they go through on the path of the spirit.
The world gained considerably more color. If before I subconsciously denied the reality of what was happening, now, having overcome my main fear, life became more conscious somehow... It's impossible to convey this ethereal sensation in simple words.
Getting to my feet, I felt changes in my center of gravity — my body had changed its proportions. Creating ice with a mirror surface, I could admire a young man, still just as handsome, but now with a note of maturity.
"Where did my body get so many resources from? I really did age a couple of years," I turned in front of the mirror.
< «Grr…grr…» - sounds of pleading for help >
My organism is protesting — my body doesn't just want to eat, it wants to devour!
And here's another observation: while the euphoria from opening the first chakra hadn't subsided, I didn't even notice that my bones protruded more than normal, and my stomach was barely visible. Mood dictates your perception of the world, and we don't even notice it. There was no time for complex debates — I flew home at full speed. Kaya is cooking something delicious today — I hope I don't eat everything myself.
I sharply open the kitchen door and immediately attack the defenseless dinner. One portion wasn't enough, a second followed, then a third, but no further — there won't be anything left for the others. Well, the first hunger passed. My organism isn't satisfied, but it's not thinking of eating itself yet. I had forgotten about my observer.
Kaya had been standing all this time, watching with round eyes — first at the changed me, then at my actions, and now at me again.
Snapping my fingers in front of her and getting no reaction, I decided to do something more interesting. Life is just bursting with energy — now after eating, I really want action, emotions, everything! And here stands the best generator of positive emotions.
"Kaya," approaching her closer, I placed my hands on her shoulders. Zero reaction, good. "Kaya!" I called her a bit louder. Her gaze focused on my face. "I've always wanted to tell you," my lips whispered right near her face.
Kaya was already looking at me with excitement and anticipation, unconsciously leaning even closer to my body. I couldn't finish the words — I wanted to taste those sweet lips as soon as possible. Kaya, already closing her eyes and blushing slightly, leaned against me with her firm yet soft chest. The following seconds froze for me. The first kiss turned out, well, like a first kiss — such things stay in memory for a long time.
Hands, what are you doing? Grabbing her lower charms with my hands, I pressed her back against the wall. For the next minute, my hands wandered all over her body... The light debauchery would have continued, but the children's voices were getting closer.
"Alright, we'd better stop now, and tonight we'll talk more seriously. But know this — I'm not planning to let you go so easily," I told the breathless Kaya, giving her bottom a final squeeze.
Kaya apparently expected such a conversation herself — after all, my actions throughout this year could hardly be called childish.
How the main character looks after transforming [ Image ]

❄️____________________________________________ ❄️
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Thank you for your support!!!