Aura: The Last Airbender
Me: Hey guys! Firstly, in answer to some reviews, yes the pairing is still AuraxZuko. That hasn't changed in the slightest. Yes, Mai is still here. Though she wasn't completely useless, you know. After all, Azula used her help in many instances. Besides, I figured I can squeeze in a small love triangle with her, Aura, and Zuko. I love drama. But, yes, you are right. Jun was super awesome and needed more appearances. Maybe I can add her in a few things. Don't know how, but I'll figure it out. Anyway, disclaimer!
Momo: *chitters before licking at his paw*
Me: Translation - I own nothing but Aura! Kinda. Still working out details on ownership of her...
The Southern Air Temple
Aura was tightening Appa's reins as Katara was packing their supplies, Aura eagerly explaining her home, "Wait til you see it Katara. The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!"
"Aura, I know you're excited, but it's been 100 years since you've been home" Katara stated, worried about how Aura may react to most likely being the only airbender left alive. Of course she didn't know that for sure, but, unlike her friend, she knew the stories behind how the war first started. With the genocide of the Air Nomads.
"That's why I'm so excited!" Aura retorted. Of course she was excited. But she was dreading to find out just how many of her friends were gone. She knew Gyatso had definitely passed, and it saddened her to know that he moved to the Spirit World without ever knowing what happened to her, her precious father-figure. That was one thing Aura would never forgive herself for. But she'll try to make up for it by befriending and taking care of her old friend's descendants.
"It's just that, a lot can change in all that time" Katara tried to explain, but to no avail. How exactly was she supposed to bring it up? 'Sorry Aura, I hate to tell you this, but the Fire Nation slaughtered your entire race'? Yeah, that'd go well….
"I know. But I need to see it for myself" Aura stated finally. She just hoped the new Nomads won't cast her out for abandoning them years ago. Aura jumped off of Appa and glided to the ground, before she walked over to Sokka, who was still snoring, deep in rest. She raised an eyebrow at the warrior, annoyed that he was sleeping when they had to leave for the Air Temple, "Wake up Sokka. Air Temple here we come!"
Sokka grunted tiredly, "Sleep now, temple later." And with that he rolled over and once again began snoring. A tick mark appeared on Aura's forehead, before she leaned back, and then-
She kicked him. "Wake up you overgrown monkey!" Sokka still refused wake up, much to the surprise of both girls, so Aura thought up another plan and smirked. IF her violence didn't work, maybe she could scare him awake. She grabbed a stick and tickled Sokka with it, "Sokka, wake up! There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!"
And with that, Sokka's eyes popped open as he screamed, "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" He continued to scream as he jumped up and hopped forward. Then he face-planted into the ground, while Katara laughed at him.
"Great! Now that you're awake, let's go!" Aura grinned. She should've done that in the first place.
Zuko's Ship...Kind of
Zuko and Iroh walked off his ship, Zuko eyeing around wearily. He wasn't very comfortable being around all the soldiers, them following a different commander. His crew was much more trustworthy, having been together for three years. "Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing her trail."
"You mean the Avatar" Iroh muttered. His nephew still refused to admit that he liked the young female airbender.
"Don't mention her name on these docks! Once word gets out that she's alive, every firebender will be out looking for her. And I don't want anyone getting in the way!" Zuko stated sternly, but quietly. Who knew who could be listening?
"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" A voice had cut in. Though the man seemed to have a hidden meaning in his tone that Zuko couldn't figure out. It was probably something along the lines of 'drop dead' or 'I'm way better than thou'. Iroh and Zuko looked back to the man, to see it was Captain Zhao, who always seemed to be against Zuko since his banishment. "It's Commander now. And General Iroh, great hero of our nation" Captain- I mean, Commander Zhao greeted, bowing to Iroh in respect.
"Retired General" Iroh waved the Commander off, also bowing. He didn't exactly like Zhao, but that didn't mean he was going to be disrespectful.
"The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime. What brings you to my harbour?" Zhao asked, a curious glint in his eye.
"Our ship is being repaired" Iroh explained, pointing to their ship.
"That's quite a bit of damage" Zhao remarked, with an eyebrow raised. Perhaps Prince Zuko had finally found the Avatar. If that was true, then he had to be more pathetic than he first thought, letting the Avatar, of all people, escape.
"Yes. You wouldn't believe what happened" Zuko stuttered worriedly. "...Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened!" Iroh, surprised at being put on the spot, looked at Zuko, slightly annoyed at how the young prince shoved that responsibility onto him.
"Yes, I will do that. It was incredible! What, did we crash or something?" Iroh questioned his nephew.
"Yes! Right into an Earth Kingdom ship!" Zuko added quickly. Nice save, he thought to himself.
"Really? You must regale me with all the thrilling details" Zhao said, obviously not really believing the poor prince, "Join me for a drink?"
"Sorry, but we have to go" Zuko answered, walking around Zhao, fully prepared to go wait on their ship instead.
"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect" Iroh scolded, grabbing Zuko's shoulder. Wouldn't want the commander to be suspicious. Then again, it was well know that Zuko hated the man. "We would be honoured to join you. Do you have any Ginseng tea? It's my favorite." Iroh and Zhao walked away discussing teas while Zuko growled to himself in frustration and annoyance, even throwing a small tantrum of fire before following them.
The A-Team
Aura, Katara, and Sokka were riding Appa in the air, with Aura steering the reins while Katara was sitting next to her, smiling widely at the wind blowing in her face. The scene around them was absolutely beautiful, with clouds breezing by. It was so serene. Until Sokka's stomach growled.
"Hey, stomach be quiet ok? I'm trying to find us some food" Sokka told his stomach. He had been hungry since they left that morning, not being able to eat as Aura rushed them in her excitement. He grabbed their sack and scrounged through it. He held it upside down, when he couldn't feel anything, only for bits of food come out, much to his despair.
"Hey! Who ate all my Blubber Seal Jerky?!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Oh, that was food? I used it to start the campfire last night" Aura explained, not all that sorry. Ok, so she knew it was food, but she was considering it payback for the warrior banishing her from the tribe. Yes, she was bitter, despite having been taught by the monks that bitterness and revenge were never the answer, along with violence, and peace was always the best option. But hey, she was the Avatar. She was pretty sure some of the things they taught didn't exactly apply to her. Now that she thought about it, she seemed to use the Avatar excuse a lot, despite not even wanting to be the Avatar. Huh. That'll be something to internally debate over.
"You, what?!" Sokka cried, "Aw, no wonder the flames smelled so good!"
Aura ignored him as she spotted some land in front of them, "The PotalaMountain Range! We're almost there!" Katara looked at her with worry. She still hadn't worked up the courage to tell Aura the truth.
"Aura, before we get to the Air Temple, I want to talk to you about the airbenders."
The older teen glance back at the younger in confusion, "What about them?"
"Well, I just want you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They've killed my mother and they could've killed your people" Katara replied softly. Aura turned back to face in front of them, her mood turning solemn.
"Just because no one has seen an airbender, doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped!" Aura stated with determination. The Fire Nation couldn't have invaded them. The Temples were all hidden, whether above the clouds or under the ground. It was impossible to get to them without a Flying Bison.
Katara placed a hand on Aura's shoulder, "I know it's hard to accept."
"You don't understand, Katara. The only way to get to an Air Temple is by Flying Bison. And I doubt the Fire Nation have any flying bison" Aura explained, happily. Her dampened mood growing brighter with the new thought of denial, "Right Appa?" Appa moaned in agreement. "Yip-yip!" Aura commanded, snapping the reins, making Appa fly higher. Aura, Katara, and Sokka held onto the bison tightly as they flew above the clouds to see a beautiful blue Temple, "There it is! The Southern Air Temple!"
"Aura, it's amazing!" Katara remarked enthusiastically.
"We're home, buddy. We're home" Aura told Appa fondly, petting his head.
Zuko & Iroh
"And by years end, the Earth Kingdom capital will be under our rule" Zhao explained as they drank some tea. Well, Iroh was drinking tea, while Zuko was pouting, "The Fire Lord will finally claim victory in this war."
"If my father thinks the rest of the world will follow him willingly, then he is a fool!" Zuko muttered as Iroh played with the spears that were hanging on the wall. Zhao strode over to where Zuko is sitting, a smirk playing on his face.
"Two years at sea have done little to temper that tongue. So how's your search for the Avatar going?" Zhao asked. Iroh, startled by the on-spot question, ended up knocking over the spears, bringing the attention over to the poor man.
"Uh, my fault entirely" Iroh apologized, trying to play it off. Well, he hoped he played it off.
"We haven't found him yet" Zuko muttered, sulking as he recalled his failure at trying to recapture his escaped prisoner.
"Did you really expect to? The Avatar died 100 years ago, along with the rest of the airbenders" Zhao stated patronizingly. Zuko adverted his eyes, which only served to make Zhao smirk knowingly, "Unless you found some evidence that the Avatar is alive."
"No, nothing" Zuko spat out.
"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only thing that can stop the Fire Nation from winning this war. If you have an ounce of loyalty left, you'll tell me what you've found" Zhao said, trying to coerce the truth from the pathetic prince. Honestly, it was easy to figure that he was lying about not finding anything about the Avatar. The question was just what exactly did he find.
"I haven't found anything! It's like you said. The Avatar probably died a long time ago" Zuko retorted. He stood and began to storm towards the exit, having had enough of Zhao, "Come on Uncle, we're going." However, two guards blocked the entrance with their spears, making both males pause.
"Commander. We interrogated the crew as you instructed. They confirmed Prince Zuko had the Avatar in custody, but let her escape" A soldier said.
"Her? The Avatar is female?" Zhao blinked. How surprising. So not only did the scarred teen fail in capturing the Avatar, but he failed to capture a female Avatar, who, naturally, was weaker due to her sex.
"Yes sir" the soldier affirmed with a nod.
Zhao turned and stutted over to Zuko, smirking. "Now, how exactly was your ship damaged?"
The A-Team
Appa was waiting for the others at the bottom of the temple, while Aura was happily running up the mountain with Katara and Sokka walk behind her.
"So where do I get something to eat?" Sokka asked, holding his stomach. They hadn't eaten since the day before and he was starving!
"You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an airbender temple, and all you can think about is food?" Katara asked, exasperated.
"I'm just a simple guy with simple needs" Sokka explained. They walked up to Aura who was standing at the edge of the walkway.
"That's where me and my friend's would play airball!" Aura remarked happily as she reminisced her times with the other airbenders, pointing to an arena with a bunch of tall poles, "And over there is where the bison would sleep, and..." Aura trailed off, before she sighed sadly.
"What's wrong?" Katara asks.
"This place full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds" Aura muttered. She had been hoping that the airbenders would still be there. But no such luck. She briefly wondered where they would go, as they most likely went into hiding when the war began, probably out of shame for her running away. Oh the guilt she felt for that. "I can't believe how much things have changed." Katara and Sokka exchanged a look before they walked over to Aura.
"So, how do you play?" Sokka asked, trying to cheer her up. They may not get along as well as her and Katara, but that doesn't mean he wanted her to be upset. An upset Avatar usually ended with disaster...
~Time Skip!~
Sokka was standing on a pole, determined, while Aura, who was on the other side of the arena, airbent a ball with a devious grin as she began to play around. They had been playing for a while and every time Sokka lost, much to his despair.
Suddenly, Aura airbent it across her arms and threw it up in the air, while Sokka loosened his stance in confusion. She waited, innocently standing straight with her arms behind her back, smiling. The ball began to fall back down and Aura quickly moved back into stance, before she kicked her foot around, airbending the ball towards another pole. The ball hit different poles, quickly making it's way towards Sokka, ramming into him and sending the poor warrior flying into the goal. He flew through the goal and to the ground behind it, landing painfully into the ground.
"Aura 7, Sokka 0!" Aura called out happily, laughing at his misfortune.
Sokka ended up covered in moss and sticks, moaning pathetically to his sister, "Making her feel better, is putting me in a world of hurt." Sokka got up onto his hands and knees, ready to stand back up, but then noticed something on the ground that spiked his attention. He crawled towards it and revealed an old Fire Nation helmet, "Katara, check this out" Katara walked over curiously, before seething at the sight of the helmet.
"Fire Nation!"
"We should tell her" Sokka stated. Aura deserved to know what happened here! Better she learned now from them, than later on her own.
"Aura! There's something you need to see!" Katara called to her, agreeing with her brother. It would just make the poor airbender even more horrified if she came across something even worse.
"Ok!" Aura ran over while airbending the ball from arm to arm, fully prepared to kick Sokka's butt again. She was happy that they were willing to make her happy despite finding the Temple empty. But soon they would need to move on and find the other airbenders' hide out. As Katara watched her, she began having doubts about showing her friend. Aura seemed so happy being ignorant. Ignorance is bliss, as the saying goes. Besides, they could always let her down gently later on. No use making her upset so early in the day. So, changing her mind, Katara quickly waterbent the snow overtop the helmet. Unfortunately, Sokka was right next to it, so he also was covered with snow right as Aura reached them. "What is it?"
"Uh, just a new waterbending move I learned" Katara lied, while Sokka struggled to get the snow off him. Aura looked over at her work in amusement, smirking at Sokka, who was still covered in some snow.
"Nice one. But enough practice, we got a whole temple to explore" Aura remarked, walking away to check out if there were any clues to where the airbenders went.
Sokka finally wiped off the snow, frowning up at his little sister, "You know, you can't protect her forever." Katara just walked away, already knowing that. But that doesn't mean she can't try.
~Time Skip!~
Sokka was standing with his arms crossed as Katara walked over to him, watching Aura as she ran around excitedly. "Katara, firebenders were here. You can't pretend they weren't" Sokka stated, sternly, hoping to make his stubborn sister see reason.
Katara walked to the entrance, after Aura ran inside, following after the eager teen, "I can for Artymis' sake."
"Katara, she's a teenager. Heck, she's older than me! Even if you don't count the hundred years of being in the ice. You don't need to protect her. She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself" Sokka remarked.
"If she finds out that the Fire Nation invaded her home, she'll be devastated" Katara argued sadly. She refused to see her pseudo big sister upset!
"Hey, guys!" Aura called. Katara and Sokka look over to Aura, who was standing in front of a statue of an old man.
"Who's that?" Sokka asked curiously. The man looked to be older than Gran-Gran! Hopefully Aura realized that, even if the Fire Nation hadn't attacked, this man certainly wasn't still around.
"Monk Gyatso, the greatest airbender in the world! He taught me everything I know. He was like a father to me!" Aura explained, excitedly. Then she turned back to the statue and bowed deeply in respect for the man who raised her.
Aura's Flashback
'But the true secret is in the gooey center' Gyatso said, taking out a cake and gently airbent the center into a swirl. Aura wasn't feeling too good, in the mental sense not the physical sense, and he decided to cheer her up with some good ole fun of baking.
'Hmm' Aura hummed distractedly. It was clear that she was sad and confused about something. And he was not surprised, seeing how stressing the news must be to the young woman.
'My ancient cake making technique isn't the only thing on your mind, is it Aura' Gyatso said, more of a statement than a question.
'This whole Avatar thing. Maybe the monks made a mistake' Aura pondered. She couldn't possibly be the Avatar! Did she look like Avatar material? She was a defective nun! What other female nomad could say that they were raised by monks? And she couldn't think of any nun who was a complete flirt as she was. What could she say? She was a hormonal teenaged girl surrounded by guys! This is why females were raised by nuns! Except for her!
'The only mistake they made was telling you before your 18th birthday. But we can't concern ourselves with what was, we must act on what is' Gyatso said, holding a hand out towards the beautiful Temple courtyard. It was a rule that the Avatar wouldn't be told before then (if they hadn't figured it out on their own of course) to prevent any spiritual doubt in the young mind, as Aura was certainly going through. Being female just made it worse since her mind was still developing due to the raging hormones she possessed. He was against her being raised by males in the beginning, seeing as the nuns would be able to handle and teach her better, but he would never go back and change it if he could. The young girl was practically his own daughter. Which is why he was so upset with the head monks. They were acting as if she wasn't a human being with her own feelings!
'But Gyatso, how do I know that I'm ready for this?' Aura asked, proving Gyatso's fears of her becoming self-conscious in her own abilities.
'Your questions will be answered when you're old enough to enter the Air Temple sanctuary' Gyatso answered, 'Inside you will meet someone who will guide you on your journey.' Aura looked at him and smiled sadly.
'I guess it doesn't matter that I don't even want to be the Avatar, huh?" Aura asked. Her life was so much better before she found out. Nobody ever even gave her the hint that she would be some all-powerful being able to bend all four elements! How was she supposed to be ready for this?!
Gyatso smiled at her sympathetically, 'It is your destiny, Aura. You must fulfill it.'
Aura sighed. Then she looked at Gyatso and smiled again, though not sadly, more excited,'Anyway, who is it?'
'When you are ready, he will reveal himself to you' Gyatso assured. An Avatar wasn't able to easily enter the Spirit World and meet their past lives without being fully recognized. And that included mastering all four elements, seeing as the Avatar needed to fully understand all spiritual aspects of the elements to do so. Unless of course the spirits themselves brought him/her to speak with them about something important, or the Avatar was deeply distressed.
It surprised Gyatso that Aura hadn't entered the Avatar State when she first found out, seeing how badly she took it. She even yelled at the head monks before storming away without being dismissed. She never had been one for following rules. He supposed that was due to being the reincarnation of hundreds of other Avatars, whom all grew up with different surroundings. Aura just happened to get the short end of the stick with inheriting all aspects of benders. She was hot-headed, like most firebenders, determine, like an earthbender, free-spirited, as all airbenders such as herself, and graceful, like a waterbender. All in all, she was just different from the other airbenders, due to her Avatar nature.
'He?' Aura groaned, 'I was hoping it would be a female. I'm surrounded by males.' Aura gestured to all the male airbenders playing in the courtyard...There was about 30. And that didn't include the ones that were inside the Temple. There were only about 10 female airbenders/nuns, including Aura. Normally, females were raised separated from the males, but there were a few special cases where a female would be raised at the Northern or Southern Temple, such as Aura's case. The head monks believed it'd be best that they watched over the young girl, to observe her growth as the Avatar.
But then, Aura gained a thoughtful look, thinking of her hopeless romantic fantasies, 'Actually, now that I think about it, that's not really a bad thing...'
Gyatso laughed, 'Nevermind that. Are you going to help me with these cakes, or not?'
Aura grinned deviously, 'Let's do it!' She got up and and ran over next to Gyatso, both moving into an airbending stance.
Counting to three, the devious duo created airballs within their hands, releasing them towards the cakes that were innocently sitting on the rail. The airballs hit the cakes and made them go flying off the rail. They flew far above the courtyard of airbenders, to a platform where the elders were meditating. Each cake landed on an elder's head, before lemurs came and began to eat the cakes off their heads.
Aura and Gyatso laughed joyfully at them back at the balcony. They move from the railing and bowed to each other in respect, as Gyatso praised his ward, 'Your aim has improved greatly, my young pupil.'
End of Flashback
Aura moved up from her bow and Katara placed a hand on her shoulder, "You must miss him."
"Yeah" Aura answered sadly. She knew that she would never get to assure the older man that she was safe, at least until she passed on to the Spirit World. Then she began walking up the stairs behind the statue.
"Where are you going?" Katara asked curiously. She expected the airbender to continue exploring the courtyard, that they no where near finished observing.
"The Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet" Aura stated. Katara glanced back at Sokka, who shrugged, before they both started following after Aura. All three walked down the hallway, to a large door with horns connected to three blue swirly circles.
"But Aura, no one could've survived in there for a hundred years" Katara said doubtfully.
"It's not impossible. I survived in the iceberg for that long" Aura remarked.
"Good point" Katara muttered, putting a hand to her chin. If Aura could survive in ice for a hundred years, who's to say someone couldn't have lived for a hundred years here? That is, if the Fire Nation didn't find a way inside.
"Katara, whoever's in there might help me with this Avatar thing!" Aura explained, excitedly. Spirits know she could use all the help she could get!
"And whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious cured meats" Sokka exclaimed eagerly. He rushed to the door and slammed into them, having expected them to open. Only they didn't and he only ended up with a headache.
"Ha ha" Aura snarked, smirking.
Sokka glared at her, "I don't suppose you have a key?"
"The key, Sokka, is airbending" Aura answered. Katara and Sokka moved out of the way, as Aura got into an airbending stance. She took a deep breath and airbent rushes of wind into the horns. Two of the circles turned around to the other side, which were purple. They move two of the pipes so the air can get to the other circle. When they do, the last circle turned to the purple side. The middle pipe moved to a different direction and the doors opened up to the trio.
"Hello?" Aura called into the dark room, "Anyone home?" Aura and the siblings warily walked into the room, preparing to fight if necessary.
With Zuko & Iroh
Zuko was sitting in a chair, with two soldiers standing beside him to prevent escape. Zhao was pacing in front of them as he gloated, "So a 16 year old girl bested you and your firebenders. You're more pathetic than I thought!"
"I underestimated her once! But it will not happen again!" Zuko argued. Besides, who was Zhao to judge? He easily could've lost a fight to her as well! She, he vaguely recalled that pathetic warrior calling her Aura (he stubbornly refused to admit to himself that it was a nice name and suited the young Avatar well), may not have been an elderly master of all elements, but she certainly was well taught in airbending. He remembered his uncle telling him that only master airbenders were allowed to have those blue arrow tattoos, so the girl already had one element down.
"No it will not! Because you won't have a second chance" Zhao stated.
"Commander Zhao! I've been hunting the Avatar for two year and I-" Zhao cuted Zuko off, while bending his fire threateningly.
"And you failed! Capturing the Avatar is far too important to leave in a hormonal teenager's hands! She's mine now. We can't risk losing her just because of a silly little crush" Zhao exclaimed ruthlessly.
Zuko let out an angered yell and rushed towards Zhao to attack, only the soldier's behind held him back, "I don't have a crush on her!"
"Of course you don't, Prince Zuko" Zhao snorted condescendingly. It was obvious to everyone but the young prince apparently. How traitorous of the banished teen. Zhao began to walk away, ready to prepare his ships for the long journey, "Keep them here."
"More tea please" Iroh asked trying to ignore his nephew's anger. Though he inwardly wondered how long it would take his nephew to realize and stop denying his obvious crush. Iroh couldn't blame the boy though. It's been three years since he was banished and he went through puberty surrounded by older males. That Avatar was the first girl his age that he's met since then. It made sense that Zuko would become attracted to her.
The A-Team
The trio were staring at a room full of stone statues. Aura explored the room curiously, observing each piece of rock, "Statues?" Sokka asked, obviously distraught, "That's it?! Where's the meat?!"
"Who are all these people?" Katara asked Aura, hoping she'd have an answer to why this room was filled with simply statues. They were obvious important if they were kept in a locked room.
"I'm not sure. But it feels like I know them somehow" Aura muttered thoughtfully, She saw one statuette dress in familiar garbs, "Look! That one's an airbender!"
"And this one's a waterbender!" Katara exclaimed, surprised as she looked at the statue next to the one Aura had pointed out, "They're lined up in a pattern! Air, water, earth, and fire!"
"That's the Avatar cycle!" Aura remarked in awe with a smile.
"Of course! They're Avatars! All theses people are your past lives Aura!" Katara exclaimed, excited about the new revelation.
"Wow! There's so many!...Why are most of them male?!" Aura exclaimed indignantly. As you may have noticed, she was a bit of a feminist.
"Past lives? Katara, you really believe in that stuff?" Sokka asked skeptically, as Aura did some more exploring, examining statues as she past.
"It's true! When the Avatar dies, he, or she, is reincarnated to the next nation in the cycle!" Katara said, while Aura began to stare at one particular statue. While Aura was staring at the statue, the eyes of it glinted as Aura felt a pull to it, spiritually that it. It soon hit her that this was her past life, the Fire Nation Avatar who hosted her spirit before her.
Katara made her way over to her, having noticed her friend zone out. She grabbed Aura's shoulders and shook her, "Aura, snap out of it!"
Aura blinked out of her trance, "Huh?"
"Who is that?" Katara asked.
"That's Avatar Roku. The Avatar before me" Aura explained, smiling. She didn't know much about him, but she figured he'd be her guide in the Spirit World, since she'd have a better connection to him than other Avatars because of the closeness of their lifetimes. She was born the moment he had died.
"You were a firebender?" Sokka pondered, "No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met."
"You're an idiot. Avatar Roku died 16 years before the war even started" Aura snapped, feeling protective of her previous life and old friends, "Not all firebenders are bad, ya know. I had a few friends in the Fire Nation. You've just met the bad ones."
"There's no writing. How do you know his name?" Katara asked, wanting to move away from the argument that was bound to happen.
"I don't know. I just know it somehow" Aura said, shrugging. Sokka glared at her in suspicion.
"Grrr, you just couldn't get any weirder" Sokka exclaimed. Aura simply slapped him on the back of his head, not even moving her eyes away as she smiled at the statue. "Ow!" Sokka exclaimed, holding his head. Then the sound of a deep horn echoed through the air. Aura, Sokka, and Katara quickly turned around, frightened by the noise. They ran behind some statues, with Katara and Aura sharing one. "Firebender. Nobody make a sound."
Katara glared and whispered back, "You're making a sound!"
Aura and Sokka quickly shushed her as Sokka took out his boomerang, "That firebender won't know what hit him." Sokka stood up and prepared to attack. He hopped out from behind the statue, but then stopped as he finally saw what the shadow belonged to.
….It was just a lemur.
Katara and Aura looked out from behind their statue confused on why Sokka didn't attack. The lemur sat down and innocently blinked at them. Aura stood up and grinned, "LEMUR!"
Sokka drooled at the animal, "Dinner!"
"Don't listen to him! You're gonna be my new pet!" Aura told the animal, pushing Sokka away while grinning widely.
"Not if I get him first!" Sokka yelled, running to the lemur. Aura rushed to the lemur to protect him. Unfortunately, the lemur ran away in fear. Aura tripped Sokka and stepped on him as she gave chase. They both raced after the lemur outside.
"Wait! Come back!" Aura called, trying to assure the sweet animal she decided to adopt.
"I won't eat you!" Sokka shouted after it, trying to lure the lemur to him. While chasing the lemur, Aura and Sokka fought each other. Sokka cuted Aura off, but she then used airbending to run ahead. Sokka took out his sword and tried to hit Aura's leg. Keyword- Tried.
Aura jumped up and began to run on the walls, laughing at him. She rushed forwards and then sent an airball towards Sokka, which tripped him. The lemur jumped onto the rail at the end and looked back to see Aura still chasing him. What was wrong with this person?!
The lemur jumped off and glided through the air, while Aura glanced back to see if Sokka was still following her. Then she leapt off as well, and airbent to different rocks, easing her way down. Sokka arrived to the railing and pouted as he leaned over, "Hey! No fair!"
Zuko & Iroh
Zhao walked into the tent, where Zuko and Iroh were sitting in their chairs. Iroh was drinking tea, still, and Zuko was sulking, "My search party is ready. Once I am out to sea, my guards will escort you to your ship, and you'll be free to go."
"Why? Are you worried I'm gonna try and stop you?" Zuko spat out.
Zhao had the gall to actually laugh at him, much to Zuko's annoyance, "You, stop me? Impossible."
"Don't underestimate me, Zhao! I will capture the Avatar before you!" Zuko snapped. Iroh stood, having enough of Zuko's behavior. Not only was he simply urging Zhao to continue antagonizing him, it might get to the point where his nephew, bless his heart, may say something he'll regret...
"Prince Zuko. That's enough" Iroh warned him.
"You can't compete with me. I have hundreds of warships under my command. And you. You're just a banished prince. No home. No allies. Your own father doesn't even want you" Zhao taunted. It was fun to mess with the scarred prince.
"You're wrong! Once I deliver the Avatar to my father, he will welcome me home with honor and restore my rightful place on the throne!" Zuko defended himself. His father had to let him back home! If he gave him the Avatar, Zuko was positive that would prove his worth as future Firelord!
"If your father really wanted you home, he would've let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar. But in his eyes you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation" Zhao continued with an awful smirk. The prince was obviously in denial. The Firelord didn't care about the young boy. He valued his daughter more than he ever would with Zuko, and with good reason. Azula was the prodigy, Azula was the cunning child, Azula would always have the upperhand. And Zuko would only ever be an embarrassment to the throne.
"That's not true!" Zuko snarled.
"You have the scar to prove it."
Zuko let out an angered yell, flames escaping his clutched fists, "Maybe you'd like one to match!"
"Is that a challenge?" Zhao asked, tauntingly. It was amusing to see the banished prince to think he actually stood a chance with him in a fight.
"An Agni Kai! At sunset" Zuko challenged. He prove that he was better than Zhao if was the last thing he did! But it won't be, cause he'll win! And then he'll capture the Avatar and be welcomed back home with open arms!
"Very well" Zhao accepted, moving away from the prince, "It's a shame your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you. I guess your uncle will do." Zuko glowered as he watched Zhao stride away.
"Prince Zuko. Have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?" Iroh exclaimed in frustration. His nephew just had to run off his mouth!
"I will never forget" Zuko muttered, fingering his scar, saddened by the memory, which only made him more determined to win.
The A-Team
The lemur landed on his paws. He quickly moved out of the way when Aura landed and jumped to where he hid, trying to catch him. Then he ran off into a room, hidden behind a curtain. He didn't understand what was wrong with this stranger, but he didn't exactly like her chasing him. He especially didn't like that male….
"Hey! Come back!" Aura called laughingly. She wandered into the room, which was connected to another hidden room. Aura tried to assure the animal as she headed to the other room to look for the scared little thing, "Come on out little lemur. That hungry guy won't bother you anymore."
Aura let out a gasp of horror at the sight. The room was filled with the skeletal bodies of Fire Nation soldiers. "Firebenders? They were here?" Aura asks herself in despair. But, but how did they even get to the temple? And….and….Aura eyes widened as tears began to gather, spotting a certain skeleton she recognized at her precious mentor, signified by the sacred necklace he always wore, "Gyatso..." She collapsed to the ground onto her knees as the tears freely fell down her face.
"Hey Aura! Find my dinner yet?" Sokka asked, entering into the room. However, he paused as he saw Aura crying on the ground. Hoping to stop her crying, which he believed was because of the lemur they were fighting over, he tried to comfort her,"Aura, I wasn't really gonna eat the lemur, ok?" However, it didn't take him long to see the remained of Nomads and soldiers, "Oh man..."
He looked at Aura in worry, now understanding exactly why she was so devastated. He knew they should've told her before! He should've explained it regardless of Katara's urges not to! Sokka placed a gentle hand onto the Avatar's shoulder, knowing it'd be best to leave the room so she could recover from her shock, "Come on Aura. Everything will be alright. Let's get out of here." But then, her tattoo's began to glow as she opened her glowing eyes, an expression of pure anger clear on her face.
~Skippy!~
Katara was walking around, observing the different statues as she waited for Sokka and Aura to come back. She had a feeling those two would take a while trying to catch the fast animal. She stopped and stared at Roku's statue. It was strange to see what Aura looked like in her past lives. In fact, she couldn't even imagine the teen as all these benders.
But, all of a sudden, the statue Roku's eyes began to glow a mystical blue, along with all of the other statues and Katara automatically knew why, recognizing that certain light, "Aura" Katara muttered, instantly worried. She rushed out of the room, looking for her friend, who she realized was angry and upset.
On the other side of the world, in the Earth Kingdom, a man was meditating in front of a wall, which had a painting of a past Earth Kingdom Avatar on it. Suddenly, the eyes' of the Avatar glow, just as Aura's. The man opened his eyes and looked at the painting in shock. The painting had been immobile for over a century!
In the North Pole, two men watched as a statue of a past Water Tribe Avatar glowed brightly.
And finally, in the Fire Nation, the top of a temple was glowing. Inside a sage rushed out of a room, frantically looking towards his fellow sages, "Send word to the Fire Lord immediately. The Avatar has returned!" All the sages stood in shock at the revelation. The Avatar, who had been missing for a hundred years, had come back.
Back at the Air Temple, Aura was standing up and Sokka stood behind her, close enough to try and talk to her, but far enough as to not get hurt in her rampage, which he knew was going to happen. He was then proven correct as Aura began to gather wind around her, forming a sphere of air around her.
"Aura! Come on! Snap out of it!" Sokka called out. Her sphere of air simply grew larger as she ignored the water tribe boy. Even though he was far from her, Aura air sphere grew large enough to push him back further. Her sphere of rushing winds destroyed the building they were in, blowing the poor boy through the air. Sokka landed harshly onto the ground. Once he recovered, Sokka quickly hide behind a broken wall, watching in fear and awe as Aura raged on.
Katara then crawled up next to him, calling out over the harsh wind, "What happened?!"
"Aura found out that firebenders killed Gyatso!" Sokka yelled back, glaring at her a bit. If she had just had the guts to tell the poor teen, then this wouldn't be happening. Well, she may have flipped out like now, but it probably wouldn't have been as bad than actually having to see his remains and finding out on her own!
"Oh no! It's her Avatar spirit! She must have triggered it! I'm going to calm her down!" Katara exclaimed.
"Well do it before she blows us off the mountain!"
Katara slowly crawled over to her friend, pushing her body through the rushing air surrounding them. But before she could reach the poor girl, Aura began to float into the air
Zuko & Iroh
Zhao was kneeling, facing one wall, while Zuko faced to the other. Four of Zhao's soldiers were standing in front of their commander and Iroh was standing in front of Zuko, giving his nephew wise advice that he could only hope would make it through his thick skull, "Remember your firebending basics, Prince Zuko. They are your greatest weapons."
"I refuse to let him win" Zuko stated, before standing up and turning to face Zhao, his cape falling off.
"This will be over quickly" Zhao remarked, facing his opponent as the bell rang, signalling the beginning of their fight.
They both waited for only a moment before Zuko, the rash teen he was, attacked Zhao with his flames. Zhao dodged it and Zuko quickly fired another shot, but Zhao easily dodged that attack as well. Zuko kept firing, as Zhao blocked and/or dodged them. This, however, made Zuko frustrated as he began to lose his control. He moved towards Zhao and fired at the Commander even more. But Zhao blocks and dodges all of them, again.
Iroh watched, anxiously, calling out to his angered nephew, who was becoming more rash with his attacks, "Basics, Zuko! Break his root!"
Zhao fired at Zuko, alternating fists as Zuko blocked all of them, but slowly forced away. Zuko was soon knocked onto his back at the third fire and slid on the ground. The young prince tried to get up, but he wasn't fast enough as Zhao jumped in front of Zuko and fired. Zuko, spotting the fire and twisted his body around with a yell, finally taking his uncle's advice and attacking Zhao's steady feet. He kicked his leg underneath of Zhao's and made Zhao lose his footing.
Zuko landed on his feet and a little smile appeared on his face, knowing that his new strategy was working. He slid his feet towards Zhao and produced little flames that made the commander stumble back. Then Zuko kicked fire at Zhao that forced him to roll backwards onto the ground. Zuko rushed at him and prepared the final strike, while Zhao simply watched, angered that he was beaten while waiting for his end. Zhao glared at him when Zuko hesitated, "Do it!" Zuko yelled out in anger and fired.
But he fired to the left of Zhao's head, instead of Zhao himself. Said man continued to glare, taunting Zuko to finish him, "That's it?! Your father raised a coward!"
Zuko moved out of his stance and glared at the man on the ground. He knew his uncle would be disappointed if he killed the man, and Zuko didn't particularly want to be labeled a killer, never having taken a life before. "Next time you get in my way, I promise. I won't hold back!" He turned and began to walk away. However, Zhao quickly stood and fired at Zuko with his foot. Luckily, Iroh had noticed, grabbing Zhao's foot and extinguished the fire, before he threw Zhao back onto the ground, ashamed of the dishonor the man had just displayed. Zuko turned around, angered at the commander for attacking when his back was turned, and lunged at Zhao, but Iroh grabbed his shoulders, pulling him back.
"No, Prince Zuko! Do not taint your victory!" Iroh said wisely. The retired general turned to Zhao and frowned with disappointment, "So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat. Disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you. Thanks again for the tea, it was delicious." And with that, Iroh began to walk away, his nephew following after one last glare to the man.
"Did you really mean that Uncle?" Zuko asked him curiously, happy that his uncle still believed he had honor despite being banished, even though Zuko knew it was untrue.
"Of course. I told you Ginseng Tea is my favorite" Iroh replied, cheekily. Of course his nephew was still the honorable male he's always been. That would never change, because Iroh knew what was really in Zuko's heart, despite the facade he convinced himself was his true self. And it made him proud that his nephew was not corrupted as his brother or niece.
The A-Team
Aura was still floating in the air, while Katara was trying to calm her down, and Sokka hung back, shielding his head from oncoming objects flying around the room, "Aura! I know you're upset! And I know how hard it is to lose the people you love! I went through the same thing when I lost my mom! Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family! Sokka and I! We're your family now!"
Hearing this, Aura lowered herself to the ground slowly as her airball dispatched. However, despite this, she was still glowing, connected to her past lives as she tried to process everything.
"Katara and I aren't going to let anything happen to you. Promise" Sokka swore, smiling.
Katara grabbed the older girl's hand as Aura stopped glowing. She fell to the ground, but Katara quickly caught her. "I'm sorry..." Aura apologized, weakly, tired from her rampage. Until she became a fully recognized Avatar, entering her Avatar State was always going to weaken her.
"It's ok. It wasn't your fault" Katara assured her.
"But you were right. And if firebenders found this Temple, that means they found the others. I really am the last airbender..." Aura stated, her eyes tearing up once again at the thought. So much for making amends with their descendants, simply because there were none...Katara quickly hugged her tightly as Sokka placed a gentle and sympathetic hand on her shoulder.
~Skippy!~
Aura was staring at the statue of Roku again, as Katara walked up to her. Aura had stayed in the Avatar room ever since she found out what really happened a hundred years ago. It was her fault. She never should've left. Maybe if she stayed, this whole war wouldn't even be around. Spirits know an attack from the Fire Nation would've sent her into the Avatar State, and who knows, maybe she would've gotten rid of all the soldiers involved in the attack, and her airbending family would still be around.
"Everything's packed. You ready to go?"
"How is Roku supposed to help me if I can't talk to him?" Aura asked rhetorically, confused on how to proceed. Without the monks to help her, her past lives were the only ones who could teach her. But she can't exactly get in touch with them right now….
"Maybe you'll find a way" Katara remarked. The same noise from earlier occured, making the two girls to see the lemur standing in the doorway, carrying something. He hopped over to Sokka and put a bunch of fruit on the ground, before leaping over to Aura. Sokka grabbed the fruit off the ground began to eat them, greedily. Aura and Katara watched Sokka with smiles, amused by his behavior.
"Looks like you made a new friend Sokka" Aura remarked.
"Can't talk, must eat" Sokka muttered with a mouth full of fruit. Aura rolled her eyes as Katara's amused turned to disgust. The lemur jumped onto Aura and climbed up to her head.
"Hey little guy!" Aura greeted, happily. The lemur chittered at her. Once he realized that the two weren't going to hurt him, he decided to make a peace treaty with them. Besides, the girl seemed to have a connection to his home, so she must be an ally!
~Time Skip!~
Aura was petting Appa with one hand and holding the lemur with his other one. All three were watching the sun set behind the Temple. "You, me, and Appa. We're all that's left of this place. We have to stick together" Aura told her new pet lemur, "Katara, Sokka." The siblings turned to Aura curiously, Sokka eating (not much of a shock to the airbender) and Katara was carrying a bag of food she was packing. Aura's lemur had led them to nearby fruit trees, so they were good on food for the time being, "Say hello to the newest member of our family!"
"What're you going to name him?" Katara asked. The lemur hopped from Aura's arm, grabbed the fruit from Sokka, before moving back onto her arm.
"Momo" Aura said, smiling at the newly-named lemur as he chewed on the peach. Sokka was just staring at his hand, shocked that his food was stolen right from his hand by a lemur. Aura and Katara simply laughed at him.
~Skippy!~
Katara was steering Appa this time, because she wanted Aura to rest since she had a tiring day. Aura and Momo were watching the Air Temple, as it disappeared behind the clouds, while the airbender thought of Monk Gyatso and her life at the Air Temple again.
She missed all of them. Even her friends who seemingly abandoned her after the revelation of being the Avatar. If she never left, maybe they'd still be around, well, their descendants anyhow. And that's not including her friends in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, but she figured that they at least were able to have children and grandchildren, unlike the Air Nomads. Aura swore to herself that she'd avenge them by ending this stupid war.
...And then a certain fire prince's face entered her mind...
Her eye twitched, 'Bad Aura! No thinky of fire princey! He bad!' she internally scolded herself, like her mind was a three year old. A voice in her head tried to convince her that it was ok to like the prince, but she quickly shoved it away. Aura shook her head from side to side, trying to get her thoughts away from Zuko.
"What're you doing?" Sokka asked her, giving her a look while thinking she was going insane.
Aura freezed with a 'frightened deer-dog' look on her face, "Uh, nothing!" She couldn't tell them about having a small attraction (that little voice corrected her by calling it a crush) she had on their enemy!
"...ok?" Sokka lied down, freaked out by her quick and weird answer. She had her moments, and sometimes it confused him endlessly.
Aura sighed before she laid down with Momo. They both quickly fell asleep, dreaming of the Air Temple, both knowing they were going to miss their home, but knew they had to journey on.
To be continued...
Me: And there we go! Still need a team name, but until I get an suggestions, I'm keeping it as the A-Team! And yes, I got that from TV!
Momo: *leaps onto shoulder and chitters*
Me: *grabs lemur and gently places him back into closet, before shutting and locking door to prevent escape* BYE-BYE!
