Chapter 29:

The group were all walking across the ground, Appa with them still covered in his armour as the sun beat down on them. All their heads were dropped sadly. Momo was lying over the avatar's bald head as he walked beside his bison, the others ahead of them. Teo rolled himself as The Duke walked behind him and none of them spoke.

"This is humiliating." Katara said, breaking the silence as she walked beside Sokka.

"Do you mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation, or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?" Sokka asked as Katara turned to him.

"Both." she responded

"Sorry guys, but Appa gets tired carrying all these people." Aang said as he scratched below the bison's eye, causing the bison to groan happily.

"I wonder how the rest of the troops are." Teo said, turning to Haru

"They're probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out, now he's going back in." Haru said sadly

"I miss Pipsqueak." The Duke frowned

"I miss not having blisters on my feet." Sokka responded from beside him.

Toph suddenly stopped, having been at the front of the parade and she looked happy as she stomped her foot down on the ground.

"Hey, we're here. I can feel it." she exclaimed.

They all looked around as Freya moved up beside her. They were standing at the edge of a cliff and the others all looked unsure as Aang and Freya grinned like Toph.

"Uh, I think your feet need their eyes checked." Katara said doubtfully

"No, she's right, we are here." Aang agreed as Sokka looked around before shrugging, not understanding.

"The Western Air Temple isn't on a mountain like the other three, it's the only one that's completely unique." Freya said.

"Wow, it's amazing." Toph admitted.

Freya turned to everyone. "Back on Appa," she smiled and she helped Teo with Toph back up before the bison took flight. He groaned before flying over the cliff and dropping below it. Everyone looked around shocked. From the cliff, hanging downwards were temples of towers. Platforms faced out of the cliff wall, which arched backwards so that the temple buildings could hang downwards above other buildings, all making up the temple. A few archways were built into the rock wall and went backwards, hiding some of the pathways and rooms.

Appa landed on one of the platforms and they all began to disembark from the animal, Teo being helped.

"It's so different from the Northern Air Temple." Teo said. Within the floor before them was a pond, which ran across the ground and down the cliff, more falling from above to keep it running. "I wonder if there are any secret rooms." Teo grinned

"Let's go check it out." Haru decided and he ran towards a staircase. The Duke ad Teo shared a look before they followed.

Aang ran forwards to go as well before Katara stopped him, putting his staff in his path.

"You guys go… I think we need to talk about some things." Katara said, the three didn't wait and Haru helped Teo up the stairs.

"I'll race you, Duke." Teo challenged before racing off.

"I told you, it's "The Duke."." The Duke complained before he and Haru ran after the boy.

"Why can't I go?" Aang said as he grabbed his staff from Katara.

"We need to decide what we're gonna do now. And since you're the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of this." Katara decided. Aang responded by putting his staff down and sitting on a ledge.

"Fair enough. So, what's the new plan?" he asked as the others all sat down as well beside Freya, Katara and Sokka opposite Aang and Toph on a tall broken pillar.

"Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan. You just need to master all four elements, and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes." Sokka decided

"Yeah Freya can teach you as much as she can in Firebending to get you started. And she's gotten so well she can probably teach you all of it." Toph said.

"But she hasn't even finished yet." Aang said pointing at her.

"Then we find you another teacher." Sokka shrugged. "Then you can master the element and we're golden." he grinned

"Oh, yeah, that's great. I'll just do that." Aang disagreed as he threw a pebble, laid back and flicked the rock away.

"Aang, no one said it's gonna be easy." Katara admitted

"Well, it's not even gonna be possible. If Freya can only get me so far, than how do we find someone?" Aang demanded, his hands on his hips. The girl in question was simply watching them all.

Everyone was silent as Katara thought.

"We could look for Jeong Jeong."

"Yeah right, like we'll ever run into Jeong Jeong again." Aang said as he lay down, his head hanging backwards.

"Who's—" Toph began "Oh, never mind. If it's important, I'll find out." she decided, crossing her arms.

"Oh well, guess we can't come up with anybody. Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" Aang jumped up and ran off away from the four, grabbing his glider as Momo ran after him.

"What's up with him?" Toph questioned

"He's scared of actually firebending. I've taught him the theory and defensive moves but controlling and producing he's sort of avoided." Freya admitted.

Katara sighed. "We need to get him on board with this, he can't avoid it." she believed. Katara lead the way towards Appa and she, Toph, Freya and Sokka climbed onto the bison to follow the boy and try to talk to him.

"Aang, can we talk about you properly learning firebending now?" Katara called after him

"What? The wind is too loud in my ears. Check out this loop." he grinned before he looped around.

"Aang, stop being childish!" Freya called "You can't save the world by being scared of an element!"

"Aang, we should be making some plans about our future." Sokka shouted after him.

"Ok, we can do that while I show you the giant Pai Sho table." Aang said as he and Appa landed back down by the pond. Aang was grinning excitedly. "Oh, you're gonna love the all-day echo chamber." Aang said as Sokka, Freya, Toph and Katara jumped off the bison.

"I think that'll have to wait." Toph said, they all turned to her confused as she turned to point at Appa. They all followed her indication and the bison moved.

He was wearing deep red with strips of yellow, his hair was down and rather long since they last saw him, travelling down his nose and brushing his collar.

Freya felt her breath hitch in her throat and all words left her. She took a step back in her surprise as the scared face she knew well stood before her.

Zuko was standing there, smiling at them.

Katara gapped surprised before looking angry, Aang looked surprised as well while Sokka looked annoyed, glaring at the boy.

"Hello, Zuko here." he said raising his hand in a wave.

Freya felt frozen.

Aang rose his staff, Katara took a stance to draw her water, Toph rose her arms and Sokka reached for his boomerang.

"Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there, so I just thought I'd wait for you here." Zuko said casually. Appa walked up to Zuko before he growled at the boy, causing him to flinch before the bison licked him. Everyone loosened up surprised as Freya stared. "I know you must be surprised to see me here." Zuko said groaning as Appa licked his face and he wiped it away.

"Not really, since you've followed us all over the world." Sokka reminded him.

"Right… Well, uh… anyway," Zuko said awkwardly as he ignored the statement. "What I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed, and I… uh, I'm good now." he said lamely "And, well, I think I should join your group. Oh, and I can teach firebending... to you." Aang looked surprised and he glanced at Freya beside him. She hadn't moved. "See, I uh…"

"You want to what now?!" Toph asked surprised as Katara looked unsure and Sokka's eyes were wide open.

"You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?" Katara demanded as everyone turned unsure and annoyed he'd even consider the option.

"Yeah, all you've ever done is try to hunt us down and capture Aang." Sokka snapped.

"I've done some good things. I've saved Freya's life enough times, like against Zhao!" he pointed at her. She said nothing, but there was something in her face as Katara looked at her. Freya felt the pain in her chest, the scenes of what had happened in Ba Sing Se came back to her, him fighting her, wanting so desperately to get past her. Aang being almost killed because he'd helped Azula and stopped them from escaping. Him directing lightning at her… but pointing it away.

She managed to take a breath.

"You mean before you betrayed her and broke her into pieces!" Katara snapped back angrily. Zuko looked down at the words and glanced at her as Freya pursed her lips, the only movement she seemed so far to be able to make.

"And kidnapped her in the first place!" Sokka added

"Well, I mean, I could've stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free. That's something." Zuko said, pointing to the bison. "Or even when Freya came looking for my uncle to learn Firebending." The others looked at Freya who winced at their shocked and annoyed faces. Appa however licked Zuko again.

"Appa does seem to like him." Toph said

"Freya saved Appa." Katara snapped.

Freya took a breath and opened her mouth but nothing happened. She licked her lips and closed her eyes momentarily before managing to find her voice.

"Actually Zuko found him first and released him for me." she mumbled and they turned to her surprised.

Zuko lowered his gaze frowning. "I can understand why you wouldn't trust me, and I know I've made some mistakes in the past." he said

"Like when you attacked our village?" Sokka asked

"Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?" Katara added

"Look, I admit I've done some awful things. I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe. I'm sorry I kidnapped you Freya, I realised I never apologised for that." She stared at him, somewhat surprised but he turned to the others as they looked angrily at him. "And I never should've sent that Fire Nation assassin after you. I'm gonna try to stop him—"

"Wait, you really did send Combustion Man after us?" Sokka snapped as Toph looked surprised and the boy drew his boomerang, pointing it at Zuko. "And here I thought Freya was making guesses!" Zuko looked surprised at Freya before turning back to Sokka.

"Well, that's not his name, but…" he said

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to insult your friend." Sokka mocked

"He's not my friend!" Zuko snapped

"That guy locked me and Katara in jail and tried to blow us all up." Toph snapped, pointing at the man.

Zuko sighed and lowered his head in shame before he turned to Aang, who hadn't said anything.

"Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends." Aang looked surprised before turning his gaze from the boy. "You know I have good in me. And Freya, you're the one who told me this was my purpose, you told me again and again you believed in me and that you'd still be here." Everyone looked at her as she frowned, grabbing her elbow with her other hand.

"You do not get to talk to her after everything you put her through!" Katara snapped angrily.

Aang looked from Katara to Freya who shared his look. She was so unsure. He turned to Sokka who shook his head before looking back at Zuko.

"There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done. We'll never let you join us." Zuko's expression looked upset and almost surprised

"You need to get out of here, now." Katara demanded.

Zuko closed his eyes for a moment before staring at them determined and taking a few steps forwards. Freya stepped back.

"I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore."

Sokka stepped forwards, his boomerang raised. "Either you leave, or we attack."

He looked at them all again, his eyes resting on Freya the longest.

"If you won't accept me as a friend," he kneeled down and held his arms out towards them, wrists exposed. "Then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner."

"No, we won't!" Katara shouted before she thrusted water at the boy and sent him tumbling backwards away from them. Freya looked worried and took a step forwards as Zuko looked up at them from the puddle, now sopping wet and aghast. She caught herself in the action and the hand she'd risen in worry she lowered again.

"Get out of here and don't come back. And if we ever see you again… Well, we'd better not see you again!" Katara snapped lamely.

Water dripped from Zuko's hair, which fell down the sides of his face and down his nose. The boy dropped his head sadly before he got to his feet. Aang, Katara and Sokka glared at him as he turned, his eyes landing on Freya who had her lip between her teeth. She was back behind the three with Toph, who was also turned away from Zuko.

Zuko turned and walked off as the three watched him and Aang turned his expression away, almost looking unsure.

Freya sat herself down on the floor and put her face into her hands, breathing deeply to calm herself.

"Why would he try to fool us like that?" Katara demanded

"Obviously, he wants to lead us into some kind of trap." Sokka believed as he moved to Appa and began to unload.

"This is just like when we were in prison together in Ba Sing Se. He starts talking about his mother, and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings." Katara snapped as she and Sokka had their sleeping mats in their hands, handed to her by Sokka who jumped down.

Freya felt heat well up inside her angrily.

"Are you kidding me Katara!" Freya snapped and the three turned to her surprised. "He is a human being and he does has feelings. You know what," she got to her feet "That is the exact kind of thing I'd expect Ozai to say." and Katara looked surprised and hurt.

"Freya don't fall for him again." Sokka said walking towards her "He wants you to trust him and feel sorry for him, so you let your guard down, then he strikes." Freya turned her expression away annoyed and said nothing.

"The thing is, it worked. I did feel sorry for him. I felt like he was really confused and hurt." Katara said, glancing at Freya before she kneeled down, putting down her mat and standing again. "But obviously when the time came, he made his choice, and we paid the price. We can't trust him." she said strongly, pointing at Aang.

"I kind of have a confession to make. Remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Zhao?" Aang asked, turning to the two.

"And you made us suck on frozen frogs? How could I forget? I had a wart on the flap that hangs down from the back of my throat for a month!" Sokka snapped, throwing down his mat and pointing into his open mouth.

"Sokka, I looked at it and told you there was nothing there." Katara said annoyed as Sokka turned to her with his open mouth.

"I could feel it! It's my throatal flap." Sokka complained

"Anyway, when Zhao had me chained up, it was Zuko who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me." Aang admitted

"No way, I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself." Katara disagreed.

"I don't think so, Zuko snuck off the ship and didn't tell anyone where he was going. I went looking for him and when he did return it took a lot for me to get the answer from him as to where he'd been," Freya said sighing. "But you wanna talk about confessions, how about the fact that Zuko saved me from Zhao, and wished to save me from drowning, and that I helped him escape the North Pole with Iroh, and I went to find him when Aang first started earth bending to learn fire bending better, and that I stopped him from getting struck by lightning, and then I snuck around Ba Sing Se to see him over and over again…" she mumbled before sighing and everyone looked at her. "And he did save Appa, not me, though he needed a little persuasion, the choice was his own." she added. "Made him very sick and he got a fever and then he was like a completely different person." she mumbled.

"He was just trying to convince you." Sokka snapped

Freya shrugged and said nothing. They all shared another look as she avoided their gazes.

"Not only that but considering his messed-up family, and how he was raised, he could've turned out a lot worse." Toph agreed

"You're right, Toph, let's go find him and give him a medal. The "not as much of a jerk as you could have been" award." Katara said throwing her hands up as she was sarcastic.

"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. Maybe you're all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly. At least Freya's trying not to, I could feel her shaking as he spoke and she tried to figure out what to do." Toph offered.

"Thanks Toph." Freya grumbled

"Easy for you to say, you weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates." Katara snapped

"Or when he burned down Kiyoshi Island." Sokka added

"Or when he tried to capture me at the fire temple and captured Freya." Aang said annoyed

"I survived." Freya added.

"Why would you even try to defend him?" Katara demanded

"Because Katara, you're all ignoring one crucial fact. Aang and Freya need a firebending teacher." Toph said as she walked over to him and pointed at the Avatar. "We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job. Now one shows up on a silver platter, and you won't even think about it?" she stomped her feet on the ground in frustration.

Katara turned her gaze away.

"I'm not having Zuko as my teacher." Aang said walking over to the siblings.

"You're darn right you're not, buddy." Sokka agreed

"Well, I guess that's settled. And we're not putting Freya through any of that." Katara said

"That's my decision to make, not yours Katara." Freya said strongly and the younger water bender looked surprised as Freya got up and turned, walking away.

Toph groaned in annoyance. "I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here." she said before storming off.