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Kya smiled as she heard Yuumi's words. "Come on, little guy," she said, holding out her hand to her brother. "So!" Breathed Sumi. "Where do we collect the sticks from?" He turned to Tess for her answer; then he noticed that Gale had tagged along as well.

"The trees. We find them on the ground, or break them off," Tess answered, demonstrating breaking a stick with her hands.

"Oh." Said Sumi, surprised by the simplicity of the task. "Ok, then," He walked up to a tree and grabbed a twig. He gave it a tug and was again surprised when the tiny piece of wood just tore off the tree. "I got one!" He cried, failing to expel the excitement from his voice as he held the small twig up.

Gale grabbed a slightly larger twig, and tugged downward on it, shwoing it to Sumi when it was torn free. "So did I," he said, his voice portraying slight confusion at Sumi's excitement. It wasn't that hard, he did it most days, as a chore. He raised his eyebrows as Sumi, as if asking what was so exciting about it.

Sumi blushed a drew back a step or two. "Erm, yeah. I got my first twig off a tree. Heh." He quickly turned to look for another twig to pull loose. Kya and Yuumi giggled at their brother's embarrassment. "Like gwayt-uncle," Said Yuumi, gazing up at Kya. Kya just smiled and nodded. They'd hear stories about Great-Uncle Sokka--their grandmother's brother. he had been in a similar situation to Sumi's. "Let's go get a twig," Kya suggested, lifting her little brother off the forest floor and up towards the lowest hanging branches. Yuumi reached out and grasped one, tugging on it until it broke. "Yay!" He excalimed."

Back at the cabin, Setsuko picked Li up off the floor. The infant smiled up at her and waved his arms. "So, what have you been doing all these years?" Setsuko asked, glancing quickly up at Rue.

"Trying to survive having kids," Rue said, smiling. "What about you?"

Setsuko smiled. "Where do I begin?" She wondered out loud. "There's been family reunions, marriages, births...and deaths..." She added the last bit sadly, then shook the emotion away. "And all sorts of adventures," She concluded.

"Who died?" Rue asked, her brown eyes immediatly filled with concern and sympathy.

Setsuko twitched slightly. "My grandfather. He was the chief of my Tribe. But his son...my uncle, Sokka--I've told you about him, I think--doesn't live in the Water Tribe anymore. he lives in the Earth Kingdom with my aunt and cousin. So there was a bit of fighting before the new chief was finally selected." She sighed. "I was about sixteen when that happened. I think Kuilak was already seventeen."

"Who's the new chief?" Rue asked.

"For now, it's my grandfather's best friend, Bato. But he's really old now and he'll probably die soon...he's lucky to have made it this long. he'll have to appoint another chief." Setsuko explained.

Rue nodded.

Tess pulled a branch off a tree, smiling at the crack it made. She held it tightly in her small hand, and while looking for another tree, spotted a small creek. she walked towards it, and slipped off her shoes, dipping her toes into the water. It was colder than she expected, and she squealed, stepping backwards, laughing.

Sumi smiled tauntingly. "Want your feet to be colder? Pull 'em out!" He dared Tess.

Tess gained a defiant look, and accepted the dare. She laughed and squealed again as they grew colder, and she quickly stepped farther onto land, pulling on her shoes, hoping to warm her feet up.

Sumi stopped her. "Before you put your shoes on..." he said mischievously. Suddenly he blew a crisp air current towards Tess's feet.