The Avatar and the Fire Prince

Book 1: Air, Chapter 5: The Warriors of Kyoshi

(Originally posted December 17, 2022 on AO3)

After they had flown for two more days, only taking breaks every so often to camp for the night in caves on the islands to the northeast of the Southern Air Temple, Zuko had begun to notice that their food rations were thinning.

Frustratingly, he did not have a good idea as to how they were going to go about replenishing them. It was far too risky to attempt to venture into of the Fire Nation colonial cities, towns, or villages, lest he and his uncle be recognized and arrested. That would absolutely spell trouble if Zhao had actually declared them criminals guilty of aiding the Avatar. Zuko was slightly less uncomfortable with venturing into Earth Kingdom territory, though not by much. It wasn't exactly like he had a choice.

Aang, to Zuko's annoyance, did not seem to harbor the same anxiety that he did about their current situation. He kept reassuring them that there was a "place on the way" that he knew of where they could rest and obtain more rations. Apparently, the only thing that Aang knew for certain about this place was that it was in Earth Kingdom territory. The fact that he didn't even know the name of the place didn't help Zuko feel any better.

At around midday on their third day of flying, Zuko was beginning to feel like he was going to go out of his mind after having stared at the seemingly never-ending expanse of the ocean for several hours. Feeling that he could no longer contain his impatience, he broke his long-held silence. "Do you even have any idea where we're going?" he snapped at Aang, who was sitting on Appa's head, reins in hand.

Aang turned his head back towards Zuko. "Well... I know it's near water!" he replied cheerily.

Zuko glowered back at him, then turned to Iroh. "Uncle, can't you do something? Who knows where he's taking us!"

Iroh, to Zuko's additional annoyance, did not appear to be concerned. "Patience, nephew. I'm certain we are not far," he said, and Zuko shot him an angry look.

"If you're bored, Zuko, I've got something that I think you'll find entertaining!" Aang said, turning around to face him. "Momo, marbles please." The lemur dove into his shirt, and handed him two marbles. "Check this out!" He held the marbles between his hands, then used airbending to make them spin between his palms with a toothy grin on his face.

Zuko was not amused. He stated at the trick for about five seconds, then sighed exasperatedly and turned back around to look out over the ocean to continue looking for any sign of land.

"Man, that trick usually kills with non-airbenders," he heard Aang mumble behind him. Then, his tune abruptly changed as he exclaimed, "Yes! There it is!"

Zuko quickly turned back around and moved to the other edge of the saddle to look up at the horizon in front of them. He sighed in relief as he spotted a small island in the distance.

When they finally descended onto the island's beach inside of a half-moon-shaped bay, Zuko grew frustrated again as he took notice of the fact that there were no buildings in sight - all he could see was a mass of golden-leafed trees behind them. "I'm not seeing anywhere we can obtain food," he grumbled.

"Patience, hotman. Like your uncle said," Aang replied, playfully knocking his fist into Zuko's shoulder. Zuko made an irritated sound in response, but Aang continued on. "I wanna show you something!" He pointed at the calm water of the bay.

Zuko squinted, looking in the same direction, but seeing nothing. He was getting fed up with Aang's ambiguity about this "place on the way".

Suddenly, what looked to be a giant koi fish breached the surface, jumping high out of the water with a huge splash, and Zuko's jaw dropped. Aang, however, laughed in excitement.