A hundred years had passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar. Althouth his Airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe Aang can save the world!
One of our first stops on the list of places to rest and see on our journey to the North Pole was Aang's home. The Southern Air Temple. We'd been flying for a long time the air was still cold but it seemed to be thickening. Sokka and I had taken our outter coats off a few times on the journey. Something we did rarely wear we came from. Looking down from my saddle perch on Appa's back I saw the world as I had never seen it before. The clouds were close enough to touch, the water was a thousand shades of blue and black and green. The sun was warmer than I'd ever felt before and the green of leaves which I'd never seen except in books speckled the islands below.
Appa had settled on a beach for the night. The next morning we began to load our things and break down our camp. Sokka was still asleep.
"I can't wait til you see it, Katara. This Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!" Aang flitted around Appa, grabbing things and making sure he was comfortable.
"Aang, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home." I told him slowly, not wanting to come right out saying that the entire nation and culture of Airbenders had been slaughtered to extinction by the Fire Nation long ago.
"I know Katara! That's why I am so excited." he didn't seem phased.
"It's just that a lot can change in all that time." my voice was so soft when I spoke these words.
"I know," he assured me. "I just need to see it for myself." I still wasn't confident about his understanding of the situation we were about to walk into.
Finally we were packed except for Sokka and his sleeping bag.
"Wake up, Sokka! Air Temple, here we come!" Aang called excitedly to a snoring lump of Sokka stuffed inside a fur lined sleeping bag.
He made a familiar face. Sokka crinkled his noes and squeezed his eyes shut as tight as he could. He made a groaning noise before rolling away from the direction he had heard Aangs voice coming from. "Sleep now. Temple later." was the most we understood from the grunts and mumbles he offered us.
Without a moments hesitation, Aang found a stick nearby on the ground. He very lightly ran one end of the stick along the foot of Sokka's sleeping bag.
"Sokka! Wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!" I was already laughing at the whole thing even before Sokka jumped up still wrapped in his fur sack and began hopping and screaming to get it off. Sokka fell face first into the sand of the Earth Kimgdom beach just south of the mountainous island range where the Air Nomads made the home of their southern most temple. "Great!" Aang said playfully with a touch of sarcasm, "You're awake. Let's go!"