This takes place sometime after NAT.
The sun shone down as Katara stood near the edge of a cliff.
Well, if you could call it standing.
Her useless arms were tied to a thick piece of wood as she pointlessly shouted and kicked.
Her brother, tied on the opposite side of her, followed her example, yelling out threats and curses that would make even the Firelord blush.
The proud Water Tribe siblings struggled to stay upright. They refused to die sitting down.
That would be embarrassing.
Aang let out a groan of frustration. He struggled against the two Fire Nation soldiers holding him firmly, but to no avail. Unlike most Fire Nation soldiers, the two that held him captive rode Kimono Rhinos. Aang prided himself on being a friend to all of nature, but those ferocious animals took no liking to him.
His heart sunk as he watched his two friends, proud warriors, driven to such a feeble state. It was his fault. He should have been more alert, should have told Sokka to pick another campsite. It was his fault Katara couldn't waterbend now, her arms and hands broken by expert Yu Yan archers. It was his fault that they were going to die now. It was his fault he was going to be forced to watch them.
Appa…
That was Aang's only hope, but the leader of the Rough Rhinos, as his captors called themselves, had taken his bison whistle from him and given it to Admiral Zhao.
Zhao. As an air Nomad, Aang couldn't find it in his heart to hate someone, but he truly disliked the haughty admiral.
It seems that Zhao, mortified and enraged by the fact Aang managed to continuously escape his capture, recruited the Rough Rhinos to find the Avatar and bring him and his companions to him. The admiral's face lit up in sadistic delight as he saw the Avatar, once more in chains. Truth be told, Aang was a bit surprised that the Rough Rhinos had taken him to Zhao instead of keeping the glory and honor of capturing the Avatar for themselves, but stranger things had happened, and Aang truly believed not all of the Fire Nation was evil.
Aang struggled, kicked, and shouted some more. He knew it was useless, but it gave him some feeling of power... of control.
This is just a bad dream, this is just a bad dream.Aang told himself.
A bad dream, like so many things Aang had been through, where everything was out of his control.
"Admiral."
Zhao whipped his head around to the direction the sound came from.
He recognized the arrogant Captain Guang, who steered his flagship. Zhao walked menacingly toward the man, and stood inches away from his face. Zhao, being a foot taller than the younger man, looked down in disgust at the smug captain.
"What is it, Captain?"Zhao spat out.
"What is the need to kill these peasants?" He said, gesturing towards the powerless siblings.
"After all, the Avatar is a far, far greater threat to our Great March of Civilization." Guang continued on. "Why not kill him instead?"
"Please, enlightenme." Guang tauntingly asked, standing on his tippy-toes so he could be face-to-face with the admiral.
The Yu Yan Archers and the other Rough Rhinos behind the two adversaries nervously shuffled, and Zhao realized Guang was not the only one curious as to why they were doing this.
"Captian Guang. What kind of clothing are those two peasants wearing?" Zhao started off.
"Water tribe, obviously. I conducted enough raids on those savages to know their clothing." Guang answered cockily.
"Oh, it seems like you are very knowledgeable about these barbarians. Tell me, do you know what tribe specifically?"
Guang nervously moved around and muttered something.
"Come on, give it a try. You have a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right." Zhao baited.
"Umm…" Guang moved closer to the Water Tribe siblings, who looked like they were ready to bite off his head. "Erm.." He examined them. "Southern Water Tribe?"
"Very good. You get a gold comet."
"What does this have to do with my question?" The irritated captain cut him off.
"Be patient, I'm getting there." Zhao gleefully lectured.
"As your men can tell you, this one" He pointed indifferently towards Katara. "Is a water bender."
It took him a few seconds to figure out why he should care. Finally, his eyes twinkled with enlightenment.
"But….but, the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe was the pathetic chief's wretched wife!"
Wrong thing to say.
Guang was pretty sure, if he got anywhere near the two siblings, his head would be bitten off, chewed on, and then thrown off the cliff, while the scary monster-children would apathetically wipe the blood and dirt off their hands in content.
Zhao continued on for him.
"Which would mean that the barbarian woman lied."
Zhao leaned down towards the man's face.
"Now, why would she do that?"
Surprisingly, it was Katara who answered.
"To protect her family! To protect…me."
Katara burst into hysterical tears, while Sokka awkwardly tried to console her.
Aang stood helplessly, wishing he could comfort his friends and get them out of this nightmare-like situation.
Giving the children a look of disgust, Zhao lectured on. "Imagine how saddened the chief will be to hear that his two children, his only successors, have died. Would be driven mad by grief. Then the Southern Water Tribe would completely fall. And."He said with a triumph smirk. "The true last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe would exist no more. Two dragons with one fireball."
"So, Captain Guang, I hope I have, enlightened you." Zhao spat out, a false smile on his face.
Zhao turned his attention from the man to the leader of the Rough Rhinos.
"Colonel Mongke."
Mongke strode up to the admiral.
"Yes, Zhao?"
"Since you were the one to capture them, you will have the honor of disposing them."
Mongke bowed. "Thank you admiral."
He lowered his voice. "I trust the other agreement we had will still remain in place?"
Zhao smiled. "Of course. I am sure the Fire Lord would be extremely pleased to hear you sing."
Mongke smirked in satisfaction, and approached the Water Tribe siblings.
They stared at each other, four eyes filled with anger, two with contempt.
"Any last words?" He asked.
Katara and Sokka exchanged glances.
"Our lives may have been short, but they were important."
Katara stared pointedly at Aang. "We brought back hope. Aang, please promise me you won't let hope die."
Aang gazed steadily at her.
There was so much he wanted to say...so much that he never learned, never figured out about her. His feelings…
"I promise."
"How touching." Zhao put in sarcastically.
"This aggravates me. Mongke, kill them."
"So young, to cause so much trouble."Mongke muttered to himself.
Then, he unceremoniously kicked them both off the cliff.
The cliff was stereotypically above the ocean, which under other circumstances could have saved both their lives.
Sokka was rather impressed. That kick sent them a few feet outward before gravity caught up with them, sending the siblings down, down, down. He must have a special exercise for his legs to be so powerful. He wondered if he could ever get the colonel to expose his secrets…
This is silly! Sokka, you need to focus on finding a way out of this! The reasonable part of his brain yelled.
Right, right, I can do this…I can do this…
After a couple of seconds testing the rope, Sokka quickly untied it.
Free at last! Sokka quickly rubbed his hands together, relived. Then he looked down.
That was a mistake.
Sokka instinctively grabbed onto the pole, hugging it close.
If something doesn't happen. I'm really going to die. What would it be like.. He wondered.
"Katara!" Sokka screeched. "Do….something!"
That was the last sensible thing he said.
Katara had flown, once. That experience was far different from being kicked off a rather large cliff. They were both terrifying, to be sure, but at least the last time she had the handle of the glider to hold onto. And had a 78% chance on not falling to her death. So, she guessed that the only thing those two experiences had in common was that they both involved jumping off (or in this case, being kicked off) enormous heights. And screaming. Lots and lots of screaming.
What was that? A faint noise… Something, above the roar of the wind, and the crash of the waves below…
Katara strained to hear better.
"Do…something."
Katara didn't have to be an oracle to figure out Sokka was expecting her to get them out of this situation.
What…could..I…do? She stared down at her broken hands and arms. I can't bend like this…
Why can't Sokka do something? She thought, fuming. He's suppose to be the one with the plan, the "leader". Why do I have to save us?
Tears trickled down her face.
Because… A voice inside of her said. You are the only one that can.
Katara knew what she had to do was painful. It might not even work. But she was a bender, and she refused to go down without a fight.
Katara took in deep, calming breaths.
Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.
Realizing she had only a short time before she would hit the water, Katara reluctantly took in once last breath.
Inhale, exhale.
Ignoring the pain which now encompassed her numb arms, the terrible pain, she moved her hands in a graceful water bending form. The pain amplified, becoming overriding, all-controlling. Katara couldn't even think.
Dimly, in the background, she could hear her brother's high-pitched, girlish screams.
She stared down at the water, which was rapidly coming closer.
At last, she submitted to the dark veil before her, numb.
Aang watched as his friends, his companions, the only family he had, fall to their deaths.
He wanted to look away. Oh, how he wanted to look away from this nightmarish scene. But he couldn't. A Rough Rhino, the silent archer that looked a little lonely to Aang, held him in place. His other hand gripped Aang's chin, forcing him to watch. Sure, he could close his eyes, but it was like a train wreck; he couldn't look away. So instead, he watched mutely as his friends fell. Sokka's screams might have been funny under other circumstances, but he knew it was probably the last words Aang would hear from his best friend. Katara...what was she doing? Waving her arms in some sort of….
Bending motion. She, with not only her arms, but her wrists broken, was trying to bend.
Aang smiled. That was so like Katara. She was not one to go down without a fight. She probably just made up that move as well. Hoping beyond hope, he waited for something, anything to happen, to save them.
Splash.
It sounded pretty small. Pretty harmless. But he knew better than that.
Aang's friends were dead, and it was all his fault.
He turned his back to the scene (the silent archer had loosened his grip) and fell to his knees.
"…Good. Now, let's go. Make sure the avatar doesn't escape." Zhao gave Aang a sadistic smile.
"You're lucky it's a long boat ride, because you're not going to like the end, Avatar."
No. Aang thought as tears, more tears than he would ever admit to, streamed down his face.
"I'M NOT GOING TO END IT LIKE THIS."
The voices of all the avatars, present and past, spoke together as one.
A giant bubble of air now surrounded Aang, protecting him, comforting him.
He lashed out his grief at the soldiers, sending them flying. Aang had a little unconscious control over his state, the avatar state, so they landed hard against the trees dotting the landscape bellow, instead of over the cliff.
"Rough Rhinos, let's move out!" Colonel Mongke shouted, glancing at Aang with fear and hate in his eyes. This wouldn't be the last time they met, and Mongke would make Aang pay for humiliating him, his eyes said.
The glowing being didn't care. Mongke was an insignificant creature beneath his notice. All these beings were. It turned towards the one in charge, his plans once again gone terribly wrong. Zhao stared in awe. That power…that should not be in the hands of a child. That kind of power would stop all opposition to the Fire Nation!
"Admiral Zhao." It boomed. "Leave now. You shall face your destiny soon."
Zhao nodded and promptly ran away.
With its last energy being spent, the glowing stopped and it raced to meet the hard surface below.
Groaning, Aang got up. He missed the comforting feel of Katara holding him up, telling him it'd be all right.
Katara….
He grimaced as he remembered what happened.
Steeling himself, he walked over to the edge.
I…have to get their….bodies.
Sighing, he gathered up his reaming courage and determination, and dived off the blameless cliff.
Katara slowly opened her eyes. She was flying.
Well, the Sky Bison she was sitting on was flying at least. And there was Sokka and Aang, conversing in anxious whispers.
She yawned and stretched. Pain suddenly took hold of her.
Okay, no stretching. She thought grimly to herself.
"Katara! You're awake!" Aang called out in delight.
He quickly jumped over to Katara and hugged her. Katara smiled, touched, and tried not to let the pain show on her face.
"What happened?" She asked, confused. "Wasn't I falling ten thousand feet to my death a couple of minutes ago?"
Aang and Sokka exchanged glances. "More like five hours ago."
"We hit the water, and I completely thought I was going to die, but then this weird blue light glowed all around me and I felt better…stronger." Sokka explained. "I saw you floating near me, unconscious, so I grabbed you and swam over to the cliff. I found a couple foothills, so I was trying to climb my way up the cliff when…"
"I saw you two." Aang interrupted.
"Wait a minute…what were you doing down there Aang?" Katara questioned.
Aang looked down. "I was trying to find you guys, and your..." He shifted uncomfortably. "…bodies."
Katara smiled sympathetically and put a warm hand on his shoulder.
"So then I called Appa and here we are." Aang gestured.
He really didn't want to talk about it, and Sokka could fill Katara in on the details later.
Aang turned his back to the siblings and stared out at the sky. "We're heading towards the Southern Water Tribe right now. With the way Appa's flying right now, we could make it there in a few days."
"What are you talking about?" Sokka and Katara asked.
"You guys…almost died. If Katara hadn't bent the water to soften your landing, you would be dead right now. And this is only the beginning. There will be plenty of more occasions like this, and the Fire Nation will be stronger, a lot stronger."Aang looked down, ashamed. "I should have never got you both into any of this."
Slap!
The dull sound echoed throughout the sky.
"That was for both of us." Sokka chimed in.
"You…you…." Katara searched for the right word that could possibly describe her best friend right now. "Idiot! You overherioc, idiotic idiot!"
She towered over the young avatar. "You are so not getting rid of us that easily."
"But…but…" He searched for the right words to defend himself. "You're only coming with me to find a waterbending master."
Katara rolled her eyes. "That was before my life was a series of daily adventures."
"Don't you get it? We're your family now Aang, and family is never left behind or forgotten! That's why you came and got us, even though you thought we were dead!" She screamed, tears running down her face. "Because no matter how hard it gets, no matter how much hope we lose, we are family, and we will never leave each other, ever!"
Aang grinned his stupid grin, and hugged her. Sokka, touched, quickly joined in with Momo right behind him. Appa roared to acknowledge his existence as part of the family.
They may never forget this day, they might have nightmares for the next two weeks, the scars of the day would take some time to heal, and the road would get a lot bit bumpier, but it didn't matter. They were a family, a loving, happy family, and that's all they really cared about.
Zhao slammed the door to his private quarters. The avatar had escaped, for the fourth time.
No. A voice in his head whispered, mocking him. They didn't escape, you ran away.
Zhao screamed and firebended, trying to release all of his pent-up anger. Innocent chairs, boxes, and tables were overturned in his rage. At last, Zhao calmed down and sat amongst the ruins. The admiral was far too proud to cry, and had plenty of experience fighting back tears, but this was one of his toughest fights.
The old man was right…I was wrong to underestimate the boy. He's far more powerful than he appears. Then again, he is always right. He could prove very useful to my cause….
What cause? The voice mocked again. You have failed to catch the boy four times. You'd be lucky if the Firelord doesn't strip you of your rank and exile you like Prince Zuko.
Zhao seethed quietly to himself. There must be something I can do…some way to restore my honor…
He banged his head against the cold steel cabinet that supported him.
Suddenly, a scroll fell into his hands. It was old, fragile, and collecting some dust, but Zhao remembered it instantly.
He stood up with a small, cold smile and strode over to where the captain was calmly steering the ship.
"Captain Guang." The smaller man jumped and turned to face the admiral.
"Yes….Admiral Zhao?"
"Set a course for the nearest Fire Nation-friendly harbour. We need to gather up more ships and men to make a large fleet"
Guang was surprised to hear these words. "What…what for?"
Zhao ignored him. "When we have enough men, we shall head towards the Southern Water Tribe."
"Southern Water Tribe? But, this is absurd! Surely…" The captain stammered, shocked beyond belief by his orders.
Zhao paid no attention to the captain. Instead, he rolled out the scroll and read the words he had memorized by heart.
"You shall face your destiny soon." That was what the Avatar had said.
A sadistic smile overflowing with delight filled his face.
"We're going fishing."