Avatar: The Last Airbender
Against the Void
By Jason Olin
Disclaimer: All rights to Avatar: The Last Airbender belong to Nickelodeon Animation Studios.
The author would like to thank Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan for creating such a wonderful world for a writer to play in.
This work was inspired by Justthisguyyouknow and his incredible story "I'll walk you home".
Prologue:
The sun rose over Ba Sing Se, bringing another day of gentle spring warmth to the still recovering city of rock and metal.
Two weeks ago to the day, Phoenix King Ozai had been defeated in battle by the Avatar in single combat and stripped of his firebending powers. On that day, the One Hundred Year War brought on by the aggression of the Fire Nation gave a gasp of finality and burned out like a candle that had run out of wick. The drums of war extinguished along with the purging flames that had almost ravaged the entirety of the Earth Kingdom. For the first time in a century, a chance for balance and lasting peace gave a glimmer of hope to the four kingdoms that had been ravaged by imperial idealism, war, destruction, and occupation. It was a new day that would hopefully usher in a new era of peace and prosperity, or so everyone believed.
But that was a fairytale end to a story best enjoyed within the confines of a library. In reality things were far from that simple. The war was over, but that did not mean everyone accepted it. Having come so far and nearly conquered the entire world, some within the Fire Nation refused to accept defeat based only on the fact that their leader had been defeated. Ill feelings were felt by many in the Earth Nation as well, especially by citizens who'd endured years or decades of harsh occupation and ill treatment by invaders who viewed the Earth People as backwards and savage.
The war for the freedom and safety of the world was over. Now began the battle to restore its balance.
Chapter 1: The Council of Ten
Oblivious to the state of the world outside the walled earthbender capital city, Aang slept on his futon of jumbled sheets. The mid-morning sun continued its upward advance, shining its rays passed through the half-way open wooden blinds and onto his face, causing him to turn his head away with a muffled groan. Napping near his caretaker after a busy morning of hunting beetle/grasshoppers for breakfast, Momo's tail twitched as he dreamed, inadvertently placing the end of his tail squarely against Aang's nostrils.
The Avatar awoke sneezing, startling Momo.
Blinking his eyes, Aang sat up quickly and yawned, stretching in place. Rubbing his eyes, he looked down at the wide-eyed winged lemur and flashed a cheerful smile. "Morning Momo!"
The little creature looked up at him and relaxed, offering its own greetings of clicks and squawks.
Flipping to his feet, the monk used a burst of airbending to call his robes resting on a chair across the room into his hands and put them on, cinching his belt snuggly around the waist before opening the window and flipping up into the roof of the provided guest house to get a feel for the coming day.
The banging of hammers echoed throughout the recently liberated city as he surveyed the expanse of buildings that cascaded down from the upper ring where the royalty and well-to-do officials of the city took up residence. He took a deep breath, stretched again, and purged his mind of any remaining drowsiness. With a soft screech, Momo joined him on the rooftop and worked his way up to Aang's shoulder. He received a playful scratch behind the ears for his troubles.
The majestic city had suffered extensive damage during the liberation campaign waged by the Order of the White Lotus. To their credit, the Fire Nation did not give up without a fight and the districts of the city had paid the price. As Aang looked out at the vast city he watched the last of the emergency relief workers starting out to get started on another long day of repairs.
The rebuilding campaign normally wouldn't have taken terribly long considering the talent of the earthbenders. The damaged building foundations could be repaired quickly and considering that he and Toph had been helping out for the last week, repairs were going quicker than expected.
A small two room house rose up into existence nearby, carved from the rock foundation on which it sat. In front Toph moved her hands so fast they were a blur, using her impressive skills to not only bend the house and roof but also to leave square holes for windows and doors. Unable to admire her own handiwork, she turned and looked up towards the roof of their house, having sensed Aang's rooftop ascension through her feet. "Hey, Twinkle Toes! How does it look?"
"Looks good to me!" he called down. "I think you've found your calling in life."
Toph snorted. "Please. I'd rather be in an arena kicking butt than playing architect any old day. Why aren't you down here helping anyways?"
Aang laughed and sheepishly put one hand behind his head. "I uh, kind of overslept."
"Hurry up and eat lazybones! I'm not gonna do this all day by myself." Toph pointed one hand towards the roof of the house she'd been constructing and made a few quick slash marks in the air with her index finger as stone tiles rose from the house and formed a roof.
"Pardon me miss," an older gentleman said, walking up to her. "But my house had columns on either side of the front door."
Without missing a beat or turning away from facing Aang's general direction she stomped her foot into the ground and scuffed her heel to the side. Two pillars shot up from the ground and connected to the bottom of the roof. The older man was almost beside him with joy.
Toph leveled a finger in Aang's direction but pointed far too low. "Hurry up already!"
"You got it!" Aang summoned a sphere of air and sat on it, zipping across the roof and down to the ground level area located in the backyard.
The sounds of battle reached his ears and he dispersed the air ball several feet off the ground and landed lightly. This action caught the attention of Sokka who paused, sword in hand, to look at his friend.
"Hey lover boy," he teased, flashing a mischievous grin.
Aang fixed him with a stare. Ever since he and Katara had announced their relationship Sokka had started teasing him unmercifully.
"Eyes front Sokka!"
A booted foot caught him in the chest and knocked the stunned teen backwards off balance. Comically spinning his arms around in a circle to try and keep upright, he tripped over one of the large stones bordering the koi pond and fell backwards into the water with a yelp. Laughter from Aang serenaded the none-too-graceful water tribe warrior as he pulled himself out of the pool and directly in front of Suki who just stared at him with her hands on her hips. Both of them were clad in their Kiyoshi uniforms but Soka was armed with a sword instead of a fan and had elected to not paint his face. It ended up being a good decision as the pond water would have caused it to run into his eyes.
"You can't let yourself be distracted in the middle of a battle," she chastised sharply. "In battle-"
Sakka spit out a stream of water from the pond and rose to his feet, trying to get water out of his ear with a pinky finger. "Your opponent should be the only thing you focus your attention on," he finished. "Sorry, I goofed."
Suki's painted face cracked into a slight smile and she readied her metal fan, gesturing for him to come at her. "If you know that then let us continue. The winner has to buy lunch today."
"What?! But I bought lunch the last three days in a row!"
"So what does that tell you about ability to focus while training? Just because the war is over doesn't mean the training stops, right?"
"Alright! Point taken! Here I come!" Sword raised at the ready, he charged.
The teen dipped the blade point towards the ground and swung upwards at an angle, cutting off the tip of the grass and aiming for her head. Suki reacted quickly and blocked with her forearm shield, but her boyfriend was strong and the force of the movement knocked her back several feet. She turned the backward motion into a graceful spin. The golden tassels that bordered her face danced as she landed into a low crouch and came at him again.
The two had begun training together a few days after the war had ended. It had been Suki's idea and she'd batted away Sakka's reluctance to fight with real weapons with an old adage of her people: "the couple who trains together, stays together". Appealing to his warrior heart, he'd found it impossible to resist. Such had begun the healthy foundation for their relationship. Early in their sparring matches, Suki had become impressed with his skill with the sword he'd picked up in her absence. Their early matches had tested her endurance and the ability to adapt to a physically stronger opponent.
She zipped in closer, holding her fan behind her shield to hide the direction she planned to strike from until the last second. Sakka was on the move too however, and he rolled to the left as her fan came out of hiding and struck only thin air. He shot his leg out to sweep her, but she danced over his blow and landed soundly on one of the rocks bordering the pond.
"Not bad," she grinned confidently. "Let's see you evade this one 'lover boy.'"
"Hey!" Sokka protested. "That's Aang's nick- Ahh!"
The painted warrior leapt skyward and angled down toward him. Sakka performed a frontward roll and her fan struck the ground where he'd just been standing, kicking dirt into the air from the impact. Spinning on her heels, she turned one hundred eighty degrees as her boyfriend started to stand up behind her, turning as he did so.
What she didn't see was his weapon as he rose. The fan would have caught him square in the chest, but at the last second Sokka turned the sword around so that the hilt was facing the sky. He used his upward momentum to strike the hilt against her armored wrist, knocking the fan out of her hand. Surprised, Suki raised her shield and blocked a lunge attack as he sought to capitalize on his gains.
Digging her feet into the ground, she pushed back against his blade with the shield and gained enough distance to draw her katana. Performing a graceful flourish she came at him again and crossed blades. Breaking the sword lock, both of them continued the deadly dance. The dance of swords continued as both combatants periodically charged or fell back as they moved quickly around the yard, seeking to disarm each other.
Aang stifled a yawn, having seen the energetic couple spar every day for the past week and a half. Obeying the grumbling heed coming from his stomach he padded over to the house and jumped up onto the deck leading inside to the kitchen. A wonderful aroma greeted his nose and he leaned against the table just outside the cooking area, watching the most beautiful water bender in the world who just so happened to be his girlfriend as she cleaned up some of the dishes from breakfast.
"Morning Katara!"
At the sound of his voice, she looked over her shoulder and gave him a smile, her beaded hair loops jingling from the motion. "Good morning! I was wondering how long you were going to sleep. Hungry?"
"Starved!" Aang exclaimed with arms stretched out wide for emphasis. Gazing at her, he couldn't decide which was more radiant about her: the charming white smile or the shining blue eyes that gazed at him with unyielding affection.
Katara performed a few quick hand gestures and waterbent some warm soup with vegetables from a pot on the fire stove across the kitchen and neatly into a bowl. Aang took the bowl in hand and reached for a wooden spoon and Katara dried her hand on a towel and came to sit down with him. Aang made sure to praise her cooking with a chorus of "mmm" and "yum" sounds until the young girl was practically beaming with pride. It was the least he could do, Aang decided, especially considering that she made a special vegetable or fruit only meal just for him every day.
"Isn't this nice?" She said, leaning back in her chair. "No more war or crazy three-eyed crazies chasing us. No more sleeping on the hard ground or hunting for our food."
"Nice and peaceful," Aang agreed, polishing off the bowl and setting it off to the side.
"So what are you going to do today?"
"Well, Toph is waiting on me and I think we are supposed to head to the third ring and fix up some of the mass apartment buildings that had been demolished by Fire Nation tanks a few weeks back."
"Well don't forget to take a shower first," she instructed. "Ty Lee should be out of the bath soon. She had just finished sparring with Suki right before you came down."
Aang blinked. "She'd already fought a match before sparring with Sokka? Hahaha, that's impressive! Your brother's doomed!"
As if to give the comment credence, a cacophony of high pitched screams emanated from outside in the yard. "Ahh! Uncle! Uncle!"
"Uncle?! I don't see Iroh anywhere!"
"I give up! You win! Cease! Desist! Suki, I can't feel my kidneys!"
"Kidneys?! I've got you in an arm bar Sokka!"
"That just goes to show you how bad it hurts! Ease up already!"
Katara laughed softly at her brother's antics, shaking her head in amusement. Aang craned his head to watch the comedy as the lively sparring match ended with the water tribe boy tearfully forking out a few coins for lunch.
A light blush touched Katara's cheeks and she cleared her throat. "I, uh, thought maybe tonight we could go out to Lake Laogai and watch the fireflies. It would be nice to spend some time alone together, if you aren't too tired, I mean."
"You don't have to sell me on the idea," Aang grinned widely as the back door opened and a triumphant Suki led her boyfriend into the house, smiling deviously. The pair joined their friends at the table as Sokka rubbed at his sore arm, grumbling softly. Suki took off her headdress and tossed back her short brown hair, sighing contentedly.
"Don't pout Sokka," Katara said. "You lasted a lot longer than usual today."
"Yes, he did," Suki confirmed. "He might have beaten me had I not been able to disarm him and gotten that arm lock. His skills in hand-to-hand combat still need some work but he's getting there."
"See," Katara smiled. "Not so bad!"
"Yeah, Sakka grumbled, "Not so bad. Too bad I'm not as strong as lover-"
"Tease Aang like that again today and I'll drown you in the pond," Katara warned, crossing her arms over her blue water tribe robes as a vein on her forehead twitched.
"Aang," Sakka wisely corrected. "But I guess we can't all be the all-powerful Avatar."
"You are strong and smart," Suki corrected. "You almost single-handedly crashed a fleet of Fire Nation war ships as I recall."
"Well," Sokka said, puffing out his chest. "I guess that was pretty impressive."
"Not to mention you've just fully recovered the use of your leg thanks to Katara's healing ability. You're catching up to me more and more every day."
Sokka leaned back in his chair looking quite pleased with himself. He motioned for the praise to continue but a knock came from the front door and interrupted the conversation. Before anyone could get up to answer it, the door opened and Zuko entered, nodding in greetings to the group.
"Good morning," he nodded. "Sorry for letting myself in."
"What's up Zuko?" Aang waved energetically. "You want to practice some firebending today? I kinda have stuff to do today and if I'm late Toph will kill me. Hey, you aren't wearing your Fire Lord robes."
"Of course not," Sakka said, gesturing. "Ba Sing Se was just freed a few weeks ago from the Fire Army. Feelings towards the Fire Nation are going to remain a bit hot for a while." He laughed at his own pun while everyone glared at him, Zuko included.
"Er, anyways, he won't gain as much negative attention when dressed in his old traveling armor," he finished, folding his arms across his chest muttering something under his breath about comedy being dead.
"Just so." Zuko confirmed. He did not take a seat but came over to stand by them all the same. "At any rate, I've come to fetch all of you. The Council of Ten would like to talk to all of us."
Aang looked around the table. "What's this Council of Ten?"
"Aang," Sokka face-palmed, "have you been living under a rock the last few weeks? The council is the temporary governing body of the city. It's made up of the five Earthbender generals and the five leading members of the Order of the White Lotus. They will govern until the Earth King can be found and persuaded to return. Hopefully to take a more hands on approach to ruling his country this time around."
"Oh wow," Aang exclaimed. "This meeting must be pretty important if they had the new Fire Lord deliver the message!"
Zuko cleared his throat. "They didn't actually. An Earth Kingdom messenger came to me and offered to deliver the summons to you all but I gladly volunteered to do it myself."
"Wait, you volunteered for message delivery?" Sokka cocked an eyebrow. "Why? Wait a second, where's Mai?"
"Shopping," Zuko replied bluntly.
Sokka nodded his head in understanding as Aang stared blankly.
"What? Mai went shopping without me? That's so unfair! I knew I should have woken up earlier today!" a voice called from down the hallway.
Ty Lee, fresh from her morning bath walked out into the living room on her hands before nimbly falling forward onto her feet and back up into a standing position, straightening out her ponytail. Her ample breasts bounced from the motion, taking Sokka's eyes for a ride. This earned him an elbow in the side from a very tight-lipped Suki.
"Shopping or anything else will have to wait for all of you," Zuko replied evenly. "I'm not sure what this is about but I can only guess that it is urgent. One of you should grab and escort Toph. The message was to bring everyone to the royal palace."
"What about Mai?" Ty Lee asked, smoothing out her red and pink traveling attire that left her middrift showing. "You know she doesn't like to be left behind. Remember what happened when you left the Fire Nation without her."
Zuko coughed once, trying not to remember that painful little episode. "One does not interrupt Mai's shopping time. I'll fill her in after the fact. At any rate, let's head out. It would best to not keep the council waiting."
"I'll get Toph, Katara volunteered, walking out to retrieve their little friend.
"Alright! Let's go!" Aang jumped up from the table, more than a little eager to do something else other than earthbend half the city back together for the eight day in a row. Helping to herd his companions out the door, excitement cascaded through his body as he wondered what type of meeting they were getting ready to attend. He hoped it was for a mission, he absolutely loved missions.
Eagerly he led Team Avatar and Company jovially down the streets of Ba Sing Se, his young heart as light as the air he so often bended.