A/N: Hello everyone, welcome to Magma's ninth chapter! We are sorry for the delay, but you know life slowed each of us down at points. Anyway, MaxGentlman 1 and I hope you like this chapter and I would like to thank him for co-authoring and Beta reading it.
Disclaimer: We still don't own Avatar, you clearly know that though if your on this site.
Enjoy!
-A Few Days Later-
After the Sandbenders had helped them make their way out of the desert, the group have continued on their journey to Ba Sing Se. On their way there, they came across some river land and decided it could make for a good rest area.
Needless to say, it was a much needed rest from their journey through the desert. Aang was swimming around a small pool by a cliff side, Kai was sitting by the shore with Chie, who was drinking large laps of water. Toph was resting her feet in some shallow water, practically turning it to mud, and Sokka was looking over his maps that he stole from the library.
"Waterbending cannonball!" Katara yelled from on top of a cliff before jumping off and creating a huge eruption of water. The water rained down and soaked everyone and everything in the area, including Sokka's maps.
Everyone laughed except for Sokka, who huffed, "Sure, five thousand year old maps from the spirit library, just splash some water on 'em." He said, holding out the now soaking map as Katara got out of the water.
"Sorry." She said, bending the water out of the papers, "You shouldn't even have taken them, Sokka, that's part of the reason that the knowledge spirit nearly killed you all." Kai said, lazily dozing against Chie. Sokka choose to ignore this and went back to his maps as the others gathered around him.
"So, did you figure out what route we're going to take?" Aang asked as Sokka lay the map on the ground for them all to observe, "Okay, so we just got out of the desert, so we must be here, and we need to go to Ba Sing Se, which is here." Sokka said, pointing to each spot on the map, "It seems like the only passage connecting the south to the north is this sliver of land called the Serpent's Pass." Sokka said, indicating them.
"And you're sure that's the best way to go?" Toph asked casually.
"It's the only way, I mean it's not like we have Appa to fly us there." Sokka said only for Katara to glare at him, "Shush up about Appa, can't you at least try to be sensitive?" She asked, indicating Aang.
"Katara, it's okay I know I was upset about loosing Appa before, but for now I just want to focus on getting to Ba Sing Se and telling the Earth King about the solar eclipse." Aang said calmly from where he sat beside them, and although they all knew there was likely more to it than that, now was not the time to discuss it. The wound was still too fresh.
"Oh. Well, okay. I'm glad that you're doing better." Katara said carefully as Sokka stood, rolling up the map they had been looking at, "Then it's off to Ba Sing Se; no more distractions." He said.
Just as he said that, a group of three people rounded the corner, "Hello there, fellow refugees." Said a light-skinned and dark-haired man accompanied by his wife and what looked to be their daughter. Sokka sighed, it appeared that distractions just seemed to find them anyway.
"Hi, so are you guys headed to Ba Sing Se too?" Aang asked the father.
"We sure are, we are trying to get there before my wife Ying has her baby. My name is Than by the way, and this is our daughter, Lin." He said, bowing and patting his wife's stomach.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Katara, and this is my brother Sokka and our friends, Aang, Toph, Chie, and Kai." She said, choosing to leave out the fact that Aang was the Avatar and Kai the Fire Prince for the time being, at least it didn't seem like a good thing to just spout off.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Ying said.
"If we're all headed the same direction, then we could all travel the Serpent's Pass together." Katara said.
"The Serpents Pass?! Only the truly desperate take that deadly route!" Lin said as their eyes all widened at that.
"Deadly route huh? Great pick, Sokka." Toph said sarcastically as she punched his arm, making him stagger. Rubbing his arm, he spoke, "Well we are desperate." He pointed out.
"You all should just come with us to Full Moon Bay. Ferries take refugees across the lake; it's the fastest way to Ba Sing Se." He said, smiling at them.
"Yes and it's hidden, so the Fire Nation can't find it." Ying said.
"Besides we could all get to know each other better." Lin said, eyeing Kai and making Toph's eyes narrow at her pick up in heart rate, and also making Chie chuckle a little while Kai was none the wiser to the new girl as he spoke for the first time since the new arrival's appearance.
"Oh gee, what a tough choice. Peaceful ferry ride or deadly pass?" He said sarcastically, pretending to weigh the options in his hands as the others all shot Sokka a look and he huffed.
Their journey to Full Moon Bay was a short one, taking just a little over an hour. After traveling through a cave tunnel, they came to a dead-end which was then opened from the other side by two Earthbender guards.
When they looked at their surroundings, Kai saw what looked to be hundreds of refugees cramped together in large groups. There were men, women, children, and infants all together, all looking in terrible condition.
"I can't believe how many people's lives were uprooted by the Fire Nation." He said, a pang of guilt in his heart.
"We're all looking for a better life safe behind the walls of Ba Sing Se." Than said. They said their farewells to the family and made their way over to the ticket and customs desk. Just as they were walking up, they heard yelling from the desk.
"I told you already, no vegetables on the ferry!" The desk worker, an elderly an bitter-looking woman, yelled at an old man who was traveling with a wagon full of cabbages, "One cabbage slug could destroy the entire ecosystem of Ba Sing Se! Security!" She yelled. Before the old man could do anything, the security (Which turned out to be a platypus-bear) smashed his cart and tore through his produce.
"No! My cabbages!" The produce vendor yelled in shock as he was dragged away by real security guards. The group just stared at him with wide eyes as he was dragged away.
"Next!" The old woman yelled. Aang cautiously walked up to the desk.
"Um, five tickets to Ba Sing Se, please." He asked sheepishly.
"Passports?" The old desk worker asked.
"Um, we weren't told we needed passports." Aang said nervously.
"Don't you know who this is? He's the Avatar." Sokka asked firmly, hoping that would give them some sort of leverage.
"Oh please, I see fifty Avatars a day and, by the way, not a very impressive costume." She said condescendingly as she pointed to he right, showing a bunch of people dressed up like Aang, trying to pass themselves off as the Avatar.
"Besides, no animals allowed." She said, indicating Chie and Momo.
"Do I need to call security?" She asked threateningly and the platypus bear destroyed another cabbage. Momo cowered, but Chie growled threateningly at it before Kai patted her head, shaking his own. They didn't need a fight here.
"That won't be necessary." Aang said, backing away.
"I'll handle this." Toph said, stepping up and pulling a small object from her own bag as she spoke, "My name is Toph Bei Fong, and I'll need five tickets." She said, sliding it onto the woman's desk and shocking her as she stared at it, "The golden seal of the flying boar! It is my pleasure to help anyone of the Bei Fong family." She said, bowing.
"Yes, it is your pleasure. Now, as you can see, I am blind and these three imbeciles are my valets, and the one over by the fox is my bodyguard." She said, waving at each of them.
"But, uh, the animals..." The woman started before Toph cut across her, "Are my seeing eye lemur and my bodyguard's pet and attack partner." Toph said simply.
"Well, usually it's only one ticket per passport, but this document is so official, I guess it's worth five tickets." The woman said, stamping five of them, "Thank you very much." Toph said.
"Alright we scammed that lady good!" Sokka said as they walked along only to be pulled aside by a girl in a security uniform with long, brown hair and blue eyes that were currently narrowed at Sokka, "Tickets and passports please." She said, holding out her hand to him expectantly.
"Is there some sort of problem?" Sokka asked, clearly worried and her eyes narrowed a little more, "Yeah, I got a problem with you. I've seen your type before. Probably sarcastic, think you're hilarious, and let me guess, you're traveling with the Avatar." She said simply and Sokka raised and eye brow at her.
"Do I know you?" He asked.
"You mean you don't remember me? Maybe you remember this." She said before kissing him on the cheek and smiling as comprehension dawned on Sokka, "Suki!" He said smiling as the others turned to face them and Aang and Katara smiled too.
"Who?" Kai asked Toph who shrugged.
After introducing Kai and Toph to the Kiyoshi warrior and vice-versa, the group sat together in a small clearing. They explained to Kai and Toph that Suki was a friend that they had met a few months back.
"You look so different without your make-up. And that outfit..." Katara said before trailing off.
"That crabby old lady at the desk makes all the security guards wear them. And look at you, sleeveless guy, been working out?" She asked Sokka with a small smirk.
"Yeah, well, I'll grab a tree branch and do some chin-ups every now and then. Nothing major." He said, flexing his left bicep.
"Are the other Kiyoshi warriors around?" Aang asked.
"Yeah, after you guys left, we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees and we've been here ever since." She explained as Momo hopped up next to her and chittered, making her giggle and pet him, "Hey, Momo, it's good to see you too."
"So, why are you guys getting tickets for the ferry, wouldn't you just fly across on Appa?" She asked, looking at them, confused at the saddened looks on all their faces. Katara decided to speak out, "Appa is missing. We hope to find him in Ba Sing Se." She said.
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Are you doing okay?" Suki asked, looking over to Aang along with the others. Aang stared back at them, a look of hurt briefly crossing his face before he hid it, "I'm doing fine, would everyone stop worrying about me?" He asked somewhat angrily. Before any of them could say anything, Ying's voice rang out.
"Avatar Aang! You have to help us! Someone took all of our belongings; our passports, our tickets, everything's gone." She said, lapsing into crying.
"I'll talk to the lady for you." Aang said. This, as it turned out, was not the best idea because the woman wasn't in a giving mood, "No passports, no tickets!" She said, stamping Aang's head with a denial stamp.
"She's pregnant and all of their stuff was stolen, you have to make an exception!" Aang argued. She didn't agree, "No exceptions! If I just gave away tickets willy-nilly to anyone, there would be no more order, and you know what that means? No more civilization!" She shouted. Kai was beginning to like this woman less and less. Plus, she was taking this a bit too seriously.
"What if we gave them our tickets?" Aang tried.
"No!" She snapped.
"But..." He tried before she called out, "NEXT!" spitting a little as she did so. Aang sighed, heading back over to the group and the family, "Don't worry, you'll get to the city safely. I'll lead you through the Serpent's Pass." He said determined and Kai sighed.
'Just one time, can't something be easy?' He thought.
After gathering what supplies that the two groups had, they began to make their way out of the refugee camp.
"I can't believe we gave up our tickets and now we're going through the Serpent's Pass." Sokka complained.
"I can't believe you're still complaining about it." Toph retorted.
As they made their way through the crowds, Lin dropped her bag by accident due to its weight. As she bent down to pick it up, Kai came up and picked it up for her.
"Here, let me get that." He said, throwing the bag over his shoulder with no problem. Lin blushed at Kai's act and Toph again narrowed her eyes at her spike in heart rate.
"Hey, wait, I'm coming too." Came a voice behind them. Turning around, they found Suki running up behind them wearing her armor dress and battle make-up.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sokka asked halfheartedly.
"Sokka, I thought you'd want me to come?" She asked.
"No, I do, it's just..." Sokka tried to say.
"It's just what?" Suki asked.
"... Nothing, I'm glad you're coming." Sokka said as Suki walked passed him. Nobody seemed to notice but he had a look of sadness on his face as they left the camp.
It took about a half-hour of walking to get to the entrance of Serpent's Pass. The pass itself was a very thin road with many peaks and troughs with the entrance being a tall sign with the words "Serpent's Pass" written in bold letters.
"This is the Serpent's Pass?" Sokka asked, "I thought it'd be more windy, you know, like a serpent."
"Well it does seem to have a bunch of peaks, maybe the people who named it were talking about a sea serpent or something." Kai suggested.
"Look at this writing." Ying said, directing everyone's attention to some words that were carved into the sign.
"What's it say?" Toph asked.
Katara walked up to the post and read it aloud, "It says 'Abandon Hope'."
"How can we abandon hope? It's all we have." Ying asked sadly, nestling her head into her husband's chest, tears threatening to escape.
"I don't know, the monks used to say that hope is just a distraction, so maybe we do need to abandon it." Aang said, much colder than his usual self, which worried the others.
"What are you talking about?" Katara asked carefully. Aang turned to face them, his voice still low and cold, "Hope isn't going to get us into Ba Sing Se, and it's not gonna find Appa. We need to focus on what we're doing right now, and that's getting across this pass."
"Okay, if you say so." Katara said sadly, looking at the ground.
"You don't believe that, Aang, and you know it." Kai said simply and Aang didn't respond or even appear to have heard him as they headed onto the pass, making Kai growl and walk towards him before Chie stopped him by catching the back of his shirt in her mouth. He turned to face her questioningly as she let go.
"Master, don't do it, the Avatar is going through a period of mourning, of sorts. His behavior is not what it normally would be, he just needs time, and fighting him would just make it worse." She said simply, Kai sighed, "Okay, fine, but I really hope he sees sense soon, because this Aang is starting to get on my nerves." He said, following the path with the others.
"Did your fox just talk?" Lin asked looking at Chie as they walked.
"Yeah, she did. She does that and she's usually right about things." Kai admitted, making Chie smile a little.
"That is so cool, you two are amazing." Lin said, reaching out to Kai before she tripped over a mid-sized rock that no one noticed just seemed to slide up beneath her. Well, no one but Chie, who laughed a little again as Toph smirked to herself as they went.
They walked the path for a while, staring over the large, vast lake that they could now see. As they, walked Suki spoke, "The Fire Nation controls the western lake. Rumor has it, they're working on something big on the other side and they don't want anyone to find out what it is." She said as they all noticed a Fire Nation ship in the water.
As they went, a large rock cracked beneath Than. As he began to fall towards the water, Toph shot out a rock from the cliff and caught him on it and then launched him back up to the ledge, "I'm okay." He said.
However, the rocks that had crumbled beneath Than hit the water and the ship noticed, launching a fireball at them, "They spotted us! Let's go! Let's go!" Sokka yelled.
Aang leaped off the cliff face towards the fireball, created a large gust of wind and bounced it back at the ship so it struck the large personnel tower on it, making it catch fire, though they managed to launch another, hitting the cliff above them and making several rocks fall down and towards Suki. Sokka shoved her out of the way, but before the rocks could crush him, Toph shot out a ledge above him, making the other rocks hit the water.
Sokka helped Suki up, "You have to be more careful! Come on!" Sokka said, pulling her along as the others ran after them, "Thanks for saving my life, Toph. Oh, no problem, Sokka." Toph said sarcastically as she chased after them.
After crippling the ship, they continued onward, running until the ship was out of their sight. The sun began to set over the horizon and they decided to make camp for the night. Than was helping his wife relax by rubbing his feet while the rest set up their bedrolls. Suki was setting hers up by a cliff side before Sokka came along.
"Suki, you shouldn't sleep there. Who knows how stable that cliff is? It could give way at any moment." He said, taking her bedroll and setting it away from the cliff.
"Sokka, I'm fine, you don't need to look after me all the time." Suki said, annoyed of Sokka's overprotective behavior.
"Right, right. You're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself- WAIT!" He yelled, getting in front of her,"Oh, wait, never-mind. Thought I saw a spider."
Suki sighed at that as she sat on her bedroll. Something was wrong, but she wasn't sure what.
-Aang and Katara-
Aang stood away from the others on one of the cliff's, overlooking the vast water when Katara approached him carefully; "You know, it's alright to miss Appa." She said. Aang didn't respond so she decided to continue.
"What's going on with you? In the desert all you cared about was finding Appa, and now it's like you don't care about him at all." Katara said, stepping up so she stood beside Aang, who let out a great sigh before speaking.
"You saw what I did out there. I was so angry about losing Appa, I couldn't control myself. I hated feeling like that." He said.
"Yeah, but now you're not letting yourself feel anything and that's not a good solution. I know sometimes it hurts more to hope, and it hurts more to care, but you have to promise me that you won't stop caring." Katara said, smiling slightly at him and opening her arms, "Come on, you need a hug." She offered.
Aang turned to face her and bowed, "Thank you for your concern, Katara." He said before turning and walking away from her, leaving her alone to worry about him.
As Aang walked, a voice called out to him, "You know that she's right?" Kai asked as Aang turned to find Kai standing off to his right and looking at Aang, not with the pity that others seemed to have for him since Appa left, but with all the same concern.
"You can't stop hoping, Aang, any of the rest of us maybe, but not you. People look to you for hope, I know that sometimes it's easier to not allow yourself to feel anything, because the emotions hurt too much, but it makes them so much worse when they finally spill over. I won't try to make you feel again, Aang, but just remember, I speak from experience when I say that sometimes hope is all that can get you through the darkest times and refusing to feel it makes the darkest time seem so much worse." Kai said before walking away and leaving Aang to think this time.
Kai made his way back to the campsite and lied down on his bedroll next to Chie, who was already curled up and sleeping. As he was lying down, looking up at the stars, he heard some footsteps coming toward him. Looking in the direction they were coming from, he found Toph standing next to him.
"Hey." She said simply.
"Hey." He replied. They stayed silent for a couple of moments, neither one really knowing what to say. Finally, Kai took the initiative and spoke.
"Is there something wrong?" He asked.
"Well, uh," She was starting awkwardly, "I couldn't really sleep and I was wondering if I could sleep by you. Like I said before, you make a good pillow." She said, blushing.
Kai was a bit surprised by the request and blushed a little himself, "Well, uh,, I guess that's not a problem; Sure." He said.
Toph smiled, happy that he agreed and walked over toward him and lied down next to him before curling up against him, causing him to blush a bit more. He soon relaxed. He could feel Toph's heart beating against his chest and he found the feeling and sound quite calming. He soon fell into a peaceful sleep, his arm unconsciously wrapping around Toph as he did.
-Sokka-
A little way from them, Sokka sat on what was essentially a rock bench, staring at the moon and thinking. He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice Suki walking over until she spoke; "It's a beautiful moon." She said, sitting beside him.
"Yeah, it really is." Sokka said, thinking of Princess Yue as they stared at it.
"Look, I know you're just trying to help, but I can take care of myself." Suki said carefully and Sokka nodded slightly, turning to face her; "Yeah, I know you can." He said honestly.
"Then why are you acting so overprotective?" She asked confused.
He paused for a second before speaking, "It's just... it's so hard to lose someone you care about. Something happened at the North Pole, and I couldn't protect someone. I don't want anything like that to ever happen again." He said, thoughts briefly shifting again to Yue before he pushed them back because it hurt to think about.
"I see, you know I lost someone I care about. He didn't die, he just went away. I only had a few days to get to know him, but he was smart and brave, and funny." She said smiling and Sokka felt a bit of jealousy rise up in him as he stood up; "Who is this guy? Is he taller than me?" He asked, picturing some sort of mountain of muscle in his head.
"No, he's about your height." She said, smirking at him.
"Well is he better looking?" He asked and she outright giggled, "It is you stupid." She said, standing up and facing him.
"Oh..." He said, smiling a little they stood in silence for a moment and then they started leaning towards each other. Sokka caught the moon out of his peripheral vision and backed away, leaving Suki looking confused; "I can't." He sighed.
"I'm sorry." She said, thinking maybe she had come on too strong, but Sokka shook his head, "No, you shouldn't be." He said before walking away to think himself.
-Next Day-
After morning broke and everyone got their things together, the group continued on their way across Serpent's Pass. They didn't get to far however when they came to a sunken part of the pass that was too deep and too far to simply swim over.
"You know, it's times like this that I wish we had some of those giant lizards that your sister was riding, Kai." Sokka commented.
"Well how are we going to get across now?" Ying asked sadly. Katara grew a determined look on her face before taking point.
"Everyone line up single file behind me." She ordered and everyone did so. Katara then began to bend the water and move forward with the group following close behind her, "Aang, I need help." She said and Aang nodded and gave his staff to Toph as he took the rear and bent the water to form a complete air bubble.
The sight was quite amazing as everyone saw fish and a few other sea creature swim past them. Kai was especially intrigued, the closest he's ever seen fish up until this point had just been the coy pond back home and the illustrations in the palace library.
Momo leaped up onto Kai's shoulder and saw the fish swim by. He tried to pounce at them but just missed them. He attempted to swim after them when he saw something big swim past him. Frightened, Momo swam back into the air pocket and clung to Kai's head.
"Hey, what's wrong, Momo?" He asked the frightened lemur. As if to answer his question, the silhouette of the large creature swam by again before swimming right through the air pocket, causing everyone to panic.
Acting quickly, Toph used her bending and created a platform that broke through the surface of the water. As everyone caught their breath, Kai, Sokka, Aang, and Katara saw a long, spiny fin just above the surface circling around them. The fin then erupted from the water and revealed a huge, green sea serpent that let out an ear-splitting roar.
"I think I know why they call it Serpent's Pass." Sokka said.
"Well, I was partially right." Kai commented, though still incredibly scared.
"Uh, Suki, you know about giant sea monsters, make it go away!" Sokka suggested, turning to the Keyoshi warrior, who raised her eyebrow in indignation, "Just because I live near the unagi doesn't mean I'm an expert!" She said.
Sokka looked around before picking up Momo, "Oh great and powerful sea serpent, please accept this humble and tasty offering, thank you." He said, bowing as he held up Momo, who screeched.
"Sokka!" Katara said, slightly annoyed before the monster roared again, diving towards them before Aang sent a large gust of air at it knocking it backwards.
"I'll distract it. Katara, get everyone across." Aang said, grabbing his glider from Toph and taking off into the air as the serpent chased after him, roaring as it did so. Katara nodded before bending the water and turning it to ice in large chunks at a time until they had a bridge across and the others started hurrying across it.
Katara, seeing the others were moving well enough, created a block of ice beneath her feet and used her bending to propel herself forwards to help Aang. Just as the serpent went to snatch at Aang, she froze a part of it's body in ice. It roared, breaking free and chasing her instead. Meanwhile, everyone had made it across the bridge but Toph.
"Toph, come on, it's just ice!" Kai called out to her. Toph took one foot off of her island and placed it on the ice, "Yeah, actually I think I'm going to stay here on my little island where I can see." She said before the serpent bounced off it after a particularly hard gust from Aang.
"Never mind I'm coming!" She said, getting on the ice and slowly inching her way across, "You're doing great, just follow the sound of my voice!" Sokka called out, "It's hard to ignore." Toph called back.
Just as she was nearly there, the serpent tore through the ice and Toph fell into the water, "Help! I can't swim!" She called out.
"Toph, hang on, I'm coming!" Kai called out, about to jump into the water to save her only for Suki to jump in and save her first. She swam up behind her and wrapped her arms around her to keep her from drowning.
"Oh, Kai, you saved me." Toph swooned and kissed Suki on the cheek.
"Uh, actually, it's me." Suki said awkwardly and Toph's eyes widened at this realization.
"Oh, uh, right," She stammered, embarrassed, "You can let me drown now." She said.
"Come on." Suki said, securing Toph around her arm and began swimming back to shore.
Meanwhile, the fight continued between Aang, Katara, and the sea serpent. Aang began to run on the surface of the water and circling the serpent at high speeds, creating a whirlpool around its base.
The serpent began to spin around with the current and it became so strong that the serpent was then flung into the side of the cliff. Knowing that this fight was lost, the serpent simply picked itself back up and swam away as Aang and Katara joined the group back on shore.
"Great job everyone." Kai said as the others nodded and they all set out again, traveling in peace now. With no more interruptions they traveled in a comfortable silence.
After a while, Sokka cried out "There's the wall!" happily as they all looked over to see a grand stone wall rising from the ground and stretching out so far they couldn't see the other end of it from where they stood, "Now it's just smooth sailing to Ba Sing Se." Sokka said smiling.
"Oh, no!" Ying said, clutching her stomach and slumping down, "What's wrong?" Kai asked concerned.
"The baby is coming." She said as her husband and daughter helped her lean against a nearby cliff.
"The baby, what!? Now!? Can't you hold it in or something?!" Sokka asked panicking.
"Sokka, calm down. I helped Gran-Gran deliver lots of babies back home." Katara started calmly only for Sokka to start shouting in a panic, "THIS ISN'T THE SAME AS DELIVERING AN ARCTIC SEAL! THIS IS A REAL...HUMAN...THING!" He said, pointing at the family.
"It's called a baby, Sokka, and I helped to deliver plenty of those, too." Katara said in slight irritation before switching into a commanding voice, "Aang and Kai, get some rags. Sokka, water. Toph, I need you to make me an earth tent, a big one." She said and the others nodded, setting out as Toph made a dome of Earth around the family.
"Suki, come with me." Katara said simply as she headed in, followed by Suki.
After the boys gathered the items she told them to get, Katara was helping the mother give birth.
"Okay. 1... 2... 3... Push!" She ordered and Ying did. At that moment, Sokka walked in and immediately passed out from the sight.
After about a half-hour later, Toph, Kai, Aang, and Sokka were sitting outside the earth tent when Suki gave them the okay to come in. When they were entering the tent, Toph noticed that Sokka wasn't coming.
"You coming to see the baby or are you gonna faint like a girl again?" She asked with a smirk and Sokka sighed before getting up and joining everyone else.
The air in the tent was humid from the combined body heat and sweat from the seven, now eight, people. Ying laid on the ground with her husband kneeling down beside her, their newborn child resting in her arms, wrapped in a blanket.
Kai looked at the newborn and couldn't help but smile. It was so small and looked so fragile; a complete opposite to everything he's heard, seen, or done in his life.
In that moment, he finally understood. This was what the people wanted to fight for, to protect their homes and families and to enjoy moments like this. At last he knew, that the side he had been raised on was in the wrong and that his own home had to change. And the only way to do that was for his father to lose or be taken out of power.
Aang walked in behind him and saw the baby as well with the others gathered around, "She sounds healthy." Toph said smiling.
"She's beautiful." Katara said.
"It's so... squishy-looking." Sokka said and Kai actually chuckled a little at that, staring at the child, lost in his own thoughts. As Aang stared at them, all so happy and at peace, he felt something he hadn't felt since the loss of Appa: hope and faith that things would be okay in the end, and he smiled at the couple who were talking in hushed tones.
"So what should we name her?" Than asked as Ying stared at their new child, "I want our daughter's name to be unique, I want it to mean something." She said smiling. Aang smiled too, letting a few tears slide from his eyes before wiping them away and speaking.
"You know, I've been going through a really hard time lately, but you've made me hopeful again." He said honestly, feeling like the weight of the world was off his shoulders.
"I know what I want her name to be: Hope." Ying said.
"Yes, that's a perfect name. Hope." Than said, staring at his new born as the others left to give the family some privacy.
When they got outside, Aang pulled Katara to the side to talk to her; "You know, I thought I was trying to be strong, but really I was just running away from my feelings. Seeing this family together, so full of happiness and love, it's reminding me how I feel about Appa. And how I feel about you." He said, smiling gently.
Katara felt a single tear roll down her cheek as they walked towards each other and hugged as the others made their way over to them. They separated and Aang began to speak again, "I promise I'll find Appa as fast as I can. I just really need to do this." He said as Toph gave him back his glider.
"See you in the big city." Sokka said, placing his hand on Aang's shoulder.
"Yeah, say hi to that big fuzzball for me." Toph said, punching his shoulder and making Aang wince a little.
"See you there Aang, and be careful." Kai said, coming out of his own thoughts for a moment and Aang nodded.
"You'll find Appa." Katara said reassuringly, "I know." Aang smiled, unfolding his glider and getting ready to take off with Momo preparing to come with him, "Ready buddy?" He asked and after a chirp from Momo they took off into the sky.
-With Kai-
As Kai watched Aang and Momo fly off into the sky he felt a hand on his shoulder and looking over to it found Lin looking down at him; "Can I talk to you?" She asked.
"Uh, sure, what do you want?" He asked, following her to over behind the earth tent that Toph had made. In answer, she grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him. For a moment, Kai was caught off guard, but then his head kicked in and he pushed Lin away gently; "What was that for?" He asked confused.
"I just wanted to make my feelings clear and see if there was anything there, on your end I mean." She said, seeming somewhat disappointing, Kai sighed; "Look Lin, you're a beautiful girl don't get me wrong, but I don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry. I'm not great with emotions, but I haven't felt that way about many people." Kai said, thinking briefly of Ty Lee, and then even more so of Toph.
"It's the Earthbender isn't it?" She asked with a soft, but sad smile.
"Yeah, it is." Kai admitted, blushing.
"I sort of figured, after we found you both sleeping together this morning, but I just had to try you know? She's beautiful in her own way though; I suggest you make a move. Because if you don't, you never know when someone else might." She said and with that Lin walked off, leaving Kai with more to think about.
-With Sokka and Suki-
Suki walked over to Sokka, who was making sure he had everything of his own packed up and ready to go, "Sokka, it's been really great to see you again." She started.
"Whoa, why does it sound like you're saying goodbye?" He asked.
"I came along because I wanted to make sure you got through the Serpent's Pass safely, but now I need to get back to the other Kyoshi Warriors." She said, gesturing towards where they knew the boats they had been going to take would let off soon.
"So, you came along to protect me?" He asked, both touched and confused.
She nodded then spoke carefully, "Listen, I'm really sorry about last night. We were talking and saying things, and I just got carried away and before I knew it, I..." She said before Sokka cut her off with a kiss, surprising her, though she fell into kissing him back.
"You talk too much." He said in almost a whisper before kissing her again as her arms came up to wrap around his neck and pull them closer together, and they kissed deeper.
-With Aang and Momo-
Aang and Momo glided slowly up to the wall, landing on one of the highest points and staring out at the vast city. Somewhere in there, Aang knew he would find Appa. He turned to face the other direction to see if he could see his friends and his heart sank. He saw a long, black metal-looking machine.
It was a few stories tall and had a massive drill on the front that was slowly turning, and on the top of it was the Fire Nation's insignia. Aang sighed before patting Momo on the the head, "Sorry buddy, Appa's going to have to wait." He said, knowing he was going to need his friends help here and taking off to find them.
A/N: Cliffhanger! Sort of anyway. So we hope you liked it leave a review if you so choose to and we'll see you next time!
