Chapter 21: The Cave of Two Lovers

Hey guys! Oh geez, almost 7 months…I'm so sorry for the giant lag in updates! Things have been tough at home and it's been hard to find motivation to write lately, but I'm sure you guys don't want to hear me rant XD so let's get to the poll update then the story! By the way, there were a lot of reviews last chapter! Thanks for responses!

POLL UPDATE: We have a winner! The name will be revealed in the next chapter!

I will be responding to reviews via PM now because if I put it in the chapter it takes over a page. So watch your inboxes!

"You guys are gonna be done soon right? We've got a lot of ground to cover if we want to make it to Omashu by today." Sokka stated as he floated by on a giant leaf raft. Currently we were stopped at a large lake for waterbending practice before heading over to Omashu. I was sitting on a flat stone in the water, looking at some other scrolls that I had gotten from Jeong Jeong and Pakku while Katara and Aang practiced.

Rolling my eyes at Sokka's statement I focused back onto the scrolls. I really wanted to try to bend lightning, but Agni still wouldn't let me. Plus, I don't think bending lightning in a giant lake of water while the others were in it was the best idea. Katara rolled her eyes as well before smirking over at Sokka.

"What? Like you're ready to go right now, naked guy?" She questioned, straightening out of her stance. I groaned and furiously rubbed my eyes.

"Please don't remind me. I'm trying to burn this image out of my mind." I interjected with a whine as Aang laughed in the background. Truth be told, seeing my brother in just his underwear was not on my to-do list for today, or ever.

"I can be ready in like, 2 minutes. Seriously, whenever." Sokka responded, ignoring my statement. I held my hand out and watched as a white flame flickered to life. Squeezing my hand into a fist, I concentrated on extending the flame as well as thinning it out. A white dagger of flame formed in my hand making me smile in accomplishment. It looked just like the one Zuko had used except for the color.

Putting my two hands together I added more fire into it making it longer and slightly wider. I had been working on my whole 'fire sword' idea and I must say, it looked pretty awesome. I added more flame and held out my hands. The flaming, white sword formed in my hands, making some steam form from the water right below it. I gave it a few experimental swings before letting it fade out of existence with a smirk on my face.

Sokka was looking at me with a jealous pout. I just stuck my tongue out at him. Wasn't my fault I was just so much cooler than him. Looking back over at Aang and Katara I barely held back a laugh at seeing Aang in some sort of giant, water octopus.

Suddenly my attention was drawn to the sound of music. We all looked over to the edge of the water and watched as a group of people appeared, dancing and singing might I add. Everything they were dressed in had flowers. Wow, my first meeting with real hippies.

"Hey! River people!" The man in the front announced, pausing from his singing. He had on a robe and a flower necklace. His hair had some weird anti-gravity thing going on as it puffed out to the sides of his hat.

"We're not river people." Katara corrected. The man scrutinized us through half lidded eyes.

"Then what kind of people are you?" He questioned in a woozy voice. I raised an eyebrow at him. No offense, but he sounded drunk.

"Just…people." Aang oh so eloquently replied. The man let out a laugh before smiling at us.

"Aren't we all brother!" Sokka stalked up to the small group with a look of suspicion on his face. I promptly covered my eyes as he walked in front of me, still almost naked.

"Who are you?!" He questioned.

"I'm Chong, this is my wife Lily. We're nomads, happy to go wherever the wind takes us." The man, Chong explained before spontaneously rocking out on his…pipa? I didn't know much about instruments, but it looked like a pipa. I wasn't surprised that they were nomads. They looked like those kind of people. Being a nomad sounded kind of nice actually.

"You guys are nomads? That's great! I'm a nomad." Aang interjected. I uncovered my eyes and glanced over at him, seeing him smile happily. Chong smiled back before replying.

"Hey, me too!"…Uh, okay this guy was seriously drunk or something. Aang stared back, unimpressed.

"I know…you just said that." He stated. Chong rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before glancing back at my brother.

"Oh, hey nice underwear." He commented, pointing at Sokka. I groaned again and hid my face behind Katara making her giggle in amusement. I don't see how scarring me for life was funny.

"Hey Sokka, you should hear some of these stories! These guys have been everywhere!" Aang announced excitedly as my brother appeared again, thankfully fully clothed now. Katara and I were currently having our hair braided by a couple of the female nomads and Appa was getting the same treatment. Flowers were added to our hair and Aang had a ring of flowers around his head.

Geez, this was getting a bit too much for me. Thanking the woman behind me for doing my hair, I stood up and walked over to the side of Appa and 'accidentally' shook a few flowers from my hair. This was more Katara's, and apparently Aang's, thing than mine.

I remember that time Gran Gran tried to get me into a stuffy, pink, floral dress. Hah! The joke was on her. I ripped that thing up like confetti! Of course, I did get grounded for like, three months. But, it was totally worth it.

"Well, not everywhere little arrow-head. But where we haven't been, we've heard about through stories and songs." Chong explained lightly. Sokka looked at the man with a frown. I knew he wouldn't like these guys, they were too different. Sokka was all stuck up and loved schedules while these guys just went with the flow.

"They said they'd take us to see a giant night crawler." Aang added with a giant smile. I smirked over at him.

"You gonna try to ride that too?" I questioned, remembering our run in with the Unagi. He shot me a mock glare.

"I remember you joining me when I rode the giant koi fish." He retorted making me shrug. Hey, a giant koi fish isn't as crazy as a giant sea monster. Katara rolled her eyes at us.

"Neither of you are riding that thing." She stated simply. I smiled at her brightly.

"I'll take that as a challenge then." I ignored her resulting groan. Our attention was drawn back to Sokka as he stepped in front of us with a frown.

"Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara's too busy I guess it's up to me. We need to get to Omashu. No side tracks, no worms, and definitely no rainbows." He ordered. I laughed at Katara's face after the whole 'wet blanket' comment before Chong spoke up.

"Whoa, sounds like someone's got a case of destination fever. You're worried too much about where you're goin." He chuckled, flopping back onto the floor.

"You've got to focus less on the where, and more on the going." Lily added, with a relaxed smile. I just stared at her. And those are different how?

"I like these people! They're so relaxed, it's refreshing!" Agni suddenly stated in my mind, making me roll my eyes.

"You would, these people sound like your kind of people. I would say Vayu's too, but I think they're a bit too…unfocused for him." I replied.

"Yes, I do believe I agree with your brother here. Getting to Omashu is your priority."

"Hah! Vayu's admitting he's a wet blanket just like Sokka!"

"I am not a so called 'wet blanket', I merely appreciate being on task."

"To-may-to, to-ma-to!"

"Agni-."

"Ugh, you're both annoying me!" I cut off the connection with a frown, rubbing my head at the resulting headache. Just because I wanted to cut off the connection less didn't mean I wanted to listen to those two bicker like children 24/7.

"O-MA-SHU." Sokka drew my attention again as he annunciated every syllable clearly. Katara looked over at Chong from where she sat.

"Sokka's right, we need to find King Bumi so that Aang can learn earth bending somewhere safe." She explained. Chong lifted his head from the floor.

"Well, sounds like you're headin' to Omashu." Cue Sokka's face palm as Chong continued.

"There's an old story about a secret pass, right through the mountains." He announced, garnering an excited look from Aang. I admit, my curiosity was peaked as well. Katara looked at him skeptically.

"Is this real or a legend?" She questioned with a raised brow.

"Oh, it's a real legend all right. And it's as old as earth bending itself." He paused before beginning to strum the pipa as Lily and some other nomad joined in.

"Two lovers, forbidden from one another~
The war, divides their people~
And a mountain divides them apart~
Build a path to be together~…and I forgot the next few lines, but then it goes
Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel~!
Through the mountains~!
Secret secret secret secret tunnel~!" He finished the song with a pose, his finger pointed upwards as the nomads around him stopped dancing and we all clapped. It wasn't as good as my Kai song (Ch.2), but eh.

"I think we'll just stick with flying. We've dealt with the fire nation before, we'll be fine." Sokka finally said after the song was over. Aang and I stood up as well.

"Yeah, thanks for the help but Appa hates going underground. And we need to do whatever makes Appa the most comfortable!"

"AHH!" We all screamed as fire balls were shot at us from all directions. Seriously, it was like it was raining fire balls or something!

"Oh, 'we've dealt with the fire nation before, we'll be fine'! I totally blame you for this Sokka!"

"Secret love cave it is, let's go." Sokka grumbled as we arrived back at the lake with the nomads still there. We were covered in soot and ashes from head to toe. I punched Sokka's arm as I walked by him.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"I still blame you." I replied simply before the nomads stood and walked in front of us to lead. We followed them to a large valley with walls of rock bordering it. I finished brushing the soot off of my shirt as Sokka spoke.

"So, how far is this tunnel?" He questioned Chong who stood next to him.

"Actually it's not just one tunnel. The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth." He explained with a relaxed smile…wait, what? Sokka froze and turned on the man with wide eyes.

"Labyrinth?!" He questioned loudly. Chong just shrugged, not even worried.

"Ah, I'm sure we'll figure it out." He responded lightly. I sighed. We're doomed.

"All you have to do is trust in love, according to the curse." Lily added. Great, this just kept getting better and better. I just shrugged it off. We've dealt with a lot worse things than a cursed labyrinth. Sokka froze up again and we all walked by him as he had his little mental freak out.

After a few more minutes of walking we finally arrived at the mouth of the cave. It was pitch black in there.

"So, what exactly is this curse anyways?" Sokka questioned nervously as he stared into the tunnel.

"The curse says that only those that trust in love can make it through the cave, otherwise you'll be trapped in there forever." Chong explained.

"And die." Lily just had to add that as she walked over to her husband.

"Oh yeah, and die. Oh hey! I just remembered the rest of that song!" Walking a little bit into the cave Chong strummed his pipa.

"And die~." He sang in a low voice, it creepily echoed into the cave making me back up a bit. Just because I didn't think we would die in there meant I wanted to test fate. Sokka stomped in frustration.

"That's it! There's no way we're going into some cursed hole!" He exclaimed angrily, crossing his arms. One of the nomads suddenly lifted his finger, pointing behind us.

"Hey, someone's making a big campfire!" He announced. I glared at the sight of smoke rising in the distance.

"That's no campfire Moku." Katara responded with a frown. Huh, weird how she actually knew the guy's name this time.

"It's fire nation, they're tracking us." Sokka added. Aang looked down at the floor before glancing over at Chong again.

"So, all we need to do is trust in love to get through these caves?" He asked in curiosity. Chong nodded with a smile.

"That is correct, master arrow-head." He replied. I watched as Aang turned to stare at Katara, I could basically see the hearts in his eyes making me stifle my giggles behind my hand as Katara looked at me in confusion. Aang turned back to Chong and smiled.

"We can make it." He reassured happily. How sweet. Almost sickeningly so. Sokka groaned before waving us into the tunnel.

"Everyone into the hole!" He shouted. I glared at him as we ran in.

"You jinxed us again." I stated simply. He looked at me incredulously.

"How is this my fault?!" He questioned loudly. I shrugged.

"Stop saying things like 'there's no way we'll do blah-blah-blah' and then we won't be forced to do it." I explained. It seemed to be a trend that whenever Sokka said something like that, something happened that made us do it. Sokka looked like he was about to protest, but was cut off as I pushed him further into the labyrinth of death.

Suddenly the ground shook and we all looked back in horror as the entrance of the cave collapsed, trapping us in here. Wow, what jerks! The fire nation guys trapped us in here. Appa immediately began freaking out and clawed at the wall in desperation. Katara walked over to him and pet his side gently.

"It's okay Appa, we'll be fine…I hope." She mumbled. I walked over to the bison and stroked the side of his head, trying to calm him down.

"We will be fine. Chong, how long do those torches last?" Sokka questioned, turning towards Chong who had lit a torch immediately after we were trapped.

"Uh, about two hours each." He responded as he looked at the torch in his hand. Lily walked over and suddenly lit four more torches at once.

"And we have five torches which gives us ten hours!" She announced. Oh my gosh, even I'm not that dumb. Sokka quickly ran over to her and grabbed the torches out of her hands, stomping them out.

"It doesn't work like that if they're all lit at the same time!" He protested angrily before turning to me.

"Kai, how long can you keep a flame going?" I shrugged and held out my hand.

"Not sure, I haven't tested my full limits, but probably for at least a few hours." I responded, lighting my hand on fire. The nomads all gasped in shock. Oh right, we didn't tell them.

"You're a fire bender?" Chong questioned. Moku snapped in realization.

"Oh yeah! I heard about the fire bender gal that's been goin against the fire nation." He announced. These rumors about me have been spreading fast. Katara stepped in front of me, her hands on her hips.

"Do any of you have a problem with my sister?" She questioned with a glare. Well, after all the times I've been attacked and imprisoned I can't say her paranoia is unfounded. Chong just waved her off.

"Hey, we're all people here. No problems." He reassured with a smile. I actually believed him, they didn't seem like the type to hate someone based on their nationality. Smiling in satisfaction Katara backed off while Sokka and Aang relaxed. Focusing on the task at hand again, Sokka ran over to Appa and pulled out paper.

"I'm gonna make a map to keep track of exactly where we've been. Then we should be able to solve it like a maze and get through." He explained and walked ahead to lead us through the labyrinth. I looked around at the tunnel. For some reason I felt like it just wouldn't be that easy.

"Sokka, this is the tenth dead end that you've led us to." Katara stated as he turned his map all different directions. We had been wandering in here for what felt like forever and I felt like we were just getting more lost.

"This doesn't make sense, we've already been this way!" He protested, scanning his map.

"We don't need a map, we just need love. The little guy knows it." Chong stated as he pointed over at Aang. I continued to pet Appa's head to keep him from freaking out as Aang shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind a map also." He replied. I looked over at Sokka with my head cocked to the side. It wasn't like him to read a map wrong. He was our 'map guy'. I stroked Appa's head one more time before walking over to Sokka and looking over his shoulder. Immediately my brows furrowed in confusion.

"Yeah, I'm not even gonna try and help. I can't read your chicken scratch map." I simply stated as I gave up on looking at the map. He glared at me.

"Don't blame my handwriting for the fact that you can't read a map." He countered. Katara nodded off to the side.

"It is true, Kai. You're not very good with directions." She added with a small smirk. I huffed at that. Honestly, you get lost a few times and suddenly it's like everybody judges you. Sokka looked back at his map as he walked over to one of the walls.

"There's something strange here…" He muttered. Suddenly he sighed and rolled up his make-shift map and turned to face us. Uh oh, I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like this.

"There's only one explanation. The tunnels are changing." Just as he said it the mountain shook to prove his point and we all stared at him in horror and shock. Changing?! We've seen a lot of crazy things during this whole adventure, but a mountain that changes on its own? I swear the universe hates us. Chong gripped his head with his hands as he looked around in panic.

"The mountain, it's changing! It must be the curse! Oh, I knew we shouldn't have come in here!" He wailed. I promptly smacked the back of his head.

"Get it together man! And you were the one to suggest this in the first place…" I mumbled in irritation. I'm never following a bunch of hippies anywhere ever again.

"Right, If only we had listened to you…" I heard Sokka mutter sarcastically. I just sighed and was about to continue forward when Katara's hand on my sleeve stopped me.

"Wait, do you guys hear that?" She questioned nervously. We all paused and waited with baited breaths as we listened. I suddenly heard a quiet screech in the tunnel a head of us. Momo apparently heard the same thing and flew off of Sokka's shoulder in a panic. I stumbled a little as he flew into my arms before recovering and stroking his head to calm him down.

We all stared at the darkness in front of us for what felt like forever before suddenly a fanged face popped out and flew straight at us. Sokka screeched and dove to the side as the thing flew by his head.

"It's a giant flying thing with teeth!" Chong shouted out oh so helpfully. I shot my fist forward, shooting a fire ball at the creature as it lunged at me before rolling away.

"Oh really?! Thanks, I didn't notice!" I shouted back with a glare. The thing landed on the ground in front of us, growling as we got a closer look.

"It's a wolf-bat!" Moku cried out in realization. Huh, that makes sense. The thing had an almost dog like appearance with leathery wings sticking out of its sides. The wolf-bat jumped up into the air and lunged at Katara and Aang, but Sokka ran over and began swinging his torch at it. The beast growled before swiping the torch out of his hand and sending it flying over to…uh oh.

Appa roared in fright as the torch landed right in front of his foot. He started to run around crazily, crashing into the walls and shaking the whole cavern.

"Appa, stop!" I shouted futilely as I saw cracks start to run up to the roof of the cave. Rocks began to fall on us as the ceiling shook menacingly. I ran over to the bison and grabbed his reigns, pulling tight as he began to slow down. But, the damage was already done.

I looked back at the others in horror as I realized that the ceiling was about to fall. I raised my arms above my head in a last ditch effort to protect myself as the ceiling collapsed and we were all crushed…just kidding.

A blast of wind knocked me backwards as it slammed into my gut. I let out a grunt as my back hit a wall.

"Ugh, thanks I guess Aang." I muttered as I opened my eyes, rubbing the back of my head. In front of me was a giant wall of rock that completely closed me off. I looked to my sides and saw Appa, a single torch, Aang and Katara. (A/N: I couldn't resist third-wheeling Kai XD)

I quickly ran over to the two of them and checked to make sure they were okay.

"Aang? Katara? You guys alright?" I questioned in concern as I saw their eyes opening. Aang groaned before slowly getting up as I gently helped Katara sit up. Appa was clawing at the wall of rock in front of us, groaning and whimpering anxiously.

And I could've sworn that I heard Sokka scream in horror.

After recovering we all quickly set out further down the tunnel to see if we could find our way out and meet up with the others. Katara lead the way, holding the torch that was probably running out of fuel. Aang and I were behind her, trying to soothe Appa so he didn't cause more cave collapses.

"Guys, look!" Katara suddenly shouted, drawing our attention to the front. At the end of the tunnel there was some sort of circular stone doorway that was blocked off. Aang and I smiled excitedly at each other before running forward to catch up with my sister.

"We found the exit!" Aang cheered in excitement. I quickly ran to the doorway and pushed as hard as I could, but it didn't budge an inch. Even with Katara and Aang helping we got nowhere. Just as we were giving up on opening the doorway, a noise caught my attention.

I looked behind me and my eyes widened. There behind us, was Appa pawing the ground and preparing to charge like a bull. And, it didn't look like he noticed or cared that we were in his way.

"Look out!" I yelled before tackling Katara off to the side just as the raging bison crashed into the doorway. I winced as his head made contact. I bet he'll feel that in the morning. It probably doesn't compare to a spirit induced headache, but eh.

I watched as the stone blocking the doorway collapsed inwards and fell out of our way, leaving the path open. All of us walked through the door, only to arrive in a large chamber with statues and two stone coffins lying in front of us. Oh…

"This isn't an exit…" Katara muttered.

"It's a tomb." Aang finished, both of them sounding quite spooked. I crossed my arms, frowning at the tomb we were in. Great, we were in a tomb.

"That's not a good omen…Well, Aang since you're a gentlemen, Katara and I should get the coffins."

"Okay, but you should help me at least dig some sort of hole for myself first."

"Sure thing." Katara just looked at the two of us in exasperation.

"You guys aren't helping at all…"

I examined the room we were in as we walked down the stairs in front of us that lead straight to the coffins. I must say, it was a pretty impressing tomb.

"It must be the two lovers, that's whose buried here." Aang said in realization. Meanwhile, Katara walked over to a part of the wall that had images on it as well as some writing on the bottom.

"These pictures must tell their story. They met on top of the mountain that separated their villages. Their villages were enemies, so they could not be together. But, their love was strong and they found a way. The two learned earth bending from the badger moles, they became the first earth benders. They built elaborate tunnels so they could meet secretly. Anyone who tried to follow them would be lost forever in the labyrinth.

But, one day the man didn't come. He had died in the war between their villages. Devastated, the woman unleashed a terrible display of her earth bending power. She could've destroyed them all. But, instead she declared the war over. Both villages helped her build a new city where they lived in peace. The woman's name was Oma, and the man's name was Shu. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love." Katara finished the story, sounding almost in awe.

She always did like a good love story. Glancing behind us, we all turned and looked at what I guessed was a statue of Oma and Shu kissing. In between them there was some writing.

"Love is brightest in the dark…" I murmured, reading the passage in thought. In the dark, huh…Just as I was musing about ideas, Aang's voice interrupted me.

"How are we going to get out of these caves?" He wondered aloud. I opened my mouth to speak, but again I was cut off. This time by Katara.

"I…have a crazy idea." She offered, almost shyly. Aang and I glanced at each other before turning to Katara. I kinda wanted to hear her idea first.

"What?" Aang questioned in curiosity, but she merely turned away and faced the opposite wall. I could've sworn there was a blush on her face. Something told me I might get some interesting blackmail material soon…

"Never mind, it's too crazy…" She muttered again. I shrugged as I leaned against the wall.

"Well, either we try whatever we can or we end up staying with Oma and Shu here." I stated simply, pointing over at the two coffins. Katara sighed before slowly turning around.

"I was thinking, the curse says we'll be trapped forever if we don't trust in love. And, here the passage says that love is brightest in the dark and has a picture of them…kissing." She trailed off slowly. My eyes widened as I realized the implications. I desperately tried to hold off the smirk on my face. Aang, looks like your wish might come true…oh gosh, but I'm still in the same room! This is so weird.

"Katara, where are you going with this?" Aang, the ever innocent, questioned with his head cocked to the side. Katara's face flamed as she faced Aang, and I slowly stepped backwards.

"Well, what if we…kissed?" She offered, her hands fidgeting with her shirt. I resisted the urge to throw myself atop of Appa and flee the scene.

"Us kissing?!" Aang gaped in shock. He repeated the sentence as Katara continued about how it was a stupid idea. This time, he had a dreamy look on his face.

"-I mean, can you imagine us kissing?" Katara giggled at the hilarity of the thought while Aang finally snapped out of fantasy mode.

"Hah, yeah! I definitely wouldn't want to kiss you." He stated with a smile, before his face froze in horror at his words. Meanwhile I was banging my head on the walls. Being stuck in the labyrinth sounded preferable to this awkwardness…

Katara's face immediately shifted into an insulted frown as she looked away from him.

"Well, I'm sorry for suggesting it. I didn't know it would be such a horrible option for you." She huffed. Aang began to panic as he walked closer to her.

"No no, I didn't mean it like that! If the choice was between kissing you and dying…" He trailed off, as I tried harder to give myself a concussion. Honestly, I didn't think it was possible to be this bad with women. And I lived with Sokka all my life.

"Ugh!" Katara was definitely feeling the insult now. Aang clenched his fists together as he tried one more time.

"What? I'm saying I'd rather kiss you than die! That's a complement!" He insisted as Katara merely shoved the torch in his hands and stalked away.

"Well I'm not sure which I'd rather do!" She called over her shoulder angrily. Aang wilted, looking at the floor sadly.

"What is wrong with me…" He muttered in a depressed state. I walked over to him and watched as he looked up at me with wide eyes, seemingly just remembering that I was there. I merely gave him a look before shrugging.

"I'm not kissing you." I stated simply before going to walk after my sister, but not before he sent a question my way.

"Uh, what happened to your forehead? It's bleeding."

"Oh, you know. It was just such a great atmosphere to be in I couldn't stop myself."

"I'm guessing by now you've come up with the answer to your predicament?" Vayu questioned in my mind as I walked slowly behind Aang and Katara.

"Yeah…but I think I'll wait just a bit longer until telling Katara and Aang. The torch is about to go out soon anyways."

"You just want to mess with them, don't you."

"I thought that was implied."

"I just want to say that I do not approve…but go ahead."

My mental conversation was interrupted as Aang held up the dying torch.

"Our light is about to go out any second." He muttered quietly before turning to me.

"Kai, you'll be able to give us light for a while, right?" I nodded in response, lighting a small ball of fire in my hand that instantly added to the light in the caves. But, I shrugged.

"Even with light that doesn't help if we can't find a way out." I stated simply. Katara sighed from in front of us.

"She's right. We'd just end up wandering endlessly for longer…" She said in a defeated tone. Aang looked between us with a sad face.

"What are we gonna do?" He questioned quietly. Katara stopped walking, before turning around and coming closer to him.

"What can we do?" She returned. I looked between them, suddenly feeling very awkward (especially since I was sorta standing between them), before I stepped backwards and pushed the two closer together.

"Yup. Katara's idea, Aang's the guy, so…have at it! I'll just, go over there…and try not to scratch my eyes out." I muttered the last part under my breath as the two sent me very awkward looks before facing each other again. I faced the wall, but still had my head turned to where I could see how much light the torch had left.

Just as the torch was about to die (and Aang's face was getting really close to Katara's), I discreetly snuffed out my own flame so that we would be bathed in darkness. Almost three seconds after snuffing out my flame, the cave lit up.

Looking up we saw crystal like stones in the ceiling of the cave and the crystals formed some sort of path.

"They must be made out of some sort of crystal that lights up in the dark!" Aang stated in realization. Both of them were, thankfully, separated again.

"That's how Oma and Shu found each other in the caves! They just turned out their lights and followed the crystals. That must be the way out!" Katara announced, pointing further down the path with the crystals. You know, I feel like a lot of people probably figured this out. I mean there's no way nobody ever ended up losing light in these caves.

Aang shuffled his feet as he looked up at Katara with a blush.

"Um… so about the-."

"C'mon, let's go!" Katara shouted over her shoulder as she ran forward. I walked over to Aang and patted his shoulder before grabbing his wrist and pulling him forward.

"Come on lover boy, let's blow this giant tomb." I said with a grin. He shook off his daze before smiling back and running with me. I just hoped Sokka and the hippies would make it out okay. They had a lot more torches than us.

As soon as we could see the light at the end of the tunnel, Appa broke out into a run and raced out. He grunted happily as soon as he left the cave and stood on his hind legs before flopping onto his back. Katara, Aang and I followed soon after.

"What about Sokka?" Aang questioned in concern. No sooner than he asked that question, the mountain behind us shook and we turned to watch Sokka and the hippies escape the mountain riding…badger moles? Huh, what a weird day.

"Sokka!" Katara and I quickly ran over to our brother as he slid down from the badger mole with a smile.

"How did you guys get out?" He asked with a smile as Aang walked up next to us.

"It's just like the legend said, we let love lead the way." Aang offered with a shy grin. I punched his arm lightly with a roll of my eyes.

"No we didn't, we let glowy crystals in the ceiling lead the way." I corrected. Sokka seemed unfazed.

"Really? We let large, ferocious beasts lead our way." He said before waving at said beasts as the retreated back into the mountainside. Katara hugged Sokka before I patted his head like a child.

"Glad to see you didn't get lost forever in that tomb." I stated with a smile. He smirked at me before forcefully pulling me into a hug.

"Aw, look Katara! Our sister cares about me!" He cooed as I suffocated in his shirt. Katara giggled at my pain as I swung my arms viciously, trying to escape. Finally, I just lit my hand on fire and watched in satisfaction as Sokka retreated from me. I was just about to leap at him and show him whose boss when Katara cut in.

"Hey, why is your forehead all red?" She questioned, making me examine it as well. Huh, there was some sort of circular, red imprint on Sokka's face. Just as we were looking at it, Chong walked up to us with wide eyes.

"Okay, nobody react to what I'm about to tell you, but I think that kid's the Avatar!" He whispered next to us in awe. Sokka suddenly smacked his forehead with his hand, leaving an even larger red mark. Oh, I get it. Then he seemed to examine my forehead.

"And why do you have cuts on your forehead? Almost looks like you bashed your head into a wall a few times…" He muttered in thought. I pointed over at Aang and Katara who had begun talking with each other again.

"I was stuck with Mr. I-Say-Everything-The-Wrong-Way and Ms. I-Take-Everything-The-Wrong-Way." I stated as an explanation. From the confused look on his face I guessed that he didn't understand me. I simply patted his shoulder before walking over to Aang and Katara. As I arrived Katara looked over at me with a questioning look.

"Hey Kai, why'd you turn your fire off when the torch went off? I mean, it turned out for the best, but I was just wondering." She asked with a shrug. Aang sent me a similar look saying that he had the same question. I smirked, clasping my hands behind my back.

"Well, I had figured out the riddle like 10 seconds after reading it. It was pretty simple after all." I explained with a shrug. The two of them froze for what seemed like forever before Katara suddenly broke.

"What?! You knew that whole time?! Why didn't you say anything?!" She questioned angrily.

"I tried to, but you guys kept cutting me off. And, after hearing your idea I figured it might be a good time to build up some interesting blackmail. I have tons against Sokka, but nothing really against you." I stated smugly. The look on Aang's face was a mixture between being extremely grateful, and extremely awkward.

The look on Katara's face was just plain annoyance.

Leaping out of the way of Katara's strangle attempt with a laugh, I quickly ran ahead before shouting behind me.

"C'mon love birds! Omashu's awaitin'!" I laughed happily.

Completely ignoring the furious yells of Katara, the confused ones of Sokka, and the quiet thank-you's of Aang. Ahh, young love.

"So…when are you gonna hook up Kai?"

"Shut up."

And that's a wrap on chapter 21! I hope you enjoyed it.

Again, keep an eye out for the official name of Kai's dragon in the next chapter.

Next Chapter: Return To Omashu