So, the hardest part of this story is translating it into the modern-day era, so please bear with me while I figure out exactly how I want to play it. Other than that, enjoy! :D
September 2015
"Where does the Avatar even live?" Katara asked, her voice twisting the word 'avatar' through her lips. She still couldn't fully wrap her head around the fact that the strange, fourteen-year-old boy that sat hunched in a ball was the Avatar, the master of all four elements. Why hadn't he revealed him self? No, that was a stupid question. Katara knew why. If Aang revealed himself as the Avatar, the world's forces would be after to him, seeking to destroy him.
Maybe that's why he always seemed so crazy. He not only had to suppress airbending, but the other three types as well. Katara couldn't even imagine. She bent the sweat off of her body and Zuko's, as the three climbed higher and higher up the mountain that towered over all of Omashu. Toph ignored Katara's question, and instead lifted her hands, and made a sweeping motion, and in an instant, all the rock and stone and nature that was making their trek difficult were swept to either side, forming a smooth path of dirt. Katara's mouth dropped, and when she looked over to Zuko, she saw that his was dropped too.
Katara had never seen earthbending in action, she had only read about it. While waterbending and firebending were fluid elements that required smooth, connected motions and a light stance, earthbending was entirely different. Toph's stance was firm and strong, her muscles tensed and tight, and her movements swift and forceful. She looked, honestly, extremely powerful. Katara watched in amazement as Toph continued clearing the pathway, and Katara eventually forgot about her question and just walked behind Toph, mesmerized by her movements.
Just as the moon was high above them, the three benders stopped at a huge wall of stone blocking their path. Katara suspected that Toph could just bend the stone apart, but she didn't. She stood in front of it, and faced Katara and Zuko. "I haven't told anyone else about Aang, and I only told you because I trust you," she said seriously, her blind eyes staring at a point off in the distance. Katara swallowed, stepping closer to Zuko. "Hey," Toph said, holding up her hands, as if she could sense that Katara was nervous. "Don't be afraid. Aang hasn't mastered all the elements yet, he's nothing to be afraid of. And he's not crazy like everyone thinks he is. He's just really good at meditating," she added as a side note, and then she lifted her hand and rapped the thick stone.
A few seconds later, another reply rap could be heard, and Toph smiled, stepping back. Katara and Zuko followed her lead, and they both watched as Toph broke open the stone, revealing a small little cave. Katara peered inside, but without the moonlight, it was hard to see anything. Toph glanced behind her at Katara and Zuko, and then stepped inside. "Hey Aang, I brought some friends with me," she said, plopping down next to an invisible figure.
Katara could not make out Aang's face, but she knew he was there. "Who did you bring?" he asked, his voice surprisingly young. Toph motioned for Katara and Zuko to step inside. Zuko went first, taking Katara's hand in his. "You know Zuko and Katara? From school?" Toph asked. In the dim light, Katara could just make out Aang's outline. He sat criss-crossed, his hands held up, as if he were meditating, which he probably was. Katara remembered vaguely from a reading that the airbenders were very connected to the Spirit World, and practiced meditation frequently. She supposed that Aang was just trying to stay true to his roots. That, or because he was the Avatar.
Dammit, he was the Avatar. Katara was in the presence of the most powerful being on the planet, she had to keep reminding herself of this. But it was hard to accept, seeing as Aang was younger than her, and definitely didn't seem to be all-powerful. "Oh yeah," Aang said. "The waterbender and the firebender, right?" Toph nodded. "Yeah, it's a whole team," she said sarcastically. "Anyway, Twinkletoes, the waterbender is running away, and they're heading to Ba Sing Se. And so I thought we could go with them," Aang's eyes opened at that, and they shined grey in the darkness. He seemed mildly surprised, but mostly excited.
He jumped up, and Katara was afraid that he would hit his head against the low ceiling, but he floated down quite majestically, landing lightly on his feet. Right, he's an airbender, Katara thought. "Could we get some light in here? I'd like to see your faces," Aang said in the darkness. Katara opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, Zuko conjured a small flame in his hand, and suddenly the cave was washed with a dim orange glow. Toph sat with her ankles crossed, leaning against her hands, and Aang was standing, looking straight at Katara.
He wasn't dressed in his typical school clothes. He was dressed in what Katara recognized to be traditional airbender monk clothes. But that wasn't what she noticed right away. What she noticed was his head, which was bald as a baby's butt. And the tattoos. A blue arrow that curved along his scalp, and down his arms and even his legs. It wasn't unusual to have a tattoo, but they were usually little flowers of butterflies, not arrows. Aang always wore some sort of sweatshirt in school, and it was always tied tight around his neck, which Katara and the other students used to think was extremely strange, but now Katara understood why. If Aang pranced around with a bald head and airbender tattoos, he'd be arrested for an inappropriate display of body art.
Wow, Aang really was trying to stay true to his roots. He was practicing things that hadn't been practiced in thousands of years. Katara looked warily at Zuko, who looked warily back. "Uh, hi, Aang. I'm Katara, nice to meet you formally," she said, holding out her hand. Aang's face broke into a smile, and Katara thought his face had a cute, adolescent look about it. It made her happy. Aang was just a kid, not a crazy schizophrenic.
"Hello, Katara. I'm Aang," he introduced, bowing low, making Katara giggle. Blushing, she turned to face Zuko who was giving her such a look that it made Katara raise her shoulders. "What?" she asked, genuinely confused. Zuko shook his head slightly, and held out his hand to Aang, who took it just as eagerly as he had Katara. "I'm Zuko," Zuko said simply, casting a sly glance Katara's way. Aang shook his hand, grinning from ear to ear. "Wow, a firebender and a waterbender? Together? Amazing," he said, staring in awe at both Katara and Zuko. Katara's face pinked, and she distracted herself by looking around the cave.
There was no bed, no clothes, nothing that would be in a home. Only a few pillows, and a huge banner with the ancient Air Nomad insignia on it, not unlike Katara's old room. "Do you, er, live here?" Katara asked, feeling a bit stupid. Aang's eyes rested on Katara once more, and he chuckled, looking around the room. "Are you kidding me? Of course not. This is just where I meditate," he said, gesturing to the room. He pointed down at Toph, who sat in the same position, listening to everything.
"Toph helped me build it a few years ago. I sleep down at the orphanage, like most of the other benders," he explained. Katara walked over to the Air Nomad banner, running her hands on the frayed, sun-stained fabric. "Do the other benders know you're the Avatar?" she asked absentmindedly, coming upon what looked like a wooden staff, resting against the cave wall. She touched it briefly, before pulling her hand away. This wasn't her stuff, she shouldn't be snooping. She looked back at Aang, who's gaze had followed her around the short cave.
"No," he said. "You three are the only people who know," Zuko stepped forward, holding his flame higher. "Why haven't you tried to restore balance to the world and stop the anti-bending oppression?" he asked harshly. Aang didn't flinch, he just shrugged his shoulders. "I'm only fourteen, and I haven't mastered all the elements yet. Toph's been helping me on earthbending, and I've been doing my best to research ancient bending techniques on the battered old computer at the orphanage, but it's difficult without proper teachers," And with that he looked hopefully over at Katara, who, confused, looked back at him.
"What?" she asked, standing next to Zuko. Aang blushed, and wrung his hands together. "Oh, it's nothing," he said. Toph's ears perked up, and she stood up. "Oh, just ask her, Twinkletoes," she said, putting her hands on her hips. Aang's eyes narrowed and he glared daggers at Toph, before turning back to face Katara, grinning innocently. "Um, Katara," he said slowly. Katara raised her eyebrows, looking up at Zuko, who looked back down at her, frowning.
"Will you teach me how to waterbend?" Aang finished, jumping up too high and landing far too lightly. At that moment, it all clicked. Katara turned to face Toph, who stood quite calmly, staring at Katara. "You only wanted to join us so that you could manipulate us into teaching the Avatar the other two elements!" she accused, pointing her finger at Toph. Toph shrugged her shoulders, walking past Katara and out into the moonlight. Katara followed her angrily, while Aang and Zuko stayed back, afraid to get involved. Aang leaned over toward's Zuko, placing his hand in front of his mouth. "Does she always get this angry?" he whispered.
Zuko snapped his head to look down at the Avatar, and narrowed his eyes, stepping back. "No," he said simply.
Katara advanced on Toph, who easily sidestepped her. "Answer me!" she cried, her voice echoing down the mountainside. Toph huffed, crossing her arms. "Do you want all of Omashu to hear you?!" she yelled quietly. Katara shut her mouth, but continued glaring at Toph. Toph hesitated, before sighing and dropping her arms. "Yeah, I wanted to join you so I could get you to help Aang. But is that such a bad thing? You get to teach the Avatar, you get to be a part of history. How great would it feel to play a part in ending this era of discrimination? You of all people should be kneeling on your hands and knees at Aang's feet, worshipping the ground he walks on, because he's the answer to all of your questions, but he can't help you if you don't help him," she finished, staring at Katara a beat longer, and then walking back into the cave.
"Come on, we need to get Aang's things from the orphanage and then we need to get as far away from here as we can. We can steal a car or something if we need to," she muttered, waving Aang along. Katara stayed outside, furious, but unjustly so. Toph's words rang true, but that didn't mean Katara wanted them to. As Aang and Toph prepared to leave, Zuko walked outside, and slung his arm across Katara's shoulders. "I can't believe he's the Avatar," he said, staring up at the moon. Katara rested her head on Zuko's shoulder, sighing. "How can he be the legendary, mythical being that I've spent so much time researching? I thought the Avatar was supposed to be a strong, wise, powerful person," she said.
Zuko pulled away and looked at Katara. "They were, but that was back when benders were accepted, and the Avatar had all the resources to become educated and learned in the art of bending," he offered. "Ever since the anti-bending movement began, the Avatar hasn't shown himself for the past four hundred years. The last one to do it was ultimately killed, and the rest after that learned to go into hiding. It's possible that we're just seeing a version of the Avatar before his training his complete. You've just got to have faith," Katara placed her hand on his cheek, smirking at him.
"What happened to the sullen, surly, hostile Zuko that I know and love?" she asked. Zuko chuckled, pulling Katara into a hug. "I'm just trying to make you feel better. I never said I liked the Avatar, if that helps," Katara laughed into Zuko's chest, pulling him into a tighter embrace.