Forward In Time

Chapter Two

Aang looked at his friend. Zuko was glaring at the man.

Aang turned back to the man, "So what was your plan? Take over this small village? The people here are innocent."

"No... we have bigger plans. What you don't know, Avatar, is that we're plotting right under your nose."

"It doesn't matter. We'll stop you."

The man laughed, "You can't stop this."

Aang looked at Katara. She was looking back at him, waiting for his signal. He nodded. She gave a smirk and bended water near her. She made the water snap and hit the man in the head, causing him to let go of her. The other men were distracted enough for Zuko, Sokka, and Toph to get free.

As soon as Aang saw his friends were free, he used Earthbending to trap the men in rock. He walked up to the leader and ripped off his mask. He was surprised to see the man from earlier who was bothering Katara.

"The Black Lotus is everywhere, Avatar. You'll never defeat us all. You may have won this battle, but you'll never win the war."

Toph hit the man hard in the head to knock him out, "Don't listen to him Aang, we'll defeat them."

Aang looked down at the mask. Now that he was really looking at it, he could see that it was black with the outline of a face perfectly molded for the man. Painted on the forehead was a golden lotus.

The townspeople began to come out of their houses. They cheered and thanked them while they arrested the men. The chief took the men to their jail as Zuko wrote to Mai to send soldiers out here to collect the men.

"Now that we got them, should we head back?" Katara asked

Aang nodded, "I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep anyways."

"Okay... I'll go pay for our rooms." Aang simply nodded in response, "Are you okay?" She asked, "You weren't able to access the Avatar state."

"I'm fine, Katara." Aang said giving her a smile.

She nodded and walked off to pay for their rooms. Aang went on to the stables to get Appa.

"How much do I owe you?" He asked the stable owner.

"You don't owe anything. It's free for the Avatar."

"At least let me pay you back someway."

"You did. Those Fire Nation outlaws have been terrorizing us for weeks. You defeating them is payment enough."

Aang nodded and gave him a smile before exiting with Appa. The others met him at the edge of town. Katara was carrying a stack of brown cloaks when she walked up.

"The Inn lady wouldn't let me pay, apparently those men have been terrorizing these people for weeks." Katara said

"Yeah, that's what the stable owner said." Aang replied

Katara nodded and began handing out the cloaks, "She gave us some cloaks since it gets cold at night and we'll be flying."

After everyone got the cloaks on, they mounted Appa and flew off. It was a quiet ride before Zuko spoke up.

"So... how come you weren't able to enter the Avatar state?" He asked

Aang shrugged, "I don't know. The last time I wasn't able to enter was after Azula shocked me with lightning. But it got activated during my fight with Ozai."

"Maybe Avatar Roku would know why." Katara said, "When we get back, you should ask him."

Aang nodded and the group fell silent again. It wasn't an awkward silence, everyone was just tired and needed some rest after their fight.

Suddenly, a bright circular light appeared in the sky in front of them. Aang pulled on Appa's reigns to stop them from flying closer to it.

"What is that?" Sokka asked

"I don't know... I'll check it out." Aang said as he grabbed his glider.

"Be careful." Katara said.

Aang nodded before opening his glider and flying off. He flew around the back of the light and saw nothing behind it. It was flat. As he flew to the front, he felt it pulling him towards it. He struggled gainst the pull, but it eventually got him and he fell into the light.

"Aang!" The three friends exclaimed as they saw him get sucked in. Appa made a sound of surprise and quickly flew after him. The Gaang held on tight as they followed the Avatar through the light.

Aang landed on hard ground. He quickly stood up, his cloak falling off in the process, and looked around. He was in between two buildings in a dark alley. He heard weird noises coming from the streets and saw conctractions that were still in the design process.

As he stepped forward, Appa and his friends fell through the light after him then it disappeared. Aang turned around and saw his friends on the ground.

Aang walked up to Katara and helped her up, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She replied then looked around, "Where are we?"