"Wow…you got your tattoo already! That's so awesome! Did it hurt? Why did they shave off all your hair…oh, right, so they could tattoo your head. You look so weird without all your hair!"
He didn't know who he was talking to, but he seemed to be really happy…and young. The figure in front of him was a blur, like he didn't remember the person's face. He heard the person laugh, and then a hand was placed on his bald head.
"Yes, a little, and you would look funny with hair. I've never seen you with hair, my young friend."
He jumped up (with a little bending assistance, of course) and hugged the person tight. "I can't wait till I get my tattoo!"
Arms wrapped around him to help him stay up, and began walking to the bison stables. He instantly recognized the Eastern Air Temple, and looked around curiously. "Where's everybody?"
"Music lessons." The person said quietly, walking over to a pile of hay.
"Oh…"
The person put him down gently, and then airbended some hay into the stalls. He watched the bison take to their breakfast eagerly, and he laughed when his own bison had to wriggle his way into a group of other, sort-of small bison to get at his food.
"They do look silly, don't they?" He turned around to see the person sit down and pat the space next to them. He raced over and sat down, wondering what they would do now.
"Hey, I've got a deal to make with you."
He looked up at the person curiously. "What is it?"
"If you can get your tattoo before you turn thirteen, I swear that I'll be there to hold your hand through the whole thing."
His brow furrowed. "Before I'm thirteen…" He brightened. "You want me to be the youngest Airbender in the history of the temples! And you'll be there for the whole thing?"
"The whole thing." The person promised. The person glanced around before whispering quietly, "Come spirits or high winds, I will be there to hold your hand for the entire tattooing."
He blinked rapidly at the person's choice of words, and then hugged the person around their neck. "Thank you ………! I promise to do it! I'm only eight, I've got forever to become a master!"
The person laughed and hugged him tight.
&&&
"Aang! Aang, wake up! We need to get going!"
Aang opened his eyes slowly, wincing as the sun shone directly into his face. He sat up and stretched.
"Come on, Twinkle-Toes, you've never slept in this late!" Toph said, stomping the ground impatiently. "We have to find somewhere to replace Appa's saddle."
"I'm sorry Toph, Katara…I just had the weirdest dream, but it was a nice dream."
Sokka looked over at him incredulously as he got off of Appa's paw. "Food didn't eat me, did it?"
Aang laughed. "No, Sokka, I had a dream that I was back at the Eastern Air Temple and I was talking to someone. They made a deal with me about getting my tattoo, that if I got it before I was thirteen, then they would stay for the entire tattooing."
Katara smiled as she doused the fire. "That does sound nice…maybe the Guru would know who it was. Did you want to head back there?"
Aang began to shake his head, but then brightened. "Yeah! They might have some extra saddles there!"
The Earth King looked around at the interaction. "Who's the Guru, and where's this temple?"
Aang jumped. He had forgotten that the Earth King was with them. "The Guru is a spiritual master who was alive around the same time as my teacher, and the temple is where we're going."
"Okay. Come on, Bosco!" The bear growled loudly before they all took their spots on Appa's back.
"Yip-yip!" Aang said loudly, slapping the reins gently on Appa's head. The group took off, soaring through the sky gently."
&&&
Azula sat on her throne with a bored look on her face. Ever since she took over Ba-Sing-Se, there really hadn't much to do other than paper work and slowly changing the city from the inside out. Dai Li Agents were posted all over the city, reporting any resistance that took place. So far, nothing was going against her plans.
She glanced over at her older brother, smirking to herself. Of course Zuko had fallen neatly into her plans. He may have changed, but he was still the same pushover that thought that father had forgiven him and was going home. He hadn't left hers, Mai's, or Ty Lee's sight ever since he had joined their side, just in case he released Uncle to try and make amends with his guilt.
Not that he seemed to vocalize the guilt in any way. Azula's smirk came to the surface as she thought of how neatly things had fallen into place.
An agent ran into the room, bowing quickly and not waiting for permission to speak. "Highness! We're being attacked by the Blue Spirit!"
Azula stood up, not noticing Zuko's jaw drop before snapping shut. "Well, then take him out!"
The agent was sweating. "We've tried, but we can't predict his move…" He turned at the sound of running and tried to earthbend the doors shut, but a dark figure flew into the room before he got the chance to close the doors completely.
Azula gaped at the somewhat familiar blue and white mask that had donned the wanted posters for months. She recovered. "Who are you? What are you trying to pull?" She asked loudly, praying that Mai and Ty Lee would be here soon. She shouldn't have trusted the front doors to the Dai Li…
The figure didn't show that he had heard, instead racing up to the throne and waving his double swords in Azula's and Zuko's faces. Zuko took a step back and tried to burn the intruder, but was knocked to the ground by the blunt edge of a sword. He felt something get tucked into his belt, and watched dazed as the figure escaped through a window.
"After him!" Azula screeched, attempting to shoot lightening after the intruder. The Blue Spirit disappeared in the surroundings of the palace, narrowly dodging the lightening attack.
Zuko sat up and felt around his belt, pulling out a piece of paper. He stood up as he read it, and then paled. "Azula…"
"What is it?" She asked angrily, fuming over the intruder's escape. She snatched the paper from Zuko's hands, before paling herself.
"The dragon of the mountains flies free, and will be the downfall of whoever stands in his way." She read loudly. She tore the piece of paper up. "Check Iroh's dungeon cell, now!" She ordered the agents, before falling backwards into her chair again, fuming.
Well this had been unexpected. Azula had expected Zuko to try and bail Uncle out, but unless he had become a great actor over the years, she knew that he was just surprised at this as she.
When the agents came back, sweating and shaking nervously, some nearby candles blazed up dangerously. "Find them both! Hunt them down, now!" She ordered loudly, holding her fingers up in threat. Whoever this Blue Spirit was under that mask was going to die a painful death when she got her hands on him.
&&&
Guru Pathik opened his eyes when Appa landed in front of him. He smiled widely, stood up and bowed. "Ah…you have returned. And you have brought company; this is excellent. Come, come, I have something to show you all." He walked off in the direction of the old stables. Aang jumped off and followed him quickly, feeling the floor shake as the others got down and followed Pathik as well.
"Betcha anything only Aang understands what it is." Toph mumbled under her breath, glad that she was still able to 'see' in this place. She was very tempted to trip Aang for not helping anyone down, but she didn't dare in front of everyone else. They would all yell at her for being inconsiderate towards Aang.
After the group turned the corner, the whole group (minus the poor, confused Earth King) gasped in wonder.
"Our stuff!" Katara shouted happily, running over to touch all the water-tribe items that had been lost in the desert.
"My weapons!" Sokka ran over to the bag off weapons, hugging and kissing each one happily.
"The saddle!" Aang shouted in amazement, jumping over and running his hands all over the saddle they knew so well.
"I'm glad to see you all so happy." A voice said from behind them. Toph turned around and grinned.
"Hey! It's my friend, that guy you called Iroh!"
They all whirled around. Sure enough, the old firebender stood there in all his Earth-peasant reformed glory, holding a tray of steaming cups of tea.
"Wa…wait a minute. When did you get here?" Sokka asked loudly. "Katara said that you stayed behind to give her time to get Aang out of the underground city. You were most definitely captured, so how…?"
"Surprisingly, the Blue Spirit managed to get me out before too long. He didn't come anywhere close to the temple, but told me that he had hidden your things from the desert into a cave nearby. With the help of Pathik and his bison friend, I was able to get all your things here." Iroh sat down and placed the tray down on the ground. "Now, who wants some tea?"
Everyone took a minute to process the information, sitting down near Iroh and taking cups to sip. Aang paused before taking his first drink of tea and looked at Pathik, confused. "Bison friend?"
"Ah, yes, after you left I was wandering around and found a few bison in a hidden valley nearby. There was also a shrine with pictures of Airbenders and airbending all over it. I will show you later where I found all these things. One bison is even expecting calves."
Everyone was startled by this revelation. "Wow…that's incredible!" Katara said, breaking the silence. "So Appa isn't the last of his kind?"
"It would appear so." Iroh said calmly, sipping his tea.
"Appa will be happy." Toph said after placing her cup on the ground. "Now all we need is some more lemurs for Momo, and everyone will be happy!"
Momo trilled at his place from Bosco's back, jumping down to look for food. Everyone laughed at his antics.
Aang stopped laughing suddenly, taking on a solemn look. "But…I thought Zuko was the Blue Spirit?"
Everyone was silent, looking to Iroh for answers. Iroh sipped his tea, let out a sigh, and looked up at the questioning teens. "So he was. He officially gave up that title after releasing your bison from his prison. I know for a fact that the Blue Spirit that got me out of Ba-Sing-Se was not my nephew, even though he had changed."
Katara stood up angrily. "Changed? Right, so that's why he turned against us and you, taking his stupid sister's side and…"
"Ms. Katara," Iroh said gently, "how do you think I got out of the crystals the Dai Li had put me in?"
Katara's rant was cut short, her mind reeling at the revelation. She sat down in a slump.
"Zuko broke you out…?" She asked quietly. Everyone looked expectantly at Iroh.
"Yes, he did. He quickly went over a plan with me, I agreed and helped him fine-tune it a bit, and then he broke me out and raced off to 'help' his sister. I waited to lower suspicion for Zuko, and then I came out to help you out." Iroh took a sip of tea. "I'm sure if you two hadn't talked in the cave, he wouldn't have gotten up the courage to even go ahead with the plan." He added, directing his comment to Katara.
Katara was dumbstruck, looking down at her hands as her mind continued to reel.
"Zuko is smarter than he lets on." Iroh said proudly. He placed his cup down. "Now, I assume you want to learn firebending, young Avatar?"
Aang nodded. "But first…" He turned to look at Pathik, who was sitting silently behind Iroh. "I had a dream this morning. In the dream, I was talking to a fellow Airbender who I couldn't see very well, and they promised that they would be there for me when I received my tattoo. Do you know who that was?"
Pathik took on a solemn look. "An Airbender?" He repeated questioningly.
Aang nodded. "We were here, at the Eastern Temple, sitting with the bison. I was eight years old at the time."
Pathik thought silently for several minutes. The group shifted several times in their seats, wondering what the Guru was going to say.
"There was an Airbender, five years older than you, who you loved to visit with." Pathik admitted slowly, obviously holding back information from Aang.
"Then how come I don't remember?" Aang asked loudly. "I don't even know the person's name, what they looked like, or anything!"
Pathik shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm not allowed to say much else. You were friends with the other Airbender, who treated you like a younger brother, and you two were close. I'm sad to say that the Airbender disappeared right around the time you got your tattoo." He looked troubled, like he was saying too much, but continued. "In your grief over the disappearance, an ancient art was used to suppress your memories of the person."
"But why am I remembering these things now?" Aang demanded loudly.
"Your achievement of the Avatar state has loosened the hold on your memories. You may even remember everything about that person. But, until you do, I am not allowed to tell you anything, just as no Airbender was allowed to say anything." Pathik answered, rubbing his throat gently. "I'm afraid I have said a bit much." He said quietly. "I will show you to your rooms, and then tomorrow I will show you the shrine."
Aang looked around at his friends, all of whom wore confused looks. They got up and followed the Guru to their rooms, before Toph, Katara, and Iroh took Aang out to a courtyard to practice bending.
&&&
First attempt at an Avatar fanfic. Pairings will be Zutara, Taang, Sukka, and any more that may pop up. I will try to keep with all the characters in-character, though some occasions may cause some differences. Please Review!