liara was back at the western air temple a few days later, earning kind greetings from all the acolytes there.
"good morning, master liara, how was your mission to find firelord zuko's mother?" daiyu asked as liara walked to the large crate of artifacts.
"successful. we found lady ursa in her childhood village." liara told the girl
"that's wonderful news." daiyu smiled.
Liara looked over the crate, everything was unsorted and randomised, so she got on her knees and began packing everything out to sort.
after she was done, she took a pen and a small notebook to write every artifact the acolytes found on.
—
western air temple, artifacts.
three uncarved, unused gliders.
scrolls, thirty two.
includes,
airbending forms.
philosophy
history
spirituality
bison care
books, fourteen.
includes,
recipes
history
architecture
tradition
personal journals of monks, Nora, Dhargey, Tara, and Bhuti
personal journal of Guru Hariti.
two embroidered tapestries, one of the nomads learning bending from the bison. one of a female monk teaching children about the spirits raava and vaatu.
jewelry, includes,
traditional beads carrying the emblem.
turquoise earring studs, worn by monk zayah at her friend's wedding.
golden brooches carrying the emblem(seven total)
wedding bands, (five total)
two golden upper armbands.
—
liara had never realised how many things were actually left behind. back when she was living in the temple before reuniting with aang, she only used the kitchens, the meditation chambers and her own room.
"this is a very good haul." she said. "for now, let's rest for the day and then we'll head to the fire lord's palace first thing tomorrow morning."
daiyu looked at the airbender strangely, "why? shouldn't we leave everything here where it belongs?"
Liara shook her head. "no. there might be bandits nearby who will raid the place if they discover it. also, we're going to be going through the other temples as well, so no one will be here to watch over it."
"oh, I understand. but why the palace?"
Liara took a breath, "the palace is probably the safest place in the world right now. there are guards and kyoshi warriors all around. not to mention that the firelord, one of the most powerful firebenders, lives there."
~
as diki landed in the courtyard, she immediately laid flat on the ground, exhausted.
Liara felt guilty for letting the poor bison fly all day with fifteen people on her back, plus around a hundred kilo's of artifacts.
sliding down the bison's head, liara hugged the animal and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry for making you fly so much, girly."
the bison growled, forgiving the girl.
"liara, it is so good to see you."
she turned to see iroh waving at her while walking down the stairs.
"iroh! how have you been?"
she walked up to the man and hugged him tightly with a bright smile. "I've been great,"
Liara nodded and turned back to the air acolytes. "these are the air acolytes. they've been helping me at the western air temple, collecting air nomad artifacts for these past few weeks."
the ladies bowed to iroh, "it's nice to meet you." most of them said almost simultaneously. iroh waved a hand. "no need for such formalities. come inside, I'll have some of our servants take the artifacts down to the vaults."
Liara walked side-by-side with iroh as the acolytes walked behind them, chatting amongst themselves.
"do you know how the construction of republic city is going?" liara asked iroh. aang hadn't told her much about it, likely because he already had so much in his plate and forgotten about telling her.
"zuko says it is going well, although progress feels slow, it is actually going fairly fast thanks to the architects and workers working as fast as they can. in six months, they have already built the entire harbour."
Liara was impressed, when she had looked over the map of yue bay a few months ago, the harbour covered around a half of the coast. and that was huge.
"that's incredible." liara hummed, "if they keep working at this rate, the city will be mostly done within a few years."
iroh nodded, "yes, and zuko is using the old war taxes to build it, so hes technically giving back to the colonies in that way."
goodness, then the war taxes must have been a lot of money, because building an entire city from a run-down town would cost billions.
she recalled aang telling her about it when he stopped in yu dao eight months ago, while liara was still teaching the acolytes normal philosophy and values.
cranefish town was located in yue bay, and it was going to be republic city.
~
as liara was flying back to yu dao the next day, she saw something coming toward her from the northeast.
well, it wasn't just something, it was appa.
and on top of appa was her boyfriend, whom she had just seen a week ago. she missed him, yes, but this was completely unexpected.
as he neared diki and the women upon her, aang smiled. "hey, honey!" he hollered with a wave. liara let out a laugh. "hi! what are you doing here? I thought you were busy with republic city?"
they neared yu day and the bison began descending.
aang flew from appa to diki and hugged his girlfriend, kissing her sweetly as a greeting. the acolytes in the saddle swooned.
"i have a surprise for you." he said with a boyish smile.
"yeah? what is it?"
"a secret. but we have to go. like now," he said impatiently.
Liara giggled at his antics and took ahold of her staff. "fine," she said and turned back to the girls. "daiyu, please make sure you all get home safely. I'm going to join aang on whatever quest he's taking me on."
with that, she stood and the two airbenders flew over to appa who turned around mid flight and flew back in the direction that he arrived.
"alright so this would be a thirty minute flight, and appa will be a bit tired, but it's worth it, right buddy?"
appa groaned in agreement liara smiled.
aang took a piece of red cloth and tied it around Liara's eyes, and thirty minutes later, they landed.
aang guided liara off of appa and took her up some stairs. they continued to walk a few more meters before liara felt aang hovering by her ear.
"are you ready?" he asked and Liara nodded, curious as to what the surprise was.
he took the cloth off of her eyes and allowed her to look around.
Liara gasped upon opening her eyes, a smile climbing onto her plump lips. all around her, the place looked like an air temple, but still unique compared to the others.
the walls were white, like the north. and the roofs were blue like the south.
there was a fountain in the middle of the courtyard like the west, and lush plants and trees decorated the perimeter like the east.
it was absolutely beautiful.
"welcome to air temple island." aang said hugging onto his girlfriend.
"oh, aang! it's wonderful," liara said, still gawking at the place.
he took her arms in his hands, looking down at her, "I was wondering if you'll want to settle down here.. with me." he paused, "and the acolytes."
he continued, "we can build a life here and raise our children. it's near the city, but it's still private and quiet."
Liara kissed him and hugged onto him. "of course! absolutely!" she chirped.
"great!" aang smiled, "but there's one more thing, the buildings are all empty. I was hoping that we could design and decorate it together. to make it feel like our home."
"our home. I like that."
"a forever home with my forever girl."