BOOK 4:
AIR
Chapter 1: The new Dawn (part2 of 2)
"Water, Earth, Fire, Air"
Previously on Avatar, A city was engulfed in battle and despair and a man had betrayed his people to defend his victims. "YOU'RE WRONG!" screamed Aang as he ended an argument he had with Katara. "What's wrong with you!" yelled Fire Lord Zuko after not getting the response he wanted. Aang spotted something strange in the distance. It appeared to be some sort of flying object. Then, on the outskirts of Ba Sing Se the mysterious flying object landed, but its appearance was sheltered by the forest of green. There was one think clear about the object, for around the bottom of the stumps of the trees was a pair of feet that had been dressed in shiny golden sandals.
"I said I was sorry Zuko! Gosh! Just because you're the Fire Lord now it doesn't mean I have to treat you like royalty!" yelled Aang, after Zuko had erupted due to the fact that Aang greeted him with a mere "move".
"OH! And you think that just because you're the Avatar that you're above me now!" retaliated Zuko.
"No! Not at all! But I said SORRY! You're mad for no reason!"
"NO REASON! I'M MAD BECAUSE I CAME HALF WAR ACROSS THE WORLD TO SEE MY BEST FRIEND AND HE TELLS ME TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY! THAT'S REALLY NOT A REASON AY' ALMIGHTY AVATAR!"
Aang sighed. "I know… and I really am sorry".
Zuko put his hand on Aang's shoulder and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry for over-reacting. Clearly you saw something you were interested in. I guess I owe you an apology too", said Zuko.
"No… you're right. I shot you down to chase something when I didn't even know what it was. It's just, I thought I saw…" He could not bear to say it. He just didn't want his hopes to be crushed.
"Listen, I came here to ask you for something", said Zuko.
"Anything", replied Aang.
"I came here to ask you to help me… to help find my mother…"
Back in the small Earth Kingdom village, the man who had helped them defeat the airships was being thrown into a prison cell made of solid iron.
"Why are you doing this? Did I not help you get rid of those airships?" yelled Cho Zheng.
"But you came from one of the airships, so clearly you are sided with the enemy!" shouted one of the earth bending guards who had been locking Cho Zheng up.
"But I helped you defeat them! Does that not count for anything?" he repeated.
"Listen Zheng! We didn't defeat them because they got away! It was like they just wanted to pass over us. But if they did, why all the bombs?" said the guard.
"Actually it's Cho Zheng!" replied the prisoner.
"I couldn't care less. But you have to know something. Why did they attack us? What did we ever do to them?" asked the guard.
"That… I can't tell you", answered Cho Zheng.
"Well, if you can't tell me that, then maybe you can tell me why you're hands are so big", cacked the guard, teasing his prisoner.
"Well, that I can tell you that. But it's a secret. You must come closer".
The guard walked up to his cell and put his face directly in front of the bars.
"SO I CAN DO THIS!"
Cho Zheng pulled his hand back and then thrust it into the prison guard's gut, causing him to grunt in unbelievable pain. Cho Zheng grabbed the guard's keys and freed himself from his prison. He ran through a long metal hall. He had expected it to be made of stone, but then he thought of how east it would be for an earth bender to escape. He came to the end of the hall, and there was a square room with four door-ways that lead to four different halls. This room had been made of a sandy coloured stone and was separate to the prison. Above him in the ceiling was a square hole that was barred with metal spires.
To his surprise, the ground beneath the door ways had risen to block the way completely.
"There is no escape!" screamed one of the benders who had trapped Cho Zheng.
"Actually… I think there is", said Cho Zheng.
He lifted himself of the ground and leapt out through the hole, bashing open the bars as he went.
The benders released their blocks to reveal themselves wearing yellow, sating clothing.
"But how?"
Cho Zheng was now making his way through a patch of tomatoes-carrots. (It's a made up vegetable from episodes 3:16: the southern raiders) He soon concluded that the tunnel in the prison tunnel was part of a storm drain that was built to drain water out of a farm. Then after discovering numerous patches of various vegetables he decided he was in a farm. Not so far away, he saw a small house in between scores of vegetable patches. However, between the patches was an extremely long path that lead back to the village, which was not as great of a distance away as it was still visible beyond the plants. He walked through the patches, crushing numerous un-named vegetables. He finally came to the house and he knocked on the door, gasping for breath. He was tainted with bruises and soars and his clothes were full of sweat.
A tall, long, black haired woman with small brown eyes and pretty features opened the door.
"My gosh! You need help!" she said. She took Cho Zheng in and gave him and rested him on a bed. She gave him a blanket and fetched him a small glass filled with water.
"I'm sorry for the mess", she said clearing away papers and scrolls off a small round table and placing on it the glass of water.
Her house was small and cosy. It was obvious that a child had been living there as there were toys on the ground. Her walls were painted red and her floor was covered in a soft fabric.
"Is there anything I can do?" she asked.
"Yes…" he said, "take me to the… …Avatar"
Back at Ba Sing Se, Sokka eyes were filling with tears as Suki boarded a great airship that was just hovering above the balcony of Iroh's tea shop.
"Suki! Don't Go! I'll be all... ALONE! WAHAHAHAHA!" cried Sokka.
"You know, it's not like you don't have a great giant flying bison to come visit me on Sokka", replied Suki.
"But it's not the same!!" Sokka cried once more.
"If you really want to be close, you could always just come with me", suggested Suki. She was wearing her warrior uniform and face paint. She handed her right hand to Sokka, but he just rejected it.
"I couldn't possibly! Although that war is over, and it's not like they'll need me for anything", Sokka said, before he thought for a moment. What could possibly happen that would make the group require his brains and popular comic antics?
"Hold on!" Sokka said, racing back into the shop. There were no customers at the current time, and Iroh was putting away some dishes, singing so loud so that he didn't even notice Sokka entering, grabbing a piece of parchment, and writing a quick note on it with a very fine brush.
Dear friends,
Gone to Kyoshi Island with the Kyoshi warriors
Sokka
Sokka placed the note on the small wooden desk in the back corner of the shop.
"There! This should be perfectly noticeable here!"
He then ran out of the shop, grabbed Suki's hand, who then helped him up onto the platform of the airship. The airship took off within minutes, leaving a trail of black smoke behind.
Just as the airship left, Toph entered the shop searching for Sokka. "Sokka", she called. She searched the shop with all her might, but due to her blindness, she never noticed the note. (She was aware that it was there, but she could not read what it said; therefore she thought it was just a mere piece of parchment)
"KATARA!" she yelled, as she came into small garden where Katara was hanging wet clothes on a string that was bound between two wooden spires.
"SOKKA! I can't find him anywhere!" Toph continued.
"What do you mean? Maybe he's just out", Katara replied.
"Out? He's still limping. I'm not so sure he would go out without his walking stick", answered Toph, holding up a stick that Sokka hadn't used recently, but was supposed to use when he left the shop, "and it's not like he could have healed in such a short space of time!"
"You're right! Something must be wrong!" replied Katara, wiping her hands of the water that came from the wet clothes.
"I haven't seen Suki around either. You don't think that they went somewhere together do you?" asked Toph.
"Impossible. Suki went home today…" answered Katara.
"Maybe, SOME NEO-FIRE LORD OZAI IDEALISTS KIDNAPPED SOKKA!" screamed Toph, placing her hands on her cheeks.
"Neo-Fire Lord Ozai Idealists in Ba Sing Se?" sarcastically replied Katara.
"W-e-l-l… You never know", said Toph.
"Come on, we'll go look for him", said Katara. She walked out of the garden and together, they searched every single corner of the great Earth Kingdom city.
"Not here!"
"Not here!"
"Not here!"
By Now, Katara and Toph had peered into every alley, and interviewed every waking-by citizen. Katara had begun to grow worried, and her usual worried self had been slowly creeping through her newly developed feeling of safety that appeared once the 100 year war had ended.
"Huh… I guess we'll just have to wait for Aang to come back", she said after sighing. They headed back towards the teashop. When they entered, Katara had noticed the note in which Sokka had left them on the table.
She picked it up with her right hand and read it. Slowly, her eyebrows tilted downwards and her pupils became directed to the small girl before her.
"We spent, half the day walking around the entire city. My feet are sore and probably covered in blisters, all because you didn't notice that Sokka left us a note!" Katara angrily squeezed out of her half closed mouth.
"In my defence", Toph said, "I am blind."
Back where Zuko had landed his airship, the Fire Lord and the Avatar were in deep conversation.
"Of-course Zuko, without a doubt", replied Aang, "Do you have any… leads".
"One", replied Zuko. He began to tell Aang of how he had recently inquired to his Father about his mother's whereabouts.
Flashback
Zuko leaned downwards in the Fire Nation prison, so that he was face to face with his energy-less Father, separated by a mere set of iron bars.
"Where is my mother?" asked Zuko.
"Why should I tell you?" replied his Father.
Zuko blasted the space next to his father with a great shot of flame.
"BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T, I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Fire Lord", said the Prison guard, "With all do respect, it is against our rules to fire bend in any prison".
"I'm sorry."
"But, offcourse you may do so if you wish", replied the guard.
"No! I should be setting an example", said Zuko.
A minute later, Zuko had his father placed on a great cement platform just outside the prison.
"FATHER! TELL ME WHERE MY MOTHER IS NOW!"
"No…"
Zuko sent two more blasts of flame towards his father, missing him by a meagre few centimetres.
"I see the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. You and I aren't all that different…" said Ozai.
"We are nothing alike! Now tell me where my mother is!" said Zuko, quietly but with great anger in his expression.
"And if I don't," said Ozai. Ozai was in a weird position, as if he was kneeling but leaning forward, holding himself up with his hands.
"I CHALLENGE YOU TO AGNIKI!" screamed Zuko.
"But I don't fire bend! That would give you an un-fair advantage!" grunted Ozai.
"That never seemed to stop YOU!" shouted Zuko.
"ALRIGHT! I'll tell you!" said Ozai, slowly lifting his head up to face Zuko.
"I'll tell you where you're mother is."
The Flashback ended, and Zuko returned to reality. He was facing Aang, who was facing him with wide eyes.
"She runs a farm close to a small Earth Kingdom village not far from here."
It was now clear for Aang, that although the war had ended, there was still a great mess that had to be cleaned. It almost as though fate had left him the impossible task of saving the world once more. Aang realised that before you can get to daylight, you have to endure the dawn.
(Authors note: Well that's it. Sorry for mistakes. It's way past my bed time. Anyway, in case you didn't notice, the farm that Zuko was talking about is the same farm that Cho Zheng took refuge in)