The Mysterious Traveler

Welcome back for another chapter. Hope you guys enjoy and thank you to those who left for leaving reviews, it means a lot to me.

Enjoy chapter 32!

Chapter Thirty-Two:

The Crime

Training with Kiri was a slow progress, though Severus was willing to go along with it. He knew it would take time for her to learn, assuming his teachings were doing anything for her. So, he began working with her in developing her body, teaching her what Jet taught him in sword fighting, as well as combat training. The second day was harder than he had meant for her, mentally noting to make it more manageable for now on.

Sweat covered her face and chest as Kiri nearly fell to the ground, breathing heavily as she completed her final push-up.

"Why are we doing this, again?" she asked.

Severus tossed her a towel as she got back up, "Magic works best in a wizard or witch if their body is in great shape. I believe that for now on we should focus on developing your stamina and physical side of you."

"But it's so hard!" she drank from her water bag.

"So is life," he replied. "We'll retire for now and resume in a few hours before dinner."

Kiri nodded, "Yes, master."

They headed back to their room, finding the others there.

"Hello, darling," Kori hugged her daughter, rubbing her head. "You look exhausted."

"Been working out with master," she yawned. "Working to build up my body so I can do magic."

"Why don't you go lie down for a while."

"Okay," she walked to the bed she shared with her mom and collapsed onto it, welcoming sleep like an old friend.

"How is training going with her?" Katara asked.

Severus shook his head, "As good as it can be. I'm not a master, so everything I do is based on what I know. But with this new style, I think she might be able to unlock her magic within."

"But… she was able to make things float," said Kori.

"That's accidental magic. She was able to do that because of her emotions being so strong. What I am trying to do is to teach her how to find her inner magic and control it the way she sees fit, without the need of emotions."

She nodded.

He turned to Renee, Sokka and Aang at the table, overlooking maps and notes.

"What's all of this?" he asked.

Sokka looked up, finally realizing he was there, "Oh, hey, Alex! We're just going over the battle plans Renee and I worked on last night."

"Been up till almost morning!" said an excited Renee, nearly squealing. "I haven't felt like this since that one time I nearly collapsed an entire cave entrance on top of myself!"

"How did you almost manage to do that?" Aang asked.

"Oh, I was testing out an explosive."

"Right next to a… cave?" Sokka stared at her.

"And felt excited?" Katara added.

"Yeah! It was so much fun!"

Everyone stared at her.

"What?"

Severus sneered, "What did you manage to come up with?"

Renee began to reorganize the maps and notes, "Our first worry was the landscape surrounding the tribe itself. The front entrance is an obvious approach, but what about the open area of ice and snow surrounding the tribe?"

"Which is why," Sokka took over, "waterbenders and scouts will be along the cliffs to make sure that no one gets the idea to try and climb the icy walls. Traps will also be put into place if they manage to make it, especially for tanks."

"And three layers of barracks will be put around the village, manned by enough tribe men to hold back an attack." Renee picked up another map, "The entire front entrance of the Northern Water Tribe will have to be turned into a fortress, a blockade of firepower. But it won't be enough."

"How so?" Aang asked.

"Like above, there should be three layers of defense, with a fourth being the last resort."

"So, we figured, instead of one wall… make two more."

Severus raised an eyebrow.

Renee's smile grew, "If we can create two more walls of ice, with an army on the other side of each one, we can not just hold them off but also decrease their numbers. Make it to where eventually, they will need to retreat."

"But that means holding off for as long as we can," said Severus. "It'll be a siege that rests entirely on them backing off."

"But we do have an advantage," Sokka declared. "At night, the waterbenders are at their strongest. So, the Fire Nation as a window of time when they will be at their strongest and when they can launch an attack on us."

"You talked about there being four defenses. What's the fourth?"

"Actually, it's the very first!" Renee was shaking with excitement. "This one I came up with myself! The main wall maybe tall and very thick, but the Fire Nation has metal ships and tanks."

"Plus, powerful firebending and the numbers to melt their way through," finished Sokka.

"So, we figured, what if you could turn the entire front entrance into a trap?"

Severus raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

Renee help up a map, "By turning miles of water into ice, of course!"

Severus studied the map over, "But they'll still be able to walk across with tanks."

"That's the trap!"

"Huh?" Aang frowned.

Renee's face was burning with excitement, "Waterbenders can turn water into ice and vice versa."

Severus' eyes rose, resisting the urge to smile, "You wish to trick them across and unfreeze the ice to at the right moment to drown them."

"Exactly!"

Aang's face fell, "But… they'll die…"

Everyone looked at him.

"This isn't the time for morality, Aang," said Katara. "This is war."

Severus nodded.

"But they're still people. They have families."

"So do the people here. And so did we," her final words were a whisper but loud enough for everyone to hear. "We need to make sure that the Northern Water Tribe doesn't fall. At any cost."

"Not this way!" he declared. "There has to be a better way!"

"How?!" Katara cried out. "You heard what Zhao said. He'll be here in two weeks, and that was nearly a week ago. Time is running short and we need a plan of defense, as well as offense."

"I can't stand by and let people die," Aang stood firm. "It's my duty as the Avatar to protect others."

Katara's eyes narrowed at him, "Then how do you intend to protect everyone without hurting anyone? Tell me, what is your plan?"

He opened his mouth to reply and hesitated. He couldn't come up with a single answer, or a thought as to what to do. He had nothing.

Katara sighed, "Even if you could, you wouldn't be able to make them go away. Not unless if you could become some giant sea monster to scare them off."

"The monks taught me that every life is sacred."

"Tell that to the people who destroyed your people and your home!"

"Uh, Katara-" Sokka watched with worry.

"Tell that to the man who murdered my mother! Tell that to the benders of my village who disappeared! Tell that to the thousands- no, hundreds of thousands who died in the last one hundred years!"

"Katara!"

"Tell that to every little child who has to go on, never knowing why tragedy took their parents away! Tell that to me, Aang?! Why?!"

"KATARA!"

Her brother's voice broke through and her anger began to dissipate, allowing her mind to think clearly. And upon seeing Aang's tears, her heart began to tighten and sink. Her eyes widened as reality sunk in.

"Aang… I'm… I'm so…"

He ran off, running out of the door as Katara cried out to him.

"Aang!"

Sokka placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping her from following.

Severus stared at the door, conflicted over whether to leave him be or go after him. Something in him wanted to speak with him, to get the boy to see reason. So, he ultimately decided to follow, ignoring Sokka's protest of him doing so.

Meanwhile, Kiri slept peacefully on the bed.

Severus walked through the hallways, passing maids and other staff of the palace as they glanced at him. He had an idea of where to find the monk. And find him he did, right next to series of waterfalls that nearly circled around the palace that sat above it, next to some stairs.

Aang sat on the ledge next to the falls, listening to the peaceful water behind him. He had his knees up against to his chest, tears sliding down his cheeks.

Severus sat next to him, fumbling with his fingers as they sat in silence.

"She's not wrong," he finally spoke.

Aang nodded, "I know. But I'm still against it."

Severus felt irritated with him, how he valued his own beliefs that were forced onto him since birth over reason. But he held his anger in.

"Even if we don't go through with the plan, people will still die. Nothing you can do will stop that."

"I know."

"I don't think you do," he caught the boy's eyes, reading confusion from them. "You've never experienced death before. How could you understand?"

"I saw what happened to my people!" Aang shot back.

"You saw the aftermath, after the deed was done. You didn't have to see the bodies before they deteriorate or witness their death. You never had to kill to save another life."

"And you have?"

Severus turned away, guilt weighing heavily on him.

He remembered what happened months before at the Infinite River, what he had to do save his life and someone else's. How he cast his first Killing Curse. How the nightmares haunted him of it since.

Aang's eyes widened, "Oh!"

He shook his head, "Doesn't matter! This is about you and the responsibility you have to your world."

"My world?"

Severus froze, quickly recovering, "Aang, tell me, how do you expect this war to end?"

"What do you mean?"

He rolled his eyes, "I mean, how do you expect all of this to go?"

Aang stared at the ground, deep in thought, "That we will save the Northern Water Tribe and fight the Fire Lord, and defeat him."

"What happens after?"

"After?"

"What happens after you've defeated the Fire Lord? Will you have killed him?"

"No!"

"So, you expect to defeat him before Sozin's Comet arrives and imprison him?"

"Yes!"

"Then what about the Fire Nation?"

"What about it?"

"It's a nation run by a government; a new leader will take Ozai's place. Unless if you take over the entire nation, you'll only be trading one threat with another."

"Then we'll take over the nation."

"How?"

"By… invading it."

"You'll be putting people in harms way, assuming you have an army for the invasion."

"Then we'll do it quickly."

Severus shook his head again, rubbing his forehead as he sighed, "God, you really are naïve and stupid!"

"Hey!"

"The Fire Nation has been at war for a hundred years and you think no one has thought of or tried it?"

Aang blinked, "Well, I… it could work."

"If you were to invade and defeat the Fire Lord before the nation, someone else will still take his place. You can't win this was before Sozin's Comet. An invasion like that would take years and you'll need an army to do it, which you don't."

"Then… we'll do it fast. Take over before anything could be done to stop us."

"Let's be generous and say that's what will happen. You invade, take over and defeat the Fire Lord. When you succeed, what happens with the people of the Fire Nation?"

Aang was taken aback, "What?"

"I'm saying what do you think happens with the people who live in the Fire Nation?"

"We… leave them alone…"

"You expect to beat them up and leave them be, that they won't resume where they left off? That they will do nothing, after you've humiliated them, defeated their leader and taken over their land?

Aang didn't answer.

Severus sighed, "You may be merciful to them, but they do not care. They won't care that you'll spare their lives. In their eyes, you are the enemy. The invader."

"So are they!"

"And they don't care!"

Silence passed.

"We always have a choice!" Aang declared.

"A choice, yes. But what about the consequences of those choices? Which one of those can you live with the most?"

"I won't betray my people's beliefs just because of one man. You said it yourself, someone will take his place."

"Not if you do it as a show of strength, to make them fear you."

"Fear leads to anger, and anger always turns to hate."

"How else do you see yourself defeating him? By making some emotional speech or showing him the wreckage of his actions?"

Aang's eyes lit up, "Do you think that could work?"

Severus stared at him, his mouth wide open, "No!"

Aang groaned, "This isn't how it's supposed to be."

"It doesn't matter how you want it to be, what matter is how it is now and how you deal with it."

Aang titled his head at him, "Since when did you become so wise?"

He ignored his question, "Katara is right, until this war is over, choices you will not like will have to be made. But there is something else that I believe you must understand in order for you to make those choices. And that's understanding which consequences you can live with in the end. To kill or not, it's you who must make that decision and live with it."

He saw some content in the boy's eyes.

"Thank you…"

"For what?"

"For making sense," he teared up a little. "The last four months have been a tornado of confusion, especially now. It feels nice to be offered some advice that I can take to heart."

Severus stared at him and quickly nodded, "At least now, we have an understanding. The rest is up to-"

"AHHHHHH!"

The screamed pierced their hearts, startling them as they turned to the palace, immediately running up the steps to the source.

As they neared the front entrance, a small group had already formed, blocking their view. Pushing their way through, they emerged to find the body of a young woman on the ground, a pool of blood forming around the head as it leaked out of the mouth. Their eyes widened at the sight, feeling sick.

Sokka, Katara, Renee, Kori, and Kiri appeared as well, with Momo landing on a statue. Seeing the body forced Kori into action as she covered her daughter's eyes and led her away.

"Make way!" someone shouted.

The crowd parted, allowing Chief Arnook, Pakku, and Princess Yue to approach the body. Arnook and Pakku kept a firm expression, while Yue looked at the body in horror, covering her mouth.

The body of the woman stared off into the distance, her eyes held no life and her face held an expression of shock and betrayal. Her mouth dripping with blood, mixing in with the snow and ice. The cold wind stealing away the heat from her body as it grew colder.

As I said before, we are going to be spending a little more time with the Northern Water Tribe, because one of the faults of the show was that we never really got that much time to get to know the society and the people there, so not that much development was built up for us to care. In fact, one of the problems I had with Ba Sing Se was the opposite, we got too much time in that city and for the most part was pretty boring until the end.

In the story time-line, it'll be about a week before Zhao and his invasion arrive, so I figured why not use that time to develop some filler episodes like the show did and use it as development for the Northern Water Tribe.

And yes, as you've already guessed, this one is going to be a murder mystery. One that will play into the characters. It won't be long, I promise. I have other plans and ideas that I want to do.

Just, a heads up, I am trying to rewrite all of my previous chapters for grammar errors and continuity errors, so things will be different with those chapters once I get them uploaded.

Thank you for reading and I'll see you guys in Chapter 33!