Chapter 3:
They next morning they were preparing to head off the the rebel camp and try to talk some sense into them. Aang wasn't worried. He had faced countless things over the years from raids, battles, crazy generals, monsters, the spirit world, battling Fire Lord Ozai aka the Phoenix King as he proudly declared himself. An army of Fire Nation rebels seemed like a piece of cake at this point. He only hoped that a diplomatic conversation would be enough to convince this General Lee to call off his plans.
All of a sudden he felt Katara's soft hand in his. "Everything will work out," she said as if reading his mind.
He couldn't help the smile on his face. "I'm so glad I have you."
"You always will."
He took her face in his hands and kissed her lovingly.
"Alright you two, break it up. We've got work to do," Sokka said as he walked past them to climb onto Appa's back.
All of a sudden a woman came over to them carrying a bag of fruit with a young girl trailing behind her. "Avatar, I need your help," she said. Her eyes were puffy as if she'd been crying.
"What's wrong?"
"The rebels they...they took my son," she cried.
Everyone exchanged a concerned look. This was going from bad to worse.
"You'll bring my brother back, won't you?" the little girl said sadly.
Aang bent down to her and gave her a hug. "Yes, I will. Don't you worry." He stood up and put a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. "We're going to the rebel camp right now. We're going to end this madness and bring your son back, I promise."
A smiled through her pain. "Thank you Avatar."
He held Katara in his arms and hopped up onto Appa's head. "Let's go everyone."
They flew for hours wondering what to expect when they arrived. Would there be a big army? Was there an ambush waiting for them? Would Lee even be interested in speaking to the Avatar? Would they have to go into battle all over again?
By late that evening they arrived at the outskirts of the northern Fire Nation. The area was fairly undeveloped. It was technically Fire Nation land and few miles out was where an Earth Kingdom village lay as he beginning of the Earth Kingdom. Through the trees and wooded area they spotted what looked like the rebel camp. There were tents with the Fire Nation insignia and the ground was littered with weapons.
Appa landed and they all jumped off.
"Zuko, come with me," Aang said as was part of their plan. "The rest of you cover us. Hopefully we won't have to go into the ambush plan."
Zuko and Aang walked forward into the camp. Zuko shuddered. It reminded him of the war days. Soldiers ready to fight and take what wasn't theirs all in the name of Ozai and the wrong ideals that were the Fire Nation at the time. These days he had made the Fire Nation a symbol of harmony and peace but this camp was just like old times, times he'd like to put in the past for good.
"General Lee, we know you're here!" Aang called. "We just want to talk!"
A few seconds later they got their first glimpse of Lee. A man hardly older than them with an angular face and beard, Fire Nation clothing, and harsh cruel eyes that looked at the two of them mockingly. He was clearly a confident man having been appointed general by Ozai himself at the ripe age of 16. Maybe he was a little too confident.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"We wanted to talk to you about your rebellion movement," Zuko said. "And ask you to call it off."
"We've worked hard to move towards peace and a better world," Aang said. "We've restored harmony among the nations. Fire Lord Zuko has worked tirelessly to make the Fire Nation one of respect and honor. And every Fire Nation citizen should strive to uphold those values."
Lee only smirked wider. "Fire Lord Zuko is a fool."
Zuko glared at him. "Excuse me?!"
"You heard me! Ozai was a true Fire Nation man who held onto the real beliefs of the Fire Nation. Fire is power. When Ozai was fire lord, we had all the power in the world. The Fire Nation is weak and spineless now...just like Fire Lord Zuko himself."
That did it. No one called Zuko weak and spineless and compared him to his father and got away with it. His hands were ablaze with bright orange fire and he began to lunge towards Lee but Aang stuck out his arm to hold him back.
"This isn't the time."
"He called me weak!"
"He's just baiting you. Look at him."
Sure enough Lee's face was smug. He knew that if he got them to strike first he would have the perfect excuse to attack back at them.
Zuko realized this and the fire at his hands subsided but he was no less angry. He stood next to Aang with his arms crossed to resist burning Lee's face off.
"The Fire Nation is still powerful Lee," Aang said calmly. "It has the power to protect all of the nations and keep everyone together. That's what we're doing now and it's what people want. If you tear that apart you risk causing the world to divide again which will be bad for everyone, even you."
"What power do you have over me Avatar? My numbers are growing. Not everyone buys your foolish peace movement. When I'm done I will overthrow Zuko, get rid of you, and I will become Fire Lord and restore the Fire Nation to its true glory!"
He was ready to strike. He sent a wall of fire at them which they quickly dodged. Aang sent a wave of air at Lee knocking him backwards but now they had even bigger problems. The rebel soldiers seemed to come out of nowhere and attacked with all of their fire. Sokka, Katara, Toph, and Suki were ready to launch into the attack plan quickly coming from their planned positions. Soon they were alongside Aang and Zuko and they all fought the best that they could.
In the middle of the fight, Aang noticed a boy cowering in one of the rebel tents. He looked to be about 15 and Aang realized he must be the son of the lady they saw earlier. The boy took the opportunity while everyone was distracted to slowly sneak out and he looked like he expected to be caught any second.
Aang flew over to him and the boy nearly jumped out of his skin when Aang landed next to him. When he realized it was the avatar he gasped. "You're…!"
Aang gestured for him to be quiet. "I know. I met your mom and your sister. They're worried about you."
"The rebels took me away when I was out getting food for everyone," the boy explained.
"We're going to bring you back home. I need you to run off to the woods over there. Get on my flying bison's back and hide. We'll make sure no one bothers you. Wait for us there until we're done."
The boy nodded. "Thank you Aang."
"You're welcome. Now go!"
The boy took off and Aang watched him for a second to make sure he would be okay. His path seemed clear and he was staying out of sight. Once he was gone Aang resumed his place in the fight.
Aang fought with all the elements expertly like the fully realized avatar he was. Until he turned his back. He had launched himself off of one of the surrounding cliffs to get an aerial advantage over the army and it was working until he lost track of Lee. Lee shot a huge blast of fire at him while he was distracted causing him to be disoriented and lose his balance. He was sent tumbling out of the air. He was about to create his air scooter to steady his fall but hit his head on something hard. Then he blacked out.
"Aang!" Katara shouted when she saw him falling seemingly unconscious. She ran over to him but the rebels blocked her way.
Everyone was putting up a good fight against the portion of the rebels that Lee had set on them. Eventually Lee called a retreat. Not all of them made it out and they had managed to take a few to imprison for their crimes.
But Aang was still unconscious. Katara ran to him as fast as she could, her heart pounding with worry. Everyone else followed to make sure he was okay. She bent down next to him. He was clearly alive and starting to come to. She gently sat him up and looked into his eyes. "Aang, are you okay?"
Aang looked at her through half lidded eyes as he rubbed his throbbing head. Her blue eyes bore into his and her long hair tumbled across her shoulders. He had no idea who she was but she was definitely beautiful.
He looked back and forth between everyone around him. The tall muscular guy with the knife and boomerang strapped to his back stood next to another curvacious girl with short brown hair, both looked very concerned. The guy next to them had a really bad scar on his left eye but wore very lavish clothing like royalty of sorts. The other girl next to him was quite tiny with foggy mysterious eyes that were unfocused on him. As he looked back and forth between them he wondered who they were and where he was.
"What happened?" he said finally.
"We stopped the rebels," the guy with the boomerang said. "For now. Lee retreated with the rest of the army. I have a feeling we'll see them again really soon."
Aang was still very confused. None of that made sense to him. "What rebels? Who are you? What's going on?"
Now it was everyone else's turn to be confused.
"Stop playing around Twinkle Toes," Toph said.
"I'm not kidding! What's going on?"
"Aang...do you not remember anything that happened?" Katara asked.
Aang shook his head slowly. "No...I don't."