Okay here is chapter seven. As the title suggests you're going to learn about the order of the White Lotus and its members. There will be surprises some in this chapter and others that I'm saving for later. Hope you like it and please remember to Review.
I own nothing except the characters Zane, Kimiko, Aiko, and Kana. So please don't sue me.
Ch.7 The White Lotus
About two hours after sunrise the gang was following a river which started to approach a large volcano which was easily over three dozen miles in diameter at the base. Curiosity ensued until Aang finally asked "when will we get there?"
"Relax kid this is probably the safest spot in the world right now" Zane told him as he, Kimiko, and Iroh led the rather large posy. Almost instantly the crew felt the ground shake beneath them.
"Yeah right!!!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Things are not always as they seem young one" Iroh chuckled slightly amused.
Toph's eyes opened in shock. "No way in hell" she said as if she had seen a ghost. She immediately slammed her hand to the ground to confirm what she felt. "Whoa" Toph said in even greater shock.
"Toph what is it?" Aang asked quizzically.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you Twinkle Toes" Toph told him flatly.
Several minutes later they came across a waterfall coming out of the cliffs right next to the volcano.
"Now a fair warning to all of you" Kimiko began with a dead seriousness in her eyes "If you share what I'm about to show you to anyone without permission I will kill you."
Kimiko then used her waterbending on the waterfall forcing it to part revealing a cave right behind it.
"You do love to show off don't you sis?" Zane asked slightly amused as everyone else stood amazed at the secrecy.
"Just shut up and get your asses in the cave" Kimiko barked slightly angered.
The gang entered the cave which was about thirty feet in diameter which even allowed Fang and Appa easy access, and thanks to the firebenders in their group they weren't walking in pitch darkness. About fifteen minutes later they came across a large gate and a voice called out "halt, who goes there?"
"No one special just Kimiko, Zane, Iroh, and friends" Kimiko stated flatly.
"What?" the voice said "What the hell kind of mission requires three dragons?" the man seemed shocked.
"The damn important kind; now open up before I fry you to a crisp!" Zane barked clearly annoyed by the delay.
"Yes Sir right away" the voice said as the gates opened up revealing that the volcano wasn't a volcano but a cover to hide a good sized town.
"Welcome to Asgard" Iroh said happily as everyone stood gawking at the sheer size of it.
The city was absolutely amazing the buildings stood about five stories tall a piece, the walls were covered in crystals like the catacombs of Ba Sing Se giving the city a welcoming glow, the streets were filled with people going around from merchant stand to merchant stand. But what amazed them the most was what they saw in the air above the rooftops; dragons were flying around in the air above the city, but what surprised them even more was the fact there appeared to be sky bison in the air flying alongside the dragons as if they were friends alongside what appeared to be people riding gliders.
"It can't be" Aang said as a tear rolled down his cheek.
"Sorry kid" Zane began "I know Zuko just destroyed your title as 'the world's last hope for peace' and now you just lost your title as 'the last airbender'."
"How can this be?" Aang began absolutely amazed "I mean I thought the Firenation killed them all."
"Our order has been around for a long time kid; one hundred years ago when the war began our members started smuggling airbenders into this city in the hopes of keeping them from going extinct" Kimiko began as her voiced showed some signs of regret "however we were only able to save about ten thousand of them and by the time the war started you had run away and dropped off the face of the earth."
"But how could they, I mean Soizen's comet made the firebenders virtually unstoppable didn't it?" Katara asked amazed at the sight before her.
"It made all firebenders virtually unstoppable, not just the ones loyal to Soizen" Kimiko explained flatly.
Aang dropped to the floor and looked up towards the ceiling clearly overwhelmed with joy. Katara ran up to him and said "This is wonderful Aang after the war is over they can return to the temples and restore the Air Nomads."
"How many airbenders live here anyway?" Azula asked clearly shocked at the fact that a supposedly extinct race of people were flying around inside a volcano.
"Asgard has about ten to twelve thousand airbenders, three thousand firebenders, one thousand warriors from the Firenation, and about two hundred earth benders" Zane said pointing to the walls where some Earthbenders appeared to have finished a serious workout.
"So that shacking we felt earlier?" Haru began.
"Correct it was caused by the Earthbenders to give the impression that this volcano could erupt so no one would settle around this area" Kimiko answered.
"That's genius" Ty Lee gasped at the clear amount of thought that went into the city.
Everyone stood in amazement at the site before them until they heard a voice cry out "Zane, Kimiko, and General Iroh" a woman in dark blue robes called before she embraced the twins in a deep hug drawing everyone's attention away from the ceiling.
"Hi mom" the twins said as she let go.
"So did the mission go as well as you two hoped?" Kana asked happy to see them alright.
"Better actually we not only managed to get Zuko and the Avatar as expected, we also managed to round up Azula and some other strong fighters" Kimiko stated pointing their mother towards the unexpectedly huge group until she spotted Katara and Sokka.
"Northern or Southern Water tribe?" Kana asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Southern" they answered quickly remembering the story they had heard about this woman from the twins.
"I see" Kana answered not lowering her eyebrows in suspicion.
"Any way we need to pay a visit to the Dragon of the center to give our report" Zane added hopping to refocus the attention.
"I think I'll have to do that alone after all I think you two are going to be wrapped up here for a while" Iroh chuckled lightly.
"What do you mean" Kimiko asked curiously.
"Zane, Kimiko" a young boy's voice called happily from the air.
Everyone turned to see several children fly down and tackle the twins knocking them to the ground.
"Hi kids" they said amused.
"So who are these people?" one of the girls asked as she helped Kimiko to her feet.
"Prince Zuko, Princess Azula, the supposed last Airbender Avatar Aang, and friends" Zane said as he got to his feet.
"They're really Airbenders" Aang said as he broke out in tears of joy at the confirming site of the young Air Nomads even if they were dressed in Firenation cloths.
"Yep" they smiled deeply before sending a gust of wind towards Aang knocking him on his ass and they laughed hysterically.
"Why don't you two fill the little ones in on our adventure and I'll report to the Dragon of the Center?" Iroh said happily.
"Thank you Dragon of the West" the twins said in a bow.
"Not a problem Dragons of the North and South" Iroh said in a bow "now would the rest of you follow me please, afterwards we'll give you the tour."
"I'll come with you, I need to make rooming arrangements for our new friends" Kana said as she left Zane and Kimiko with the children.
They walked towards a large Firenation style tower through the crowded streets as every man, woman, and child seemed to stare in disbelief at the crowd before them moving through the streets. Zuko noticed that Kana was eyeing Sokka and Katara with strong suspicion in her eyes.
"Do you have something against the Water Tribe Mrs. Kana?" Zuko asked curiously.
"Well you could say that; I have issues with the Northern Water Tribe thanks to their attitude towards women and I don't trust the Southern Tribe since their chief tried to kill my son" Kana answered with a hint of venom in her voice.
"What are you talking about?" Sokka asked surprised to hear that Zane and his dad had met.
"After the war began the order started losing support from the other nations; most of our members in the Earth Kingdom are too old to really do anything except sneak our people in and out of hotspots without getting caught and as for the Water Tribe I'm the last member" Kana began.
"What does that have anything to do with it?" The Duke asked clearly interested.
"Well in response to that problem we occasionally send emissaries to the leaders of the Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom to try and get some help out of them, one day Zane and Kimiko were sent out on a mission to convince Chief Hakoda of the Southern Tribe that we could use his help to end the war" Kana began "they had been chosen since we thought their half water tribe heritage would give them a better chance at success, however the chief decided that since Zane is a firebender he must be a bloodthirsty killer and attacked him, they both escaped but it still pissed me off."
"I'm sorry to hear that" Katara said in earnest shock at her father's behavior.
They continued to walk until Zuko finally asked "So Uncle just what exactly is this order of the White Lotus anyway and what's up with you, Zane, and Kimiko calling each other dragons?"
"Well it is a long story" Iroh began "but I guess you need to know; for starters the order was founded about thirty years before the war by your great-grandfather."
"Which one?" Azula asked though she had a suspicion.
They stopped in front of a statue of Avatar Roku in the center of town. The statue stood made of stone instead of metal like most Firenation statues, in the middle of a fountain with water coming out his mouth, and a candle burning fiercely in each hand. "I think I know" Zuko said as he admired the statue of the last Avatar.
"You all know about how Avatar Roku couldn't kill Soizen after he made his first attempts at domination because of their past friendship right?" Iroh asked.
"Yeah he showed me" Aang answered as they continued walking towards the tower.
"Well since he knew that my grandfather still had his ambitions in tack he decided to create an organization to help stop Soizen in the event that Roku died before Soizen and he began the war afterwards; and also to protect his heirs" Iroh began as everyone suddenly understood why Zuko and Azula seemed to be such a high priority "he started by creating this city from the inside of this volcano as a headquarters, originally the idea was if the war started we would smuggle the Avatar and as many Air Nomads in here as possible and then train the Avatar in secret so he could stop Soizen; however since Aang here ran away and was frozen for a hundred years that plan went down under."
"I'm sorry" Aang sighed in sadness.
"No one is blaming you kid, you were only a twelve year old boy so it's not your fault" Kana assured him.
"Any how since Aang dropped off the face of the Earth we had to resort to sabotaging the firelord's armies anyway we could to buy time until the Avatar returned" Iroh continued "and since then we've slowed the Firnation's assault and have made numerous attempts at overthrow, regrettably we haven't been able to end the war and the damage has been severe around the world despite our best efforts" Iroh finished with regret escaping his voice.
"So all this time the order has been fighting against the Firelord in the shadow in order to bring peace back to the world?" Toph asked with admiration in her voice.
"That is correct" Iroh answered him as everyone else seemed amazed at the courage of the people around them.
"So why did you call those two the dragons of the North and South?" Ty Lee asked curiously.
"The order is commanded by our five highest ranking members who we call the five dragons; I'm the dragon of the West, Zane is the Dragon of the North, Kimiko is the dragon of the South, The position of Dragon of the East is currently split, and finally we have our leader the Dragon of the Center." Iroh answered as they came to the doors of the large tower.
They left Fang and Appa in the stables where the workers swore to take care of them, Kana left to arrange housing for the group, and some sages took Mai's body to help prepare her funeral for when they were done. Iroh then led them to the tower's top floor where they entered a rather large waiting area heavily decorated in artifacts from all four nations in front of a rather large door.
"I'll be back in a little while please stay comfy while I give my report" Iroh said as he entered the room leaving the large group to themselves.
About ten minutes passed until Sokka finally started eyeing Azula as she sat across from him. He was about to press her for information about Suki's whereabouts, however Aang put his hand to his chest to hold him back.
"What are you doing Aang?" Sokka whispered clearly irritated.
"I should be asking Sokka" Aang whispered calmly.
"If she knows where Suki is, I'm getting that information right now" Sokka whispered remembering his encounter with her in the Bunker Tunnels.
"Sokka; in the past twenty four hours she's lost her father's love, saw one of her best friends die, and been thrown into an identity crisis" Katara whispered understanding her brother's impatience "so now is not the time to try interrogation, and besides these people would probably kill you if tried seeing as she's Roku's great-grand daughter."
"She's right" Aang whispered back.
"Fine" Sokka replied as Iroh and Kana entered the waiting room.
"I've made the arrangements, you all have been assigned to a room in the tower's midsection, after Iroh is done talking to you look for you name on this chart to see what room you got" Kana explained to them.
"I just finished giving my report to the Dragon of the Center, your all more then welcome to stay here in Asgard until the war is over, however no one under the age of thirteen will be allowed to participate in combat operations, I already know about most of you but as for the Avatar's group I'm going to need to know your ages and please no lying" Iroh explained.
"I turned one hundred thirteen two months ago" Aang answered relieved that they found a new sanctuary where he could master firebending before the comet came in three months.
Iroh nodded and turned to Toph "Thirteen as of three weeks ago" Toph grinned happily. And Iroh nodded again turning to Katara.
"I'm going to be fifteen in a week" she answered him and he nodded.
"I'm two years older than her" Sokka said annoyed at the question.
"I'm only twelve but can I help you guys with some of my inventions at least?" Teo said hopefully.
"That would be greatly appreciated" Iroh smiled back at him.
"I'm only six, but I'll stay out of everyone's way" The Duke said sadly.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure some of the town's children would love to play with you" Iroh chuckled as he patted the kid on the head and finally turned his attention to Haru.
"I'm fifteen, I'll fight with you guys for now, but I want you to know that I don't trust you Firenation guys so don't try anything!" Haru answered.
"You may want to be careful with the prejudice my friend or you'll be sorry" Kimiko said as she and Zane walked in with a few airbending children who looked at Aang, Azula, and Zuko with looks of amazement.
"What are you talking about?" Haru asked politely clearly remembering what happened to him the last time he pissed the twins off.
"She means that if you don't let go of your hatred towards people from the Firenation, you'll most likely end up marrying a firebender" the children said as if they found it all amusing.
"What?" Haru asked.
"The kids are right" Zane began "you see fate loves to screw with people and it's favorite weapon is irony."
"He's not kidding Haru, you can trust me on that" Zuko told him in earnest.
"Fine" Haru began "but is there any reason why you two are here?"
"Yes you see we just got the word that we'll be having some roommates from now on" Kimiko said as she leaned towards the chart "let's see looks like I'm bunking with Katara, Toph, Azula, and Ty Lee so let's all get along" Kimiko said amused.
"And it looks like I've got Zuko, Aang, Sokka, and Haru; this should be fun" Zane said equally amused.
"Is there any other reason why you two jokers are here?" Zuko asked starting feel frustrated at their sense of human.
"Yes actually" Zane began his voice turning solemn "the service for that girl Mai is going to start in about an hour so once you guys unload your stuff head up to the temple if you want to pay your respects."
About an hour later Katara arrived at Mai's service dressed in the traditional white robe of the Firenation and saw she had drawn quite a crowd. Zuko was there naturally and so was Azula and Ty Lee, the firebenders who joined them a few days ago had arrived, Iroh was presiding over the funeral, Zane was standing on one end of the pyre with Jee on the other side, Kimiko and Kana where standing next to Aang and Toph; but one thing she definitely noticed was the dead silence and the tears crawling down Zuko's, Azula's, and Ty Lee's cheeks as Iroh began.
"We are gathered here to pay our respects to a young woman who gave her life to protect the one she loved with all her heart" Iroh began respectfully.
About half an hour passed until Iroh finally said "We now lay you to rest, may you rest in peace dear Mai."
At the end of his words Zane and Jee set the pyre ablaze and everyone took part in a moment of silence to respect Mai's sacrifice.
After the service Katara saw Zuko, Azula, Ty Lee, Toph, and Aang walking together in silence. She ran up to them and said "I'm so sorry Zuko."
"Don't be its not your fault, if anyone is to blame for what happened to Mai, it's me because if I had been paying attention Mai would never had to die" Zuko said with malice towards himself as looked to see Iroh, Zane, Kimiko, and Kana walking towards them. "Uncle, I'm so sorry for what I did in Ba Sing Se can you ever forgive me?" he asked.
"You've already suffered more than enough Zuko and we both know that" Iroh said to his heartbroken nephew "Come with us we have something to show you kids".
The kids followed Iroh, Zane, Kimiko, and Kana to a rather vacant part of the temple grounds that was completely unremarkable except for the carvings on the wall of the fake volcano. At the top of the carving were the symbols for all four nations going from Fire, Air, Water, and Earth; and underneath each were countless names.
"Who are these people?" Azula asked amazed at the sheer size of the list.
"Friends, loved ones, heroes, comrades, and many other things but they all have one thing in common" Zane said as he began to cry slightly and his sister and mother did the same.
"What's that?" Aang asked solemnly.
"They're all KIA" Zane answered him.
"What does that mean?" Aang asked curiously as everyone else bowed their heads in respect.
"It means killed in action" Zane began as the tears started falling slightly faster and Aang took a shocked expression and bowed his head in respect as well "this wall is a temporary memorial, we would like to make a better one after the war is over, the names of a lot of people I knew are engraved on this wall; my friends, comrades, superiors, subordinates, my first love, and our father" Zane explained as his tears raced down his face.
Zuko looked at the Firenation's list and saw that one of the newest entries was a person named Rin and remembered what he just heard. "So you lost your beloved as well?" Zuko asked in understanding.
"Yes, but the point isn't to make you feel sorry for me, my sister, or my mother; the point is I need to tell you that you can't let it drag you down forever kid" Zane told him.
"How the hell am I supposed to that?!" Zuko asked angrily "I mean how did you do it?"
"I simply swore to do better, I swore that I would never forget her, if I live long enough to have kids I'm going to name my first born daughter Aiko after her, and I swore to honor her dying wishes" Zane said as the memory of holding onto his beloved as she died flashed through his mind "so I just wanted to advise you to do the same for your sake as well as hers" Zane finished.
Zuko stood still as he remembered Mai's last moments.
Flashback
"Why Mai, why did you do that?" Zuko asked as tears fell from his eyes.
"Because I love you, you big oaf." Mai answered with a chuckle.
"Mai you really shouldn't try to talk" Azula stated as she looked towards her friend and Ty Lee ran towards her with tears running down her face as she knelt down to the ground.
Mai smiled and looked up at Zuko and said "I think I'm pretty screwed anyway, so please listen; this isn't your fault Zuko, I owe you everything."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Zuko asked "If it wasn't for me you never would've gotten hurt in the first place."
"You set me free, those months I spent with you were the happiest days of my life, I thought I was going to grow old and have a family with you but I guess some other woman will get that pleasure" Mai said just before she coughed up blood and continued "never stop fighting for what you believe in, you have a strange knack for saving people from themselves, so for your own sake become a Firelord like none before you, bring about a new age of peace and prosperity for all, and always remember that I… love… you...Zuko."
End flashback
Zuko raised his head with a new resolve burning in his eyes and said "I will honor her last request and I swear for my own sake as well for everyone who's gave their life for the purpose of peace that I will bring this era of war and fear to an end and start a new age of peace" Zuko turned his head to the group and asked "can I count you guys?"
"Of course" they answered him as if it were a stupid question.
The group walked off however Aang remained at the memorial. "Hey kid what's wrong?" Zane asked.
"Oh nothing I just need to think for a little while" Aang said "I'll see you guys later."
The grouped shrugged and walked along while Katara walked up to Aang and asked "is there something wrong Aang?"
"No, I just need some time to think" Aang answered as Katara gave him a kiss on the forehead.
"Okay but don't take too long" Katara told him as she left him to think.
"These people are all amazing" Aang thought as he looked at the city and turned his attention to the names under the Air Nomads section and saw the name of Monk Gyatso.
"They all gave their lives, while I was frozen solid" Aang cursed under his breath.
"And what have I done?" he yelled at himself "I mean all this pain and suffering all the death and destruction that's happened over the past hundred years and I was sleeping away" Aang ranted thinking about all the pain Katara, Zuko, Zane, Kimiko, Kana, and everyone he came across seemed to endure "I wish I could do more!" Aang finally shouted in frustration.
"There is" a voice called.
Aang turned his head in shock and said "You!!!"
Okay that's lucky number seven. Next time you'll find out who Aang's unexpected guest is. Let's just say Aang is going to do something incredibly stupid and it's going to lead to some tough fights for his friends. No promises except that I'll upload the next chapter ASAP as usual, until then please Review I appreciate the feedback.