Title: The Accident

Author: Faultystars1357 (formally Fighter1357)

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the characters you don't recognize! Love you Nickelodeon, thanks for producing an awesome show! I claim nothing!

A/N: This is my first Avatar: The Last Airbender story that has been published. Not the first I've ever worked on, however. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you!

It had been an accident. Nothing more than a simple accident. At least, that's what they would tell Monk Gyatso. The Monk, however, had the uncanny ability to tell whenever any of the boys were lying. It was often an admirable trait when dealing with merchants and the like, though not when it was directed at any of the boys.

Aang and Bumi were visiting Kuzon once more in the Fire Nation. It was early summer, and only a few short weeks before the Summer Solstice. The boys were twelve years old, and enjoying their summer morning while in a field of wild Fire Lilies. The flowers weren't ready to bloom just yet, but the peaks or reddish-orange were beginning to pop up from the green. All three of the boys were lying on their backs trying their best to think up something to do. By the entrance to a woods down past the field was Appa, Aang's Sky Bison, and the boys only mode of transportation back to Kuzon's family's summer home, where the three and Aang's guardian were staying.

The morning had begun relatively mundane, with Kuzon rising with the sun and waking the two other boys up minutes after, only to have air blown up his shirt, with a push towards the door (this had become routine and therefore "mundane"). Aang didn't wake up until an hour after the sun rose, and even though Monk Gyatso had told both Bumi and Kuzon to not wake the young airbender up, as to allow his body to stay on a strict sleeping schedule, both boys would bound into the room shouting and bending. Gyatso had yet to scold them about it, and often smiled when Aang complained to him.

Breakfast came and went, and Kuzon's mother Azayi reprimanded them for making a mess, and then they went on with their day. Up north past the summer home were several large rolling hills that, to three young twelve year old, or at least Bumi and Kuzon, were like mountains. The bottom of the hills were covered with woods, and then the sides were filled with fields of wildflowers. To the south of the home was a long beach that the boys had spent the three previous days at, and to the west were rocky plains. The east was reserved for the next few days, as the road that led into the nearby village was there, and was often being used by travelers, which made it difficult for the boys to play adventure when people were constantly interrupting you.

So they went north, flying on Appa until Aang said that the Bison needed to eat, and landed down on one of the many identical pastures for a break where it didn't seem anything relatively interesting could occur there. They laid down, staring up at the bright Fire Nation sun. Bumi complained about the heat while Kuzon and Aang laughed. Quietness rarely held hands with the boys, as there was always the chance that one of them was speaking or shouting something. It had taken weeks, even months, for Aang to come out of his shy airbending-monk shell, but once he did, Bumi and Kuzon found he was the most excited, happy, and bounciest person they knew.

Now, however, the quietness was with them, and they lay in the pasture, the field, observing the sky through squinted eyes.

"If I get a Lizard-tick in my hair, I'm blaming you," Bumi yawned, glancing over at his Fire Nation friend while rubbing his own wild hair.

The boy yawned back. "Flamin'," he replied disinterestedly.

Aang laughed, and Bumi made a face as Kuzon promptly ignored both of them. It was quiet again.

"Did anyone remember to pack food in Appa's saddle?"

Aang sat up, eyes wide. "No, and I forgot… Gyatso made fresh Fruit Pies this morning! I was going to pack them!"

Bumi shot up, his mouth wide in an open 'O'. "You forgot the Fruit Pies! Aang! How could you!?"

"Well I didn't do it on purpose!" Aang defended himself, thinking of the different things he had packed. Everything but the Fruit Pies! "Besides, if it hadn't been for you two rushing me this morning, I might have remembered! And making that mess didn't help!"

Bumi's face grew serious. He placed a comforting hand on Aang's shoulder and looked the other boy squarely in the eyes. "Aang, you are entirely aware that it was not my fault about that mess. In fact, it was all Kuzon's problem, because it's his family's house and we are his humble guests, who can take no blame in such accidents."

"Hey!" Kuzon shouted, though his eyes were playful as he shot up from the ground, sitting on his bottom.

"You can't argue, your mom said so!" Bumi shouted back, and suddenly both boys were on their feet. Aang sighed deeply in resignation before standing up. While he knew neither of them were serious about fighting, these arguments tended to get rough either way. One time, about a year ago, Bumi and Kuzon were disagreeing who'd get to rid with Aang on his Glider first (he'd just gotten the thing about a month ago, and was so excited to show them that he'd forgotten that too much weight wasn't preferable when riding a Glider) when Bumi had stomped his foot on the ground so hard, that the earth threw Kuzon up in the air twenty feet. He'd been the first one on Aang's glider, to say the least.

"It's my house, my rules!"

"It's your dad's house, Hotman!"

Aang was about to step in, about to play the peacekeeper, when he looked past the two arguing boys and saw two men in ratty Fire Nation red close to Appa. One was looking at him in surprise, and another was actually climbing onto the saddle, looking through Aang's things and speaking to the other one. They weren't close to Appa… they were with Appa. Fear spread through his heart. In a moment of panic, he broke through his friends, effectively ending their argument as they looked at the practically "pacifist" monk who had begun to charge down the hill. Using airbending to go faster, Aang began to shout. "Hey!"

The two men looked up at Aang in panic, and one began to shout at the other. Appa, even though Aang had had the Bison for over a year (even though you'd never think so, with how small he'd been), could still be startled by loud noises or shouting. One of the men shot out two fireballs that Aang dodged and defended with ease. With fear in his eyes, the man shot out a barrier of fire between Aang and his Bison. Appa growled loudly and shot out into the air. The one man in the saddle caught the other one on the ground and they waved goodbye to Aang as they took his Bison away.

"Hey, he's mine!" Aang shouted, with such anger in his voice that, had this not have happened and it were an ordinary day, Bumi and Kuzon would have been shocked dead. His Glider was still in Appa's saddle (a mistake he wasn't going to make from this point on) and the flames from the fire wall rose upward on the hill. He heard Bumi and Kuzon behind him, but all Aang could really process was Appa being directed off. A roaring wave hit his ears, and he couldn't see anything. His fists were clenched, and anger boiled his veins.

"Aang?!" Bumi yelled as the wind seemed to pick up. Kuzon gripped Bumi's shoulder and attempted to cover his eyes from the debris being swirled around by the massive winds that their friend was controlling. In that moment, the airbender began to float, his feet leaving the ground at his hands curled into tight fists. His tattoos began to glow a whitish-blue, flashing Bumi and Kuzon's eyes painfully.

"What is going on!?" Bumi shouted, fear working its way into his voice. Aang was never like this… Aang never got this angry.

"I… I don't know, something is wrong!" Kuzon shouted back before the wind picked up and drowned out his voice. Aang reached out with bending motions, and the air whipped forward like a crack. The wind began to pulled Appa back, and both boys could see the Bison was struggling. There was no way Aang was that powerful. But it seemed he was, because soon enough Appa turned around, moving forward willingly to his master. The men, the thieves, began to panic. Aang moved his arm once more in another airbending motion and one man, the one who'd been on the saddle first, was thrown off into the woods. Another motion and the other man was lifted above the bison. The wind, having been so strong to even put out the fire (which didn't seem likely, but Bumi had no other explanation other than the idea that maybe Aang had just firebended), was whipping around the two boys, but it didn't seem to affect them like it did the thieves. Aang was protecting them.

"He's not yours!" a voice snarled. It came from their friend. It came from Aang. But it was not him, it was not their friend.

But yes, it was. Bumi and Kuzon's eyes widened in fear.

As did the thief's. Even though they couldn't hear the man, both boys knew that he was begging for mercy.

"Where were you taking him?!" the voice, Aang, shouted belligerently. Even though the winds were stronger, the words their friend shouted radiated power. It was layered with a thousand voices, all held up inside until they broke free, shouting their curses and their wraths.

They man begged for mercy. The boys could see it in his eyes. He dropped.

But then the man hovered above the ground for a few seconds before finally becoming once more acquainted with it. The wind died down, and Aang slowly floated down to the earth. He landed on his knees. His tattoo's faded back to their normal blue. He didn't move. Appa landed behind them. Bumi was the first to move forward.

"Go! Get out of here!" he screamed, slamming his foot into the ground, pushing the man to the woods. The man, clearly terrified, didn't move at all. Bumi growled, but his voice was shaky. "If you say one thing about this to anyone, we'll come after you and make you wish you hadn't, Hotman!" The man scrambled off and ran into the woods, leaving no trace behind him except Aang lying there on the ground, not moving. His fingers were barely touching the dirt and his breathing was low.

Kuson stepped forward tentatively. "…Aang?"

The boy did not stir.

Kuzon and Bumi looked at each other fearfully before they rushed toward their friend. Bumi slowly lowered Aang into Kuzon's arms.

"What happened? What's wrong with him?" Kuzon choked, staring down at his friend.

Bumi was wide eyed as he looked at the airbender, as if there was a puzzle he'd just solved. "The Avatar," Bumi finally says.

"What?"

"Aang… Avatar. He's the Avatar." The earthbender looked Kuzon in the eyes. "The glowing, that… that voice. I swear I saw him firebend. Didn't you feel that power coming off him? I mean, Aang's the Avatar." Bumi looked down at their friend in what almost seemed like fear, and then sat glumly down on his knees, paling. "What does this mean? He's already Mastered Airbending… he'll probably be going away in a few years… he… he…"

"Bumi," Kuzon interrupted seriously. "Aang's not going anywhere except back to my house to Monk Gyatso. Nowhere, not even in a week, or a month, or a hundred years."

"I—."

"Bumi," Kuzon hissed. "It was an accident, alright? Nothing more…"—Kuzon took a deep breath— "nothing more than a simple accident."

Fin.