Kairi and Prince Zuko arrived at the mysterious island. They landed on the ground, and Prince Zuko stepped away from Kairi, falling to his knees and breathing heavily.
" Are you okay?" Kairi asked, looking at Prince Zuko worryingly.
" That was terrifying." Prince Zuko mutters.
" You are fine. We made it here safely." Kairi smiled, patting Prince Zuko's back and helping him to his feet.
Prince Zuko stands and looks at his surroundings.
" What is this place? The maps show nothing on the Fire Nation route to the South Pole." He says, looking curious.
" I don't know. This place feels familiar. I don't know how to explain it. It's like I been here before." Kairi mumbled.
" We should explore!/Wait for the others," She and Prince Zuko looked at each other.
" Come on. It's going to be a while until the ship gets here." She looks at Prince Zuko with puppy-dog eyes.
Prince Zuko grunted.
" But stay close. This island could have traps. We need to be careful." He firmly says.
Kairi nodded, and the two teens started walking down a stone path to a mountainous landscape that revealed a beautiful, empty temple.
" Woah," Kairi and Prince Zuko stared.
" How do we get there?" Prince Zuko asked when he saw that the stone path got cut off from where they stood to the temple.
" By flying, of course," Kairi answered Prince Zuko's question.
Prince Zuko looked at Kairi as though she was insane.
" Come on, Zuko. You need to learn to be daring once in a while," Kairi winks, pulling Prince Zuko as they jump off the cliff.
" Ahhhh!" Prince Zuko screamed as they started falling. He closed his eyes, clinging to Kairi.
Kairi used the Air to glide and fly towards the mysterious temple. She and Prince Zuko reached the ground, and they stood on their feet.
" You can open your eyes now," She looked at Prince Zuko.
Prince Zuko opened his eyes and saw them standing before the mysterious temple.
" As I said before, give me a warning next time!" He hissed, glaring at Kairi.
Kairi playfully held her hands up in surrender. She put her hands down and looked at her surroundings. Her eyes blinked when she recognized a symbol above the grand doors.
" Those swirls," Kairi whispered, causing Prince Zuko to look at her and then at what she was staring at. " It's the air symbol. We are at an Air Temple," She says.
" I recognize those symbols from a scroll that my Grandmother had, which belonged to her father, my Great-Grandfather. No wonder the feelings I currently feel are familiar. It's the air-bending gene in me," Kairi smiled.
Prince Zuko hummed, surprised to hear that this Air temple exists since there is no sign of any Air territory on the map he currently has on his ship. It was as though the mention of Air Benders got erased.
" Let's check this Air Temple about," Kairi smiled, pushing the Grand doors, and she stepped inside.
" Wait up! I said you need to stay close to me. We don't even know if these Air benders left any traps," Prince Zuko follows Kairi.
The two teens walked through the temple hallways, looking at their surroundings. They saw many paintings, artifacts, and furniture belonging to the Air Benders from long ago. They stopped when they saw another grand door with a unique design.
" It looks like it needs air to open it," Prince Zuko studies. " The Air benders must have guarded this room for a reason. It could be secrets belonging to the Air benders," He rubbed his chin.
" One way to find out. Zuko, you need to stand behind me," Kairi says.
Prince Zuko nodded and went to stand behind Kairi.
Kairi breathes in and out and uses Air to open the door. She watched the Air make the knobs turn, and it caused the grand doors to open, revealing a dark room.
Prince Zuko snapped his fingers, and a medium-sized fire appeared; he used it as a lantern. He and Kairi entered the room and saw a grand spiral staircase leading somewhere.
" I wonder where this leads," They whispered, looking at each other.
Prince Zuko and Kairi walked down the grand spiral staircase. They soon reached the bottom and stood in front of another door. They noticed it looked like the one they opened earlier, so Kairi used Air to unlock it, and they watched the door open. They entered the room and looked, seeing many statues of people lined up in a circular pattern.
" What is this place? Who are all these people?" Prince Zuko asked, looking around him.
Kairi hummed, looking curious.
" I don't know. But it feels like I know these people somehow," She says, causing Prince Zuko to look at her. " Look! This one is a Water Bender. I recognize the clothing," She said as she approached the statue.
" Avatar Kuruk," Kairi reads. " From the Northern Water Tribe, a powerful and gifted bender who dreamed of improving the mortal world by uniting the people and acting upon the foundations laid by his predecessor, Avatar Yangchen." She glanced at the female Air Bender that stood beside him.
" However, after a brutal conflict with a dark spirit resulted in a deep spiritual corruption that began to fester within him to the point that he neglected his Avatar duties to the point that he passed away at the age of thirty-three." Kairi finished.
" Dang. That's rough," Prince Zuko commented, standing beside Kairi.
" Avatar Kuruk's successor would then become Avatar Kyoshi," Kairi says, looking at the statue of a female Warrior.
The two teens walked toward Avatar Kyoshi's statue and started to read the plaque.
" Avatar Kyoshi was born to two criminals. Her mother was a renegade Air Normad nun, and her father was a thief from an impoverished family in the Earth Kingdom. She inherited her signature outfit from her parents, adopting her mother's golden headdress and metal war fans and her father's daofei face paint. She was declared the Avatar at age sixteen. Before, it was her close friend, Yun. However, Yun became furious that he had been lied to about being the Avatar, and he started retribution by attacking Master Benders and political figures. It caused Kyoshi to think about innocent lives, and she had to kill someone she knew to restore peace. She had her ups and downs, but she lived till she was two hundred and thirty years old, making her the oldest living Avatar. Her successor became a Fire Nation civilian named Avatar Roku." Kairi finished reading.
" Avatar Roku," Prince Zuko whispered.
He remembered going to school with other Fire Nation children and learning about Sozin's Comet and how his paternal Great-Grandfather, Fire Lord Sozin, defeated the Avatar of his timeline, Avatar Roku.
Prince Zuko walked up to the statue of Avatar Roku and stared at him with mixed emotions. He didn't know why, but he felt like he had seen him before. He looked at the plaque and began to read about him.
" Avatar Roku was a wise and compassionate Avatar with good intentions. Living during a transformation, technological uprising, and nationalist growth, he worked tirelessly to maintain peace between the four nations during complicated political issues and uneasy diplomatic relations. However, he acknowledged that he was too doubtful during his lifetime." Prince Zuko reads; his eyebrow rises, and his eyes widen when he reads a familiar name.
" Avatar Roku's prolonged friendship with Fire Lord Sozin resulted in his unwillingness to end his dear friend's life and thus his imperial ambitions. It ultimately led to his demise," He finished reading.
Kairi saw Prince Zuko look at the plaque with mixed emotions. She frowned when she saw his hands tightened into fists.
" And he is the last one," Prince Zuko looked at the empty spot next to Avatar Roku's.
" That means you are his successor." He looks at Kairi.
Kairi internally bit her cheek, remembering that she made Prince Zuko believe she was the current Avatar so he wouldn't hurt Aang or the Southern Water Tribe.
" There is something you need to know," She says, causing Prince Zuko to look at her intently.
" I'm not-" A hissing sound grabs the two teens' attention.
" What was that?" Prince Zuko asked, causing him to get tense and look at his surroundings.
" I-I don't know. Could it be that the Air Benders had left a trap in here? An animal that got tasked to kill any intruder in this room," Kairi gulped.
" We should get out of here," Prince Zuko grabbed Kairi's hand, and the two ran out of the room and into the spiral staircase.
A flame appeared on his left hand as he and Kairi ran up to the top of the spiral staircase where they came in.
A screeching sound caused them to run faster. They could hear the pitter-patter of something running on the walls.
" Whatever it is, it's gaining on us and fast," Kairi says, looking scared.
" I can see the light!" Prince Zuko says.
The two teens ran out, and they turned, using their strength to push the door, unaware that something flew past them. They closed the door and heard it get locked.
" Finally," Kairi sighed in relief.
" Yeah," Prince Zuko nodded.
The same hissing sound from before caused them to tense up. They slowly turned, and their eyes widened when they saw a black and red-fur-colored Red Ruffed Wing Lemur staring at them intently.