Chapter 3: Meeting Mako

Author's Notes: Wow, only four chapters in, and this story already has 13 favorites and 15 follows. I guess you guys like Fallen From Grace :D Thanks!

Reviews:

tokyoghoul234 – I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Disclaimer: A:TLA is not mine. I just wish I was in that world.

Italics – truespeak/flashbacks (truespeak is plain then)


3rd Person: Zuko

The young prince came out onto the deck of the ship and saw his uncle drinking tea by himself. That was odd. Aide hadn't been on her cushion when he woke up, which was normal, but she wasn't with Iroh? Where was she?

"Uncle, where's Aide?" he asked bemusedly. The old man looked up at him in confusion.

"I thought she was just sleeping in," Iroh replied. The two looked at each other silently, and then Zuko looked out at the ocean.

"That idiot. Where could she be?" he growled. Only the sound of waves washing against the metal hull and the sun rising in the east answered him.

Aide's POV

I had taken my bag and flown away from the ship, towards where the light had originated. It was unlikely that the Avatar was still there, but I could still check there for some clue. That was where I found the strange iceberg. It looked like it had a crater in it, only there was nothing that could have made it. The ice was completely empty, except for one thing that no human would ever find.

The traces of spirit energy.

All living things, and even some places, bear spirit energy or chi. It is the connection to the Spirit World that everything has, and one of the few things that my birth realm and my current realm had in common. Spirits, especially my kind, can sense spirit energy, as can some animals. This was how I was able to feel the wave of chi unleashed when the pillar of light appeared. It was also how I was able to find this iceberg, and the immense traces of spirit energy. I knew there were no major spirits in the South Pole, seeing as I had been here before, so considering I had been able to use truespeak to communicate with the Avatar briefly, it could only have been him here.

That was good. If he was no longer here, then even if Zuko's ship got here, the Avatar would be safe. But now I needed to find him and warn him, even if it meant revealing what I was to him. The entire world was at stake. I needed to push down the human side of me and focus on my spirit side; it was the only way I could do this to Zuko, because otherwise I'd never be able to help the Avatar.

I concentrated some more, tracking the residue of the Avatar's spectacular reappearance, and began flying in the direction they had gone, skimming over the icy water. That was slightly strange. If the Avatar was an airbender, like he was supposed to be, then why was he sticking to the water?

A silent gasp sucked in some of the frigid air. Of course! He was trying to throw people off his scent and make it seem like he wasn't really an airbender! After all, they had all been killed a hundred years ago. It made sense he would hide that part of him.


When I finally tracked his spirit energy to a Fire Navy ship locked in ice, I sighed exasperatedly. I had gone on a wild goose-duck chase all over the South Pole, following the spiritual spoor of the Avatar, and this is where he had gone? To an abandoned, old Fire Navy ship that was most likely booby-trapped? For a man over a hundred years old, he sure wasn't showing much wisdom.

But this is where he had gone, and still was, I gathered. There were no footprints leading away except for those of a pair of otter-penguins, so he was still inside. And the Avatar had someone with him, too. Well, I would live if yet one more person learned what I was. It was probably someone from the Southern Water Tribe, and they had been so weakened by the raids over the years that it was unlikely they would try and use me to win the war.

With the hope that I could still get to the Avatar before anything bad happened, I used the Grow glyph to return my bag and its contents to their original sizes, pulled out the clothing, and took a deep breath. I had never shifted into a human in frozen weather, but hey, there's always a first time for everything. Including using my other name.


3rd Person: Aang

He hadn't meant to set off that flare. He just wanted to explore the abandoned Fire Navy ship with his new friend. Now, there was probably going to be a heap of trouble in store for them when they got back.

"Uh oh," Aang muttered, staring out the window with Katara as the flare rose higher and higher, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. When it reached the very top of its ascent, it exploded in a shower of sparks and bright light, attracting the attention of anyone within a hundred miles. That could not be good.

The young airbender looked around the bridge, noticing a hole in the ceiling. He dragged the young, female waterbender with him to stand underneath it and scooped her up in his arms.

"Hold on tight!" he shouted just before he jumped out of the hole and onto the snow covered roof of the bridge. The two of them hopped down with huge leaps, soon reaching the ice. Aang kept hold of Katara's hand as they dashed back towards the village.


About halfway there, they heard a young woman call out for them to stop. Both turned warily to see a Fire Nation girl running after them, though her clothes were slightly different from normal Fire Nation fashions. Katara backed away slowly, but when the young woman held up her hands to show she meant them no harm as she got closer, Aang decided to give her a chance.

"Oh, thank the High Spirits I found you! You need to get out of here!" she exclaimed worriedly. Something was off about her, though, and it took him a moment to realize what. Though she had spoken and air had left her mouth in small clouds of condensation, they had no voice to them. It was simply her breathing out while mouthing words.

It wasn't just her speech that was weird. Her eyes weren't the normal gold or amber of the Fire Nation's natives. They were pale and colorless, with only a narrow ring of black around the edges to show she had an iris. On her body was a shawl of some sort, though the front and back were sewn together from the bottom about halfway for armholes, and it draped around her upper arms instead of shoulders. Black straps peeked out from under the shawl as they went over her shoulders, part of what looked like a mostly black ensemble. Baggy black pants were tucked into dark leather boots with pointed toes, with a wide red sash wrapped around her waist to hold it against her securely. Red and black wristbands hung loosely from her wrists. Her long black hair was tied back in a low ponytail with a fluttery strip of red cloth, leaving only her long black bangs to frame her face. On her forehead was a faint birthmark that looked somewhat like Aang's tattoos, except it was only on the center of the area and did not extend into her hairline. She seemed very odd, especially since she had a look of general calm on her face.

"Who are you?" Katara asked suspiciously from her spot a short distance behind the airbender boy. "What do you want?"

The young woman bowed low to both of them. "My name is Aide Lagarian, though please call me Mako right now. I am a firebender, and I am here to warn you that a Fire Navy ship is coming for you."

Aang cocked his head to the side curiously.

"Why do you want us to call you Mako? I thought you said your name was Aide," he replied bemusedly. The girl straightened and gave them a sheepish smile.

"There is someone on that ship who I would prefer not know my name is Aide. Besides, Mako is the name I take in this form. It makes it easier to keep track of things," Aide replied with a calmness that was slightly odd. Who was that serene after delivering such troubling news?

Aide's POV

I smiled reassuringly at the Avatar and the waterbender girl with him – I knew what she was by the feeling around her spirit energy. All benders have a slightly different feel to their emotions and chi, and since she was Water Tribe, I simply put two and two together. Though it would be lying to say I was shocked to see how young the Avatar appeared to be, his spirit energy didn't lie. This boy with the arrow tattoos was definitely the Avatar.

"So, uh, Mako, what makes you so sure a ship is coming?" the girl asked. I shrugged.

"Oh, just put it down to my once being a passenger on that ship. Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of betraying you. I harbor no loyalties to the Fire Lord or the Fire Nation," came my casual reply. I looked back toward where I though Zuko and his ship might be by now. "Though I would recommend escaping before the ship arrives. I doubt the person I mentioned would take kindly to finding us here."

The Water Tribe girl gasped when I said this, and the Avatar looked back at me seriously.

"Then come on! We need to get back to the village to warn them," he said, grabbing the wrist of the girl and then my own. The boy began running with us, using what was probably airbending to propel us all along faster. Feelings of joy and guilt rose up within me. Joy because I was here to help the Avatar get away and save the world. Guilt because in doing so, I was betraying Zuko.

'It's for his own good,' I told myself mentally. But part of me knew that was a lie, at least to me. My betrayal of Zuko wasn't because I wanted to help him. It was because I wanted to stop him from making a huge mistake that would spell doom for the world. In the end, it might help him, but along the way, all my actions would do was hurt him.

'High Spirits, why does my punishment have to be so complex?' I railed silently, letting the wind of our movement across the ice carry away the faint tears rising up.


When we were no more than about thirty yards away, Aang slowed down, and the three of us walked toward the dilapidated village the rest of the way. Children ran forward to gather around him, cheering at his return. Most of them looked at me with curiosity and suspicion, but I simply bowed slightly whenever one stared too long.

I wasn't very surprised when, upon our arrival in the small village, a spear was pointed straight at me. It would have been a little unfair to break it with my Spirit Mark, so instead I just put up with it. The guy who was pointing the spear, a teenage boy probably a few years younger than me, was definitely not happy with my sudden appearance.

"I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare, and now you've brought one of them back to destroy us all!" the guy shouted. A small, wordless scoff came from the back of my throat.

"I admit that I am a firebender and that I come from the Fire Nation, but I have no intention of harming this village or anyone in it," I said frankly, gently brushing the spear away from me. High Spirits, I was glad Lady Ursa had taught me how to sync my words with my lips so that I appeared to be actually talking. I doubted this guy would have taken kindly to being communicated with in truespeak.

"You led them straight to us!" the boy replied irately. The girl shook her head.

"Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident," she explained. The Avatar nodded.

"Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and, well... we boobied right into it. Besides, uh, Mako came to warn us that a Fire Navy ship was coming. Why would she do that if she wanted to destroy you?" Aang added, glancing at me curiously when he said my name. I nodded imperceptibly and looked back. Better if this village knew me by that name, since I was probably going to have to fight as a human pretty soon.

"Because she's trying to earn our trust so it'll be easier to stab us in the back!" the young Water Tribe boy countered, paranoia rolling off of him. I rolled my eyes and rested my arms against my stomach. Wow. This was what he thought I would do? Simply pathetic.

An old woman nearby shook her head in disappointment, looking sternly at the girl with the Avatar.

"Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. If what this young woman claims is true, we are all in danger," she said grimly. Aang looked stricken.

"Don't blame Katara! I brought her there," he protested, his face becoming downcast. "It's my fault."

"Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemies!" the guy ordered, and the kids reluctantly walked towards him and the old woman. "The foreigners are banned from our village!" This seemed to upset Katara, because she put her hands on her hips and glared at him, replying angrily, "Sokka, you're making a mistake."

"No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad. I'm protecting you from threats like them!" the boy, whose name was apparently Sokka, replied, vehemently gesturing to Aang and myself.

"Aang is not our enemy, and neither is Mako!" she protested, motioning to us with her gloved hands. "Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun."

The implications of this statement seemed to elude Sokka. "Fun? We can't fight firebenders with fun!"

"You should try it some time." Aang smiled at him with an earnest, honest look on his face, and I folded my arms across my chest, raising one eyebrow in a baleful glare at the Water Tribe boy.

"Clearly, you know nothing of actually fighting firebenders. They are a very grim lot. Well, most of them," I added calmly, allowing for Lord Iroh in that additional statement. Aang's suggestion and my snide remark didn't help our case, and he angrily pointed his spear at us again.

"Get out of our village. Now!" Sokka ordered. I was briefly tempted to take his weapon out of his hands and snap it across my thigh, but I doubt that would end well. Both for my poor leg and for my relations with this village and its sole guardian.

"Grandmother, please, don't let Sokka do this," Katara pleaded, trying one last time to save, maybe not me, but certainly Aang from permanent exile. The old woman shook her head slowly, giving the young waterbender a very disappointed frown.

"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender and this firebender leave." Her grim, disapproving words seemed to be the last straw for Katara, because she scowled angrily and declared, "Then I'm banished, too! C'mon, Aang, let's go!"

With that, she turned on her heel, took Aang by the shoulder, and began walking towards the large, furry animal that waited outside the village, pushing the Avatar along with her. I followed in the young woman's wake, curious as to what this creature was. It had six legs, each tipped with feet bearing three toes, and two magnificent horns stuck out of the sides of its head and challenged the sky. Its big eyes regarded me curiously as I approached, and for a moment, I felt a wave of curiosity and concern from the beast. It seemed that, whatever this creature was, it could feel that I was different from the other humans.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka asked in incredulous confusion from behind us, when we were but a short distance from the furry animal.

"To find a waterbender! Aang's taking me to the North Pole!" Katara declared. Aang seemed bemused at this, then brightened for some reason.

"I am? Great!" he said cheerfully.

"Katara!"

The cry from her brother stopped the young woman in her tracks, so she could listen to what he had to say. I could feel the indecision beginning to rise up in her, and simply walked past to stand with the Avatar. This was her choice. Leave, or stay.

"Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?" Doubt joined the indecision, now, and it wasn't too hard to guess what would happen next. I just wasn't expecting Aang to be the push she needed.

"Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family," he said gently, making up her mind for her. The airbender walked towards the furry animal, and I walked with him. Katara watched him go with a sort of resigned sadness.

"So, you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?" she asked softly. He nodded. "Thanks for penguin sledding with me."

"Where will you go?" He put a hand on the beast's head.

"Guess I'll go back home and look for the airbenders." Aang thought for a moment. "Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that."

I stepped forward, dipping my head. I knew I couldn't stay here to be discovered by Zuko and Iroh. I needed to stay with the Avatar. I might be his only chance of staying free in this world.

"If it is all right with you, A-Aang," I began, stopping myself before I said Avatar and revealed what he was to these people, "I will go with you. I have always wanted to see the Air Temples for myself ever since I first heard of their splendor."

He nodded, smiling weakly. "It's okay, Mako. You can come with. Besides, Appa and I would get pretty lonely without someone else along." The Avatar propelled us both onto the beast, who must have been the Appa he meant, and I settled into a sitting position with my legs tucked beneath me in the saddle while he sat on the head, holding the reins attached to Appa's horns.

"It was nice meeting everyone," he said forlornly. Sokka looked at the beast derisively. "Let's see your bison fly now, air boy."

"Come on, Appa, you can do it! Yip-yip!" The bison let out a deep rumble that echoed in my chest cavity and got to his feet, but he didn't fly. Perhaps this was the reason why he had taken the water route. Now I felt somewhat stupid for my earlier assumption.

"Yeah, I thought so," Sokka said smugly. I narrowed my eyes and considered throwing a few embers his way, then decided against it. Anger at his rude comment would not get me anywhere. I needed to keep a level head, like I had back home. Feeling emotions was okay, but I couldn't let them dictate my actions. That would go against everything I had learned from Grandpa, an emotion-based spirit like I had once been, like my mother had been.

"Aang! Don't go! We'll miss you!" a girl cried out, running forward to stand by Katara. Tears glittered in her eyes from the sunlight, and sadness came toward me in a small wave, matching her own personal size. He looked back at her sadly.

"I'll miss you, too." Aang looked at Katara then. Conflicting emotions came off both of them, and for a moment I worried I might be sick. My human body wasn't used to so many feelings at once, so at times I became nauseous when I felt too many emotions. I forced down the bile and let them have their moment, trying to think of emptiness and other things to get my body back under control.

Aang turned away wordlessly and flicked the reins.

"Come on, boy." Appa walked away, taking me and Aang with him. I kept my eyes on the sky, giving the boy some alone time to get over the emotions battling within him. When we weren't that far from the village, I heard a familiar, annoying voice in the background.

"All right! Ready our defenses! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!"

'Fight, Sokka, and you will fail. Zuko has been training for the past few years for this exact moment, while you could be taken down by a spirit that has just undergone parturition,' I thought grimly. There was a pause, and then he shouted something else.

"And no potty breaks!"

I chuckled quietly, not wishing to disturb Aang in his silence. That pause must have been one of the children saying he needed to use the bathroom. How humorous that Sokka felt he needed to add that to his original commands. If only they stood a chance. Katara would need to hide what she was. The stories of what happened to the waterbenders the Fire Nation captured were not pretty, and she seemed to be a good person. I didn't want that to happen to her. Hopefully, I had reached them in time with my warning, and they could make some preparations before Zuko arrived.

Hopefully...


Author's Notes: For those of you wondering where Aide came up with the name Mako, I will have her reveal the source after they leave the South Pole. So now you guys have something to look forward to! Yay!

As always, reviews are welcome and appreciated!

Love ya! Wild Cat 214, out!