Today, the fourth day of our journey, the Avatar; Sokka, my brother, and I, arrived at the Southern Air Temple in the Patola Mountain Range. The Temple was abandoned, but the Avatar found signs of the Fire Nation attack on his own people, a fact he was not yet fully aware of.

'Katara, wake up!'

A pair of shining gray eyes and an eager grin hovered over me.

It was barely dawn.

I got up stiffly. Sleeping on the frozen ground with nothing but a sleeping bag takes some getting used to. Not that I mind, but back at the village, the cosy tents lined with pelts and a bamboo-slat flooring, sure make a difference! Aang had curled up to sleep on Appa's forelegs, and only accepted a blanket because I insisted. I guess Appa makes a warm bed, but still, I'm amazed at how little Aang appears to feel the cold.

We had flown for almost twelve hours non-stop the day we left the village, crossing the ocean from the South Pole to the mountainous Islands that were the Air Nomads' legendary territories, and we'd been going from one large island to the next ever since.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and helped Aang gather our stuff. We were going to the Southern Air Temple. He had spoken about nothing else all yesterday evening. I guess being raised by monks, the temple must be the equivalent of his childhood home. He had mentioned going to look for the Airbenders when he was banished from our village. And though he grew more excited as he spoke about it, I felt a sense of foreboding.

The Airbenders were massacred in the Fire Nation's first attack. Although I don't think anyone can confirm this first hand, yet all the rumours, and all the historical scrolls back home that survived Fire Nation censorship, all tell the same tale. In living memory, none of my tribe has ever seen an Airbender.

I glanced over at Aang who was in Appa's saddle, strapping down our stuff.

'What makes you think you will find any Airbenders, Aang?

'They could've gone into hiding,' he replied 'There are four Air Temples, Katara, and they're all pretty inaccessible places! Besides, Air Nomads avoid conflict and war ...'

'Not if conflict and war come looking for them,' I replied grimly, as I held up a rolled up bundle.

Aang took it from me, frowning slightly, then held out his hand to help me up. I climbed up and knelt down to tie up the sleeping bag.

'I lost my mother because of this war, Aang,' I said, glancing up at him and not knowing how to even begin to tell him that the Air Temple might not be at all what he remembered.

'I'm ...I'm sorry to hear that, Katara.'

He sobered immediately and came to stand over me. I don't know if he was going to ask what happened or not, but suddenly, I did not want to talk about it. I did not want to recount how my mother was killed by Fire Nation Soldiers. It was bad enough the memory of that day is indelibly horror-branded in my mind.

If Aang had miraculously avoided seeing such sights, perhaps I shouldn't paint any gruesome images for him. Bad enough we had to go through that. But I'll try and speak to him about the Air Temples again later. He's got to admit things must've changed in a hundred years!

'Well, never mind that now,' I said reassuringly, 'Once Sokka's up, we'll be on our way. Then I guess we'll find out something about the Air benders at the Temple. We never saw any Airbenders before we found you, but perhaps we'll meet someone who has.'

Aang gave me a hesitant smile and leapt down lightly to adjust the reins round Appa's horns. He was soon animatedly describing the Air temple, and not really concentrating on the fact that things may have changed for the worse in a 100 years.

I tried to speak to him again later when we were on our way. I slid down Appa's withers and onto the back of his neck, where Aang was sitting, but he remained determinedly optimistic about finding Airbenders at the Temple, even when I told him it was the Fire Nation who killed my Mum. He seemed to think that since Flying Bison are the only way in or out of a temple, those buildings are impregnable to Fire Nation attack.

I know nothing about how the Air Temples are constructed, but I do know about the Fire Nation's ruthlessness, and how they will stop at nothing. Aang seemed oblivious to my worries - or else in denial. I guess he just doesn't want to contemplate the possibility his beloved air temple could've been destroyed.

'And did I tell you about the training platform for our Gliders? It juts out over a 500- foot sheer drop : the winds currents help you glide until you get the hang of airbending, and you'll love the Council Chamber, Katara – it's got fountains and flowers growing through the roof, and there's even a Games Room – '

'Games room?!' Sokka exclaimed sceptically, leaning over the saddle. 'In a temple?'

'Sure. Why not?'

'I dunno, Imagined you'd be praying to the spirits all day. Anyway, as long as there are kitchens somewhere in the temple.... ' Sokka scowled. (My brother gets irrational when hungry, and Aang had used all the seal jerky to start the campfire yesterday, not recognising it as food).

'There're those too. But the Games Room is more of a club house for the Air Scouts, really. It's pretty cluttered with bison equipment, but a great place to hang out. We could get up to lots of things there and- '

'Air Scouts?' This Air Temple sounded very complex, both as a building and as organisation. We had nothing like it at the South Pole. More so now that our population has dwindled into a small village.

Aang nodded. 'Air Scouts learn how to herd the Bison down to the fields below the clouds and along the valley. We train the lemurs, too, and lots of other stuff … That's way better than being stuck studying all day in the Library or the music room!'

I was uncomfortably aware that Aang kept using the present tense.

'It sounds great, Aang – and huge, too.'

'Oh, it is. The Air Temple Sanctuary's the biggest room, but only the Monks on the Council can go in there. My bedroom's over the main terrace and I have a good view of it, as well as the Meditation Pavilions and Tattoo Alters'

'The what?'

'Uh... they're like ceremonial raised platforms under an arched canopy. That's where you get tattooed once you earn your arrows.'

'Aren't ya kinda small to get tattooed, arrow-boy?' Sokka asked.

I tried not to stare at the blue tattoos I had seen twisting sinuously down his feet and arms that first day Aang slept in our village. I was curious to know what they meant.

'The youngest,' Aang agreed, 'I only got to the 35th level out of the 36 you need to become an Airbending Master - that's when you earn your tattoos - but I invented the Air Scooter and that gave me a leg up. It was one of the proudest – and most painful - days of my life!'

'Does it hurt that much, then?' Sokka asked, turning a shade paler. (Sokka and needles – even small whalebone ones – don't really go well together).

'I couldn't sit down for hours afterwards,' Aang explained ruefully.

'Hang on,' Sokka said, his eyes widening, 'You mean to say those arrows go all the way down to -?'

Aang flushed slightly and gave an embarrassed laugh. 'Heh, heh – they ...uh ...kinda do...'

'But why arrows?' I asked, coming to his rescue. 'Do they represent the wind or Air or something?'

'Look at Appa, Katara'

'Oh, right,'

The thick brown fur I was sitting on ended in an arrow on Appa's wide forehead. I had noticed it before, but hadn't really made the connection.

'Air nomads learnt airbending from the Sky Bison,' Aang explained.

'So you wanna look like a bison! Big deal,' Sokka said sulkily. 'I wish your tattoos would glow magic and conjure up some food. That'd be more useful now than huge columns of water!'

'Oh, that,' Aang frowned.

'Don't mind my brother, Aang,' I said reassuringly, as Sokka disappeared behind the saddle again, 'That's just his stomach speaking. You did some really amazing things on that Fire Nation ship! Even Sokka was amazed. When your eyes and tattoo glowed … it has something to do with being the Avatar, doesn't it?'

'I guess so,' Aang said, slowly 'I didn't quite feel myself...' he gave a small exasperated shrug. 'I dunno...'

'But you do remember what you did, right?' I asked anxiously. Aang's expression had been rather fixed and unusually grim, then.

'Sure I remember what I did!' Aang retorted, indignantly, 'I just... did not feel myself, that's all.'

I had to be content with that, for, judging by the puzzled frown on the young Avatar's face, I could see that he had more to learn than I had first assumed - and not only about the bending arts. I racked my brains, trying to remember what I had heard and read about the Avatar.

'I think perhaps since you're the Avatar, you can somehow sense the previous Avatars when that happens.' I knew I was groping in the dark, but it seemed like a plausible connection.

'It's not like I can see them or something – if I did, that'd be way more useful right now. But the monks mentioned that the Avatar could somehow connect with his past lives or something - '

'And connect to their powers!' I said understanding suddenly 'Aang, that must be your Avatar spirit coming through! It must've been what kept you alive in that Iceberg for so long!'

'I had kinda figured that out,' Aang said brightening considerably. 'I guess I owe them one then! My previous selves saved me. Weird, huh?'

'Are we anywhere near, yet?' Sokka reappeared over the saddle.

We had been climbing steadily, but a few minutes later his question was answered, for Appa gave a low growl and put on a burst of speed, as though he had recognised the place. Aang steered the Bison steeply upwards, along a sheer mountain side that had appeared out of the misty clouds. Sokka had to cling tightly to the saddle or he would've been blown off by the sheer force of the wind, and I clung desperately to Appa's fur, tears stinging my eyes from the blast of cold air.

When I could open my eyes again I felt my mouth drop in amazement. The Southern Air Temple was beautiful! Like nothing I'd ever seen before! Perched on a high mountain top, tall, bluish-green, spired towers reached for the sky in imitation of the sharp peaks of the surrounding mountains. Snow-covered terraces and graceful bridges; platforms and tiered rooms rose majestically from its base, along a serpentine road and right up to the top, which was crowned by a tall, round, tower.

'We're home, Buddy.' I heard Aang whisper to Appa, a serene smile on his face.

It was so amazing and other-worldly that I almost forgot my own warnings to Aang. This place was so incredibly beautiful, so inaccessible, that it seemed impossible that something like war could mar its serene harmony.

There was a landing platform at the base of the temple and we took the long, winding road up to the main buildings on foot. Aang ran ahead excitedly, pointing out the different buildings. His excitement was infectious, and I was becoming just as eager as he was with every step ( I mean: how many outsiders could possibly have even seen an Air temple?) but we were no more than half way up when Aang noticed something wasn't quite right. The place was deserted and even through the snow, you could see that it was overgrown with weeds and climbers, and it had an uncared-for look.

As he stood at the edge of the path surveying his childhood home, his excited voice trailed into silence. My heart sank. Obviously Aang remembered something quite different: a building this huge should be bustling with people.

But it was not.

Aang looked so small and vulnerable as he surveyed what had once bee his home... Sokka and I exchanged looks. We needed to do something to cheer Aang up.

Thankfully, it wasn't difficult – Aang is easy to please.

A little while later, I discovered exactly how close the war had come to the Air temple. Sokka discovered a Fire Nation helmet in the snow and weeds behind the pitch where he had been playing an airball game with a delighted Aang.

My first instincts were to call the young Avatar over, to prove to him that my warning had been true, but as I glanced over and saw how happy and carefree he looked among the surroundings he was so familiar with, I knew I couldn't do it.

A flash of memory – of red and black uniforms marching through the snow; screaming, shouting and black, smoke-filled skies - crossed my mind: no, Aang had never known anything like that, and I would make sure, for as long as possible, that he never would. Sokka didn't agree, but I was determined. If I could avoid Aang ever having to suffer like my brother and I had, then I would try.

We explored the upper parts of the temple, where Aang introduced us to a statue of someone who was clearly very important to him: a monk called Gyatso. Aang looked sad, knowing that he would never meet him again. From Aang's point of view, he could have been talking to this monk just a few days or weeks before, given that the hundred years must have passed like a dream to him.

It was then that Aang said he wanted to meet someone and proceeded to open the Temple Sanctuary, where he said he'd never been allowed in. It was all rather mysterious, but Sokka and I just followed the young Avatar, who appeared to think there might be someone inside the Sanctuary who could explain all about being an Avatar to him.

We gasped as our eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the tower: it was full of statues – hundreds of them! Spiralling upwards along the tower walls, as far as the eye could see, past avatars were lined up in the Avatar cycle of air, water, earth and fire! Aang seemed entranced by one particular statue of a Fire Nation avatar – I had to literally shake him by the shoulders to get him to snap out of it. He said it was the statue of the previous Avatar, Roku, but could not explain how he knew that.

Then a strange animal appeared in the door: a Lemur. Huge ears twitching nervously, eyes as big as soup plates, it crouched in the door casting an elongated shadow across the ancient floor. Sokka and Aang both lunged after it, with very different intentions, and the lemur took off, chittering in fear.

I left them to it – I was too fascinated by the Avatars. I had read so many stories, so many legends about them, but this was the first time I ever saw tangible proof of their worldwide presence. This was not some barely discernible image in a tattered old scroll- these were life-size statues and they looked so real. I wandered from one statue to the other, recognising some about whom I had heard legends, or read about in the history scrolls, and wondering about the life and feats of the hundreds of nameless others. I had never come so close to a real Avatar (well, except for Aang – and Aang looks so young, compared to the dignified men and women depicted by the statues!)

It was when I had arrived to the statue of Avatar Roku, that things became even stranger: for a moment, I thought the statue had come to life, for its' eyes started to glow, like Aang's had done. I almost had a heart attack! Then all the statues started likewise, to glow in sequence, a spiralling pattern of eerie eyes glaring down at me from all sides. I knew something was wrong! Something had happened to Aang!

I tore out of the sanctuary and heard Sokka's voice coming from a broken room down below. He was calling Aang, but I couldn't make out what he was saying for there was a strange roaring sound like when wind is picking up speed. My heart in my mouth, I followed the sound of Sokka's voice, even as I was almost blown off my feet by a sudden strong wind.

The note of distress in my brother's voice made me break into a frenzied run. I could see a large incandescent white light through the tattered drapery that covered the ceiling of the broken room, but just as I went down the last flight of steps, there was a tremendous explosion of noise and the room burst apart scattering debris everywhere. I screamed as I realised that some of the debris were human bones! Sokka had been blown out of the building and I made my way up to him, shielding my face from the flying debris. Helmets, breastplates and rusted armour littered the place – Fire Nation armour!

We struggled to what was left of one wall of the old building and I choked back a shocked cry. Aang was at the end of the broken building, a whirling maelstrom of glowing air surrounding him.

'He found out the Fire benders killed Gyatso!' Sokka explained, shouting over the noise of the screaming winds.

Aang's eyes and tattoos were glowing, and I knew this was the Avatar's powerful spirits that had somehow been triggered. Perhaps a strong emotion, as well as imminent danger. could trigger that state. Finding out his people had been murdered certainly qualified as a strong emotion.

I should know.

I made my way into the broken building, bent double against the force of the wind. I had to reach out to Aang somehow – I just couldn't let him go through all that alone.

He was suspended eerily in a glowing sphere of whirling light. It was scary. It was scary not because of the sheer force of the hurricane he had unleashed – a raging wind that screamed louder and louder as though there was no end to the force it could, and would, use to batter everything and everyone in its path – no, it was scary because of the look on Aang's face.

Even through the unearthly glow of his eyes and tattoos, I could see the pain.

That same pain and anger always looked back at me from my own reflection in water, years after my Mum was killed.

And Aang had had no mother to remember. All he had, all he could remember, lay in ruins about us, and he thought he was alone in his grief.

I offered him the only thing I could.

A family.

It was as a family that we pulled through our loss eventually, and we would be there for Aang too, for he had less than none of his own now.

'Sokka and I, we're your family now.' I shouted over the fury of the tornado, and something seemed to have gotten through to him, for the wind died down and Aang's feet slowly touched the ground again, as though willing to listen, at least.

I don't know where he is, or what he feels when in touch with the Avatar Spirits – but at that moment, he was just a young boy in deep distress. I reached out to hold his still-glowing hand and held him tight as he fell to his knees and slumped against me, almost in a faint.

'I really am the last Airbender,' he murmured, and the sadness in his voice broke my heart.

I hugged him tighter as he closed his tear-stained eyes wearily, for being in this Avatar state seems to drain him every time.

It was so, so, SO unfair! At least when Mom died, there was still Dad, and Sokka and the whole tribe to stand by us as we struggled to cope.

Aang had nobody. Nobody but us.

He had infected me with his optimism today, and I had kind of hoped that perhaps he was right, perhaps some Airbenders had survived in this inaccessible place. Airbenders who could understand his past, his culture, his needs… perhaps understand him better than we could, and therefore be in a better position to help him. But the stories about the Fire Nations' genocide had been true. They wiped out Aang's whole race! This was far worse than the ravages a hundred-year gap could ever have wrought on the people he loved.

I felt a lump in my throat and screwed my eyes shut. This was not the time to show weakness, with the ragged, decaying evidence of the massacre still around us. Sokka must have been thinking along those lines, for I felt his hand on Aang's shoulder, shaking him gently.

'It's time to get out of here,' he said, with a quick glance in my direction.

I nodded, and let Sokka pull Aang to his feet.

Nobody spoke as we returned to the Temple Sanctuary, and there was no talk of any further exploration of the Air Temple. We knew what we would find.

Sokka and I went down to get Appa and our stuff, but Aang wanted to have a last look at the Avatars. The sombre mood lasted until we were packed and ready to go when finally the lemur returned with a peace offering of fruit for Sokka. Aang cheered up a bit at the sight of the little creature. Apparently they were common as pets among the nomads, and one shred of familiarity he could cling to. Very soon we had an addition to our little family: Momo.

Night was falling when we finally climbed on Appa. Sokka silently took the reins and yipped Appa into flight. Aang sat down at the back of the saddle looking wistfully at the tall green spires of his childhood home as it faded into the twilight, Momo at his side.

It was one of those times when I knew there were no words of comfort.

Aang kept his eyes on the temple until it was swallowed up by the darkening clouds, then it was no more.

I looked at Aang's back as he hunched over the saddle, resting his chin on his arms, wondering what he was thinking. He was certainly a very different boy from what he had been this morning. The light-heartedness, the excitement and irrepressible optimism had gone. I hoped it was not for good.

Being an Air Nomad he must have travelled a lot and I had the impression that Air Nomads would not be so tied to any particular place, but after having seen the faded beauty of the Air Temple, I could understand why he felt the loss of the temple, as well as what it represented, so keenly. Though we have nothing so grand back at the South Pole (being made of ice, nothing much is physically permanent) yet I myself sorely miss the familiarity of our pelt-lined tents and the simple warmth of the fire pit.

He must have felt my eyes on me, for after a while:

'I wish I'd paid more attention to the monks,' he muttered thickly, 'I fell asleep sometimes during history lessons...'

'What ...what does that have to do with anything, Aang?' I asked puzzled.

He turned round to look at me, a frustrated look on his face. 'I should've been more careful and learnt more about my people. Now I'm the only Airbender left, and I don't even know the date when the temple was built, or who invented the first glider, or where the Pai Sho table in the Western Air temple came from. No one will ever know now.'

'Aang, you've lived as an Air Nomad. That's more important than a bunch of dates. You know the Airbenders ways.'

'I ...guess,' he said uncertainly.

'Besides, there many Libraries in the world, I'm sure there are plenty of books and scrolls still around that the Fire Nation hasn't destroyed or censored. You'll find facts and figures, if that's what you want.'

'I don't know what I want,' he mumbled, 'nothing can be enough'

He turned round and sat hugging his knees, looking blank-eyed at the jagged edges of the distant Patola Mountains.

I didn't say anything for a minute. What could I say? Genocide is a big word. And though we sorta knew about it, it had happened so long ago that it was like a history lesson: something you read about, but know you will never see… Today, however, that history lesson came to life. Knowing how beautiful and peaceful the Air Temple must've been makes the Fire Nation attack all the more cruel.

After a while I got an idea. I fetched my mother's scroll and showed it to Aang.

'This scroll belonged to my mother. When she was young, the Fire Nation raids had reduced the South Pole to just a few scattered villages, and there were no more Waterbenders, so a lot of our culture's gone forever. My mother had this idea: to write down and preserve what was left from living memory, before it disappeared completely.'

Aang looked at the scroll curiously. 'I saw you writing in it, but I didn't want to ask,' he grinned, 'You whacked Sokka on the head when he did.'

'Sokka thinks it's a diary,' I replied, a little uncomfortably, 'My brother's too nosy!'

'I heard that…' came Sokka's voice from near Appa's head.

I ignored him. 'My mother never got round to doing that, but the scroll has been passed on to me and I've decided what I'm gonna do with it. Aang, I know nothing can bring back the Airbenders, but I think there are ways of keeping their memory alive and honoring the great culture they built.'

'So, is that what you're writing? The Southern Water Tribes' history?'

'Well, no. Something more important, perhaps.'

'What?'

I hesitated. Aang would have to know sooner or later. Besides it looked as though my words had some effect for he was looking at the scroll with interest, as if an idea had just struck him.

'I wanted to talk to you about it, actually, because it's about you, too. I'm writing a journal.'

'A journal?'

'About our journey to the North Pole and there, hopefully, about the waterbending techniques we'll learn from the masters. I guess it will cover the first part of your journey as Avatar.'

'Only the first part?'

'Oh, well –I hadn't thought about what happens after that – it's so far away yet. But Aang, we're with you in this -we meant it when we said you're part of our family now.'

Aang smiled, looking reassured, and I felt relieved he hadn't objected to the idea of the journal.

'Anyway, the journal will just document where we've been, and it will be brief and to the point, like the ship's log of the great watertribe sailors and explorers –'

'How can it be brief and to-the-point if you spent hours scribbling in it?!' Sokka butted in offensively.

I swear, I don't know how my brother just manages to hear that part of the conversation you just would rather he didn't! I felt my face turn bright red and hastily shoved the scroll back into my bag. Perhaps I shouldn't have brought it out.

It was hours later when I dared take it out again. I'm writing this by the light of the moon, so whatever I'm writing is clearly visible, but Aang's up front and has taken Appa's reins, and Sokka is snoring loudly at the other end of the saddle. We've left the Patola Mountains far behind us already, and I don't know where we'll camp tonight so I thought of finishing my journal now, for I'll be too tired later.

I wrote the first part in normal ink for everyone to see how 'brief and to-the-point' it is! As for the rest – the invisible part – well, that will be my secret! I think Aang guessed I write more than just brief notes (how could he not? I was blushing as red as a beetroot, thanks to my brother) and I suppose it's pretty evident anyway, but at least he respected my privacy, and did not persist on asking further questions or try to peek.

I don't think there's anything too incriminating in what I've written, but it's still private: it's got too much of myself in it for me to be comfortable showing it to anyone else.

I can see the sea in the distance and we are flying over high hills. I think Aang will be taking Appa down soon.

Tomorrow is another day and I don't know what it will bring, but I hope I will not have to write about anything so beautiful, and yet so marred, as the Southern Air Temple.