Book One: The Oracle

Chapter Two: New Destinations

A/N: This chapter was so easy to write. My fingers just flowed it onto the computer so fast. I guess there is an upside to thoroughly planning things out before writing. "-.- Also, this chapter just explains a little about where their going and why. That's pretty much it. Knock yourself out. :) And please R&R. I live for reviews. :D

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters within it.

There was a loud growl that emitted from the bison below them. He'd been flying for two hours now, and along with that was the battle, so everyone could see he was fatigued.

"Sokka, pull him down. I think he should get some rest before he passes out in the middle of the forest," Katara suggested, sitting up a bit on Appa's saddle and readjusting Aang in her lap.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that for awhile now, but there's no where to land." Sokka put his hand over his forehead in an attempt to shade his eyes from the sun. He looked back and forth at the ground, seeing nothing but trees and greenery. After a bit more flying, he spotted a small lake with a clearing big enough to fit Appa, and if they were lucky, a tent or two. Sokka tugged at the reins and Appa soared directly toward the land near the pool of glistening water.

As Appa hit the ground, his legs went out from under him and he collapsed into an instant slumber. Sokka departed from the large beast and arched his back and arms in order to stretch. Katara and Hakoda lifted Aang off of Appa and Toph got off as well to let the bison sleep.

Sokka climbed back onto him after his body was rid of kinks and pulled most of their supplies to the ground. He began to set up camp by starting the tent and putting the tarp up even though it was obvious it wasn't going to rain. This was because he knew his sister would want it and he had to keep her happy. In the state she was in, who knew what she could manage if just one little thing set her off.

Even to Sokka's surprise, Katara thanked him gingerly for doing so, and he felt good after the fact with himself for doing the right thing.

It seemed it was a very good spot that they happened across, because they could fit all four tents in the area with a bit of room left over for a campfire if it was needed.

Katara entered a pale blue tent when everything was set up, Aang in her arms. She set him down carefully and laid herself down next to him. She just stared at him for a while, tears commanded not to fall, and watched him sleep like she did so many times when he was out after the catacombs. She wanted him to be awake so badly. She wanted to talk to him and hug him and tell him everything was going to be okay.

She scooted towards him a bit more, admiring his peaceful form. She put an arm around his mid-back and held him close to her, placing her forehead affectionately against his and closed her eyes. Sooner than she realized, she drifted off to sleep in the young airbender's presence.

"Katara, I thi-" Hakoda stopped himself as he entered her tent, looking down at the two bodies in close proximity of each other, but neither awake. He shook his head and exited, letting the tent flaps flail behind him.

"She's already asleep," he said to Sokka, motioning behind him with his thumb. Sokka nodded and took out their map from his pack.

"Hey, Sokka, where are we going to go now?" Toph asked, taking a seat by him as he unravelled the parchment.

Sokka shrugged.

"Dad?"

Hakoda sat in front of the two and pointed to a fire nation peninsula on the item in his son's hands.

"Here," he answered. "I need to get on a boat that'll be picking me up. It's headed for home, and to tell you the truth, I just tagged along with you guys to make sure no one tried anything funny right after Ozai's defeat."

Sokka raised an eyebrow and shifted his eyes from the peninsula to the icy tundra near the south.

"Home," he breathed.

Hakoda nodded, smiling.

"Yes, you should head there too, actually."

"But Aang's in some weird coma again and we still have to deal with Azula."

They both sighed.

"True, but that doesn't mean you can't go home. With Azula, there isn't really a time line. There's not a comet coming and she's pretty weak right now since ninety percent of the world is on our side."

Sokka rested his head on his hand and looked at the ground.

"A trip home would be nice..."

"I need to head home, too," Toph said, remembering her parents at the thought of 'home'. Both the boys looked at her.

"You won't be helping when we fight Azula?"

The earthbender nodded, closing her pale green eyes.

"Of course, but I need to speak to my parents first."

Sokka smiled and pat her on the shoulder.

"Alright. So it's settled. First we go here," Sokka pointed to the spot on the map, "We'll drop you off there, dad. Then, we'll go to the town of Gaoling and Toph can speak with her parents. Finally, after that, we can depart for the South Pole and from there... well, we'll figure it out."

Toph and Hakoda nodded in agreement.

"Well, it'll be nightfall in about an hour. We should go to sleep now so we can get an early start in the morning," Hakoda said, smiling softly at the two teens before him. They listened to him and head off to their tents until daybreak.

--

Katara was awakened by a hand pushing her tenderly back and forth. As she opened her eyes, she gazed down at yellow and orange, then began blushing as she remembered where she slept the night before. She moaned, irritated at whoever was waking her, and buried her head as far as she could into Aang's chest. She could feel as it rose and fell under her, a sensation that easily put her to sleep. The hand that rested on her side shook her again and she reluctantly sat upwards, resting on her hand and using the other to rub her eyes.

"Morning, sis. Did you sleep well last night?" Sokka said with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

Her body spared his comment a blush and she simply rolled her eyes.

"Yes, actually."

Sokka softly laughed to himself.

"I'm sure he did, too," he retorted.

Katara blinked rapidly a few times and looked back at Aang.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all," he shrugged.

Katara sighed at him.

"Right..."

She pushed off the floor and tried to get up, but a pain shot through her leg and she glanced down at it. She winced as the pain flowed again, this time running all the way up to her spine and reminding her of her injuries. She inhaled sharply and fell back to the ground, landing on her elbows and lower arms to give her upper body support.

"I'll get you some water," Sokka said, urgency in his voice.

Katara nodded and shut her eyes tightly. As she waited, she took deep and slow breaths, in through her nose and out through her mouth.

Once Sokka came back, she sat up again, extending her leg this time so it didn't contract the muscles. She was handed her waterbending pouch full of fresh water and began to bend it onto her skin near her thigh. It glowed a silver-blue and she instantly felt soothed.

"Thanks," Katara said to her brother, still rotating the liquid around her exposed wound.

He nodded, but didn't leave. The two siblings stood there in silence as Katara used her healing abilities on her wound.

"What?" she asked, noticing him staring at her.

He shook his head.

"Nothing... just... don't take this the wrong way or anything, but you don't look any better than you did yesterday."

"Huh?"

He sighed.

"I mean, I expected you to be happier when you found out he wasn't really... gone. I just don't understand. You're still acting like you're missing something."

Katara bent the water into the pouch and pulled her knees to her chin. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, feeling the rush of tears coming again.

"Sokka... I am missing something."

The water tribe warrior glanced down at the young, unconscious Avatar. How could a sight so peaceful, so serene, cause his sister so much pain?

He dropped his head in shame.

"I'm sorry, Katara. None of us wanted this."

He approached her and knelt by her side, giving her a large, warm hug. She returned it, eyes still spilling over with tears.

"Thanks, Sokka. Just give me a little more time to lie down, okay?"

"I'd love to," he said, standing up, "but we need to hit the sky soon."

She smiled and wiped her eyes once more.

"Okay. Tell dad I'll be out in a few minutes. I need to change."

"Into what?" Sokka asked, furrowing his brow.

She shrugged.

"Our fire nation clothing, I suppose." She looked down at her torn and ruined kimono. "I can't really wear this..."

"Alright. You've got five minutes. And if Aang wakes up, I have all the right to laugh."

She smiled softly at her brother as he made his way to the exit.

"Sadly, I don't think that's going to happen."

He turned around and eyed her, amused.

"Sadly? What, you want him to see you changing?"

"Well," she shrugged, "if it means him waking up, why not?"

He shook his head, rolled his eyes and left.

The whole campsite was packed up in less than ten minutes. Sokka was a little mad at Katara because she didn't use her tent the night before, but decided making a scene out of it wouldn't solve anything. He just shrugged it off and figured it was good to use hindsight every once in a while.

To Katara's slight disappointment, the conversation with her brother triggered no difference in the means of Aang waking up. Not that she wanted him to see her naked or anything, but she wouldn't of cared if that's what had woken the young Avatar. Of course there would always be the strange awkward moment, but it was better than having him completely lifeless like he seemed to be at the moment. She just wouldn't stand for it.

Once everyone was on Appa, they all took their usual spots on his saddle and struck up conversation. Toph was telling Sokka about the night before when she woke up to Momo's rear end falling on her face and was almost scared senseless. He couldn't help but laugh, knowing scaring Toph was one of the hardest things to do, and congratulated the little lemur. Hakoda was sitting by his daughter, explaining where they were going to go over the next few weeks and why. At one point during the conversation, she found herself absentmindedly tracing the arrow on Aang's right hand with her fingertips.

"That's okay, Toph," Sokka said after her story, laughing to himself. "This one time I- WHOA!"

Sokka was cut short on his story when a large fire ball shot past him and Appa's head. It exploded a few feet above them, causing purple and blue sparks to rain down on their heads. It could've been a pretty sight if it wasn't so dangerously close to catching Appa on fire.

The four gazed down below them, looking at an island in the middle of the lake they flew above. It had a small town on the edge of it with many people gathered outside.

Sokka pulled at Appa's reins, and two minutes later, landed him near the large group of people there. He jumped off of the bison in one swoop, running through the crowd and toward the people shooting fireworks into the sky, leaving the rest of the group speechless.

He stopped and watched them shoot a few more off, but then spoke.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at one of the men who continued with the show even with yelling in his ear. The man didn't even acknowledge Sokka.

"You almost hit us! Didn't you see us?" he questioned, furiously, but was soon tapped on the shoulder.

Sokka turned around and faced a scrawny man with a pointy red hat and dark scarlet clothing.

"Hello, there. Please refrain from touch them. They are very busy right now," he stated, putting a hand on Sokka's back and dragging him away from the five men.

"You don't understand," Sokka complained, crossing his arms, "They almost hit us when we were in the sky. That could've hurt our bison and we're trying to get-"

"Bison?" the man said, raising an eyebrow and cutting the warrior off.

Sokka nodded and continued.

"You see, we were trying to-"

"What kind of bison?" he inquired, leaving Sokka with an unfinished sentence yet again.

"A... a flying bison. What other kind of bison would get hit by fireworks if they're in the sky?"

The man shook off Sokka's sarcasm and his eyes widened.

"You're with the Avatar?"

He nodded once again.

"Yeah, so be careful when you're shooting fireworks into the air!"

"Could I speak with the Avatar?"

Sokka narrowed his eyes.

"No... we kinda have to get going."

"Then why did you come down here?" the man in scarlet asked.

"Because you're shooting fireworks while we're-"

"The fireworks stand for the first day of freedom from Fire Lord Ozai," he stated impeccably, raising a finger as if to get his point across.

Sokka sighed.

"I am Rilrin, and you are?" he asked kindly, patting Sokka on the back.

"My name's Sokka..."

"Sokka, come. You need supplies. You have a long journey ahead of you."

The water tribe warrior growled under his breath, but followed the man anyway. As the two passed Appa, Toph jumped off and followed Sokka as well, having no idea what was going on and trying to get it out of him. Katara and Hakoda stayed with Aang, Appa and Momo, but watched as their two companions walked away into a nearby building.

Sokka was getting very aggravated with Rilrin. All he wanted to do was yell at him for interrupting him and not listening to him complain. He just wanted to get going, really. They did need food, but this place was a bit too creepy.

As they entered the shop, Rilrin instantly began picking up food and placing it into a bag.

"Fish, moon peaches, leeche nuts..." he said as he named off the foods he placed in the container.

"You see," Rilrin stated to the teens behind him, "This is the town of Chun. It was built by a great leader. Chun was the twin of Chin, and if we hear the stories correctly, the Avatar has done a great deed for our counterpart village." Toph and Sokka just stood at the door as he paid for it and handed it to them in a swift and clumsy manner.

"Yeah, we've been to Chin." He looked down at all the food in his arms. "Thank you, but how did you know-"

"No, no. Just a 'thank you' is fine. Now go. You need to get going."

Sokka raised an eyebrow, but took the man's advice, officially scared of him. He and Toph got on Appa again and took off into the sky.

"What was that about?" asked Katara, confusion written all over her face.

The fireworks ceased for the moment, letting them pass. Sokka shrugged.

"Who knows."

Toph glanced back in the direction of the Earth, her head sticking over the edge of Appa's saddle.

"Weirdest town ever," she said, stiffling a yawn.

Katara picked up the bag that was set next to her and rummaged through it.

"There's food in here for like... three weeks... how'd you get the money to pay for this?"

"That guy bought it," Sokka replied, leaning back a little on Appa's head.

"Because the Fire Nation is weird," Toph added.

Sokka looked over his shoulder and smirked at her. It took him a few more seconds to realize why she didn't return the gesture.

And again they were off, flying out into the rising sun.

A/N: Update. 6-27-08: As you may have noticed, I've made a few tweaks to this chapter. Thanks for the insight guys. You rock and I don't know what I'd do without you.

Update. 7-3-08: Chapter 3 may not be on until I get back from vacation (which would be about a month) I'm terribly sorry about this, and it will be good, I assure you. Thank you to all my loyal reviewers!

Please R&R!

-Katara