Chapter 2: The Face Stealer

As if his very long, very persistent prayer had been answered, he found himself killed. Or was he dead before then? No, he was pretty sure he was killed. Maybe not, though. He could feel the heat, but that didn't mean that was what killed him. His main concern was not the fact that he was killed or died but what ever happened to his true love.

The boy peeked through the cloud barriers every single night. He would watch the girl, breathing heavily through her nightmares. They seemed to cut his heart every time, like the sharp knife of death did to him.

Aang had been killed by his friend. His own friend, and he knew exactly why. Zuko had asked Katara out a number of times, unluckily late. He tried to talk the girl into going out on one date with him, but she refused. "You don't know what he'd do to me," she would say. Oh, how he missed her voice...

Yes, in that cloud kingdom above the sky, he would visit his old friends: Yue, Jet, Roku, Kyoshi, Sokka. They would avoid the others such as Admiral Zhao and Azula. Even if they were spirits, they could harm them.

Rumor had gotten around that there was a way to exit the cloud kingdom. Sure enough, there was, but it was a very difficult process. For one, there was no way to make their way into Koh's lair to complete the process. The friends sat and discussed the plans they had to get out and escape the wonderful life above the sky. Finally, with enough wisdom from Kyoshi and Roku, they learned that the face stealer only accepted a few into his lair. Aang stood and grabbed Sokka's wrist. "Koh has let me into his lair before," he said, "and I'm sure he'll let me in again."

"I'm going with you."

"No!"

"Yes, Aang. I won't leave your side."

The airbender thought this through. Having another would calm the nerves of showing no expression at all... "Okay, fine. But promise me this. You will show no emotion whatsoever."

"Okay, I promise."

The two trudged up the long mountain where Koh lived. Sokka complained numerous times about having sore feet, even if he was a spirit. Then he complained there was nothing to eat. And finally, after Aang thought he was done complaining, he began to complain about losing his life to Zuko. "I mean, seriously! I thought we were supposed to be friends! Apparently not, though."

"Yes, Sokka. I know how you feel. He killed me too, remember?"

"Yeah, but really? Him? How did he kill me?"

"The same way he killed me."

Sokka was quiet the rest of the way as he listened to Aang talk about his sister. He talked about her in such a loving way...

They stepped into the dark cave. A large centipede-looking creature crawled along the walls. "A-A-Aang?" Sokka stumbled.

"No emotion at all," he whispered back. "He won't hurt you."

As the creature crawled its way out of the shadows, Aang let out a shriek, gathering Koh's attention. He returned his emotion to normal in time, but his head was buzzing with confusion.

How had Koh gotten Katara's face?