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Katara normally was a bundle of energy, or at least willing to try to look on the bright side of things, and greeted the day with a burst of energy. But when she woke up, there was no relief there, no calm demeanor. Right now Katara felt restless, and not being able to help Roxie like Katara had hoped made her unable to go back to sleep. Even if the Nightmare King wouldn't be meddling this time, she would never be able to get certain images out of his head. Hama crawling after them, Aang and the Seer stopping her, Hama losing her head, learning that it was just a part of the Nightmare King. She'd knew now that the danger she'd faced was only slight compared to what was in store, and that despite all of her training and preparation, she'd failed. If the Nightmare King could do this, he could do worse.

So she found herself in the Sensorium, and now she was met with the Northern water Tribe, where she had faced Master Pakku when he refused to teach her waterbending because he was a girl. There was no Master Pakku to face this time: instead, she had recreated the pirates from when they were trying to take the ship. She faced them down, but she didn't have her normal clothing on: she had decided to emulate some of the modern wear she'd seen some of the other girls on the ship wear. She had on a loose cotton blue shirt, her hair tied back, with long flowing slacks. She breathed in, and brought her hands up. She closed her eyes, hearing the scoffing of the pirates. They didn't take her seriously: why should they? She was just a little girl, and there were several of them, with long, powerful weapons and tentacles and sharp teeth.

She closed her eyes, and felt the wind change: first attack. Her hands moved of their own accord and pushed against the pirate. The shift in balance made him fall to the floor and Katara used him as leverage to give a flying leap in the air, and hammer down on the other pirates. Before her training with Sheeana, she wouldn't have attacked without waterbending, but now she was moving with fury, taking the pirates confusion as an advantage to shift their weight and incapacitate them. She moved with purpose, and hardly used offense: instead, she moved in her dance, but quicker, smoother, balancing herself and making her enemies fall. She knew that Toph was much better at this, but it didn't hurt to use her speed and defense against them.

When she had gotten to the last few pirates she froze them all together, then sat down in cross legged position. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and closed her eyes again. One, two. One two. One two- one-two.

She remembered Aang's instructions, and knew that this would be another test. The last time she'd gotten limited sleep she got pretty cranky and started to lash out. Now though, she would know better. She wouldn't be screaming at anyone, she would stay calm, she would stay centered, and then, when she felt relaxed, she would continue her training.

Tess had to train without her suit, so Katara would hold off on her waterbending.

She WOULD strengthen her will. She would not bend to the Nightmare King again.

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Katara had kept her eyes closed here, absorbing the stabs of her words. She was not a negligent person: she had known there had been something going on under the surface of Alia, and these voices, they were the cause of some of her pain. She wasn't stupid, after all: if she had felt betrayed by the Bene Gesserit, maybe she would have been angry too. But could she believe that the Bene Gesserit were whores and witches and horrible backstabbing women? No, Katara knew that as certain as when Sheeana told her that everyone had their own version of how they saw things.

"You know what I'm training for," Katara said, "So to call what I asked of Sheeana dirt is to call that about yourself. I wanted to know about you, who you were, just as I'd want to know more about Arha or any other Bene Gesserit. Why would I want to judge you, or make you fall to my standards? You were a Bene Gesserit, you know more about your own situation then I ever could. But I see now that this isn't something we can talk about now, and I won't pursue that. But from now on, I'd like it if we were honest with each other, that's all. You don't want me judging who you are anymore than I want to hear you calling my sisters whores."

Here, Katara lowered her head. "And all of us are just trying to live in the space we have, aren't we? There isn't any one of us anymore that can affect anything. We are all we have left. Not even any more waterbenders exist, its just me."

And now Katara was starting to feel a little worse, but not upset, or even angry enough to lash out at Alia's words. She knew there were other voices, and she knew they would hate her for what she was doing.

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Alia was deeply shaken now, but it was Katara words that anchored her to body. Here was someone who did not look away, did not shun her for her abomination.

It wasn't as if it where her fault. Alia had no choice but to be what the Sisterhood had made her, and yet they shunned her for it, demanded her distruction.

"I call them these things becuase they have no sympathy for the monster they created. They call for my blood stronger than the voices call for yours." Standing slowly, forcing them back in her mind and away, it took everything she had to reach out with her own thoughts and wrap them around this moment. The feel of the boat rocking slightly under her feel, the cold crisp ocean air, unlike anything she had ever felt for herself. The exact shade of Katara's eyes, the color of the sky, the smell of the wind. These where the things Alia mind reach for, cementing her temporary grasp over her own body.

"I am their product, but I do not wear their leash. You must see the logic in this. How can I side with them..." Perhaps if Alia has been a lesser woman she would have cried in despair.

"I would have liked to come here and find myself alone. I cannot outrun the terrors of my home world. Had I been the last, perhaps I could have changed things, they could have been different. But even the women here I should call 'sisters' shun me and cast me aside. " Gripping herself tightly, she came nearer still to Katara, her eyes locking with the waterbender's. If there was any time to be sincere she knew it was now, if she lied, if she gave into the voices, they would swallow her whole.

"But they aren't whores, even if you hate them," Katara said. "There was once a time when you were one once, and you saw how it was a good thing. I'm sure you don't feel the same way now, and I can't blame you for how you feel about the Bene Gesserit. Sheeana did tell me about what happened, and I guessed what might have caused it: I'm a pretty thorough reader. But even knowing that, it doesn't mean I know everything, I couldn't. We all have stories on this ship, and most them aren't pretty ones. I've seen enough in my world to know that shunning things and keeping away from things is the best way to never understand anything."

Katara sighed. There was no way she could make Alia understand that she had felt bad for her, that having the abominiation did not ean she would stay away, even if there was ther posibility that she could harm her. She knew that already, Sheeana had said that much. But she wouldn't turn her away either, that was wrong. When she told Alia she'd had respect for her, she meant it.

Katara did not take her hand, because she knew that while some people would appreciate the gesture, to others it was awkward and strange. "I cannot speak for them. They have their reasons for the things they do, and they knew that even their presence is an affront to the voices in your head. For that reason they fear you. I can't do that, and if you have understood anything about me at all, you know I'm telling you the truth."

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