"Okay, I think that's it," Sokka said happily, putting the last of the group's belongings on Appa, "We're ready to go."
"It looks like that to me," Aang agreed, sitting atop on Appa's head, "just make sure we have everything and we will go ahead and leave."
His other three companions looked over the things packed on the side of the saddle and after a few moments they all gave Aang the go ahead. Appa swiftly took off and the group found themselves soaring through the clouds moments later.
Aang stayed on Appa's head for the next couple of minutes, making sure they were going the right direction, before climbing up on the saddle and taking a seat next to Katara, who smiled upon seeing him. Remembering what Sokka had caught them doing yesterday and not wanting to irritate the boy further at the moment, Aang sat just close enough to Katara so that their sides were barely touching. He could sense that she was a little disappointed that he wasn't a little closer but she seemed to understand his reasoning.
"Okay, now that Aang is back up here," Sokka said, sitting across from the couple and next to Suki, "I think now might be a good time to discuss what exactly we are going to do once we reach Omashu."
"We're going to help Bumi and Zuko investigate what happened or anything else that they need help with," Katara said simply as if the answer was obvious, "what is there to talk about?"
"Well we need to figure out how we are going to handle it," Sokka explained, "yeah, we know that we are going to be helping with the investigation, but are we going to actually go and fly out to look for the attackers after we learn more about what happened or are we going to stay in Omashu for a while and help out in the city?"
"We should probably just stay in the city," Aang spoke up, causing the rest of the group to look at him as they waited for him to elaborate, "It would just make more sense that way," he continued, "I don't see why we would leave the city unless we were sure on where the attackers went off to. I would think Omashu would have sent out some search parties right?"
"Right," Suki nodded, having knowledge on how things like this would work since she was the former leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, "They would have sent out search parties as quickly as possible, maybe only hours after the attack."
"It's been almost a week since then too," Sokka continued, "the rest of the Earth kingdom has probably been informed by now and they have sent out their own search parties. Ba Sing Se specifically."
"That would be a good thing to assume," Suki nodded approvingly at him.
"So it would be rather pointless for us to just leave Omashu and search as soon as possible," Katara surmised, "Four more people wouldn't make much of a difference."
"Exactly," Aang smiled at her before addressing the rest of the group, "We would be more use staying with Zuko and helping him instead of joining the search party."
"So it would probably be safe to say that we will be there for at least a week or two," Sokka stated, relaxing against the side of the saddle.
"Probably," Aang agreed.
"But what if we aren't able to find any clues on where the attackers went?" Katara asked, speaking out what the whole group had been thinking deep down and they we all quiet for several moments.
"We'll just have to go along with what happens," Suki stated at last, "we will find out more when we get there."
The group nodded in agreement and remained silent in thought. Sokka eventually turned to Suki to talk to her about something and Katara took her brothers occupation as an opportunity to move a little closer to Aang. Her head fell down onto his shoulder and he smiled as his head turned to see her snuggling a little closer, coaxing him to wrap his arms around her waist. They remained silent, simply enjoying the peaceful moment as they heard Sokka and Suki's whispers across the saddle.
The next several days played out in a similar fashion. They would find a clearing to make camp at during the night and fly as far as they could during the day. It took a day or two longer then Aang thought it would to reach Omashu but he suspected that it was because his bison was getting a little tired from all the flying. Appa would have his rest soon though because on the fifth day of their travels, Omashu came into sight.
"Finally" Sokka sighed with relief, looking over the front of the saddle, "it's about time."
"Would you stop complaining," Katara asked annoyed, "Really, does it ever end with you?"
Sokka turned out to glance at his sister and shrugged, "What can I say? I'm a very vocal person."
Katara just rolled her eyes before turning to look out over the saddle as well.
"It's strange," Suki said curiously, looking over the saddle with them, "It doesn't look damaged."
"They probably cleaned up most of the damages by now," Aang stated fromm Appa's head.
"It's not completely cleaned up, look," Katara said pointing down towards the bottom of the small mountain that Omashu was on top of.
Aang turned and look up at her to see where she was pointing before he followed her finger, as did Sokka and Suki. Sure enough, the wreckage of the two airships that Mai had said were destroyed was clearly visible hundreds of feet below them. Pieces of the ships were everywhere and Aang knew that they would not be able to be repaired.
"Man, I wonder how that happened," Sokka gazed at the site, shaking his head in amazement.
"I don't know," Aang said, looking away from the scene to guide Appa towards Omashu's palace, "But we are about to find out."
Zuko grunted as Mai helped him put on his robes in their bedroom. Someone had spotted the Avatar's bison in the sky and when Zuko heard word of it, he felt that he should be there to greet his friends when they arrived. Mai had been a little apprehensive of that, believing that he should just relax since he was still hurt. But with a little coaxing, he had been able to convince her to allow him to welcome Aang and the rest of his friends. She still however, insisted that she guide him out there just in case his injuries gave him trouble.
"Okay, if you really feel like you need to do this, let's go then," Mai told him, once he was all dressed.
"I'm just walking outside Mai," Zuko said, walking forward slowly, stumbling a little, "I'll be fine."
Mai quickly went to his side to help support him as they made their way through the halls of King Bumi's Palace, "I'll believe that once you are able to walk straight," she retorted.
"You try walking when your legs are filled with cuts and bandages," Zuko shot back.
"My point exactly," Mai sighed as they finally walked outside to see Appa descending down to them.
Looking around, Zuko could see that there were dozens of other palace officials gathered around to welcome the Avatar. King Bumi was one of them, not standing too far away from Zuko, who slowly made his way over to the old King with Mai's help.
"Fire Lord Zuko," Bumi smiled when Zuko stood beside him, "I didn't expect you to be out here."
"I probably shouldn't be," Zuko sighed, leaning against Mai for more support, "I feel a little exhausted by just walking here."
"Well I am sure they will be happy to see you," Bumi looked him up and down, "At least the robes cover up most of the wounds. You could look worse."
Zuko just smiled and snorted a little as he shook his head, gazing back up at the bison that would be landing in front of them within the next minute. Bumi's words did relieve him a little though. He had been slightly worried that his wounds would be too noticeable but looking down at himself, he saw that the robe did in fact cover up the majority of the bandages. If it wasn't for him leaning against Mai for support, he probably wouldn't look hurt at all.
He was taken out of his thoughts when Mai gave him a gentle nudge and he looked back out to see that Appa had landed and Aang as well as the rest of the gang were dismounting him, giving polite waves to the crowd around them. Zuko smiled, happy to see his friends again as he, Mai, and Bumi walked over to the group to greet them personally.
"Zuko! Bumi!" Aang exclaimed upon seeing him, running up to give his friends a quick hug.
"It's good to see you again Aang," Zuko smiled as the rest of the group walked up to them after paying some attention to the crowd.
"Wow Zuko," Katara said, standing beside Aang, "I was expecting you to look a lot worse."
"It's good to see you to," Zuko rolled his eyes, "The robes just make me look better. It's probably as bad as you think it is, trust me."
"He can hardly walk as it is now," Mai explained, "You should have seen him a few days ago."
"And a Waterbender did that to you?" Sokka asked, speaking up for the first time.
"Yeah," Zuko nodded, grimacing a little at the memory of being tossed around the airship, "Who knew that waterbending could be that...intimidating."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Katara crossed her arms and gazed at Zuko sternly while Aang glanced at her, amused of how defensive she was about her element.
"Nothing, nothing," Zuko responded, holding his hands up in front of him defensively, "I just meant that when you talk about someone having cracked ribs and internal bleeding, waterbending isn't one of the things that would come to mind."
"Cracked ribs?" Suki gasped, a little surprised.
"And internal bleeding?" Aang added, looking at his older friend sympathetically.
"I'm fine now but at the time," Zuko paused, remembering the pain that he felt during the fight, "It was just too much."
"That just doesn't seem right," Katara said, speaking up again after contemplating what the rest of the group was talking about, "A waterbender would need an enormous amount of water to create a force that strong to do that. Whoever this guy was, he wouldn't be able to do that unless there was a big source of water around him."
"Well he was able to do it, trust me," Zuko looked at her.
"We can talk more about this later," Mai interjected before turning to Katara as well, "We were hoping you would be able to heal him as much as you can."
"Of course," Katara nodded.
"I'll answer anything you want me to while you are doing that," Zuko assured.
"I should probably come with you guys to then," Aang said, causing the group to look at him before he finished, "I just feel I should know what is going on that's all."
Everyone seemed satisfied, nodding in understanding except for Katara, who gazed at her boyfriend speculatively. She was getting something different from their connection, something she hadn't felt before. Jealousy? Aang met her eyes and upon seeing her staring at him, he looked away blushing after realizing that she understood his real reason for wanting to come with her when she healed Zuko. She giggled silently to herself, a little amused that Aang would actually feel jealous when it came to her. Didn't he know by now that he was the only guy for her, especially with their shared bond? She couldn't help but find the situation rather cute and she grasped his hand gently to reassure him, trying to tell him silently that he didn't need to feel jealous. He simply shrugged, blushing a little more and grasping her hand tighter as he looked back to the rest of the group who had began a new conversation, oblivious of the silent exchange between the young couple.
"Well we can all play catch up later at dinner," Bumi cut in, "In the mean time, I will show you all to your rooms. We already have four prepared for you."
"Actually Bumi," Aang said quickly, drawing all eyes toward him, "Katara and I sleep together now, so if it's alright..."
"You two can share a room then Aang," Bumi assured, knowing what his longtime friend was going to ask, but he could help but look at him surprised, "Though I have to say that for some reason I thought you two would wait until you are married until you took things that far."
Aang and Katara instantly reddened as the both realized what the old king was implying.
"What! No...we, we n-never," Aang stuttered, embarrassed and knowing full well that Sokka was glaring at him, "We have never done...I mean we've done stuff but not...I didn't mean sleep together in that way!"
"What Aang is trying to say is that we haven't gone that far," Katara cut in, not wanting Aang to embarrass them any further, though secretly wishing that there was some truth to what Bumi had said, "We just share a bed."
"Ugh, let's just all stop now," Sokka waved his hands in a silencing motion, "I don't want to hear anymore."
"Okay, just go get yourselves situated in your rooms," Mai said, trying to draw them away from the topic and turning to the embarrassed couple that were both looking at the rocky ground, "Aang. Katara. Feel free to come by and heal Zuko whenever you can."
Katara nodded, "We'll be there once we unpack our things."
"The guards can help with that," Bumi said, waving a few of his men over to him, "Would you please gather the Avatar and his friend's belongings and show them to their rooms."
The guards bowed quickly before doing what their King asked. Once all of the guards had gathered their bags, Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Suki followed them into the palace as Zuko and Mai returned to their own room.
"Oh wow, and a Waterbender did this to you?"
Zuko, who was wearing only his underwear, looked up from his spot on his bed at the shocked Waterbender standing in front of him, "For the last time, yes," he said a little annoyed.
Katara gazed over the many the many cuts and bruises that were revealed on Zuko after she had removed his bandages. Since it was a little over a week after the attack, many of the smaller cuts had mostly healed themselves, but Katara grimaced as she imagine what they must of looked like at the time. She looked over to her right to see Aang setting a pot of water on the nightstand next to her, before leaning with his back against the wall.
"You are going to be able to heal all of this right," Mai asked Katara, sitting on the bed a couple feet away from Zuko.
"All of the cuts and bruises...yes," she answered, bending some water out of the pot and into her hands, "I can't do anything about the cracked ribs though. Those have to heal on their own."
"Just do what you can, anything would be appreciated," Zuko told her, watching as the water in her hands glowed a bright blue as she knelt down in front of him and started the healing process.
"So tell me about this Waterbender," Katara requested.
"I can't really tell you all that much," Zuko admitted, "He had blue eyes, he was older than me, stronger, and he was able to bend an unusually large amount of water from the air."
"How much water are you talking about," Katara asked, moving up a little to heal the cuts on his arms.
"It was like he had a big lake around him," Zuko said, "I'm not talking little streams of water he was bending at me. I am talking about waves of water, and he was able to put a lot of force behind it. One of the blasts was strong enough to knock a metal door off its hinges."
"I didn't think any Waterbender could bend that much water from the air," Aang said surprised, not leaving his spot on the wall.
"It is a little weird," Katara agreed, moving around to sit on the bed behind Zuko so she could heal his back, "Are you sure he didn't just have some hidden stashes of water in the room."
"I'm sure," Zuko replied confidently, "They were just stealing the airship at the time I saw him. He wouldn't have had enough time to set up like that."
"What do you think of it Katara?" Mai asked a little curiously, "Is it possible for a Waterbender to do all of that or do you think there is something that we're missing?"
"Well, I have gotten pretty good at pulling a good amount of water from the air...enough that I don't need the pouch anymore," Katara started, "but I have never heard of someone pulling waves of water out of the air. However, theoretically, it should be possible but it would be a very advanced water bending technique. I've never heard of something like that before."
"Maybe, he is just a strong bender," Aang surmised, "Maybe he had a lot of practice."
"Maybe," Katara narrowed her eyes in thought.
"Can you get that much water from the air?" Mai asked her.
"Not yet but maybe with a little practice..." Katara answered a little thoughtfully. She did wonder if she had that level of power in her and she made a mental note to practice it in her free time, maybe even teach Aang how to pull water from the air to. It was not something he needed to know how to do since he had the other elements in place of it. But if she was going to try to teach herself this advanced technique that this mysterious man showed off to Zuko, then she might as well bring Aang along. She was sure he would love to, she promised herself that she would ask him Later.
"So how many of these guys were there," Aang asked, looking at Zuko for an answer.
"We don't know yet," Zuko shook his head as he felt Katara's healing stop and he saw water being bent back into the pot on the nightstand, "there are at least two of them but everyone is suspecting that there were more."
"So you really don't know anything about these guys?" Aang raised his eyebrows.
"That is why you're here," Mai said, "We need your help to find out. You should probably expect to be in the city for a while; Zuko and I were thinking that it would be wasteful to just send you guys out to join the search party."
"That's what we were thinking too," Aang nodded understandingly.
"Okay well, your all healed now Zuko," Katara cut in, getting up to stand back in front of him, "How do you feel?"
Zuko stood up, noticeably easier than he did before and stretched his arms and legs out. He felt as slight pain from his still cracked ribs but everything else was fine, "Better," he answered, "much better. Thanks Katara."
"Don't mention it," Katara waved her hands nonchalantly, "that's what friends are for."
Aang stood up straight pushing himself off the wall and yawning, "Well it's getting late and we have a long day tomorrow. I think it's time for use all to get a little rest."
Katara nodded in agreement and took his hand to lead him out the room as they exchanged goodnights with Zuko and Mai. The young couple walked through the hallways of the palace before finally reaching their room and Katara closed the door behind him as Aang began to undress down to his underwear.
"So what was that all about earlier?" she asked, pulling at the sash of her robe as it fell to rest around her feet.
"What are you talking about," Aang asked back, walking over to the bed to pull the covers back before climbing in.
"I could have sworn I sensed some jealousy coming from you earlier," Katara explained, pulling down her pants, leaving her only in her undergarments.
"Oh that," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he sat up against the back of the bed, "I just you know..."
Katara climbed on top of the bed to sit beside him, shoulders touching, "No I don't know."
"I just can't help but get a little jealous of you and Zuko sometimes," Aang looked away from her, a blush rising to his cheeks, "Especially ever since that play."
Katara didn't need him to elaborate. She knew what play he was talking about and if there was one thing she regretted in her life, it was what she had done during it, "Aang, that was two years ago."
"I know but..." Aang shrugged and sighed, "never mind. I'm just being silly that's all."
"Aang," she said soothingly, reaching a hand op to cup his cheek, turning his head to look at her, "You don't ever have to be jealous of me okay. I know that play isn't the best memory but it's in the past. What matters is what is happening now. I love you, Aang and nothing will ever change that."
Aang smiled, feeling his spirit at ease from her words as he turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand, "I love you to."
"Promise me that you won't get jealous like that again," Katara pleaded, "I know it's not that big of a deal, but I don't like it when you doubt my feelings for you like that. You're the only one for me okay?"
Aang looked into her gentle blue eyes, seeing the love and adoration she held for him, "Okay, I promise."
Satisfied, Katara shifted to lie down on the bed and pulled him down next to her, their foreheads resting against each other.
They remained silent, neither wanting to break the comforting peace that rose between them, each enjoying the soft sounds of the others breathing. Their arms wrapped around each other in a loving but gentle embrace, and they could each feel their own spirits mingle with each other's, allowing them to feel all the emotions they held.
Overcome by what he was feeling, Aang couldn't help but lean in to kiss her soft lips and Katara quickly responded, moving her lips passionately against his, holding him a little tighter.
They continued their kiss and it wouldn't be until several minutes later that the couple would finally find some sleep.
Tau looked out the control room window at the darkness that surrounded the airship. In the distance, the wall of Ba Sing Se was barely visible in the night's dim moonlight. Sorin had landed the airship in a crevice in the middle of a large rocky formation they had found and for the past few hours the group had been laying low, figuring out what to do next. They had reached Ba Sing Se, now the problem was getting in.
"We can't just walk in like we did at Omashu," Ryu stated leaning against one of the control panels with his arms crossed, "Ba Sing Se is more secure than that. We need passports to get in."
"And we don't have any passports for Ba Sing Se," Sorin said, from his chair.
"Not to mention that even then the security might still want to check us over since they have likely learned about Omashu by now. I don't think they are letting many people into the city at the moment," Ryu finished.
"I know, you don't have to tell me," Tau turned around from the window to look at his two companions, "I'm aware of the situation and I am working on a solution."
"What are you thinking about doing?" Sorin asked, looking at Tau curiously.
"As you said, we can't just walk in," Tau started, still going over the plan he was thinking up in his head, "we're going to have to do something a little more creative than that."
"And that entitles...what exactly," Ryu motioned his hands for Tau to elaborate.
The Waterbender ignored him for a few moments though, finalizing the plan in his mind before speaking up, "Okay, here is what we are going to do..."