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Appa's Back – Afternoon

"We're nearing the Southern Air Temple," Aang exclaimed. He sighed. To tell the truth, he was not particularly excited about returning here. Last time he was here, he had discovered that it had been ravaged by the Fire Nation. All the monks, everyone he grew up with – gone. The most painful by far, was, Monk Gyatso. Gyatso had practically raised Aang – he was like a father to him. And now … he was gone.

Appa landed at the temple, and everyone dismounted. Katara came up next to Aang and placed her arm around his shoulder.

"I know how painful this must be for you."

"Katara, I'm fine."

"If you want to talk, you know I'm here for you." Katara smiled warmly at him. She always tried to be the supportive type.

"Really, I'm fine." Aang was lying. Deep down, he still felt some hurt. Talking to that Guru Pathik a few months ago had done much to alleviate the pain. But returning here…

Aang really didn't feel like talking with Katara. She was a Waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe. What could she understand about all this? Aang looked over at Monk Guandao, who stood there solemnly, looking at all of the destruction. Guandao was an Airbender. He was the only one who really understood what Aang was going through. They both lost an entire nation. Guandao was the only one Aang really felt comfortable talking with.

It wasn't that Aang felt uncomfortable talking with Katara; it was just that she could be a little too motherly sometimes. Aang didn't need that. He needed someone who understood the Airbender ways.

"This place is a dump."

Aang whirled around in anger, and glared at Mai, who stood, kicking at some pebbles with a wrinkled nose.

Aang got in her face. "This place happened to be my home!"

He turned and stormed off.

Mai looked confused. "What's his deal?"

"Uuumm, Mai," Katara said, trying to be diplomatic. "This place was attacked by the Fire Nation. Aang had a lot of friends here that he lost."

Mai sighed. "Guess I'll go apologize then." She trudged after Aang, Zuko frantically in tow.

***

The group had set up camp inside the remains of the temple. Aang had made his way over to a large, grassy garden outside of the temple. It was in this garden that Aang, on his last visit here, had buried the remains of Monk Gyatso. A simple tomb marker stood over it.

Aang had picked some flowers in preparation for this trip. He placed them over Gyatso's grave, and silently wept.

Someone placed their hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Monk Guandao.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Aang shook his head. "Of course not."

Monk Guandao sat cross-legged next to Aang. "I know how much you must miss him."

"I do."

Guandao wiped a tear away from his own eye. "I miss him too. He was a good friend."

"I left him a note when I ran away," Aang said. "I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to him in person."

"If only I could have been here sooner," Guandao said. "Once I got word that the other Air Temples were under attack, I tried to get here as soon as possible. I could have protected Gyatso."

"But you would have been killed too," Aang said.

"And so would you, if you hadn't run away." Guandao chuckled. "Funny how things work out sometimes."

Aang looked at him. "After this whole thing with Shin Xao is over, do you think that the Air Nomads could be restored?"

Guandao nodded. "I believe so."

"I would do anything to restore the Air Nomads."

Guandao smiled. "Of course, if we brought them back, there would have to be some changes."

"Like what?"

"Well for one thing, the Air Nomads would have to be more militant."

"But we're peaceful people," Aang protested. "Why would we need to be more militant?"

Guandao waved his arm around, pointing out all the damage left by the Fire Nation. "Does that answer your question? For decades I warned the other monks that we needed to be more combat oriented. We needed to be ready in case of an attack. I knew that if there was ever a war, we would be the first to go, because of our peaceful nature. I was right. But the other monks refused to listen to me."

Guandao picked up a rock and threw it in a fury. "If only they had listened to me! If only Gyatso would have listened to me!"

Aang thought deeply about this. He couldn't imagine the Airbenders becoming militaristic like the Fire Nation. But, he supposed, if they had, maybe they wouldn't have been wiped out. He didn't know what to think. He had never heard Guandao talk like this before.

Guandao sat back down next to Aang.

"I feel I must apologize for my outburst." His cheeks were becoming red with embarrassment. "It's just the pain of losing everyone I cared for. And the fact that it could have been prevented."

Aang nodded. "I understand why, Guandao. I understand that you feel that if the Airbenders had been more prepared, they wouldn't have died. Maybe you're right. Maybe we could have focused on combat more. But think. What if we had become more militant? Don't you think that we would have become just like the Fire Nation?"

"You do have a point Aang." He sighed. "And it does us no use to dwell on what could have been. We must focus on the future."

Aang nodded. "That's a good outlook. But getting back to reviving the Air Nomads. We're all that's left. I don't want to see our people die out completely."

"Aang, dinner is ready." Katara was calling him from inside the temple.

Guandao laughed. He put his arm around Aang's shoulder. "Rest assured my boy, there is a very good chance of restoring the Airbenders."

He nudged Aang playfully. "And with a beautiful catch like your fiancé, you should have no problem making plenty of little Airbender babies."

Aang gulped. He really didn't know if he was quite ready for fatherhood yet.

***

The group sat around a campfire, eating dinner. Aang looked over at Monk Guandao.

"So, do you have any idea what this reliquary thing is?"

Guandao scratched his head. "Not really. All I know is that it's here in this temple."

Zuko whistled and lay on his back, hands behind his head. "That's great. We're here and we don't even know what we're looking for."

"Don't worry Aang," Guandao said. "Zhasta's reliquary is here and we will find it."

Aang looked over at Katara, who was sitting off to the side, eating. Aang could tell that she was upset over something. He walked over to her.

"Hey, wanna go for a walk?"

Katara sighed, and put her bowl down, and the two headed off through the temple. They stayed silent throughout most of their walk. Katara seemed really hurt by something. Was it something I did, Aang thought.

Aang led Katara out to a balcony. This was one of the few places in the temple left untouched by the Fire Nation. Plus, as it was drawing towards evening, it was the perfect place to view the sunset.

"Katara, you seem upset. You wanna tell me about it?"

"Oh no," Katara said angrily. "I'm fine. I don't need to talk about anything."

Aang's eyes widened. Oh, so that was it. Katara was upset because Aang wouldn't talk to her earlier about how he was feeling.

"Katara, if this is about earlier…"

"You bet it's about earlier! I know you're still hurt about losing your friends here Aang. I understand. But what hurts me is that you're not even willing to talk to me about it! I'm your fiancé, Aang. We're going to be married. It hurts me that you can't share your most intimate feelings with me."

Aang was struck beyond words. Of course, Katara was right. He knew she was. He sighed. If they were going to be married, they had to learn to be more open with each other.

"You're right Katara. I'm sorry. I'm very upset returning here, and I should have talked about it with you."

Katara's eyes brightened. "Apology accepted."

The two shared a heartfelt kiss in front of the sunset.

"Katara, if you want, I think I'm ready to talk about this now…"

***

Mai and Zuko sat awkwardly around the campfire, eating. They sat across from Monk Guandao. They watched each other eat in silence.

"This is so uncomfortable," Mai mouthed to Zuko. Being alone here with Guandao was awkward. Usually, he only talked with Aang and generally ignored everyone else.

Zuko scratched his head, trying to think up conversation. "So you're a monk, huh?"

Guandao sat there stiff faced, munching on his noodles. "Indeed."

Mai suddenly grabbed Zuko's hand. "Hey, let's go for a walk," she said hurriedly, pulling Zuko up. "Monk Guandao, you don't mind do you."

"Of course not. I shall simply sit here and meditate until you return."

"Err … you do that. Come on, Zuko."

Mai and Zuko hurried through the temple. "That was so awkward," she said. "That guy gives me the creeps."

Zuko shuddered. "Just being in this place gives me the creeps." He looked around at all the burn damage. "Our people did this," Zuko said sadly.

Mai regarded him questioningly. "This was an act of war, Zuko. It's unfortunate, but people get hurt in war."

"I know," Zuko said. "But these were monks! They were very peaceable. They never hurt anyone." Zuko punched the wall. He was so angry for what his family had done to this world. As Fire Lord, Zuko wished to make up for all that. But now Azula had taken over and was probably, at this moment, unleashing a brand new war. He had to stop her! But did he really want to kill her?

No. A small part of Zuko still held some feeling for his sister. He hoped that the Avatar would be able to Energybend her into harmlessness, like he had his father. But if that didn't work … well, killing her would have to be the price to pay to stop her – painful as it would be for him.

Suddenly, they heard a low rumbling sound. "What's going on," Mai asked.

Rocks began falling from the ceiling. "This hall's coming apart," Zuko shouted. He made to grab Mai's hand, when, suddenly, the ground gave way beneath them. They fell into blackness…

***

Monk Guandao suddenly awoke from his meditations. He had heard the sound of a cave-in. Appa, who was lying nearby, rushed to his feet and moaned. Momo was frantically jumping up and down, screeching.

Aang and Katara came rushing up to Guandao. "It felt like it was an earthquake," Aang said. He looked around. "Where're Zuko and Mai?"

"They went for a walk inside the temple …" Guandao stopped as he realized what must have happened. Katara and Aang looked at each other worriedly, and then took off running. Guandao followed, his orange monk robes trailing behind him.

***

The trio came to the site of the cave-in. Two walls in the hallway had fallen in and there was a giant hole in the floor. "Zuko! Mai!" The three of them were frantically calling their friend's names.

Mai's voice came from the deep hole. "We're down here!"

The trio crowded around the hole. "Are you o.k.," Katara called.

"I'm fine," Mai shouted. "Zuko broke my fall."

"You're welcome," Zuko grumbled.

"I'm gonna Airbend you guys out," Aang shouted. Guandao stepped up to the hole.

"Allow me, Aang." He raised his hands and a gentle, but strong breeze blew up, carrying Mai and Zuko out of the hole.

"Thanks," Zuko grumbled. He looked at Aang. "You'll never believe what's down there! It's like a whole treasure trove!"

"What," Aang said. "I never knew there was any treasure trove."

"Alas," Guandao said. "This temple holds many secrets, and I suspect that our reliquary may be down there."

The monk jumped into the hole. "GUANDAO," Aang shouted.

"I'm fine Aang," the monk called from the hole. "It seems that the drop is not that far."

"Felt pretty far to me," Mai said.

"Well at least you had someone to land on," Zuko grumbled. Mai gave him a jab to the arm.

The group followed Guandao down into the hole. The monk used Airbending to allow everyone to alight gently down. Aang looked around.

Zuko had been right! There all kinds of treasures, antiques and rare artifacts. "I never knew the monks were collectors."

Guandao nodded. "Of course. Part of our job as monks includes finding and protecting ancient relics and artifacts. Like our reliquary." Guandao pointed ahead.

There was an altar in the middle of the room. On it was a gold necklace. There was writing on the altar. Aang read it aloud.

"Last known relic of Zhasta, defender of the Air Nomads, who, along with three other brave warriors battled the Dark Lord Apollyon. This reliquary holds a piece of her spirit, which was united with the other three warriors, thus giving birth to the Avatar."

Aang reached over and grabbed the necklace. "I can't believe it," he said. "Wow, this was easier than I thought." Aang pocketed the necklace. "I hope our friends are having just as easy a time finding these things as we did."

***

The group left the Southern Air Temple first thing in the morning. Since they were ahead of schedule, they had decided to make a pit stop at the Southern Water Tribe to visit Katara's family.

Aang looked at the rising sun. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of him. Just being back at the Southern Air Temple, talking to both Katara and Guandao, and visiting Gyatso's grave one last time really did a lot to help Aang work through his pain. He felt like a new man. The best part was, they had found the reliquary, thus thwarting Shin Xao's plans. He sighed mentally. Phew! Crisis averted.

Ba Sing Se – Earth King's Palace – Morning

The Earth King was up to his usual daily routines. Eat breakfast, sign treaties and other kingly documents, play with Bosco. Several Dai Li agents were waiting on him hand and foot.

Up above, several Sun Tzu warriors clung to the ceiling and columns like spiders. They were watching, making sure the Dai Li did everything they were told.

Soon the Avatar and his friends would be reuniting here with the four reliquaries. Soon it would be time for the Sun Tzu to make their move…

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Author's note: O.k. just a couple things here. This wasn't a particularly exciting chapter. I just wanted to focus more on everyone's feelings about returning to the Southern Air Temple, particularly Aang's and Zuko's. Good chance to put in some Kataang two. Also, this was a good opportunity to show a new part of Guandao's personality that needed to be established. Hope you enjoyed!