11 days ASC
They woke up early the next morning ready to get moving again.
"Did you have a good rest, Appa?" asked Aang.
Appa let out a growl.
"Well, let's pack up and get going again then," he said.
"Aang, do you really think your Guru is still at the Eastern Air Temple?" asked Katara?
"I'm not really sure. He did say he was very close to the airbenders, so I would have to think that he was very familiar with and comfortable at their Air Temples. But then again, he definitely wasn't an airbender, so he must have come from somewhere else. Perhaps he went back to his real home after I left in such a hurry."
"Well, I guess there really is only one way to know for sure," said Katara.
"You're right," said Aang. "And we'll know soon enough, won't we? I've got some more questions I hope he can answer for me if he is still there."
A few hours later the four fliers descended towards the Eastern Air Temple.
"There it is!" shouted Aang.
"Wow. I've seen all four temples now and they are all each as spectacular as the last," Katara said.
"So which one is your favorite?" asked Aang?
"Definitely not the Northern Air Temple. That's probably just because of the changes that the Mechanist and his people made to it. It just made it less…well….less serene. The Western Air Temple was definitely unique, but upside down isn't my style. I would say that the Southern Air Temple is probably my favorite up until now. I'll have to take a look around this one to see what I think."
"I'll be glad to give you a tour when we get there. I didn't spend much time here since the nuns lived here, but I still know my way around," said Aang.
Appa landed on one of the three mountains that were connected by bridges where the Air Temple was located. Aang, Katara and Momo dismounted Appa and started to walk around the grounds.
"Katara, did you know this is where Appa is from?" asked Aang.
"I think you may have mentioned it at some point. What was the story again?" Katara replied.
"All the sky bison were born into the stables at the Eastern Air Temple. When I was six, a bunch of us from the Southern Air Temple traveled here to meet our companion bison. That was when I met Sister Iio. She gave us all apples to give the baby bison and gradually, it was pretty obvious that Appa and I belonged together," he said.
"Over there are the stables," Aang said and led Katara to where the sky bison once lived.
"I can't believe Appa is the last sky bison," said Katara.
"He's not the only one," said Aang, his demeanor saddening. He walked away down a corridor in the stables.
"Oh." Katara then realized that there weren't really talking about Appa anymore.
After about 5 minutes of pure silence and Katara having no idea what to say, Aang finally spoke. "Now that the war is over, I need to figure out what the next step is for the Air Nomads."
Katara continued the conversation. "Remember what you said at the meeting in the Earth King's Palace?" she asked. "Do you think any of those scenarios are real possibilities?"
"You mean the potential that air benders survived the genocide?" Aang asked.
"Yeah, and that you could create new air benders with energy bending," replied Katara. "Or - " she paused.
"Or – what?" he asked.
"Well, what exactly happens when you have children?" she asked.
"Normally, they would all be air benders," said a voice behind them. They turned to look.
"Guru Pathik!" shouted Aang.
"Aang! How great it is to see you again!" he said and held out his arms for an embrace. Aang and Katara were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice the old man had slowly walked behind them into the stable.
"Pathik, this is Katara. She was a member of the team that helped defeat the Fire Lord and his daughter," Aang said.
Katara nodded to the Guru.
"Katara. Hmmm...I have definitely heard that name before – ah yes, the Avatar's difficulties with 7th chakra. I remember now." Guru Pathik left it at that. Aang blushed a bit not wanting Pathik to go into any more detail right at that moment about what exactly was said before he fled the Air Temple to go rescue Katara in Ba Sing Se.
Pathik continued, "Aang and Katara, I stayed here these extra months due to a vision I had the night after Aang left. The vision showed me that Aang would return to the Eastern Air Temple and that I had one more task to fulfill. I am no longer here to help you be the Avatar, Aang, but the information I can share with you will enable you to make better decisions for the future of this world as the Avatar. And your decisions will affect it greatly. But first - come with me. Let's get something to eat."
The guru led Aang, Katara and Momo over a bridge to another part of the temple grounds. While they were walking and though Aang had other things on his mind, he remembered his primary mission and the reason he came back to the Eastern Air Temple to begin with.
"Pathik, out of curiosity, have you seen anyone else since I left the temple?" Aang asked.
"No, I haven't," he replied. "Who are you looking for?"
"The Earth King left the Earth Kingdom a few days after I left the air temple. He took his bear with him and went in disguise to travel the world. Now that the war is over, rebuilding must begin and he must return to Ba Sing Se to resume his reign," said Aang.
"Why did he leave? I have gotten very little information while living here over the last few years," said Pathik.
"So much has happened since I left the Eastern Air Temple. I returned to Ba Sing Se to rescue Katara. I was successful, but nearly died while in the Avatar State. Katara saved me with spirit water from the North Pole - ," began Aang.
"You were in the Avatar State?" Pathik asked curiously.
"Yes. We were attacked and outnumbered so I meditated, opened the 7th chakra, and entered the Avatar State," replied Aang.
"Well, it is good to know it worked out in the long run," said Pathik. "I was afraid it would never again happen once you left here. That takes a great spiritual nature – good thing you are an air bender."
"It didn't last though. Because I did die and was brought back, the spiritual bridge was highly damaged and I spent the next three weeks in the spirit world on a journey of discovery to help fix the bridge. When I finally woke up, I found that the injury I had sustained in my back had blocked my chi and it wasn't until I was battling Ozai that it was accidentally opened again. Now getting back to the Earth King - "
"Yes, yes, the Earth King," said Pathik.
"After I was struck by lightning in Ba Sing Se, the city fell and the Earth King went on his journey. Did you know he had never been outside his palace before when we first met him?" asked Aang.
"I cannot imagine living such a sheltered and limited life," replied Pathik. "No wonder he went on his journey. I'm sorry to say there have been no signs of him here. But then again, the Air Temples are not the easiest locations for the lay-person to visit."
"That's true," said Katara, who up until now had been virtually silent.
They finally arrived at their destination – a room that looked to be a former eating area for the Air Nomads who used to live here. Pathik offered Aang two bowls of a familiar smelling liquid. Aang drank right away from his bowl; Katara took one sip and forcefully spit it out.
"Onion and banana juice," said Aang. "It's an acquired taste, believe me. It took me a while to like it."
Later that evening, Aang and Katara selected a room to call their own for the next few days they would be here. Katara busily unpacked their few belongings from Appa's saddle, fed Appa and Momo, and was busy settling in while Aang went to meditate on one of the many balconies that existed around the temple.
After about 20 minutes, Guru Pathik walked up to Aang and started a conversation with him.
"So Aang, unlike last time you visited me, you must lead the conversation between the two of us. How can I help you this time?" Pathik asked.
"I have two objectives with this latest mission. One is to find the Earth King as we've already discussed. The other is to gain more knowledge about my history and hopefully, my future," Aang said.
"That sounds very intriguing," said Pathik.
"I know I'm young. And because of that, I didn't learn a lot about the Air Nomad ways – specifically those things that were shared with older monks and nuns," said Aang. "I know monks and nuns lived at different temples, but I have no idea how Air Nomad babies came to be."
"So you don't understand how a man and a woman -" he started.
"No! No, I didn't mean that. I know how babies are made, but what I meant to ask was when did the monks and nuns actually get together? I know other than a few trips to the other temples, I never saw the nuns. And I most certainly never saw many monks where the nuns lived, and the nuns almost never visited the Southern Air Temple when I lived there."
"Ah. I understand. This is something that not many of the young ones had an opportunity to know about until they were 16," said Pathik. "Do you remember the Winter Festival?"
"Yes, but I don't think I ever got to go," replied Aang.
"Oh, that's because you were too young at the time. At the age of 16, young Air Nomads traveled to the chosen Air Temple and have a chance to meet and socialize. Because of the lifestyle and life choices of your culture, there was no marriage between Air Nomads. The Winter Festival gave them the opportunity form lifelong spiritual bonds. This bond was probably the closest thing to marriage in the Air Nomad culture."
"I see," said Aang. "So is that why most of the babies were born in the fall?"
"Yes. But if, per chance, a nun or monk had the opportunity to travel at other times of the year and just happened to have the chance to meet their spiritual partner – well, you know, things happened," said Pathik.
"So that's why not all babies were born in the fall," said Aang.
"Why are you asking me these questions now?" asked the guru.
"I can only think of three ways to ever bring the Air Nomads back to this world. One is if I energy bend again. I have never given bending to anyone – I have only taken it away. I don't think this is a path I am comfortable with taking," said Aang. "Ozai was such an exception and it was something I had to do to end the war and bring balance back to the world. It's just such a risky thing to do unless all else fails."
Aang continued, "The second way to bring back the Nomads is to determine if any air benders – any of them – survived the genocide. We were nomads after all."
"Aang, I have thought often of that possibility. The chances were very slim that every single air bender was at a temple when the genocide attacks occurred," said Pathik.
"I definitely agree," said Aang.
"The question is, what happened to them? I have never heard even one report of the sighting of a person with an arrow tattoo," said Pathik.
"There are so many possibilities here," said Aang. "Perhaps the original air benders stayed hidden – at least while the master air benders with arrow tattoos were still alive. Perhaps they covered them, or grew hair. It's what I did while I was in the Fire Nation. If any children were born – and that is an assumption based on if any monks or nuns were hidden together at the time – they would not have the tattoos. They may be able to hide themselves in plain sight!"
Guru Pathik's voice was showing more glimmers of hope as the conversation with Aang continued. "Aang, you must keep your eyes open for any signs of your people, even if there is only a slight chance of finding anyone! Descendents of the Air Nomads very well may be out there!"
"I definitely intend to," said Aang.
"The third way – and why I was asking you about the Air Nomad babies - is what Katara and I were discussing back in the sky bison stable. What happens when I have children? Pathik, has an Air Nomad ever had children with someone who wasn't an Air Nomad?" Aang asked.
"If it ever happened, I have never heard of it," replied Pathik. "That is why I said 'normally, they would all be air benders.' There has never been a child born of an air bender that was not an air bender, too. But again, there have always been two air bender parents as well."
"Do you think all my children would be air benders?" asked Aang.
"It is difficult to say. It would probably depend on the person you have children with. The reason all Air Nomads are air benders is because of their spirituality. If you marry a spiritual person, most likely you will have a bender child because of your Air Nomad background. However, because your spouse would come from another nation, your children could, in theory, have control of another element and not air," said Pathik.
"Guru Pathik, thank you for all your wisdom. You have definitely given me much to think about. Two of the three paths to re-establishing the Air Nomads are still alive and I will continue to hope that I will not be the last air bender forever," said Aang.
Aang left the balcony and went back to his and Katara's room. Katara was already lightly sleeping in the bed.
"Aang, is that you?" she asked sleepily.
"Yeah. It's me," Aang replied.
"Where have you been this whole time?"
"Guru Pathik and I were talking about the Air Nomads," Aang said. "It seems there is some hope after all to re-establish the nation. But it is definitely going to take some time depending on how it turns out."
Katara said nothing. She had fallen back asleep again. Aang crawled into the bed and held her as they fell asleep, just as they had the last few nights, in each other's arms.
