AN: A big thank you to everybody who reviewed last year. It really brought back the confidence that some people really like this story. I'm sorry if this is a bit later than I planned, but my cousin got married this weekend and I was one of her bridesmaid. Anyway onto the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender
The King of Omashu
It turned out the plan was to head to the North Pole, but first they were making a few stops before they got there. This included the city of Omashu. Kai, although protested at first about going to this city, had decided to let Aang do what he wanted. Throughout the two days that they had been flying, the three had filled Kai in on her previous adventures. It finally hit her how young Aang was, and how he had to save the world at the age of twelve. She thought she had it bad being fifteen, but it seemed ridiculous in contrast to Aang. But it seemed like he was being taken care of before Kai showed up. She even thought without her, that everything would've turned out ok. But now that she was here, Kai was determined to help Aang as much as she could. She was determined to better herself by being stronger than when she lived in her village and to try to keep her emotions in check. She would need that if she were to succeed.
They had just arrived at the cliff overlooking Omashu and she had to say that she was amazed. Never had she seen a place so large and advance. Katara and Sokka had similar reactions to Kai as Aang announced, "The Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. I used to always come here to visit my friend Bumi."
"Wow, we don't have buildings like this in the South Pole," Katara remarked.
"They have buildings that don't melt," Sokka said, amazed.
"I thought I had been to some big places, but this one is definitely the biggest. I didn't even they had cities this big," said Kai.
"I've heard that Ba Sing Se is even bigger, but I wouldn't know. Well let's go slow pokes. The real fun's inside the city," Aang reasoned.
"Wait Aang," Katara started, making Aang stop in mid slide down the mountain. "It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar."
Kai kicked herself for not thinking of that herself. "You need a disguise," Sokka said.
"So what am I supposed to do?" Aang replied. "Grow a mustache?'"
It turned out that was exactly what Aang needed to do. Or at least use Appa's fur. When his disguise was all set Aang commented. "Uggh. This is so itchy. How do you live in this stuff?"
Kai observed, "Great, now you look just like my grandfather."
Katara added, "Technically Aang is 112 years old."
Aang shouted out in realization, "Wait, shouldn't Kai have a disguise too? I mean, couldn't it be dangerous if she was recognized too?"
Kai laughed, "I'm not the one with the giant blue arrow, that screams look at me I'm an airbender."Kai saw that Aang was still not satisfied. "Don't worry Aang, no one really knows who I am. If it makes you happy then, Katara give me your coat." Katara shrugged it off and handed it to Kai, who slipped it over herself. "See now I can be Sokka and Katara's cousin. Just a normal non bender like Sokka from the Southern Water Tribe. Happy?"
Aang nodded in response and used airbending to pick up and spin his staff, he hunched over and said, "Now let's get skippin', young whipper-snappers. The big city awaits."
They continued down to the city with Aang reminiscing about how great and friendly the city is. But just as he said that, the guards stationed outside earthbent some man's cart of cabbages into the pit below. They were all shocked, but Aang prodded them along by saying, "Just keep smiling."
"Maybe this isn't such a good idea," Kai remarked.
But Aang waved off her protests, "Don't worry, let me do the talking and follow my lead."
They approached the guard who said, bending a stone to hover over the group, "State your business."
Aang surprised the group by running up to him and poking the guard in the chest, "My business is my business, young man and none of yours. I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside."
The gate guard was shocked at the audacity of the supposive old man, "Settle down, old timer. Just tell me who you are."
"Name's Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis, the third! And these are my grandkids," he said, gesturing to the others.
Katara stepped forward with a smile and said, "Hi. June Pippinpaddleopsicopolis. Nice to meet you."
Kai followed saying, "And I'm Jiang, her cousin," using her best friend's as a cover name.
The guard stared at them before saying, "You two seem like responsible young ladies. See that your grandfather stays out of trouble. Enjoy Omashu!"
"Thanks, we will," Kai said, relieved to have passed uncrushed.
The four started to walk into the city when the guard started up again, "Wait a minute. You're a strong young boy," he said,pointing to Sokka. "Show some respect for the elderly and carry your grandfather's bag."
Aang face lit up and said, "Good idea!" tossing the bag to Sokka, savoring every moment he could.
The four continued into the city glad that their act had worked. They walked to the other side of the street and stared at the large city in amazement. Kai was looking all around trying to grasp the real beauty of Omashu. She felt that she could stay there her whole life and still find something new. Aang then began telling them about the Omashu delivery system and how he and his friend Bumi would ride in the carts. This prompted Aang to actually take them up to the top and show them in person. All four of them squeezed into the box, coincidentally going from youngest to oldest, Aang, Katara, Kai, then finally Sokka. "One ride," Aang had pleaded. "Then we're off to the North Pole. Airbender's honor."
"It's sounded like fun at first," Katara said nervously. "But now I'm having second thoughts."
But it was too late, they were already bounding down the chute. Kai was screaming the whole way, partially because of the exhilaration but mostly because of the high speed they were going down. About halfway through, her face was buried into Katara's when she heard other people screaming too. She ventured a look back and saw a cart full of spears coming towards them. Screaming even louder, she ducked down again and felt Sokka behind her do the same. Aang yelled over the wind, "I'm on it!" He veered them off the track going on to various roofs and even through an army training session. They finally got back on the path only for Aang to speed them up using his airbending. The worst was that they discovered that they were going to crash into another standing cart. They weren't fast enough so they crashed into the cart and were flung out of their cart, but Aang used his airbending to get them back in. Then, they crashed into a store and ruined an artisan's pot. Kai yelled, "Sorry."
They finally ended up landing in a man's cabbage stand. Aang wig had completely been destroyed in the process and the cabbage man was yelling hysterically at them. "Two cabbages please," she heard Aang say with a sheepish smile.
"I don't think that helped," Kai said quietly to Aang, noticing the guards now surrounding them.
They were taken to the king's palace, to the throne room to be exact, where they were told they would receive their punishment. They were forced to kneel in front of a very old king. A guard announced, "Your majesty, these juveniles were arrested for vandalism, traveling under false pretenses, and malicious destruction of cabbages."
The cabbage man began jumping up and down screaming, "Off with their heads! One for each head of cabbage!"
Kai flinched in response, "Ok, so maybe we did mess up big time, but that's a little extreme," she thought.
The guard stopped this man's fuss by saying, "Silence, only the king can pass down judgement. What is your judgement, sire?"
All the kids had different reaction under scrutinization of the king. Sokka was whimpering slightly, Katara was smiling trying to get on the King's good side, Aang was looking to his side pouting, while Kai was nervously tapping her fingers and feet. "Throw them.." the king started and all the kids gasped thinking of the worse. "A feast," he finished.
Now the kids were very confused. Kai and Sokka were smiling though because they were glad they wouldn't be locked up forever, while Katara was giving Aang a very confused look.
A feast was brought before them and they all waited, even Sokka somewhat reluctantly, until the King ate first. He said, talking to Aang, "The people in my city have gotten fat from too feasts so I hope you don't mind your chicken with no skin."
Aang politely declined saying, "Thanks, but I don't eat meat."
So the King turned to Sokka, "How about you? I bet you like meat,"stuffing a drumstick in his mouth. Kai giggled as Sokka started chewing eagerly on it. She saw that Katara whispered something to Aang but she couldn't hear it so instead she just gave Sokka a pointed look. Sokka clearly got the message as he slowed down his eating and started to eat civilly again.
"So tell me, young bald one, where are you from?" the King asked.
"I'm from...Kangaroo Island!" Aang replied.
"Oh Kangaroo Island, eh? I hear that place is really hopping!"
An awkward silence followed with Sokka bursting out laughing about five seconds too late. "What! I thought it was funny!" he defended.
"What about the rest of you? Where are you from?
"We're all from Kangaroo Island," Kai said, thinking quickly. "We're friends from there."
"Really, well that is certainly intriguing, but all these jokes are making me tired. Guess it's time to hit the hay," the old man said.
Kai's body relaxed glad that they were now out of this situation. Maybe they really could get out of this free of all charges. But then all of sudden, two chicken legs flew towards both Kai and Aang. Aang was able to catch his use airbending, while Kai simply deflected the one coming towards her with her hand towards Sokka. The guards gasped at Aang's airbending skills. "There's an airbender in our presence, and not just any airbender! The Avatar!"
That's why he must have thrown the chicken at us Kai thought, "He probably caught onto that was the Avatar's Apprentice and Avatar and was testing us. Good thing I can't airbend too much. Maybe my charade can still work even if Aang's is up."
"Ok, you caught me," Aang said, starting to back up with his hands up. "I'm the Avatar doing my Avatar thing, keeping the world safe. Everything checks out. No firebenders here. So good job, everybody," now pulling everybody back towards the door. Love each other, respect all life, and don't run with your spears. We'll see you next time!"
But the guards had blocked their escape. Kai turned towards the king and said, "You can't keep us here! Let us leave!"
"Lettuce leaf?" the King questioned chewing on one.
"We're in serious trouble, this guy is nuts," Sokka whispered to Kai who nodded in response.
"Tomorrow the Avatar will face three deadly challenges. But for now the guards will show you to your chamber,"the old man said.
The guard and the king then began arguing over where this room was exactly was and what it was too. But eventually, they determine it to be a room that turned out to be quite nice. They were pushed into rather rudely, but when Kai looked back to glare, the wall had already shut.
"This is a prison cell?" Katara said, looking around. "But it looks so nice."
"He did say it was newly refurbished," Aang commented.
"Nice or not, we're prisoners," Kai said, plopping down on one of the four beds.
"I wonder what these challenges will be," Aang said worried, sitting down on the bed next to Kai.
"Well he did say they were deadly, so they can't be good," Sokka remarked.
"Way to be an optimist, don't worry Aang you'll do fine," Katara comforted. "Anyway we're not sticking around to find out. There's got to be some way out of here."
Aang jumped up suddenly yelling out, "The air vents!" pointing to the small holes scattered around the room.
"If you think that we going to fit through there, you're crazier than that King," Sokka said harshly.
"We can't," Aang said hopefully. "But Momo can."
Aang then proceeded to stuff a bloated Momo into the air vents for him to try to reach Appa. But his full stomach prevented him from getting no more than a few more inches in the small tube. Seeing that this wasn't working, Aang sat back down disappointed. "Eh, how's Appa supposed to save us anyway?" Kai asked trying to cheer Aang up.
"Appa's a ten ton flying bison. I'm sure he could figure something out."
Seeing that attempt didn't work, Katara said, "Well, no point of arguing about it now. Get some rest Aang. Looks like you'll need it for tomorrow."
They all climbed into their beds, muttered quiet goodnights, and the silence overtook the room. How was Aang supposed to complete these tasks Kai thought. Sure he's clever and all but still, these tasks were deadly. Kai wished that somehow she could help him, but for the time being it didn't seem like the king would allow for anyone to help him, even if she did reveal herself as the Avatar's Apprentice. Sighing, she turned over trying to get some shut eye before tomorrow.
But before she knew it, she was awoken by a guard silently standing over her bed. The guard held a gloved hand over her mouth so she would be quiet and not make any noise He gestured for her to get up, which she did and noticed both Sokka and Katara were also being similarly handled. But Aang was still in a deep sleep, drool spilling out his mouth. It also didn't seem like he was going to be woken up. Still slightly confused from being awoken so abruptly and early, the guard began to drag her towards a gap in the wall. But about halfway through, Kai realized that Aang was going to be left all alone did she start to struggle. But by this point, the guard's grip was already too firm for her to get anywhere. Soon the three and their escort were out of the cell, and the wall was bent back up behind them again. At this time the hands were removed from their mouths and Katara bravely asked, "Where are we going? Why isn't Aang coming?"
"Don't worry, the Avatar will be coming a separate way, and meeting the king from there," a guard reassured her.
They were being led down a hallway where they stopped and waited in front of another wall. Each of them were still being held by the arms by a guard. Kai nervously shifted as she waited in silence. She had no idea how Aang would react with them all being gone and only hoped that he would cooperate. That seemed like the thing to do for now. The wall was brought down in front of them, which Kai squinted at the gap as the she tried to adjust to the bright lighting. She saw that the king and Aang were standing facing each other, he heard the King say, "So I will give your friends some special souvenirs." The two guards holding Katara and Sokka slipped a ring for each of them which lit up and fused to their fingers. "Those delightful rings are made of pure jennamite, also known as creeping crystal. It's a crystal that grows remarkably fast. By nightfall your friends will be covered in it. Terrible thing really. But I'm not entirely heartless and will not give your friend over there," gesturing to Kai. "One too. That way if you do fail at least you won't be all alone. And I can stop it, but only if you cooperate."
Sokka exclaimed, "Ah,it's already creeping!"
Kai tried to help by tugging on the ring on Sokka's hand but it only got tighter and made Kai fall back from all the strength she was using to try to pull it off. Sokka rubbed his finger as it felt that his finger was going to pop out of his socket. "Just stop it," Sokka hissed. "It's not working."
Kai gave Aang an apologetic look as to say that at least she tried. Aang nodded that it was ok, but announced to the court, "I'll do what you want."
The king grinned in response. The first task turned out to be in a cave with giant pointed rocks and a waterfall. Aang was told that he had to retrieve the key to the king's lunchbox. Unfortunately, this key was in the middle of the waterfall. After a few tries which almost ended up with Aang became a human kabob, he was able to get the key by throwing a rock into the waterfall. At the end, Aang demanded for his friends again, but the king refused saying that he needed him to find his pet, Flopsie. So Aang went into the ring and began chasing after a small bunny with large ears that Kai thought was one of the cutest animals she had ever seen. But then a goat gorilla showed up behind him, and Kai yelled for him to forget the bunny and run for his life. It turned out that this giant animal was actually Flopsie and Aang was able to make him sit and then go to the King. Two tasks down, one to go Kai thought. Aang jumped up to Katara, Sokka, and Kai asking, "Guys are you okay?"
"Other than crystals encasing my body, doing great!" Katara said faintly.
A crystal growing on Sokka made him become unbalanced and fall over at that point. "I just wish you could be done with these tasks already. The sooner we get out of this city the better," Kai said.
Aang agreed and turned back to the king saying that he was ready for the next challenge. He had to pick between two large and very dangerous looking men to duel against. But Aang trying to be very clever, picked the king to duel against. It was a very wrong choice though as the king turned out to be an earthbending master. Guards had to hold Kai back during the task as she tried to dart out to somehow help Aang, especially during the times that it seemed like he was going to be crushed. Eventually, Aang was able to best the master and win the duel. They came back up to the place where Kai and the rest were standing. Kai gave Aang a hug very glad that he hadn't been injured in any of his challenges.
"There I did all your tasks," Aang said angrily, turning back to the King. "Now I want you to free my friends so we can leave. We have a lot to do and we need to get on our way."
The crazy king shook his finger at Aang and tsked. Aang and Kai both huffed simultaneously. "Not so fast, you might have noticed that your friend over there," he said gesturing to Kai. "Wasn't given a ring like the other two for a reason. Not because I was purely being kind but because I know that she is your Apprentice."
"Me," Kai said incredulously. "I'm not the Avatar's Apprentice. I'm just a regular non bender from the Southern Water Tribe." Kai's eyes were shifting the whole time but then she locked eyes with king as if having a glaring contest. "Fine, I am her," she said frustrated.
"How did you know?"
The king replied simply, "You two are much too similar to not guess that you are his Apprentice."
Kai retorted hotly, "What does that matter to you?"
"It seems like the Avatar's Apprentice," the king started.
"I have a name," Kai interrupted loudly. Noticing the shocked looks she was receiving from everyone she continued more softly. "My name is Kai, not Avatar's Apprentice. I'm a person too."
The king stared at her for a minute and she slyly backed away. "Alright then, it seems like Kai needs to do a task too. The Avatar and her will complete a task together."
Aang and Kai immediately had their objections. "What! You only said I had to do three tasks!"
"You can't just order people to do whatever you want!"
"It's not fair," they exclaimed at the same time.
"My kingdom, my rules," he said, folding his hands into his robes. '"Unless the Avatar wants his apprentice to go alone."
Aang looked at Kai. She was looking incredibly angry but at the same time trying to keep her emotions in check. She had crossed her arms and was looking a the floor muttering curse words. "No, I won't leave her, I'll help," Aang announced.
Bummi only nodded and motioned for the two to follow. They reached a room with strong slabs that nearly kissed the ceiling. Kai observed that they had been placed in a random fashion or that was what it seemed. "I left my favorite ring in this room when I was wandering. Since I'm so old, I can't remember where I place it. I want you to retrieve it."
"Seems easy enough," Kai said, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.
"Oh, it it too easy for you?" the king questioned.
"No, that's not what I-" Kai began backtracking her words.
"Then you must retrieve it blindfolded and have your hands tied behind you. But don't worry the Avatar will be able to direct you from above, but he will be wearing earplugs so he won't be able to hear you," Bumi interrupted.
Aang let out a groan in frustration, "You just had to say that Kai."
"Well, I didn't mean that to happen, obviously," Kai said, rolling her eyes.
The king cleared his throat to bring the attention back to him. "Now, you must do this and I suggest that you do it quickly as the creeping crystals are working fast," gesturing to both Katara and Sokka.
"Just let us leave," Aang demanded one last time.
"I already offered you a lettuce leaf," the king stated.
Kai face palmed. "Can we at least have a minute to plan?"
The king nodded in return. Kai gestured Aang over. "You're going to have to lead me through the maze. Just give me general directions like left or right, try to estimate how far I have to walk too. Ok?"
Aang nodded. "I really hope that I don't end up with a broken nose or something," she muttered.
They broke from their little huddle and Aang and Kai were led their separate ways. The Avatar stood with the king, Sokka, and Katara on a stone platform above the maze. This allowed Aang to have a bird's eye view of the obstacles that Kai would be able to face. Unfortunately Kai did not have this advantage, and she led to the other end of the room. A thought just struck Kai and she yelled, "Aang, remember that your left is my right and vice versa."
Aang nodded as one would do in response, but in reality he couldn't hear a thing Kai said because his ear plugs were already in and he was just looking up and down. But think that he heard it, Kai said, "I'm ready," and she was promptly blindfolded and her wrists were tied behind her.
Hesitantly, she took a step forward in a direction that she remembered was the entrance. Aang shouted out the first direction, "You're doing great, just keep straight for about 6 paces and turn a sharp right."
Kai did exactly this, but instead of walking still on the path, she ran straight into a wall. She cursed and Aang yelled, "I said go right."
"I did go right," Kai muttered, but tried it again and promptly ran into the wall again. Aang yelled yet again, "Why did you do that! I said right! Not left! Stop trying to hurt yourself!"
"I did go right!" she yelled back as if he could hear her.
"Try going right this time, Kai," Aang yelled.
"Why not I try left instead," Kai thought on a whim. Very cautiously, she turned about face and took a hesitant step forward. Having not hit any wall, she took another step directly in front of the first. The lack of impact gave Kai more confidence and she started walking forward faster, "Finally you go right," Aang cried exasperated.
"That was my right Aang, you didn't hear the thing I said about directions being opposite," she muttered. "Now I'm going to have to translate all of them."
"Keep going straight," Aang directed. "Now turn left!"
Kai turned sharply on her heel and continued down the path to her right. This continued for some time, Kai going the fastest she could under the circumstances, for consideration of Katara and Sokka. As it went on, walking like this almost became natural, because she could trust that Aang wasn't intentionally running her into walls, because that would only harm them both. Kai physically, Aang emotionally. Kai could already see how attached he was to the two water tribe siblings, especially Katara. She knew of the crush Aang had on Katara recognising the signs before her and Shen had begun dating. The unconscious long looks at the other, the extra care he took for Katara not to get hurt. She hoped for the best if the feelings were unrequited.
Kai had finally reached the end of the maze because now Aang was directing her towards the ring. "Just step forward, now turn a bit to the left, no that's too much, turn back a bit. That's perfect, just stay right there."
Kai stopped in a very uncomfortable position. Her shoulders were aching from her arms being behind her back for so long."Now turn around and squat and pick up the should be right there."
She very awkwardly bent down and felt for the ring. Sweeping her hands across the floor, she felt the point of something that had to be the ring. With a little difficulty, she finally grabbed the ring. "Aha!" Kai yelled. "I got your stupid ring. I did it."
A guard walked over and removed the bindings. "Congratulations," the king said. "Now come up here and give it to me."
"Wait, what do you mean?" Kai asked confused.
"Come up here to the platform and give me the ring," the king responded.
"Fine, where are the stairs?" she asked not seeing any.
"There aren't any," the king replied simply.
"Then how do I get up there?" she asked, pointing to the platform.
"Well, you're the Avatar's Apprentice aren't you?"
"Yeah," Kai said hesitantly.
"So you're an airbender. Just airbend up here."
Kai gaped at him, "I think you're mistaken. I'm not a master airbender, I'm barely a beginner. I can't get up there."
"Well, you'll have to learn, and soon, because those crystals are going fast and you haven't finished your task."
"Can't you just earthbend a staircase? That would be easier for both of us," Kai bargained.
"No, you have to get up there on your own."
"Can I have Aang help me?"
"Sure, but you must know that he still has his earplugs in and he can't just airbend you up there."
Kai replied with a particularly annoyed, "Fine." Thinking for a minute, she started jumping up and down to catch Aang's attention, because as a normal twelve year old boy would do, he had dazed off. He finally noticed Kai and all the commotion she was making. When this happened, she put her plan into action. She motioned to herself and then jumped up in the air, then pointed to the platform. She continued to mime this until Aang said, "You want me to blow you up here?"
Kai shook her head in response. She changed her mime slightly. Now she pretended to run, then jumped, and then did the only airbending move she could do. "You want me to teach you to airbend yourself up there?" Aang questioned confused.
Kai nodded with a childish grin on her face. "But why?" Aang asked in response. She only had to point to the King when Aang finally understood. "You need to take a deep breath, clear your mind, and urge your body to propel itself forward."
She looked very nervous, but Kai started the motions. By the end, she only went a little bit higher than one would normally jump. The platform was clearly out of her reach. "I can't do this," she thought. Her shoulders slumped.
"Try it again," Aang ordered seeing Kai's disappointment. "This time get a very good running start and clear your mind."
Kai continued this about three or four times making adjustments and getting higher each time. Finally, the time that Kai had backed up to the farthest she could, her hands grazing the stone platform and she latched onto it. With much struggle, she slowly pulled herself onto the platform, careful not to drop the ring. That would just be counterproductive. When she got up, Kai dusted herself off casually. Inside, she felt so accomplished learning a much more advance move with minimal instruction. "There," Kai said proudly. "I've got your ring, now can we please leave."
"You've completed my task of retrieving the ring and all my other ones. I just have one more question for the Avatar to answer."
"That's not fair," Aang exclaimed. "You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests and if Kai did hers."
"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you didn't learn anything?" the King reasoned.
"Oh, come on," Sokka said exasperated, now that he was almost completely encased in crystals.
The king put up his hand to silence Sokka, "Answer this one question and I will set your friends free. What... is my name? From the looks of your friends I'd say you only have a few minutes."
The king walked away without any further clues or explanations. Kai gaped at the retreating figure. "How are you supposed to know his name?"
"Think about the challenges you did, he did ask the question to you. Maybe it's some kind of riddle," Katara suggested.
"I got it!" Sokka suddenly.
"Yeah," Aang urged.
"He's an earthbender right? Rocky! You know because of all the rocks."
Kai snorted, "If you use that kind of logic then Earthy would be a good one too."
Sokka only glared but Katara said, "We're going to keep trying, but those are some good backups."
"Okay, so back to the challenges. I got a key from a waterfall. I saved his pet. And I had a duel."
"And what did you learn," Katara prompted, while a crystal dug into her check.
"Well, everything was different than I expected," Aang replied.
"And?" Kai asked this time.
"Well, it wasn't straightforward," the Avatar thought out loud. "To solve those tests, I had to think differently than I usually would. I know his name."
They all were led back into the throne room where Aang started, "I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities. Bumi, you're a mad genius."
To Kai's shock Aang ran up and hugged the King, but then she realized that Bumi was the name of Aang's old friend from Omashu. "Oh Aang, it's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit. Literally."
But Katara brought the attention of the two friends back to herself and her brother who was still in the crystals by saying, "Uh, over here."
"Little help?" Sokka added.
King Bumi easily broke the crystals using earthbending and caught one of the crystals in his hand. He took a bite out of it, "Jennamite is made of rock candy, delicious."
"So this crazy old King is your friend Bumi?" Kai asked.
"Who are you calling old?" Bumi asked, pausing for a minute. "Ok, I'm old."
"Why did you do all of this instead of just telling Aang who you were?" Sokka questioned.
"First of all, it's pretty fun to mess with people," Bumi answered with a snort. " But I do have a reason. Aang, you have a difficult task ahead. The world's changed in the hundred years you've been gone. It's the duty of the Avatar to restore balance to the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You have much to learn. You must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord. And when you do, I hope you think like a mad genius. And it looks like you're in good hands. You'll need your friends help to defeat the Fire Nation. And you'll need Momo too."
"Can I ask you a question then?" Kai ventured. "Why did you have me do a challenge too?"
"It's your job as the Apprentice,Kai, to work side by side Aang and always watch out for eachother. You are his protector, but to do so you need to have complete trust in one and another even when the situation can be rather difficult. But I can see that you two on your way to being great friends."
Kai and Aang smiled at eachother before Aang said, "Thank you for your wisdom, but before we leave, I have a challenge for you."
Bumi and Aang went on one more ride down the mail chutes before the group left Omashu. They bid farewell to the King and Aang in particular hoped that they would see each other again soon.
AN: Thank you all for reading, I really appreciate it. I'm planning on skipping the next episode, "Imprisoned" because I really couldn't think of how to change that episode. It's very Katara centered, and I think it's a very good episode for her development and I don't want to change that. It would be mainly Kai tagging along with Sokka and Aang. So unless you have a burning desire for me to write that episode the next chapter will be the "Winter Solstice Part 1". Please review!
