Earlier
"Huh?" I woke up to the sound of a gasp, i turned around and saw Aang panting in his cot, sweat dripping from his forehead.
"Something wrong, Aang?" I asked, letting my feet dangle off of the bed i was assigned to.
"Just a nightmare." He described, wiping the sweat off of his face.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" I requested, standing up and walking towards Aang, sitting down next to him.
"I was in the avatar state, but i was outside of my body watching myself. It was scary, I was scary."
"Dreams can be pretty scary sometimes." I reassured him. "But you need rest, we're leaving the North Pole in a few hours. Get some sleep. Remember, it's just a dream."
"Yeah, I got it. Night, Mo."
~
"Katara, I want you to have this." Pakku turned to Katara, pulling out a gift he had for her. "This amulet contains water from the Spirit Oasis. The water has unique properties. Don't lose it." Katara grabbed the amulet out of Pakku's hands, examining it with a bright look in her eyes.
"Thank you, Master." She gave him a quick hug.
"Aang." He then made his way towards the avatar. "These scrolls will help you master waterbending. But remember, they're no substitute for a real master." Pakku looked up at Katara who was already in Appa's saddle, hinting that she would be Aang's new teacher.
"Thank you." Aang bowed, then joined Katara.
"Sokka, Motoko." Pakku called out to the two of us, we walked up to him together, excited to find out what our presents would be.
"Take care." He gave us both a pat on the shoulder.
"Oh?" I sighed in disbelief, Sokka doing the same.
"Now, fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here. General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu." Omashu. I completely forgot about the plans my father was involved in. An invasion was being planned and I haven't done anything about it. I hoped I wasn't the cause of something bad. I began to worry if the gang would hate me for this. "There, you will be safe to begin your earthbending training with King Bumi."
"Thanks for everything!" Katara spoke to Pakku as Sokka and I hopped onto Appa.
"Yip, yip!"
"Say hi to Gran-Gran for me!"
Appa soared through the sky, and we were about to start our new journey.
~
"I see. It's the anniversary, Isn't it?"
"Three years ago today I was banished. I lost it all. I want it back. I want the avatar, I want my honor, my throne. I want my father not to think i'm worthless."
"I'm sure he doesn't! Why would he banish you if he didn't care? ... That came out wrong, didn't it?"
~
"General Fong, I need to master all four elements before dualing the Fire Lord. The avatar state is something not to be fiddled with! It's way to soon for me to face him." Aang explained, a look of frustration creeping up on the general's face.
General Fong put it through his head that Aang was ready to defeat the Fire Lord because he possesses the avatar state.
"You just need to find a way to control it!" He fought back.
"This is a waste of time! We're going to Omashu." Aang turned around and started walking towards Appa.
"Fine, maybe you can avoid me, but she can't!" General Fong suddenly sunk Katara into the ground using earthbending.
Sokka and I were being held by guards from a far. We were unable to do anything without getting charged at instantly.
"Don't hurt her!" Aang warned, marching up to General Fong.
"You could save her if you were in the avatar state!"
"I'm trying, i'm trying!"
"Aang, i'm sinking!" Katara cried out, General Fong lowering her deeper into the ground.
Aang's eyes and tattoos began to glow immediately as he floated into the air, creating a giant wind forming around him that started to destroy everything around us. The guards let go of me and Sokka and we fell to the ground, but the wind was too strong to let us move.
General Fong released Katara. "Aang, she's okay, you can stop now! But it worked!"
"Everything is being destroyed!" I commented, watching Aang do a lot of damage towards General Fong's palace.
An enormous light right above Aang flashed, then he fell to the ground, returning to his normal self. Katara and I rushed to him quickly, but Sokka snuck up on General Fong from behind.
"I'm sorry. I hope you guys never have to see me like that ever again." Aang whimpered, not getting up from the ground. Katara and I kneeled down to reach his level, then placed our hands on his back, comforting him.
"Ha! are you joking? That was almost perfect! Now we just need to find a way to control-." General Fong stopped his sentence, being knocked in the head by Sokka's boomerang, making him pass out.
"Anyone have a problem with that?" Sokka asked the nearby guards. They all shook their heads 'no'.
"Uh, do you still want an escort to Omashu?" One of the guards cautiously approached.
"No, we'll get there on our own."
~
"Anyone who harbors these traitors will face the wrath of the Fire Lord! There will be no place left to hide."
~
Present
"You guys are going to be done soon, right?" Sokka and I were laying on giant palm leaves in the water, floating through the currents, expecting a new tan. Were were in our undergarments, and Momo was laying on my lap. Aang and Katara were practicing their waterbending as we took a break from flying to Omashu.
"What, like you're ready to go right now, naked guy?" Katara retorted, hands on her hips.
"Hey, i'm ready in two minutes!" Sokka confirmed, using his hair to cover his eyes from the sun.
"You should let you hair down more often." I confessed, taking a good look at his appearance. Aang and Katara went back to their training.
"It gets in my way a lot." He concluded, reaching over to my leaf to pet Momo.
"Don't fall in love with the traveling girl!" A group of refugees walked passed us, singing, dancing and playing instruments. "She'll leave you broken, broken-hearted!"
"That's an ironic song." I glanced over at Sokka, winking at him.
"Shut up!" He got up from his leaf a bit too quickly, losing his balance and falling into the water, making me giggle.
"Hey, river people!" One of the refugees called out. They were dressed like hippies and peace-makers. Their clothing contained a lot of flowers.
"We're not river people?" Katara replied, her statement sounding more like a question.
"You're not? What kind of people are you?"
"Just people." Aang gave the group a weird look. Sokka and I joined the scene, walking up to them.
"Who are you guys?" I asked the strange fellows.
""I'm Chong, and this is my wife, Lily. We're nomads." He introduced.
"You guys are nomads? That's great! I'm a nomad!" Aang excitedly claimed.
"Hey, me too!"
"I know... You just said that." Aang gave them all a puzzling look, wondering what was up with them.
"Oh, nice underwear." Chong pointed towards me and Sokka. Immediately, Sokka stood in front of me, covering me up and not bothering to hide himself.
"That's not polite!" He hissed.
~
"I didn't find anything to eat, I can't live like this. I wasn't meant to be a fugitive, this is impossible! ... Uncle, what are you doing?"
"You're looking at the rare white dragon bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious, it's heartbreaking! That, or it's the white jade bush, which is poisonous."
"We need food, not tea! I'm going fishing."
~
Lily was braiding Appa's fur, Katara helping her. Chong was playing his guitar, jamming out to songs about love with Aang. Sokka and I had just gotten back from getting dressed.
"Sokka, Mo, they're gonna take us to a giant nightcrawler!" Aang cheered.
"A what?" I questioned.
"On the way, there's a waterfall that creates a never-ending rainbow." One of Chong friend's implied, but I didn't catch his name.
"We need to get to Omashu!" Sokka reminded.
"Sokka's right. We need to find King Bumi so Aang can learn earthbending." I agreed with Sokka.
"Oh, sounds like you're headed to Omashu." Chong spoke as if he didn't hear Sokka already say it. "There's an old story about a secret pass right through the mountains."
"Is this real, or a legend?" Katara was sceptical.
"Oh, it's a real legend! And it's as old as earthbending itself."
Sokka and I face palmed in unison.
"Well, It's a little risky to fly with the Fire Nation after us. Appa won't be comfortable, but what other choice to do we have?" Aang disclosed, standing up.
"Alright, secret love cave it is."
~
"If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed."
"But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula."
"Earth Kingdom it is."
~
"The couple didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built an entire labyrinth." Chong described, telling the tale of the lovers as we made our way towards it.
"Labyrinth?" Sokka stopped in his tracks, turning to the nomad as his eyes widened.
"We'll figure something out." He reassured.
"All you need to do is trust in love, according to the curse." Lily predicted.
"Curse?" Sokka yowled.
"Oh, we're here!" Chong narrated as he lead us towards the entrance of the cave. "The curse says you need to trust in love to make it through the caves. Otherwise, you'll be trapped forever."
"Everyone, into the hole." I demanded as we all enrolled into the cave.
Suddenly, giant rocks fell down over the entrance as soon as we made it inside, closing us in. Appa was frightened and began grunting, scratching at the walls.
"It's okay, Appa. We'll be fine." Katara began petting him, calming him down.
"How did that happen?" One of the members of Chong's nomads questioned.
"My guess is, the Fire Nation is right behind us." I predicted.
"Chong, how long do your torches last?" Sokka's voiced echoed through the cave.
"Two hours each." He stated.
"I'm gonna make a map, then we'll most likely be able to follow our steps, like it's a maze." Sokka lit one of Chong's torches, leading us deeper into the cave.
"We don't need a map, we just need love." Chong sang, making Sokka face palm once again.
"This doesn't make any sense, this a dead end!" Katara pointed once we reached the other side.
"Yeah, it's strange. How do we get out?" Aang pondered, worried for everyone's sake.
"There's only one explanation." Sokka turned around to face the group. "The tunnels are changing."
"It must be the curse! I knew we shouldn't have come here!" Chong freaked out.
"Right, if only we listened to you!" I sarcastically shouted at Chong, leaving him confused.
"What is that sound?" Aang recalled. Unusual creature-like noises were coming from somewhere in the cave, causing Momo to panic and start hissing.
"It's a wolfbat!" Lily screamed as the animal flew towards us. I began summoning my lightning, attempting to take out the bat. The nomads gave me shocked expressions once they realized i was Fire Nation. Before i could release all the energy, Sokka took Chong's torch, attempting to catch the beast on fire. The wolfbat let out a screech and knocked the torch out of Sokka's hands, then flying away. The torch landed on Appa's toes, freaking the bison out. He began stomping and letting out grunts of pain.
"Appa, it's okay! It was accident!" Aang tried stopping his pet, but failed to do so. Appa caused rocks to land in between us, separating us. On my side was Sokka, Momo and the nomads. Aang, Appa and Katara were trapped on the other.
"Aang, Katara!" I blurted, not getting an answer from them.
"It's no use, we're separated. At least you have us!" Chong added, annoying me terribly.
"No!" Sokka fell to his knees, obviously not wanting to deal with the nomads anymore.
"Hey man, at least you have me. Get up, we're wasting time." I grabbed Sokka's shirt, pulling him up.
"Okay, let's keep moving."
"Oh, don't let the cave-in get you down. Don't let the falling rocks turn your smile into a frown! When the tunnel's at it's darkest, that's when you need a clown, hey!" Chong began singing again while playing his instrument as we explored the caves. Sokka had a look of disgust on his face, but i didn't blame him.
"Guys, is alright if you take a break?" I politely suggested.
"But, I have a great idea! If the key is love, then we need to play a love song!" This time i was the one face palming.
Unexpectedly, badgermoles bursted through the walls, two of them were surrounding us. They began earthbending, closing us in.
Before the animals could attack us, Chong began to sing a song about badgermoles, which made them stop attacking. They tilted their heads and watched Chong, enjoying the music.
"They like music." I commented.
"I'm gonna try something crazy." Sokka mounted one of the badgermoles. "Take us to the exit, please!"
"Sokka? What-."
"Motoko, get on." He gestured his hand for me to take, i accepted and sat behind him, placing my arms around his waist. "Guys, follow my lead."
The badgermoles sprinted into one of the walls, crashing through. I let out a scream, holding onto Sokka tightly, thinking a rock would collapse on me. I opened my eyes and realized we made it out, and Aang, Appa and Katara were waiting for us at that very spot.
"Guys!" I hopped off of the badgermole and ran towards my friends, giving them each a hug, including Appa.
"Uh, Sokka, why is your forehead all red?" Katara quizzed as Sokka came up to us.
"Okay, no one freak out to what i'm about to tell you, but i think that kid is the avatar." Chong came up from behind us and pointed towards Aang. Sokka face palmed again, making his forehead even more red.
"Are you guys coming to Omashu with us?" Aang asked the group.
"Nope." Chong answered, then left with his group, not saying goodbye or anything.
~
"I present to you all, the Earth Kingdom city of..."
"Oh, no."