Howdy team and welcome to the next chapter of AWTF! All's quiet in the Commonwealth. Don't forget to follow, review, and favorite.
I Don't own ATLa
"So, you're telling me that we've been on top of an ENTIRE CITY this whole time?" Sokka yelled as he looked at both Azula and Toph, who were staring at him with wide eyes.
"Yes," said Azula. "Aang told me about it when we were on the ship. This is the Western Air Temple."
Sokka nodded his head, gathering the information. "Well, what should we do?" he asked the two girls. They responded by looking at him in confusion.
"Wait, aren't you like the leader?" Azula asked him.
"We...don't really have one." Sokka explained what happened after the Stronghold incident and Azula looked at Toph for confirmation.
"Yes, we all split up after we fought," Toph explained. "Suki, Sokka, and I left and Zuko and Katara stayed since Aang did a number on Zuko."
"Yeah, I remember that fight very well," said Azula. "It was when I realized that I liked Aang. It was also when the nightmares started." She then proceeded to enlighten Sokka and Toph of what happened while they were on the boat.
"Wow! It sounds like you both had a really nice time!" Sokka said with a wide smile on his face.
"Oh, shut it," Toph snapped back with agitation present in her voice. "We know you bet on their relationship. You don't need to rub it in."
"Wait...you BET on my relationship with Aang?" Azula yelled, which made Sokka sweat a bit.
For a domesticated Azula, she sure is terrifying, Sokka thought as he waved his hands in the air.
"So then, when did you think that we were dating?" Azula asked with a small smirk on her face.
"Well, we were on the boat and I brought up how cute he looked with you," Sokka explained as he started gathering all of his maps from the makeshift desk that he had.
"At least one of you guys believed in me and Aang," Azula mumbled, but then felt an arm on her shoulder. She looked up and saw that Sokka was holding her shoulder and smiling at her.
"Hey, if Aang trusts you, then so do I," Sokka said with a kind smile. "You, Ty Lee, and Mai are a part of us now no matter what Zuko and Katara say. I heard you talked to Suki this morning. I know she won't trust you easily, but just give it time."
"Thank you, Sokka. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry about everything that I and my friends have done," Azula said solemnly.
"It's fine. You're different; all of you are different. Aang changed you. Now, our priority is to focus 100% of our efforts on capturing Aang," Sokka replied as he closed the bag where he stored the maps.
"Good, because we have some information that could be useful on that," Azula said as she walked over to the bag to help him put stuff into it.
"How are we even going to transport all of this stuff down into the Temple?" Toph asked as she stood and watched the pair work.
"Appa could help us," Azula suggested as she looked over at the sky bison, who was lounging in the sun.
Aapa looked over at the group who was talking about him and groaned. Of course they just expect me to lug all their shit down to the temple. I swear, Aang, wherever you are, you better be enjoying this.
"Yeah, I'm sure Appa can help us out," Sokka said as he glanced at the sassy sky bison.
"What are we going to do about Suki and the others?" Toph inquired as the two finally sorted up the area.
"Is she feeling okay?" Sokka asked, concern laced in his voice.
Azula glanced at Toph, who looked down at the ground. Both of them knew that Sokka was going to freak out when he heard that Suki was pregnant and definitely did not want to be the ones to tell him.
"She'll...tell you what's going on herself. It's...a lot," Azula explained to the young warrior.
"She's not dying, right?" Sokka asked the two girls.
Toph and Azula shook their heads in reply. "No, she's not dying, but it is important," Toph answered with a small smile on her face.
"Alright, I'm gonna trust you, but you better be right that she doesn't die," Sokka said with steel in his voice.
"Trust me, she's going to be fine," Azula reassured him with a smile. "It's something that every woman has to eventually deal with."
"What's this about someone dying?"
All three turned their heads to see Suki walking towards the small ground that was near Sokka's tent.
"Oh, Suki, we were just talking about you," Toph said as she gestured for her to join up with the group.
"Alright. And thanks, Azula, for helping me this morning," said the Kyoshi Warrior as she went to hug the Princess.
This shocked Azula a great deal. She had expected for Suki to be very cold towards her for what she and her friends had done to her in the past. "You're very welcome. I'm glad to see that you are feeling better," she replied with a small smile.
"Yes, it gave me some time to think about...everything," Suki spoke as she let go of the Princess. "I want to say that I will give you a chance. I cannot forget what you, Mai, and Ty Lee did to my friends and my comrades. But I can forgive you. This world knows too much hate and I don't want to be a part of needless violence. You didn't have to help me this morning, and I could tell that you were very uncomfortable. But, you tried to help me, and for that, I really appreciate it. I hope that we can become good friends."
Azula was stunned. She had expected that she would have to grovel at her feet and beg for forgiveness. She thought that she would have to be her slave, but Suki was a far more mature person then she gave her credit for.
"Wow, Suki I...I don't know what to say," Azula stammered, shock written on her face.
"Thank you would be a start," Toph mumbled under her breath, which earned a punch in the shoulder from the older girl.
"I mean, she is right," Sokka said with a smirk on his face.
"Oh my, is the mighty Princess Azula flustered?" Suki said with a playful smirk on her face, which made Azula blush.
"I...thank you," said Azula as she bowed her head and took the hit to her ego in stride.
"No problem. But, if you hurt anyone here, I will kill you," Suki threatened in a very serious tone, which made even Sokka shudder.
"Right. You have my word; I will not bring harm on anyone in this group," Azula stated earnestly that made Suki smile.
"Good. I'm glad that we came to an accord. Now, explain to me why we are picking up camp and where we are going," Suki requested as she stamped her foot on the ground impatiently.
"Well, apparently these two found the Western Air Temple," Sokka explained to her.
Suki nodded slowly. "I'm guessing that you are going to have Appa fly us there?" she asked, which received nods from Azula and Toph. "Alright. I'll go round up everyone so that we can see how this crazy plan of yours is going to work."
After a few minutes, Mai and Ty Lee walked over to the group and smiled at them. Katara soon followed, with the last to arrive being Suki and a pissed-off Zuko, who was being dragged.
"What's up?" Katara asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Well, Azula and I found the Western Air Temple and believe that we should move there for the time being," Toph replied, proceeding to explain what happened while also leaving out the conversation that she and Azula were having before they found the temple.
"Alright, Aang told us that we would have to have Appa fly us there since only Airbenders or Sky Bison can get down there," Ty Lee stated as she pointed to Appa.
As she pointed, Appa groaned again. Yes, I know I have to lug all of you vermin down there. Stop reminding me so I can maybe get some decent sleep!
"Alright, what does that have to do with us?" Zuko asked impatiently.
"It means that you have to pack up all your stuff and put it onto Appa," Suki said simply to the person she was standing next to.
"Why should I have to do that? It's Azula's idea, so have her do it!" Zuko replied arrogantly.
"It's your shit, Firepants, so move it!" Toph growled out. "You're a part of this as well, so you have to do your fair share."
"No, those three just got here," Zuko retorted as he pointed to the three Fire Nation members. "Make them pack up all the shit and move it!"
"Alright, listen brother," began Azula, "I know you have beef with me, and I know you have shit with Aang. I had hoped that when Aang beat the ever-living shit out of you, you gained some humility, but, apparently, you didn't. I am not your slave. I am not your servant. I will not do whatever the fuck you tell me to do!"
Zuko proceeded to glare at her more. "Oh?" he asked, his voice dripping with irritation. "And why can't I? For all I know, you're a traitor who tortured, kidnapped, and brainwashed the Avatar."
Azula was seething with rage. "I...did...not...brainwash him!" she hissed to her brother.
"And how do we know that?" Zuko asked innocently.
"Will both of you just shut the fuck up?!" Ty Lee yelled. The two looked over at her with rage filling their eyes. "We don't need this right now! We need to get out of the open, lest someone find us and try to kill us."
"Even more reasons as to why we need to dump you three off of a cliff," Zuko mumbled to himself, but received a jab in the rib from Suki.
"Knock it off!" Suki snarled at the teen.
"As I was saying," Sokka continued as he glared at Zuko before turning to the rest of the group. "We all should pack up our own things and put them onto Appa. Once that is done, we can talk about everything that we are going to do next," Sokka explained, relieved when he received nods from everyone.
"Alright. Let's plan to meet up in twenty minutes," Suki announced to the group. Everyone complied and went off to do their jobs. Once finished, they met at Appa and started to load onto him.
"It's okay, Appa. I know you probably don't want to do this," Ty Lee said as she rubbed Appa's coat.
Appa groaned at the touch and perked up slightly. At least one of them appreciates me, he thought to himself as he felt them loading up equipment onto his back.
After they were done, they made one more trip around to make sure they did not leave anything behind. Once complete, everyone hopped onto Appa and sailed off.
What everyone saw amazed each of them. Below the cliff was an entire underground upside-down city. There were stars coming out of rooms with no doors, houses on their heads covered in dust, and several large temples with large flat platforms. There was also a structure built into the wall where water was freely flowing.
"Wow," Suki said, her mouth gaping as she watched all the bats that were flying around.
"It looks beautiful," Ty Lee stated as she gazed at the buildings hanging from the cliff.
"Aang tried to describe to me what this place looked like, but he didn't do it justice. This place is amazing," Azula said as she took in the sights of her new how for the foreseeable future.
"Meh, it just looks like old rocks and cobwebs to me," Zuko mumbled as he sulked on the saddle.
"How do you like him?" Suki whispered into Katara's ear.
The Waterbender merely shook her head and sighed. "He's a good person once you get to know him."
"Sure..." Suki sarcastically replied.
When Appa landed on one of the large central platforms of a temple, everyone got off and started unloading materials off of the large bison. Once they got everyone's things off, they met in a circle.
"Alright, we need to find food, water, and rooms," Suki planned out. "Why don't we all split up into groups so we can cover more ground. We meet back here in two hours." Everyone nodded in reply and broke away from the circle.
Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai walked towards one of the hallways and headed inside. Toph, Suki, and Sokka took one of the staircases and Zuko and Katara started pitching the campsite.
"Isn't this place crazy?" Ty Lee whispered in awe as they strolled through the empty hallways of the temple.
"Wasn't this the women's temple?" Mai asked as they looked around.
"Yes. That's what Aang said to me when we were together," Azula replied as she checked a room.
"Where are all the extra clothes?" Mai asked the other two, who just shrugged their shoulders.
"Maybe when the Fire Nation attacked, they were burned. I wouldn't be surprised if they did," Azula inferred in a somber tone.
As they walked around, they noticed that there were not any remains of Airbenders in the rooms at all. They remained puzzled as to where they could be until they came across a large room. It was filled to the brim with clothes and bones of children.
Azula immediately halted and her eyes widened. "I think this answered your question, Mai," she spoke as she looked around at the carnage that happened over a century ago.
Ty Lee did not fare much better as she immediately ran off to vomit. She hurled out one of the windows and started crying at the sight of all of the dead remains of children.
Mai simply tried to push past it, but even she shed a tear in remorse as to what her homeland had done.
"Guys..." Azula started as she walked over to a table where there was a half-scorched note.
Stranger,
Us benders of this temple are the last of our kind. We can feel it all over the world; we are dying. We are the end of the Air Nomads. All but one remains. Stranger, keep hope that he shall return. He will save us. He will avenge us! The winds will sing a new song: a song of hope. He will do it, for we believe in him!
The Avatar shall rise again!
Azula looked at the note over and over again. Tears streamed down her face as she read the last testament of a young female Airbender, now long forgotten. She attempted to picture what was going through this young girl's mind as she wrote it.
"We need to end this war," whispered Azula, but she was heard by Mai and Ty Lee, who walked over to her.
"Zula, what..." Mai saw the frayed note in her friend's hand and read it. She, too, started openly crying, something that she never did. She stared at the skeleton next to the table and prayed a simple prayer that she may rest in peace.
"We can find him," Ty Lee said quietly. She had looked at the note and back at Azula, who was still very shaken by it. She knew that they had to try and find him, but unfortunately they didn't know where to even start.
"I..." Azula trailed off as she began to think about Aang, how he was the last Airbender, how he was now in charge of resurrecting the Airbender, how he was now the only person in the entire world who could do it. She knew that he desired kids, but now, she truly realized that this burden rested on his shoulders. "We need Aang. The world needs Aang."
They stayed in that room for another few minutes before they left to regroup with the others. Enough time had elapsed that it was now time to meet up again. When everyone got back, they each told of what they found.
"We found lots of books in a secret room. There were things about the sky and something called an eclipse," Toph explained for her group.
"We found a store room of clothing and medical herbs," Katara reported as she held a spare orange and red female Airbender gown. "There was also a plethora of metal armor and weapons that could come in handy at some point."
Azula held back tears as she recalled her exploration. "We found the remains of the children," she stated quietly. "They were all huddling in a corner in a large room."
At this, everyone hung their heads for a few moments of silence. Afterwards, Sokka walked over and placed his hand on Azula's shoulder to support her. Azula, at this point, had started crying uncontrollably into Ty Lee, who was trying to calm her down.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Sokka said quietly to the Princess.
"They murdered innocent children...innocent little girls," Azula said through sobs. "We need to end this. We can't let this go on!" She cried into Ty Lee, her statements making everyone nod their head - all but one.
"Would you stop faking the tears?" Zuko sneered, much to the dismay of everyone around him.
"Do you ever just shut the fuck up?!" Toph yelled at the Firebender, who merely scoffed.
"She's obviously faking it. I bet she doesn't even care!" he yelled at the small Earthbender, which made everyone glare at him. Even Katara was disappointed in him at this exchange.
"Dude, she's openly sobbing," Sokka pointed out to Zuko. "You need to give her a break. These are her boyfriend's people. It's not easy for anyone. I know I definitely wouldn't want to see the remains of innocent children like that!"
Zuko simply scoffed in return. "She's a murderer! Why can't you all get that through your heads?" he yelled.
"Yes, she was," said Suki. "She's killed, but so have we. We've separated families, ended the lives of potential mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. She was in the dark for a long time. Aang brought her to the light. Why can't you just accept that your sister is trying to become a better person?"
Zuko grunted and walked away. "If I've learned one thing from my life, it's that Azula always lies," he replied coldly, but not before picking up his stuff to find a place to sleep. Once he was gone, Katara sighed and picked up her own belongings and tried to follow him.
"I'll try to talk some sense into him," she mumbled to them as she headed away from the group.
Suki walked over to Azula and rubbed the lower part of her back as she cried quietly as well. "Don't worry, Azula. We'll find him," she said with conviction, which sparked a small light in everyone. "And this time, we won't fail!"