A/N: Just a little fun fact. I made up the ostrich-parakeet. I imagine it to be about three to six inches in height, with the (non)flying capabilities of an ostrich, the voice of a parakeet and a blend of thier physical characteristics, of course. In my mind, it's a very annoying little creature. I don't own Avatar, however, and am just playing in this nice sandbox. Please review and tell me what you think.

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Aang,

Next time I see you, I'm going to get Boomie to encase your feet in rock and then hit you so hard the Avatar before Roku is going to be seeing ostrich-parakeets running around his head!

Why didn't you come to me when you found out? If you were that upset, I'd have let you hide out at my place. You know my dad's always away on business and I could talk Mom around.

But what is so terrible about being the Avatar, anyway? So you can bend all four elements and you have to smack down evil bad guys when they get uppity. Who said you had to do it all alone? Where is the rule that says the Avatar's friends can't help him out? I'd teach you firebending, Aang, and I know Boomie'd love to play 'master,' even though we all know he needs a LOT more practice before he's really as good as he thinks he is.

I don't know exactly why you ran, just that it had something to do with training in another temple, and I'm still mad that you didn't come to me for help, but I'm behind you all the way, Aang. I'll help you, but you've got to turn up before I can do anything!

Kuzon

Aang blinked back some tears as he finished reading. He could so clearly imagine his friend's voice speaking the words that had been written on the scroll. He could see all the frustration and pain and hurt and loyalty and friendship that had inspired the letter. It was almost as if Aang had sat beside his friend while Kuzon wrote the letter.

Aang carefully rolled Kuzon's letter up and looked at the next one. He recognized this handwriting too. It was Amihan's writing. His eyes widened and a tear slipped down one cheek without his noticing.

"Avatar? Are you okay?" Aang blinked and looked up, startled and a little ashamed. He'd forgotten that Ryou was there. He smiled.

"I'm okay, Ryou. I can't thank you enough for bringing these." Aang held the scrolls as tightly as he dared, not wanting either to break in his grip. A smile was insisting on spreading over his face, and Aang didn't try to stop it.

"You know, I've had to deal with people before who were angry at me for disappearing for a hundred years. As if I'd somehow purposely got myself frozen in a block of ice." Ryou snorted a laugh, for a moment sounding so remarkably like Kuzon that Aang could see his friend clearly in his great-grandson. "But I've never known for sure what people back then thought about it. Especially my friends."

"I'm glad my family was able to keep them safe, then." Ryou said. "Avatar-"

"It's Aang." The airbender said firmly.

"I couldn't…" began the protest. Aang cut it off with a shake of his head.

"Your Kuzon's great-grandson, and you brought me the scrolls." Aang lifted his hands, which still held the scrolls tightly. "As far as I'm concerned, you've more than earned the right to call me by my name."

Aang let Kuzon's scroll rest against his stomach and lifted his now freed hand to rub the back of his head sheepishly.

"And besides, you remind me of Kuzon enough that it sounds weird having you call me Avatar all the time."

Ryou blinked in astonishment. "I remind you of him?"

"Yeah. You don't look all that much like him, really, but you've got a lot of his mannerisms." Aang fumbled for a way to explain what he really could only feel. "It's…the way you move and your expressions…Have you ever seen someone you've never met before, and just known they were related to someone you knew?" He asked, slightly desperately. Ryou's face lit with understanding.

"Yeah! My friend's cousin. He looks a lot different but the way he talks, and…oh. That's how I remind you of my great-grandfather?"

"Yeah, that's it." Aang grinned and Ryou returned the expression with one of his own.

"I'm sure you want to read the other scroll, A-Aang." The name came out with only minimal stumbling on Ryou's part. "I'll just go-"

Aang jumped down, tucking both scrolls into his robes as he went, and grabbed Ryou by the arm.

"I'll read Amihan's letter later. Right now I want you to meet my friends. Have you got a place to stay while you're here?"

"I found an inn down in the city that has a decent price for a few days' stay. I got a room there."

"Well, we can find you a room here, and it doesn't cost anything either. I'm sure you'll need the money for your journey back home." Aang stopped a moment, as if contemplating a sudden thought, then started up his fast walk again, still dragging Ryou.

"I don't want to impose-"

"You're not imposing. There are like a hundred rooms here that no one ever uses! I didn't even know there could be this many rooms in one building before we came here." Aang grinned back at Ryou, who had managed to match his pace to Aang, and was no longer stumbling along. "Kuzon used to tell all sorts of stories about the Fire Palace, I thought he was just exaggerating until a few months ago."

"I didn't think my great-grandfather ever lived here."

"He didn't, but his dad took him on one of his business trips and he told me, Boomie and Amihan about it when he got back.

"Aang, who is Amihan? All I know is that she was a good friend of my great-grandfather's."

Aang slowed somewhat, a sad look coming over his face. Ryou bit the inside of his lip, wondering if he had hit a sore spot.

"She was an airbender, like me, but she lived in the Eastern Air Temple."

"I'm sorry." Ryou said softly, feeling bad for having reminded Aang that he was the last airbender. Aang smiled back at him.

"It's fine. You don't have to be sorry. Amihan would smack me over the head anyway if I went around feeling sorry for myself all the time." Ryou grinned and dared another question.

"What was my great-grandfather like?" Aang came to a complete stop this time and dropped Ryou's arm. Curious gray eyes studied the other boy.

"You don't know? You haven't been told any stories or anything?"

"Oh, I know stories," Ryou said, waving a hand in dismissal. "But the stories I know are of him being a father or grandfather. I don't know what he was like when he was my age, when he was a kid."

"Tell you what," Aang said, grinning widely. "I'll trade you. You tell me stories about what Kuzon was like as a dad and grandfather, and I'll tell you stories about when he was a kid. Deal?" He held out his hand. Ryou grinned and grabbed hold. They shook on it.

"Deal."