Apologies! First, for the....er...two year stretch between chapters. And then posting without doing an intro. Ha...ha...
If I owned Avatar, would I be writing fanfics? Honestly?
Aang woke up in his bed, the wind beckoning him to the door. He rubbed his eyes sleepily before trotting off to the door. The wind tugged him out of the room and down a hallway, almost whispering its fear and apprehension in his ear.
He stepped in something wet, but couldn't see what it was in the dark. He shook his foot and thought nothing of it, continuing to walk down the hall.
He saw two people down the hall and hurried towards them, his feet splashing with each step he took. Instinctively he brushed at his legs, his hands getting wet.
In a flash of bright light the two figures were revealed. He stopped abruptly and examined them in disbelief. It couldn't be…could it?
Aang watched a younger version of himself kneel next to the person he had dreamed of the night before. He was crying and screaming as the person struggled to sit up straight on the wall.
Light illuminated the entire hallway, and he stumbled backwards as the splashes all over the hallway turned red.
The person against the wall was crying as well while attempting to calm the younger him down. The person had to stop talking to cough up blood, adding to the rivulets of red running down their body.
The person on the wall turned their head to look at the real him, their stormy eyes clouded with pain and sorrow.
"I'm sorry…"
Toph woke up groggily to someone whimpering in their sleep. She tilted her head and felt around the room, finding the source coming from her student. She shook him slightly, first with her hand on his shoulder, and then some Earthbending tremors. This finally startled Aang into a half-awake state.
"Twinkle-toes! Stop moaning! Some people are trying to sleep!" She scolded him in a quiet voice. She felt his heartbeat slow down and felt his body relax back into sleep, muttering something about 'hurt' and 'blood'. She sighed and proceeded to lie back down, only to find that she couldn't go back to sleep.
She grumbled angrily as she shuffled out of the room the Guru had given to Aang and herself to see if anyone else was up.
After finding the rest of the temple's occupants asleep, she sighed exasperatedly and walked outside, hoping to find an open area to practice her bending. Her brow furrowed as she walked past an area with two other people far from the temple grounds. Any other person might've missed them…
From this distance she recognized one of them as Guru Pathik. Curious, she walked within hearing distance and stood still, wondering if the person with the Guru was the "Blue Spirit" everyone had been talking about.
"…coming back. I wouldn't be surprised if he had another "dream" tonight." Guru finished, his heart rate pulsing calmly, though with a bit of agitation. The person in front of him swore under their breath.
"Don't worry," the other person said. Toph jumped at the hoarseness at which he spoke. Well, if it was a he. The only way to truly tell was to go over there and send strong vibrations up the person's figure. From Toph's position of secrecy, she couldn't move without causing them to notice her.
"I'm leaving for Ba-Sing-Se tonight. They need time. The Avatar needs time."
"But under the rouse of 'Blue Spirit'? You defied them once already…"
A chuckle. "I'm not that stupid, Pathik. I'll just slip back in, cause some trouble, and zoom on over to another conquered territory and cause some more trouble. It will distract the witch from continuing her silly games, and divert troops from devastating the other territories. The dreams should lessen after I'm far away…"
Toph's eyes widened. The Blue Spirit was giving Aang the dreams? But…how could he? He had never so much as contacted Aang! Her brow furrowed in confusion. This conversation was giving her a headache…
"I better go." Toph jolted out of her thoughts at the declaration. "The Avatar might be having a nightmare. Go check on him."
Toph felt the Guru bow respectively. "May the spirits be with you." He said softly as the Blue Spirit ran off and leapt onto an Ostrich-horse. Toph counted to five silently before making her way back to the temple, slipping back into hers and Aang's rooms before the Guru came by to check on him.
"Guru?" Toph asked sleepily, sitting up in her sleeping bag.
"Is everything alright? I thought I heard noises." The Guru lied.
"He was having a nightmare not too long ago…" Toph continued in her fake, sleepy voice, perfected throughout the years to fool her parents. "Woke me up."
The Guru nodded, thanked her, and left the room. She snuggled into her sheets and closed her eyes. Maybe things would make more sense in the morning…
A lone fire lit a grandiose room dully, as if the fire was reluctant to share it's light with anyone. Even Zuko, who sat hunched over it, could not discern anything from the flickering tongues or flame.
He sighed and rolled his shoulders, feeling the kinks of sitting up for so long painfully unwind with a sort of sickening pop. He stood up slowly and walked over to the bed his sister had provided him and flopped onto it face first. The questions that swirled in his head were no different than before, and the answers still as vague.
Who was the new Blue Spirit? Granted, he had given up the title, but who had been there to pick it up after he had gone? It wasn't a Waterbender, that much he knew. It had to be someone from the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation: they were the two nations that were well known for their prowess with weapons.
That's not true. He reminded himself. That Water Tribe boy uses weapons…but not swords. He seems to specialize in spears and clubs, which is probably due to the lack of metals in the Water Tribe areas. With that thought he came back to the same frustrating dead end conclusion and gave up.
Why had the Blue Spirit let his uncle go? Whoever it was certainly held no loyalty to his uncle, but had known enough about him to write the riddle that had been tucked into Zuko's belt. It saved him the headache of sneaking around Azula to do the same…but the fact that he hadn't gotten to go see his uncle one last time shook the fire prince to the core.
For three long years, Uncle Iroh had been a guiding hand in his selfish attempt to regain his honor and return home. For three long years Zuko had put up with Pai Sho games, tea, and his uncle's constant cryptic advice, and Zuko had reacted like a normal teenager trying to set out on his own: self confident and foolish.
Zuko missed that now, and wanted nothing more than to go find his uncle and have just one last game over tea, and to be advised on his Firebending methods.
He twisted around on the bed to stare at the ceiling, his gold eyes clouded in confusion. What did Azula have up her sleeve? His sister couldn't deny the help he had been when she had faced down the Avatar and his Waterbending friend, but he had cut off his ponytail. That alone would cause suspicion amongst all the Firebenders. At least he couldn't be tied to his uncle's escape; he honestly had had no contact with the new Blue Spirit.
After twisting around in the blankets for several more minutes, the formerly banished prince finally fell asleep, muttering his childhood mantra until the two dragons from his previous sickness came circling to him.
"Azula always lies. Azula always lies. Azula always lies…"
Azula sat in the royal bedroom, nursing a cup of hot tea and staring out the window. Mai and Tai Li had gone to bed ages ago, leaving the Fire Princess to her musings. Everything had worked out so smoothly (well of course, she was the Fire Princess).
That is, until her uncle had gone missing the previous day. No, not missing: he had been released.
She would've loved to lay the blame on her older brother, but he had been by her side practically every second since they had ganged up on the Avatar and his pathetic friend. Several eyewitnesses would support this fact, even if somewhat hesitantly. The only leads she had were the mysterious "Blue Spirit" who had allowed him to escape, and Zhao's letters claiming Zuko had been the Blue Spirit.
She entertained, again, the idea of Zuko getting someone to play the role for him, but dismissed it just as quickly. He had had no time to do such a thing, she would've noticed if he had even tried.
Even though she hadn't seen him in three years, she knew him well enough to know that the look of pure shock was real, and not even remotely faked. He was a horrible actor, unlike herself. He may have been the Blue Spirit in the past, but there was a new Spirit now.
She took another sip of tea and sighed, looking over at the letter that was due to her father. She was reluctant to send it off to him, as he would definitely place the blame on her shoulders.
Azula was beginning to fear her father. Before, she would've never believed his threats of disownment for a second. But the months apart had sharpened her spoiled mind to the reality of her father's temper…and now the constant reminder of innocent idealism that had been punished was now by her side.
She shuddered violently and put the mug down to rub her arms. What was going on with her? Mental betrayal? Did she want to end up like Zuko, shamed and exiled for the rest of his life? She knew her father wouldn't let Zuko back in without the Avatar, and her promise of regained honor was hopeful…at best.
Before she dared to start feeling sympathetic towards her brother, she grabbed the letter and sealed it shut. She tied the letter to her father's personal hawk's leg and set him out the window with the news from Ba Sing Sei. She turned to the bed, redecorated now with a bit more red, and crawled under the covers.
The thoughts would be gone in the morning. They always were.