"What do you mean you're leaving again, Fire Lord Zuko?"
Zuko sat atop his dais, the flames snuffed out as he stared down at all of his advisors and even the Council of Fire. Since his confrontation with Ozai and Iroh explaining everything about the harbingers, this was an easy decision. He had talked about it with everyone, and they all decided they would go and visit all of the Air Temples and see if they could find any trace of this Kaval person. And then, there was Katara. Ever since they kissed in the Garden of Ursa, Zuko felt even more focused. They didn't tell anyone though, wanting to keep them free from this distraction and focus on the task on hand.
However, that never stopped Zuko from kissing her every chance he got.
"Like I said before," Zuko finally spoke. "This is a family matter and needs to be dealt with immediately."
"But we can't just have you up and leaving when you want to," one of his advisors, Shin, snapped. "You are a leader and you must lead."
"Anyone can lead," the Fire Lord snapped back. "My uncle, former General Iroh will lead this country in my absence, just like before. He will also have the assistance of General Lee. I am leaving this country in capable hands."
"The Council of Fire has accepted Fire Lord Zuko's decision," Basak spoke. "Although we may not fully agree, we understand."
"If the Council of Fire accepts the Fire Lord's choice, then so shall we," advisor Chan stated as he looked around the room.
"Good," Zuko said with a nod and rising to his feet. "We leave tonight."
The wind was cool and soft as it rushed through Zuko's hair. He was back in the same robes he wore when they traveled to the Boiling Rock. However, he didn't bring his Fire Lord headpiece, leaving it with Iroh. He decided that it would be best to let his hair down and now draw any attention to himself whenever they had to stop and make a supply run, like when they did in the newly reconstructed Gaipan. It wasn't awkward for Zuko, him not knowing the history the others had here when they first started traveling together from the South Pole. But, no one knew who Zuko was, and he only seemed to frighten some of the town folk whenever they stared him in the eyes.
His golden eyes observed everything. Aang was laying ontop of Appa's head, his chin resting on his folded arms as he faced forward. Zuko wasn't sure if the Avatar was asleep or not, but he stayed silent and seemed focused on whatever he was staring at in front of him. Zuko knew that Aang must be going through a whirl of emotions if it was true that this Kaval, as the guard described him, was an actual airbender. Zuko knew Aang was thinking, but he wasn't sure what he was thinking. He could only assume that it was something negative.
Sokka and Suki were asleep on the other side of the saddle. His head lolled to the side as he kept his right arm tucked underneath Suki's head. They were both snoring loudly, causing Zuko to snicker to himself. He admired what they had, knowing that they both changed each other for the better. Well, it was mostly Sokka that changed. He went from being a sexist, pigheaded warrior, as Katara described him once, to only a moderate sexist warrior. At least the pigheaded warrior description was dropped.
"Zuko?"
He turned at the sound of his name, seeing Katara slowly scoot over to him. Zuko flashed her a smile as she sat next to him. He felt her shiver, Zuko quickly wrapping an arm around her shoulders and slowly raising his body temperature.
"What is it?" Zuko asked.
"Do you really think there are other airbenders out there?" Katara whispered.
Zuko only shrugged against her, turning his head and looking at Aang. The airbender didn't move, and Zuko was beginning to think that he had fallen asleep.
"I don't know," Zuko replied. "We found nothing at the other three temples."
The first temple that they went to was the Western Air Temple, since it was the closest to the Fire Nation and it was Aang's home. When they arrived, Zuko instantly remembered the memories of when he first arrived here, begging for them to accept him into their group. He still remembered how he was shunned by everyone except Katara after his biggest regret in Ba Sing Se. However, Zuko almost remembered how different things got once he was finally accepted by Katara after dealing with Yon Rha. That was the moment where Zuko began feeling something for the blue eyed waterbender.
Nothing had changed since they last left after Azula ambushed them. Zuko remembered seeing all the destruction of the once peaceful and abandoned temple. The upside down structures were all broken and crumbling. There was hardly anything left, and the search through there was rather quick.
After that, they went down to the Southern Air Temple. This was rather painful for Aang, remembering the last time they had gone there. Zuko had to be filled in by Katara, who told him about he found Monk Gyatso's bones along with the other bones and went into the Avatar State. Zuko felt remorse and dread being at this temple. He knew he hadn't done anything, but he felt the century of guilt on his shoulders, knowing what Sozin had done to this place and the people who once lived there. Zuko also noted how this temple was different, being on the tip of a mountain instead being built within the side of a plateau. He liked the former more than the latter, if he had to say so.
The room that seemed to interest Zuko the most was the room with all the statues of the past Avatars. Toph had said something about feeling a lot of power in this room as she felt the different statues. Zuko only stared at the statue of Roku, his great-grandfather from his mother's side. He was entranced by how regal and poised Roku looked, even in statue form. Zuko felt a flurry of emotions, wanting to know just how Roku could spare Sozin if he knew exactly what the old Fire Lord was capable of.
"It's in the past, Zuko," Aang had told him. "There's nothing any of us could do."
The Eastern Air Temple was where they began to find some clues. When they got there, Aang immediately began yelling for Guru Pathik. Katara and Sokka explained that it was Guru Pathik who helped Aang discover how to open the Avatar State willingly. However, it was also where Zuko learned how much Aang cared for Katara at one point, not wanting to give her up in order to unlock all the chakras. However, they eventually found the remains of Guru Pathik, his body burnt to a crisp and only his bones were partially left with the ashes of himself.
"This looks like Azula," Zuko had told everyone.
In one of the separate temples, Sokka had found what appeared to be a giant painting. It was mostly all chipped away, and the detail was missing so much that Toph didn't even believe them when they said they had found the wall painting. However, Zuko was the one who noticed some of the scorch marks, figuring that Azula and Kaval weren't there that long ago. Zuko figured that if they left right then, they might be able to catch the pair.
"I remember the last time I was at the Northern Air Temple," Katara said.
"When?" Zuko asked, feeling their knees touch.
"It's where we met the machinist," Katara explained, raising a brow at Zuko's confusion. "You know, the guy who was responsible for the war balloons and new airships."
"Oh," Zuko mumbled. "Yeah, I remember him."
"But, if I remember, there's nothing there. We went through every piece of that temple and don't remember anything odd."
Zuko only shrugged, watching as Toph shifted in her sleep next to him.
"So," Zuko said, turning back to stare at Katara. "Is it true that you really wanted to go on another adventure?"
Katara giggled softly, covering her mouth as a blush seeped into her cheeks. Zuko smiled at his, reaching up and softly caressing her cheeks.
"It's true," Katara admitted. "As much as I loved being home, I wasn't used to being in one spot for so long."
"I understand."
"Do you?" Katara raised a brow.
"Why do you think I insisted on chasing you guys so much?" Zuko snickered.
Katara laughed again, slapping Zuko on the shoulder as he smirked down at her. Their eyes met, Zuko inching closer before he lightly teased her lips with his. He felt her whine for a second before she captured his lips with hers. Zuko smirked in the kissed, his free hand coming up and cupping the side of her face as he wanted to deepen the kiss. However, the sound of Sokka coughing in his sleep made Zuko jump back, his nerves calming down as he saw that the Water Tribe general was still asleep.
"Are you scared of Sokka?" Katara asked through a fit of giggles.
"No," Zuko snapped. "I just rather not be thrown to my death off of Appa."
"Whatever you say, Zuko," Katara snickered, stretching out and nuzzling herself into Zuko's side, causing him to smile as he too leaned back into the saddle, slowly closing his eyes and letting sleep finally come over him.
"Guys, wake up!"
Aang's voice was loud, coming from Appa's head. Zuko was the first one to awake, or so he thought. He looked over to see that Katara had already moved herself from his side. He frowned at her, but shook it off, realizing that it was probably the best decision to keep whatever they had going between themselves for now.
"What is it, Twinkletoes?"
"It's a new temple."
"What?" All the voice said at the same time.
They all leaned over the side of the saddle, seeing that they were just over Makapu Village, where the fortune teller Aunt Wu lived. On the side of the dormant volcano, they all stared at the temple that resembled that of the Western Air Temple, except it wasn't upside down. It carved deep into the once active volcano and stretched along the backside of it.
"That's impossible..." Zuko trailed off as Aang made Appa descend towards the temple.
"It looks just like the Western Air Temple," Aang said as Appa landed, surprised that there was no one there to greet him or to even see him.
"I think we should all split up," Sokka said as they all climbed down Appa. "Aang, you come with Suki and me. Toph, go with Katara and Zuko."
No one noticed the snicker from Toph as she began marching forward.
Zuko took this time to notice how intricate the buildings were. He stared at the temples, trying to figure how just how similar this was to the Western Air Temple.
"What's eating you, Sparky?"
"What?"
"Your heart is racing," Toph snickered. "And now yours is, Sugar Queen."
Zuko and Katara exchanged looks, saying nothing as Toph let out a low laugh. They said nothing, only starting to into the different buildings. Zuko frowned at every empty room or hall, almost beginning to believe that there was nothing here. He slammed a door shut just as Toph and Katara did as well. Judging by the look on their faces, Zuko was sure that they also found nothing just like him.
"Toph, can you feel anything?" Zuko asked.
She shook her head. "No, which is strange."
"Why?"
"Cause, I can hear voices, but I can't feel them."
"This is strange," Katara whispered.
Zuko was ready to open his mouth to speak, but sound of air whooshing around them seemed to take the words out of his mouth. They all turned around, trying to find the source of the wind.
"Zuko! Katara! We found them!"
All three took off in a dead sprint back the way they came from. All negative thoughts came into Zuko's head as he was worrying on what was happening with the rest of their friends. They heard Appa's roar, and Zuko willed himself to run even faster. Eventually, the giant sky-bison came into view as he eventually came to a stop.
"Aang, what happened?" Katara's voice came from behind.
They all stared wide-eyed as Aang was standing next to another person. The person was dressed in the same orange and yellow robes that Aang was wearing. Her hair was brown, short and pulled into a small and tight bun. She was only lacking the blue arrow tattoos that Aang had on his head and limbs.
"Guys, this is Jenami," Aang beamed. "She's an Air acolyte."
Jenami smiled over at Zuko and Katara, bowing once to them before coming back up with the same smile. "I'm sorry if I startled any of you, but I was just finishing up before returning to my temple."
"Which temple is that?" Zuko questioned.
"The Brown Mountain Air Temple, of course."
"The Brown Mountain?" Aang asked. "I've never heard of that."
"Monk Yang-wu ordered us to stay quiet about it," Jenami explained. "It's in a mountain range in an uninhabited part of the Earth Kingdom. If you give me a ride on your sky-bison, I can have him explain everything."
Zuko kept his eyes on the back of Jenami's head, keeping them narrow as he listened to her and Aang conversing about Air Nomad stuff.
"What's wrong, Zuko?" Katara asked from his side.
"Something doesn't feel right," Zuko said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "She reminds me of that lady from Ba Sing Se."
"Joo Dee?"
The Fire Lord nodded. "Yeah, her. She just seems too uptight and too professional. And what was she doing down at that temple by herself? And why was it hidden?"
Katara only shrugged, leaning closer to Zuko and leaning her head against his shoulder. He took a peek at her, smiling slightly as she kept her blue eyes on his. Quickly, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, causing her to smile and blush even more.
"When are we going to tell them about us?" Katara asked.
"When we figure out what us actually is," Zuko stated. "I think we should establish that first before anything else."
"And when do you want to do that?"
Zuko shrugged again, turning his head and staring out as the Brown Mountains were coming into view.
"Soon, hopefully."
Aang let out an excited cry as Jenami explained how the other Air Nomads were hidden in a different temple that only the oldest of the monks knew about it. Other than that, she didn't tell Aang anything else. Appa let out a loud roar as he descended down towards the temple. Zuko crawled over and looked over to the side of the saddle, seeing a group of people huddled together and staring up at the large sky-bison. Almost immediately, Zuko noticed them in the orange and yellow robes. He saw the arrows on their arms and legs and on their heads.
"Airbenders."
