Aang stared at the place where his daughter's spirit form had disappeared a few hours ago.
How had the rebels taken her? He had secretly had spies keep an eye on her when she wasn't in his sight. There was no possible way that the spies had been taken down by the rebels.
Or was there?
Aang walked over to the chair in his study and sat down. His daughter, his only child, was gone.
Aang could feel himself starting to lose control. He gritted his teeth. He wouldn't give in to his rage. He would let it fuel him as he searched for her.
A knock came at the door of his study.
"Aang, are you in there?" said a soft voice.
Katara.
She would know what to do--if she didn't kill him for letting their daughter be taken by the rebels.
Aang opened the door for her. Katara stepped in and his him lightly on the lips.
"How are you?" she asked, frowning when she saw the shadows that were haunting his face.
Aang sighed. "Katara, you might want to sit down for this."
Katara sat down, wringing her hands nervously. What was wrong?
Aang took a very deep breath. "Lily was taken."
"WHAT?!" Katara shouted, jumping to her feet. So much for needing to sit down. "How could you let this happen?"
"I didn't know until it was too late. She was just taken a few hours ago. Toph sent out a search party to look for her an hour ago."
Katara pursed her lips. "It's our fault."
"What? We did everything we could!"
"No, we didn't! We could've sent more spies to watch her. We could've kept her locked inside, away from the danger."
"And what would that do? Make her even more unprepared when something like this happened later?"
Katara held her head in her hands. "I just can't believe they took her."
"I know," Aang said, pulling her in for a hug. "But we did everything we could."
Katara started to cry and Aang held her tighter.
"It'll be okay," he whispered.
Katara cried harder in response. She couldn't understand how he could say it would be okay when their daughter was missing.
Aang knew Katara was suffering as she sobbed into his shoulder. What he didn't know was how to comfort her.
Aang felt responsible for the disappearance of their daughter. If he hadn't let her go out with Lin maybe . . .
No. They would've found her eventually anyway. There was nothing he could've done.
Aang tried to console himself with this, but it only made the pain worse.
--
A few days later, Aang and Katara sat in City Hall with Sokka and Toph. Lin was leaning against the wall, flanked by two burly metalbenders.
"Lin," Aang started. "What do you remember from the attack?"
"Well, the shadows jumped out from hiding places all around the island's port. They seemed to be targeting Lily, but a few still came after me."
Toph shuddered at the mention of her daughter being attacked by the shadows. She may have been as tough as metal but even she cared about her daughter.
Lin continued her story. "There were too many of them. They almost had me when Lily bent some air my way. She told me to get to the kayak so I did. I barely made it, even with her help."
Lin paused. Even the thought of what had happened next made her want to break down and cry. "She pushed the kayak away with a blast of air and they took her."
Aang tensed. He hated how his daughter had sacrificed herself for Lin. He knew it was selfish, but he would've rather Lin had been taken than Lily.
Sokka spoke. "Does anyone have any promising leads about where Lily was taken?"
Silence was the only answer he received.
Katara bit back a sob and Aang placed his hand on her arm. She had been taking Lily's disappearance horribly, barely leaving Air Temple Island.
Toph walked over to Lin as the girl started to cry. Even when Toph wrapped her daughter in a tight embrace her sobs echoed throughout the building.
Sokka stared at all the sorrow in the room. He had shed his fair share of tears over his niece's kidnapping, but he needed to keep himself together if they were going to rescue her.
He allowed a few more minutes of tears and hugs before clearing his throat.
Everyone snapped to attention immediately. Even though Aang was the Avatar, Toph the chief of police, and Katara a master waterbender, at that moment Sokka was their leader.
"Toph," Sokka said. "Have your search parties reported back to you yet?"
Toph shook her head and then frowned. They should've reported back already. "I'll look into it," she promised.
"Katara, have you searched the island for clues where they may have taken her?"
Katara shook her head. She had been wallowing in her sorrow too much to do anything. "I don't think they would've left any clues. But if they did I will find them."
"Aang, did you try finding her with your Avatar powers?"
Aang shook his head. It hadn't occurred to him that he should do that. "I don't think I will be able to sense her. The rebels wouldn't be that sloppy. But I'll try to send a message to Lily and ask her where she is."
Sokka clasped his hands together. "I'll ask the Water Tribes to keep an eye out for her. They could be taking her near there in an attempt to get to the spirit portals."
"Aren't the spirit portals closed?"
"Yes, but they might be trying to open them. Who knows what the Avatar's daughter could do? If she can do anything like Aang . . . well, let's just say the rebels might not use her abilities for good."
Aang and Katara shuddered, unwilling to think of what that would mean for their daughter.
Unwilling to think of what that would mean for the world.