(Next chapter is up! Hope you enjoy.)
Shoot, Shoot, Shoot! That flare could only be from the abandoned Fire Nation ship that was trapped in ice. And the only reason why it would go off is because someone was wondering around in it. Even I stay away from it. Gran Gran and I returned to the village and find that they are at the entrance, looking scared and worried. Probably because of the flare and that the Fire Navy could have seen it.
"I knew it! I knew that guy was trouble" Sokka says. "Whoa! Hold on. Let's not jump to conclusions." I state. "Enough. They are approaching." Gran Gran says. I look to see Katara and Aang, approaching the village just as Gran Gran said. The kids cheer and run towards them, happy to see Aang. They hug him and I smile softly at that. "I knew it. You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare. You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?" I frown at the allegation. "Aang, didn't do anything. It was an accident." Katara says. "Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and, well, we-We booby-ed right into it." Aang explains, scratching his head. "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger." Gran Gran says. "Don't blame Katara. I brought her there. It's my fault." Aang defends Katara. I frown in sympathy.
So far, Aang has shown that he is not someone of malice. He is just a kid that is goofy and loves to have fun. "A-Ha! The traitor confesses. Warriors, away from the enemy. The foreigner is banished from our village." Okay, now this getting ridiculous. I walked over and grab Sokka's shoulder, turning him to face me. "Enough! This is ridiculous, Sokka! I understand that you only want to protect the village, but Aang is a visitor and had no knowledge about the rule of not going into the ship prior to coming her. Sure Katara knew, but Aang tripped a booby trap by accident. We shouldn't come to any conclusions until we have the full story!" I argue.
"She's right, Sokka, you're making a mistake." I hear Katara say. "No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad." Sokka says to Katara, turning away from me to face her. "I'm protecting you from threats like him." "Aang is not the enemy." I look away and close my eyes as I pinch my nose. I growl at Sokka's overprotectiveness. Ever since Hakoda left, Sokka thinks he is the sole decider and protector of the village. But all he's done is just jump to conclusions and become more ignorant. The rest of the conversation was of how Aang had brought fun back to the village, but Gran Gran was in agreement with Sokka.
I release my nose as I open my eyes as Katara grabs Aang as they walk towards Appa. "Where do you think you're going?" "To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole." "I am? Great!" Okay, what happened between those two? "Katara, would you really choose him over your tribe, your own family?" I look at the ground when Sokka said that. Spirits, why must things be so complicated? While Aang has shown not to be a threat, he is still technically a stranger.
It was quiet. Until Aang walked to Katara and talked to her then hops onto Appa. "It was nice meeting everyone." He says. "Let's see your bison fly now, airboy. OW!" I smack the back of Sokka's head. Hard. Instead of flying, Appa stands up. But one little girl cries as she runs off and stands with Katara. I frown sadly. Appa then walks off and I lower my head. But then I harden my expression and run off to follow after Appa. "Wha-? (Y/N)! Get back here!" I ignore Sokka as I continue to run.
Aang may still be a stranger, but all the things about him.... He's an airbender. He was trapped in an iceberg and survived. His eyes glowed. I then catch up with Appa as I slow my run to a walk. "Aang!" I shout. Aang looks down at me then makes Appa stop which makes me stop. "What are you doing, (Y/N)? You should be back at the village." He says. "Look, you survived being in that ice and you woke up not knowing where you are or how long you have been in that hunk of ice." I start. But then I notice how he became nervous and looks away. "Can we get some distance first?" He asks. I nod my head then climbed up Appa
Appa walked for a while until we came across a snow formation that had holes in them. We get off Appa as the big guy laid on his back in the larger bottom hole. Aang looks at me as he stands before me. "Actually, while Katara and I were in the ship, she said something about how there has been a war going on." He says. I perk at that. "But before I was encased in that iceberg, there was no war." My eyes widen at that. No war? If that were the case, then he was in that iceberg before The War had begun. And if he is an airbender, along with that beam... Oh, heck, I'm gonna say it. "You're the Avatar." I state. I see him look at me with wide eyes but then he looks away from me with a frown.
"That's it! That's how you survived in that iceberg for so long. And how you ended up in it in the first place! You waterbended. But you're an airbender, so the only way that you could have waterbended as well, is if you are the Avatar. Which you are! And the glow must have been because of you being in the Avatar State." I ramble about how THE Avatar is standing before me. I don't believe it! And yet here he is.... Looking sad. I frown as I see that, "Hey, what's wrong? Was I being too much?" I ask. Aang shakes his head slowly then looks up at. "No. It's just...." He trials off as he looks past me. He gasps and I look behind me only to feel my heart sink.
A Fire Navy ship. Heading straight towards the village. Oh, no. "The Village." I jump as I hear Aang then turn around to face him and grab his shoulders. He looks up at me, "Aang. Listen to me. You need to leave." I tell him. "What? No! I can-" "You can't. You need to understand, you are the only one that can finally end The War. I'll go back and deal with it." I tell him. I didn't wait for him to reply as I let go of him and start running. I had to get back before someone gets hurt. The last time they came.... No. Focus. Focus!
Once I make it, I see a person produce flames from his hands as Sokka was on his butt. I ignore the burning in my lungs as I run, take off my coat and toss it at the man. It catches him by surprise as it lands on him and I move to slide on the snow as I knock him off his feet. I then get up and stand between the person and the village. Arms up and ready to fight. "(Y/N)!" I ignore Katara as I focus on the person as they stand up. "Whatever you are here for, forget about it! Leave! NOW!" I order. But then they take off my coat and tossed it aside and I pause at their appearance.
Our eyes meant, my (E/C) with his golden ones. It was a man, but he looked to be about my age and he had a scar that covered the left side of his face. He looked surprised but then became angry. I mean of course he would, I tossed my coat at him and knocked him onto his butt. I blink as I get ready to fight. But then I see Aang riding a penguin close in and I jump out of the way but the boy got hit and flipped into the air then landed on his face. I see Aang stop then the penguin knocked him off and walked away. "Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka." I facepalm. Dang it, Aang! "Hi, Aang. Thanks for coming."
I remove my hand to glare at Aang but then remember the boy and look it see him stand up. The other Fire soldiers walk off and surround Aang. I reluctantly step back, but I didn't have to worry for Aang, with the help of his staff, blows snow their way and knocks them back. The scarred boy remains where he is as the snow starts to melt off him. "Looking for me?" Aang says. "You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" Shoot. That's why they're here. "Aang?" "No way." Oh, right. I was the one to piece it together first. Aang and the strange ponytail boy started to circle each other. "I've spent years preparing for this encounter, training, meditating. You're just a child." The boy says. "Well, you're just a teenager." I had to cough to keep my laughter from bursting out at Aang's response.
But then the boy shoots fire at Aang but he was able to use his staff to block them. But then a particularly more powerful blast was shot and Aang was able to block it but I still held up an arm to defend myself and look to see the woman protecting the children. Shoot. I look back at the fight and see Aang with a scared look. "If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" Aang says. No. It was quiet for a moment then he boy nod his head.
The soldiers apprehended him as they start walking to the ship. "No, Aang, don't do this." I hear Katara beg. "Don't worry, Katara. It'll be ok." Aang assures. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back." Appa... That's it! "Head a curse for the Fire Nation! I'm going home." What? I shake my head. No. Focus! The ship then starts as the front of the ship rises as it closes. It then backed up as it sails off. I then walked over and grabbed my coat then hurry off to my cot. I quickly packed everything I would need. I grab two knives made from whale teeth, my spear and a weapon I had made from with some rope that connected to a rope and weight on the other end. I exited my cot and ran off.
Okay! *Cough!* I have run a lot in a short amount of time!" I pant, resting my hands on my knees. But I made it. Appa was still resting on his back. At least someone was relaxed. I stand up and crack my back a little. "Okay, big guy! We need to go rescue Aang." I state. He groans as he gets on his feet. I climb up him and set my stuff on his saddle as I sit with back against the and grab the reins. But then I halt myself. Katara sounded heartbroken at seeing Aang be taken away and Sokka sounded thankful for Aang coming and defending the people. I don't know if should. This could be dangerous. I close my eyes as I think. I look at my bracelet on my right arm. I never got meet my mother and I hardly ever knew my father.... Aw, screw it. "Hold on, fluffy beast. We got to go make a detour before heading off." I tell Appa. I then pull on the reins as he follows and turns, waking towards the village.
Once we made it back, I see Katara and Sokka standing near a boat. I then see Gran Gran walk up to them and give them something. I smile. Even she knows. Of course she would. I pull on the turns to make Appa stop as we finally walked up to them, "If you think that little boat is going to catch up to a Fire Navy ship, you guys are more hopeless than I thought." I joke. They look up at me. Katara smiles widely, "(Y/N)! Appa!" I smile back. "Hop on." I said. Katara grabbed her things and quickly get on. "You seriously think that thing can fly?" Sokka questions me. I only smile down at him and nod, "What do we have to lose?" I reply. He only gives me a raised brow but grabbed his stuff and got on.
I look down at Gran Gran and see that she is looking at me with a smile. "Looks like you're going to be doing a lot of fighting." She says. I smile at her. "Yeah. And don't worry. We'll look after each other." I tell her. She nods her head. "I best go to help the village now. Good luck." She says then walks off. "Alright, gentle giant. Time to fly and rescue Aang." I tell Appa. "Yeah. Go. Fly." I roll my eyes at Sokka's monotone voice. "Please, Appa, we need your help. Aang needs your help." Katara says to him. But then I remember what Aang said. "Okay, Appa. Yip Yip!" I snap the reins lightly. To not hurt him because I'm not a monster.
He then growls and as he starts to run before taking off into the sky. We're flying! Awesome! "You did it, (Y/N)!" "Oomph!" I gasp a little as Katara hugs me from behind. "No problem." I cough out because she was hugging me tightly. She lets go of me and I inhale some air. "He's flying! He's flying! Katara, (Y/N), he's-" I only smugly smirk at Sokka's excitement. "I mean, big deal. He's flying." I hold onto the reins as we catch up to the ship.
It's in sight and I guide Appa to fly around it. I see Aang on the deck with the same guy and he blocks a blast from him. "We've got to help him!" I hear Katara say. I watch as Aang lost his staff then fell into the water. "Shoot!" "Aang, No!" I try to guide Appa down but then some guys shot fire at us. Appa growls and I pull the reins back so that he flew higher so he wouldn't get hit. We watch the water. "Aang! Aang! Aaaaaang!" Katara cries out. "Come on, Aang." I mutter to myself.
And then the water bursts as tower of it emerges. Aang was bending it and I watch in amazement as he lands on the ship and bends the water to push back the Fire soldiers. Incredible. "Did you see what he just did?" "Now that was some waterbending." I could only nod at what they said but then shake my head. "We got an opening. I'm taking us down." I tell them. I then guide Appa and he follows. We land on the ship and we hop off. "Aang. Are you ok?" Katara calls out. We make to Aang and see that he was on the ground with his eyes closed. I check his neck for a pulse and sigh in relief as I felt one. Katara holds him up by his arms as he starts to wake up. "Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Hey, (Y/N). Thanks for coming." His voice sounds hoarse. "Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory." Sokka jokes. "Don't thank us just yet. We still need to get out of here." I tell Aang.
Katara gave him to me as I pick him up and carry him. "Wait, I dropped my staff." He says. "Got it." Sokka runs off to go get it. "Come one." I tell Katara as we hurry to Appa. "Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!" "Sokka!" I call out and I see him flinch. Katara and I help Aang as he climbs onto Appa's head. Appa then stands up as more soldiers come our way. I take out a knife but then I glance to see Katara bend some water. I look back at the soldiers as they stop, but Katara accidentally sent the water back and froze Sokka's feet. "Katara!" I look back at the soldiers as the come towards us. I think fast then an idea hits. "Do that again, but face away from them." I tell Katara and she nods her head. I run off and meet with Sokka. "Hold still." I tell him. I get down on one knee as I lightly tap on the ice with the butt of my knife. "Hurry. Hurry!" I ignore Sokka as I focus then I find the spot.
I take a deep breathe then exhale slowly as I turn around my knife and stab the blade into the spot. It starts to crack then it crumbles and Sokka is free. "Come on, guys!" I stand up as I see Katara on Appa then at the soldiers frozen in ice. I smirk at that, "You got it!" I reply back. "I'm just a guy with a boomerang. I didn't ask for all this flying and magic-" "Let's go!" I grab Sokka's arm as I run to Appa. We run up his tail. "Yip Yip! Yip Yip!" Sokka says as we get in the saddle.
Appa takes off and flies away from the ship. I look back then find a blast of fire heading right towards us. But then Aang jumps and lands on the back of the saddle and uses his staff to airbend, redirecting the blast into an ice wall. It collapses a little and covers the ship. Aang, Katara and Sokka laugh but I still looked back. I don't know why but I can't help but wonder why that scarred boy said he was going home.
Appa has been flying for a while and the sky had become a pretty yellow. Aang sat at the front of the saddle looking away from us. "How did you do that... with the water? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen." Katara says to Aang. "I don't know. I just sort of did it." Aang answers. "I do." I said. Everyone looks at me. "The same way he ended up in that iceberg. He waterbended." I answer. It was quiet for a moment. I see Aang look away again and Katara looks at him, "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" She asks him. "Because.... I never wanted to be." Aang answers, turning his head away from us.
I frown in sympathy for the kid. He was a kid that likes to have fun and be goofy, so having a responsibility like this must be a lot. "But, Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war." Katara tells him. "And how am I going to do that?" Aang asks. I then move and sit on my knees next to Aang as I look at him, "Well, learning the ways of the other elements. And since you are born an airbender and have mastered it, you must now learn water then earth then fire. And we'll be with you every step of the journey." I tell him. "Really?" He looks at me with surprise. I nod my head as I smile at him, "Really." I affirm.
"And, if we go to the North Pole, you can master waterbending." We look back at Katara as she said that. "We could learn it together." Aang smiles at that. My smile widens. Killing two sea-ravens with one stone. "And, Sokka, I'm sure you'll got to knock some firebender heads on the way." Katara says to Sokka. "I'd like that. I'd really like that." He says with a small smile. "And don't forget about me. Someone needs to keep an eye on all of you. Appa can only do so much." I say. Appa growls. "Even he knows it." I smirk, leaning over to pat Appa's fur.
"Then we're all in this together." I pull myself back and sit back against the saddle after Katara said that. "All right, but before I learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to here, here, and here." Aang says, taking out a map and landing to sit in the saddle as he unrolls it and points to various locations on it. I roll my eyes as he then goes on to explain about fun activities. I look up at the sky and think about the journey we are now on. But then the boy's face flashes in my mind. Who is he?
Zuko's P.O.V. (Surprise!)
After all this time, I had him! He was right there. But then he escaped. I won't fail again. I cannot fail again. But then that (H/C)-haired girl flashed in my mind. Her (E/C) eyes held a fire in them. Who is she? I shake my head. That shouldn't matter. "Prince Zuko." I look back to see my Uncle Iroh enter my chamber. "The ship has sustained damage. We need to make repairs." He says. I face away from him as I scowl but then cam myself. "Very well. But once the ship is repaired, we leave immediately to find the Avatar." I state. I hear the door close and I was left alone. I won't fail. I will regain my honor.