THE SPIRIT [ATLA]

💧5 - Avatar Spirit

The minute Sokka came back from his potty break in the middle of the woods yapping about a crazy old onion-banana-juice man having been spotted in the nearby town, it was only natural for all of us to get our hopes up and want to believe that it was Pathik. Even though I have no reason to believe Pathik had anything business at all around here, I also know that we need to get Aang's powers back in check as soon as possible. I also don't want to question how Sokka got this information while he was supposedly out there peeing.

It has been really nice to have everyone around once again. We adapted to each other's company quite nicely—it is surprising how much more mature we have all become in the last few years, so much so, that the bickering has come to a minimum and even Toph is trying to pull her weight in when it comes to camp and group efforts in general. The coexistence we have going on is almost nice enough to make me forget about the awkwardness between Aang and I.

There is something different about him now. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something different in the way he looks and talks to me. It's as if he's scared something might happen if he gets too close, like I could hurt him somehow. I would never do that, of course, but the fact that he's acting this way... I won't lie, it hurts.

"Do you guys think Pathik went here to look for someone or something?" Katara asks, breaking the silence that had surrounded us for a while now.

"It could very well not be him that those villagers saw. Pathik isn't the only old guru man in the world," I clarify, making Toph snort.

"How many other guru old mans that are addicted to banana-onion-juice and talk about the Avatar's chakras do you know?" Toph lets out a short laugh. "Come on, it's pretty obvious that it's him. Knowing the old crazy goon, he probably got out here to get some more onions and bananas for his juices and got lost."

"I don't think he would come all the way out here, so far away from the temple, if it were just because of banana onion juice," I say with a sigh. "I fear something else may be going on with him. I hope he's okay."

"In any case, this has been our only clue so far. Aang still hasn't regained control of the Avatar State, and we need to get back home as soon as possible," Katara declares, not really giving me the vibe that she's expecting any further comments.

However, I can't hide my visceral reaction to the 'home' that she mentions. I know that she's talking about the South Pole, which is her and Sokka's home, and now, it is also my mother and stepfather's and future sibling's. But that doesn't make it feel like it is my home. For the past eight years, I've been traveling to many different places, and honestly, I never really thought of any of them as a "home" to me. I guess it just isn't in my nature. When I think of "home", I've always gone back to my time traveling with the team, back when we were children. All that time I spent fighting alongside my friends, training with Aang...

"Alya, look out!" Toph says all of a sudden, before earthbending me to the side abruptly and rather harshly without previous notice. Before I can complain, I notice the large boulder falling on where I was standing a couple of seconds ago.

"What the heck is that?!" I ask, understandably startled.

"That's a rock, Alya. You know, like the ones our friends Toph and Aang can control--"

"Shut up, Sokka," I cut him off before he can continue his sarcastic comment. Aang helps me back onto my feet and we turn our attention to the sound of swords clashing and the forest around us being burned. "It sounds like there's a fight going on."

"Let's go check it out," Aang says, and we all follow his lead deeper into the forest, guided by the sounds of heavy grunts and battle cries.

Surely enough, it takes us only a couple of minutes to find the source of all the racket. The scene before us is of an obvious fight: fireballs and heavy boulders being shot in different directions. A knife or two swinging around and trying to pierce an opponent's chest. But the minute I catch the golden glint of a battle fan, I have to hold my breath in surprise when I see its owner, unable to believe that it is actually her.