Aya's POV
"I missed you more than you'll ever know, buddy."
It's only been an hour since we got Appa back and we haven't done anything but land on a small island that was a good distance around from the city. Aang has been latched onto his bison friend since we got him back and it's nice to see Aang so happy again. I haven't seen him this happy since I agreed to be his girlfriend.
Appa licks Aang and this causes Aang to chuckle as he falls to the ground.
"Look, we escaped from the Dai Li. We got Appa back. I'm telling you, we should go to the Earth King now and tell him our plan. We're on a roll." Sokka suggests.
"One good hour after weeks of trouble isn't much of a roll." Katara reasons.
"Sokka's got a point." I interjected, hopping off the rock I was sitting on. "We can build on it."
"Yeah. If we want to invade the Fire Nation when the eclipse happens, we'll need the Earth King's support." Sokka explained, looping his arm around my neck.
"What makes you think we'll get it?" Toph asked from her seat on the ground. "I don't know if you've noticed, but things don't usually go that smoothly for our little gang."
Because everyone's after Aang. I'm not blaming Aang I would never do that, it's just unfortunate that majority of the world wants to capture him.
"I know, but I've got a good feeling about this. This time will be different." Sokka remarks.
"Sokka, Long Feng and his son are in control of the city. Their conspiracy with the Dai Li is too powerful. I think we should just keep flying and leave this horrible place behind us." Katara suggests with a heavy frown.
"I'm with Sweetness. I've seen enough of Ba Sing Se." Toph raises her arms and opens her eyes wide. "And I can't even see!"
Aang leaps over to us. "But now that we have Appa back, there's nothing stopping us from telling the Earth King the truth. About the conspiracy and the War."
"See, Aang's with us." Sokka smiled wrapping his other arm around my boyfriend and the three of us grin.
"It's the whole reason we came here in the first place." I tell my sister and Toph. "We have to try."
Katara ponders the idea. "Well, I guess if the Earth King knew the truth, things could change."
This causes Aang, Sokka, and I grin lightly and Toph stands up.
"I don't trust the new positive Sokka." Toph mentions and points at Sokka. "Long Feng or Hung brainwashed you, didn't they?!"
Suddenly, Aang ran to the edge and looked out at the lake. I followed his gaze and saw three ships sailing the lake.
"That's probably the Dai Li searching for us." Sokka assumes as we run up to Aang and we look at Katara. "So?"
"Let's fly!"
All of us board Appa and took off. My siblings and Toph unfortunately had to ride bare back and it didn't look the most comfortable. I was up front with Aang because that's where I usually sit when we ride Appa.
"Can we please buy a new saddle? Riding bareback is terrifying!" Toph yells over to the fierce wind as we flew toward the Palace.
As we got closer, the Palace came into view and it was gigantic. It took over most of the Upper Ring.
"There it is." Sokka points. "That whole thing is the Palace. The Earth King's chamber should be in the center."
"We have to be careful. Long Feng and Hung probably warned the king that we're coming." Katara warned us.
"Why would you assume that? If you ask me, I think we're just gonna sail right in and-Aahh!"
A gigantic rock almost hits us but Appa dodges it.
"What was that?!" Toph asks frantically. Poor Toph, she can't sense anything from up here.
"Surface-to-air rocks!" Sokka shouts and more rocks came flying toward us. "More incoming! Ahhh!"
Appa dodges all the rocks that fly toward us. One rock gets launched toward Aang and I, and I duck my head holding Bubbles close as Aang took it out with his earthbending. Another one come hurdling towards us but Aang takes it out by swinging his staff and bends it in half. Aang hands the reigns to me and leaps off Appa, he smashes into the ground and sends a massive wave of earth to knock all the guards away. Appa lands on the ground and scared away the Captain and his ostrich-horse. The rest of us hop off Appa and make our way toward the Palace. We managed to get a good few yards ahead but we were stopped by more guards who launch Earth cubes at us. Aang and Toph step up and take out the incoming cubes.
Both earthbenders create a path for us for to walkthrough by taking out the guards and Katara subdues the guards on the side with her water whip.
"Sorry!" Katara yells as she hits a guard and winces as she hits another.
More guards run toward us and Toph earthbends the tiles on the ground to flip them over which creates a domino effect. The tiles trap the guards and this allows us to run by them.
"Sorry!" I apologized. "We just need to get through to see the Earth King!"
We got closer to the Palace but once again we got stopped by more guards. As we were running, the guard bended two large statues at us and I look up with wide eyes. We all stop in our tracks and Toph and Aang create an Earth igloo to protect us from getting smashed. Katara runs ahead to take out the guards and the rest of us follow when it's clear. I looked in the river and saw many guards were frozen in the water.
"Sorry." I called as I ran by. We reached the staircase and saw multiple guards descending from the Palace. Toph steps up and raises her arms causing the ground to rumble and the stairs flatten. All the guards slide down as Toph and Aang create a small platform to escalate us up the stairs.
We watched the guards slide by us an I bit my lip with sympathy as the slid by. It seems shocking, but we are on their side.
"Seriously, we're actually on your guys' side!" Sokka exclaims. "Sorry."
We reach the top and Toph and Aang push the remaining guards away with earthbending.
"In there!" Sokka yells as we run inside the Palace.
We ran into an area with three pathways and guards appear from each pathway. Toph senses each of the guards and creates a pillar under each up of them, sending them up to the ceiling.
"Toph, which way to the Earth King?" Sokk asked her frantically.
"How should I know? I'm still voting we leave Ba Sing Se." Toph retorts and sends a wave of earth toward two guards. Sokka and I leave the battle scene to search for the King.
My brother and I search many rooms but we froze when we walked in on a woman.
"Burglars!" She yells and faints. Sokka and I shut the doors with guilty looks.
Oops.
"Sorry! Wrong door!"
Sokka and I meet up with the team and a mountain of rubble was blocking our way. No more guards were attacking us anymore which was a relief but we still couldn't find the Earth King.
Sokka climbs over the rubble and looks ahead. "Now that's an impressive door. It's gotta go somewhere."
Sokka hops off the rubble and we follow him over the mountain. Sokka dashes toward the large twins doors and attempts to kick the door. "Yaaahhhh!" His kick fails to do anything and he falls to the floor. He tries to push it but it didn't move and Aang and Toph bust the doors down with their bending. Sokka flies in and lands on the ground alongside the doors. Sokka sits up and looks at us. "A little warning next time?!"
The rest of us run in and raise our weapons. Toph bends a rock up, Sokka yields his machete, Katara gets out her water whip, Aang readies his staff, and I take out my daggers.
The Earth King sits at his throne and Long Feng and Hung appear in front of him along with five guards.
"We need to talk to you." Aang tells the Earth King.
"They're here to overthrow you." Long Feng informs the King.
"No, we're on your side. We're here to help." Sokka retorts.
"You have to trust us!" Katara pleads.
The King stands up to speak. "You invade my palace, lay waste to all my guards, break down my fancy door, and you expect me to trust you?"
When he puts it like that, he makes it sound like we're the bad guys.
"He has a good point." Toph says.
"If you are on my side, then drop your weapons and stand down!"
The five of us look at each other and drop our weapons. I drop my daggers on the ground, Aang drops his staff, Katara puts away her water, Sokka drops his machete, and Toph lowers her rock.
"See? We're friends, Your Earthiness." Aang smiles and chuckles nervously but the King was unamused.
To our dismay, the guards cuff our wrist with rocks gloves. I struggled against the gloves and glared at Hung who gave me a wink.
"Detain the assailants!" Long Feng ordered and the guards rush behind us.
"But we dropped our weapons. We're your allies." Sokka protests.
"Make sure the Avatar and his friends never see daylight again." Hung commanded.
"The Avatar?" The King points at Sokka. "You're the Avatar?"
That'd be funny to see.
"No, he is." I gestured over to Aang with my head.
"Over here!" Aang smiled, breaking free of his cuffs and raises his arms for a moment before reattaching the cuffs.
"What does it matter, Your Highness?" Long Feng asked. "They're enemies of the state."
"Perhaps you're right." The King says. The King's bear walks over and licks Aang, who laughs and smiles. "Though Bosco seems to like him. I'll hear what he has to say."
Thank you, Bosco. I smirked at Hung and Long Feng who glare at us.
Aang steps forward. "Well, sir, there's a war going on right now. For the past one hundred years in fact. The Dai Li's kept it secret from you. It's a conspiracy to control the city, and to control you."
"A secret war? That's crazy?!" The King expresses.
"Completely." Long Feng agrees with a glare.
"Long Feng and Hung didn't want us to tell you, so they stole our sky bison to blackmail us. And blackmail is the least of their crimes; they brainwashed our friend and emotionally attacked my girlfriend."
Aang's voice darkened at the mention of them attacking me.
"All lies." Long Feng told the King. "My son and I have never even seen a sky bison, Your Majesty. Frankly, we thought they were extinct."
"And I've never met the Avatar's girlfriend. I didn't even know he had a girlfriend." Hung added.
The King sat down confused on what to believe. "Your claim is difficult to believe. Even from an Avatar."
Long Feng whispered something in the King's ear who frowns at the words he was saying.
The King looks at us once Long Feng was done. "I have to trust my advisor and his son."
All of us were shocked by this and the guards took us away.
"Wait!" Sokka said and turned around. "I can prove they're lying! Long Feng and Hung said they've never seen a sky bison. Ask them to lift their robes."
Right, Appa bit them.
"What?!" The two of them exclaimed.
"We are not disrobing." Long Feng denied and The King frowned at this. Aang sucks in a large gust of air and blew it out at Long Feng and Hung. Both their robes lift up to reveal two bite marks left by Appa's on their legs.
"Right there! Appa bit them!" Aang yells when we spot the bit marks.
"Never met a sky bison, huh?" Sokka grins and I giggle lightly.
"That happens to be a large birthmark." Long Feng fixes his robe and so does his son. "And my son has the same one. Thanks for showing everyone."
"Well, I suppose there's no way to prove where those marks came from." The King remarks and I smile.
"Of course there is!"
We brought Appa inside the chamber and he opened his mouth to reveal his teeth. Aang points to Appa's teeth and compares it to the mark on Long Feng and Hung's legs. It matched perfectly.
"Yup. That pretty much proves it."
We cheer at this and I hug my boyfriend.
"But it doesn't prove this crazy conspiracy theory."
Our cheers change into groans and I lay my head on Aang's shoulder.
"Though, I suppose this matter's worth looking into."
All of us shrug and agree to it. Hung and I make contact and I saw his glare before he walked away with his father and the guards.
——
Since the King agreed to see that the war is real, we rode out into the city. The king and his guards rode on the train with my siblings and Toph while Aang and I rode on Appa together. Aang wanted to fly on Appa because he missed him and he asked me to join him. Momo was perched on Aang's shoulder and Bubbles was sleeping in my lap. I was sitting on Aang's lap was my back resting against his chest and his arms were around my waist.
My eyes were shut and I was breathing peacefully. It's been a crazy roller coaster being in Ba Sing Se, but being in Aang's arms erases all that craziness. Aang helps me feel peace within myself even when the world around us isn't at peace.
Maybe it's something the Avatar and Fire Angel have. The Avatar and the Fire Angel have the ability to calm each other down when they are upset or angry.
My eyes suddenly opened at the thought of telling Aang about my bending and the Fire Angel thing.
"Aang." I suddenly said and played with his fingers that rested on my stomach.
"Yes, Angel?" He nuzzled his face into my neck and left a kiss on it.
My face flushed but I ignored the feeling and stayed focused on the subject I wanted to talk about.
"Why do you call me 'Angel?' I asked him. "Do you have a real reason?"
"I told you." He said. "I call you 'Angel' because you remind me of an Angel."
An Angel can be equivalent to a Spirit and if that's the case then Aang might have figured out the Fire Angel is alive.
I don't want to just ask him about the Fire Angel. He may not be fully aware on who it is, but I'm gonna do it anyway.
"Have you heard of the spirit, the Fire Angel?" I blurted out and looked at Aang. Our eyes met and I was shot into a vision.
Aang and Aya's Vision.
Avatar Roku and Fire Angel Sapphire stood there in each other's arms, smiling at one another. Sapphire's wings shined in the sunlight with fire radiating off them. Seconds later, her wings turned into ashes and she vanished which left Roku depressed.
End of Vision.
Aang and I both gasped when we came out of the vision. Momo and Bubbles both got startled by the gasp and Momo flew into the air and Bubbles sat up.
I looked at Aang and he looked at me. His eyes went wide at this and I could tell he was confused.
"Aya..." He began and I averted my eyes. "Are you the Fire Angel?"
I didn't know how to respond to it. I could say yes and get a boatload of questions from him or deny it and just say it was just a hoax.
Aya, you have to say yes. Aang is fully aware his Angel is alive and he knows it's you. There is no need to deny it, darling.
I made eye contact with Aang and stared into his gray orbs.
"Yes."
He was shocked by this and he titled his head with confusion.
"But-but how?" He asked me and I sighed looking away. "It doesn't make sense."
I looked ahead and saw we were close to the lake.
"It does make sense after you here the story." I told him, not moving my eyes from the approaching lake. "We'll talk about this later, but I'm gonna tell you this and I'll tell Sokk and Toph later." I turned to him. "I'm a firebender."
I did it. I face my biggest fear and now I have to face the consequences.
"But you're from the Water Tribe, Aya. How is this possible?"
We made it to Lake Laogai and Appa landed. I hopped off Appa and Momo took Bubbles from my arms.
"Aya, please talk to me." Aang said and he grabbed my wrist. "I'm not upset. Not at all Just shocked."
I looked up and shook my head. "Can we please talk about this later? Now's not the time."
Aang seemed hesitant on agreeing. I can tell he has many questions that he needs answers to but it would be best to tell everyone at once.
"Okay."
I smiled at this and turned away but he stopped me once again.
"I'm not mad. I would never be mad."
I went to walk away but he pulled me toward him and kissed me. I kissed back and wrapped my arms around his neck. We pulled away moments later and he pecked my head, before we walked towards the others hand in hand.
Toph steps to the edge of the shoreline and bends the secret passage above the water. We were shocked to see that the passage was destroyed and it was nothing but rubble.
"It's gone!" Toph exclaims.
Sokka face palms in dismay. "Oh don't tell me..." My brother flashes a thumbs up. "That's ok, still got my positive attitude."
"The Dai Li must have known we were coming and destroyed the evidence." Katara summarized and I nodded with a frown.
One stepped ahead of us. This seems like one of those plays that the bad guys are one step ahead of the good guys, but in the end the good guys come out on top.
I hope this turns out like that.
"Hmm. That seems awfully convenient." The King frowns suspiciously.
"Hey, if anything, this proves the conspiracy exists even more." Sokka mentions and I gave my brother a confused look.
How does it prove it more? The King is no longer convinced.
"Long Feng was right, this was a waste of time. If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the Palace." The King turns away with the guards at his side.
"The wall!" Katara smiles. "They'll never be able to cover that up in time!"
"Oh yeahs!" Aang vaults forward and lands in front of the King. "If you come with us to the Outer Wall, we can prove to you that the secret war is real."
"No Earth King has ever been to the Outer Wall." The King dismisses and walks ahead. I don't have any more time for this nonsense."
I join my boyfriend and wrap my arms around him and smile at the departing King.
"If you come with us, this time you can ride on Appa."
The king stops at this and my smile grows.
——
"First time flying?"
I looked back and saw Toph looking at a scared Earth King. He was holding on to Appa's fur for dear life and was screaming.
"It's both thrilling and terrifying." The King smiles nervously and I turned back around with a tiny giggle. I wrapped my arms around
Aang's arm and rested my head on his shoulder.
"Yeah. I hate it too." Toph states.
"I have to be honest with you: part of me really hopes that what you're telling me about this war isn't true." The King confesses and I look down sorrowfully.
"I wish it wasn't." Aang and I mumbled together.
We arrive at the Outer Wall and the drill was still there. The vile weapon had a small wall surrounding the part of the drill that had entered the wall.
"It's still there." Aang points.
"What is that?" The King asked with shock.
"It's a drill. A giant drill made by the Fire Nation to break through your walls." Sokka informed the horrified King.
Appa lands and we all stood atop of the wall, looking at the drill below us.
"I can't believe I never knew." The King says with disbelief and to the side of us Long Feng, Hung, and two guards appear on an earth elevator.
"My son and I can explain this, Your Majesty." Long Feng explains, approaching the King. "This is nothing more than... a construction project."
I don't even know why they're trying to gain The King's trust. He saw the evidence and knows Long Feng and Hung are liars and should be arrested for their crimes.
"Really? Then perhaps you could explain why there's a Fire Nation insignia on your "construction project"." Katara points to the Fire Nation insignia on the drill that clearly tells everyone that this was sent by the Fire Nation.
We stared at Long Feng and Hung with suspicion as they try to come up with an excuse.
"Well it's imported of course. You know you can't trust domestic machinery." Hung attempts to cover up and looks at us worried. I gave him wink and Hung glares at me. Aang sees this and puts his arm in front of me.
"Surely you don't believe these children instead of your most loyal attendants?" Long Feng asked the King.
The King glances between us and the two of them. He thinks for a moment before he makes a decision.
"Dai Li! Arrest Long Feng and Hung! I want them to stand trial for crimes against the Earth Kingdom." The King announces and I smile with satisfaction and shock.
Long Feng and Hung were shocked. The two agents launch shackles on the father and son's wrists and pull them into their arms.
"You can't arrest us! You all need us more than you know!" Long Feng protests and Hung struggles against the shackles as they are taken away.
"Looks like Long Feng and Hung are long gone!" Sokka laughs and wipes a tear from
his eye. "Ha! Ah, yeah, I've been waiting to use that one."
I give my brother an unimpressive look and I shake my head.
——
That night, we were at the Palace and talking to the king about the war.
"I want to thank you, young heroes, for opening my eyes. All this time, what I thought was a great metropolis was merely a city of fools. And that makes me the king fool." The King buries his face in one of his hands. "We're at war. With the Fire Nation."
"That's why we came to Ba Sing Se, Your Highness: Because we think you can help us end the war." Sokka explains, stepping forward. Momo and Bubbles climb on each of the King's arms.
"We don't have much time. There's a comet coming this summer. Its energy will give the firebenders unbelievable strength. They'll be unstoppable." Aang continues for Sokka.
"But there is hope. Before the comet comes, we have a window of opportunity: A solar eclipse is coming. The sun will be completely blocked out by the moon, and the firebenders will be helpless." Sokka explains and I avert my eyes sadly.
That's the only bad part about the eclipse: I won't be able to firebend because the sun will be covered and I'll be useless.
"What are you suggesting, Sokka?" The King questions him.
"That's the day we need to invade the Fire Nation." Sokka declares. "The Day of Black Sun."
"I don't know." The King shake his head. "That would require moving troops out of Ba Sing Se. We'd be completely vulnerable."
"You're already vulnerable." I blurt our and stand next to my brother. "The Fire Nation won't stop until Ba Sing Se falls. You can either sit back and wait for that to happen, or take the offensive and give yourself a fighting chance."
I give the King a determined stare and he thinks for a moment, leaving us anxious.
"Very well. You have my support." The King agrees and we all cheer. Aang hops on his air scooters and rides around as we celebrate.
"Your Majesty." We stop celebrating when a high class man walks in and bows. "I apologize for the interruption."
"This is General How." The King introduces the man. "He's the leader of the Council of Five, my highest ranking generals."
"We searched Long Feng's office. I think we found something that will interest everybody." General How informs us and the five of us share a look.
We go to Long Feng's office and stood at a table. A solider brought in a box with scrolls inside of it and placed it down on the table.
"There are secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se. Including you kids." General How explains us.
"Secret flies?" I ask with confusion. This city has secret flies on us? That's beyond creepy.
The King takes out a scroll. "Toph Beijing." He hands the scroll to How, who hands it to Toph, who hands it to my sister.
Katara reads the scroll and I skim over it. "It's a letter from your mom. Your mom's here in the city. And she wants to see you."
Toph's milky eyes grow. "Long Feng intercepted our letters from home? That's just sad."
The King takes out another scroll and hands it to Aang. "Aang?"
"This scroll was attached to the horn of your bison when the Dai Li captured it." How informed the Avatar who reads the scroll.
"It's from the Eastern Air Temple."
"Is there a letter for me, Aya, and Sokka by any chance?" Katara asks with hope and I smile at this.
The King searches the box and shakes his head. "I'm afraid not."
My siblings and I look down. "Oh."
Aang rubs my back assuringly.
"But there is an intelligence report that might interest you." How hands my a scroll and I open it.
"A small fleet of Water Tribe ships." I read and I felt joy rush through me.
"What? That could be dad!" Sokka expresses with shock.
"Protecting the mouth of Chameleon Bay." Katara reads and our eyes grow wide. "Led by Hakoda!" We turn to each other in excitement. "It is Dad!"
"Daddy." I smile softly.
Iroh may be my biological dad but Hakoda will always be a father to me. He raised me and turned me into the brave and courageous warrior I am today.
The King and General How left so we can discuss the letters we got.
"I can't believe it. There's a man living at the Eastern Air Temple. He says he's a guru." Aang tells us as he reads the scroll.
"What a guru? Some kind of poisonous blowfish?" Sokka asks, scratching the back of his neck.
How did he get blowfish from guru?
"No, a spiritual expert." Aang eagerly corrects. "He wants to help me take the next step in the Avatar journey. He says he can teach me to control the Avatar State."
"And I can't believe we know where our Dad is now." Katara smiles happily.
"I know what you mean." Toph chimes in. "My Mom's in the city, and from her letter it sounds like she finally understands me."
"This is all such big news. Where do we even start?" I asked.
"I hate to say it, but... we have to split up." Katara reluctantly says and I gave her a shocked look.
"What?"
"Split up?" Aang asked with a distraught voice. "We just found Appa and got the family back together. Now you want us to separate?"
"You have to meet this Guru, Aang. If we're gonna invade the Fire Nation, you need to be ready." Katara firmly inform Aang.
"Well, if I'm going to the Eastern Air Temple. Appa and I can drop you at Chameleon Bay to see your Dad." Aang suggests.
"Someone has to stay here with the Earth King and help him plan for the invasion." Sokka interjects and stands up. I guess that's me?"
I protest by standing up. "No, I'll stay. I know how badly you want to see your-I mean dad." Almost messed up there. "So, you and Katara go to Chameleon Bay, I'll stay here with the King."
Hakoda is not my biological father, so it would make sense for them to see him then me. Yes, he's still a father to me but it's more important for them to go.
Katara smiles and stands up and Sokka gets joyful with tears forming in his eyes.
"You...are...the..nicest...sister..ever!" Sokka does a weird happy dance and he embraces me. I giggle at this and Katara joins us.
"Best sister ever!" Katara chuckles and they both kiss my cheeks.
"Okay." I giggle and push them away. "Easy there, you two, but yeah I'm pretty nice."
——
The next day, we are at the Palace getting ready to say goodbye. My siblings are taking off to Chameleon Bay and Aang is going to the Eastern Air Temple, Toph is going to see her mother, and I'm staying here with Momo and Bubbles to help the King.
I was gently saying goodbye to Appa by petting his soft fur affectionately.
Aya, do it.
"Guys." I speak up and they turn to me. "I have to tell you all something. I've been keeping it from you all for awhile and I told Aang yesterday so I guess I need to say it."
They stayed quiet as I continued to speak and Aang gave me a nod to continue.
"I found out I'm a bender." I smiled and I saw Katara smile at this, Sokka was shocked, Toph smirked with satisfaction, and Aang grinned. "But it's not what you would think. I'm a firebender."
Katara smiled proudly and Sokka's mouth fell open and Toph pumped her fist.
"I knew it!" Toph cheered next to a shocked Sokka.
"You're a what?!" He asked. "How?!"
"It's a long story but that's not all." I pulled out the book about the Fire Angel and showed them it. "I found out I am a Fire Spirit called the Fire Angel."
Sokka took the book and looked at the first page with Katara and Aang at his side.
"What does it say?" Toph asks.
"Aya, this seems to real to be true." Sokka shook his head and looked me me. "But, I believe you."
I was relieved and smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah, Katara and I knew you were special when you were born and our mother adopted you."
What? He knew!
"You knew I was adopted!?" I exclaimed and Sokka simply nodded.
"I didn't." Katara mentions.
"That must explain why you're a firebender and this fire spirit." Toph remarks.
"I figured out I was adopted after having these reoccurring dreams about this woman named Ruka and a Fire Nation man." I explained and shrugged. "My dreams were saying they are my parents and they gave me up to Hakoda and Kya so I could be safe. Ruka got taken away and my parents got separated."
I didn't even notice I was crying until the others came up to me and hugged me.
"Aya, we love you and this doesn't change anything." Katara tells me and I wipe my eyes. Aang kisses my cheek and wraps his arms around me. "You're still our sister and part of our family."
"What was the Fire Nation's man's name?" Aang asked me. "If you know."
"His name's Iroh. Zuko's uncle."
This leaves the others in surprised.
"So, that makes me Zuko and Azula's cousin and the Fire lord's niece." I declared and sighed, covering my face. "This is so surreal."
"It is, but this is the first step to finding yourself." Aang tells me, removing my hands from my eyes. "Don't stress yourself. It's okay."
I looked at my siblings and Toph and they were smiling at me.
"It doesn't matter if you're related to the Firelord we still love you and don't think of you any differently." Katara assures me with her hand on my shoulder.
"I love you guys." I choke out and we all hug once again.
A huge weight just got lifted off my shoulders. I told them everything and they still love me.
"By the way, I knew before any of you." Katars smiled smugly as we pulled away. "She told me."
I bit my lip and grinned at the boys and Toph. "Sorry, it was in the moment and I told her. Just the firebending thing."
"I don't care, I figured it out." Toph shrugged. "You and Zuko have a very familiar stance."
"Both firebenders." I grinned.
"Usually, I would be upset but I'm not." Sokka says with his hands up in defense and shrugged. "Just a little hurt."
I rolled my eyes playfully at this and gave him a smile.
"Aang, Katara, and Sokka." We all turn to see the King had approached us. "I wish you a good journey. Ba Sing Se owes you its thanks. We look forward to your safe return." Aang, Katara, Sokka, and I bow.
Katara climbs onto Appa and Sokka does too. A guard approaches the King.
"Your Majesty. There are three female warriors to see you. They're from the island of Kyoshi."
That caused Sokka to gasp. "That's Suki!" He falls off Appa and smiles happily.
"You know these warriors?" The King questions.
"Oh yeah. The Kyoshi Warriors are a skilled group of fighters. Trustworthy too. They're good friends of our." Sokka informed the King.
"And Sokka has a thing for Suki." I grinned and Sokka blushed furiously.
"Aya..."
"Then we shall welcome them as honored guests." The King declares.
"Aang." I hug my boyfriend who hugs me back. "I love you."
"I love you too."
I gently kiss his lips before we pull away.
"I'm really gonna miss you guys." Toph admitted sadly and I gave her a sympathetic smile.
Despite her tough stature, Toph does have a soft side to her.
"Me too." Katara and I say as we hug Toph and Aang joins.
"Yeah."
We all look at Sokka, who was pretending not to notice our hug and we all tackle him in an embrace. "Ahh! Great! That's enough! Okay, we love each other." He pats our heads uncomfortably. "Seriously."
After that, the boys and Katara took off on Appa. I waved at them as they rode off and turned to Toph.
"Tell your mom I said hi if you get the chance." I told her and she grinned.
"I will, Fire Feet." Toph smirked and I rolled my eyes.
"Now that I admitted that I'm a firebender you're gonna call me nicknames?" I asked her with a chuckle and she nods.
"Yep."
Toph and I shared on last hug before she walked away.
I looked up toward the sun and gave it a smile.
"I am the Fire Angel."
——
I'm combining The Guru and Crossroads of Destiny. Just to shorten it up a little.