Chapter 3: A Vision in the Swamp
"Yeurgh," Aang made a sound as he tasted the stew Sokka had made. He made a face, one eye squinted, mouth in a grimace as he forced it down his throat. Aang would admit that he had been adventurous when he was young, putting many things in his mouth which weren't food, and even swallowing most of those things, but Sokka's stew was a whole new category of awful.
The stew was a dark, muddy brown color. It was watery, with mushy chunks of who-knows-what strewn throughout it. The chunks varied from a pale grayish color to green to a darker brown than the liquid it was in. Aang's attempts to scoop a bite from the bowl resulted in the chunks breaking apart. As it turned out, once he got a bite, it tasted as bad as it looked.
"You don't like my cooking." Sokka's voice was blunt and unsurprised. He looked into his own bowl. "I admit, I never actually learned. Katara and Gran-Gran always did the cooking back at the South Pole. And ever since we left, she was the only one who did." Sokka frowned. "I should've helped her more, I guess. Then maybe I'd have some clue what I'm doing. Just stick to the fish−I think the fish turned out alright."
Aang's eyes widened and his hands trembled slightly as he set the bowl down. He had only just suppressed the urge to gag from the stew's taste, but now he was feeling slightly nauseous again. "Fish? You put…fish in the stew?"
Sokka shrugged. "Well it needed some meat."
"But I'm a vegetarian!" Aang protested. He put the bowl down and stood up, looking upset. "I don't eat meat, Sokka!"
Sokka put down the bowl as he remembered. "Oh, right…" He scratched his head awkwardly. "Well, is fish really considered meat?"
"Never mind the definition!" Aang snapped. Sokka stood up as he saw Aang was close to tears. "Fish are still living beings! Their lives are sacred, too!"
"Could you just…I don't know, eat around the fish?"
Aang looked down into the bowl, looking green. "I think I'll pass."
Sokka frowned lightly, sitting back down. Great going, Sokka, he thought to himself. You successfully traumatized a twelve-year-old with fish stew. He picked the bowl up, taking a sniff. He put it back down. Traumatized yourself, too.
The next day, he cooked again. This time, he remembered not to put any form of meat in. It didn't look or taste any better, but at least Aang could eat it.
"Are you going to miss meat?" he asked Sokka.
Sokka shrugged. "If I find any, I'll make a bit for myself. But I won't put it into anything you'll be eating."
Aang offered a smile. "Thanks." His beliefs, his culture, was important to him. There was a time where most people knew better than to serve meat to an Air Nomad. But then, nobody had seen one in a hundred years, so most people didn't realize that vegetarianism was the norm to most airbenders. Many considered it an affront to the spirits themselves to kill animals, even for food. "Katara made the same mistake the first time she cooked after leaving the South Pole."
"She did?"
Aang nodded. "Although, her cooking was still better than yours." He had a smile on his face, teasing Sokka.
"Oh, right. Well, I know I'm not the worst cook in the world."
"Yeah? Who is?"
Sokka thought for a moment. "Prince Zuko," he told Aang.
Aang raised an eyebrow. "You've never tasted his cooking. How do you know how bad his cooking is?"
"It's Zuko. Can you picture him cooking at all?"
"True." Aang took a few more bites of the meatless soup-stew. He frowned as he chewed. "I wonder what ever happened to him?" The last time he'd seen Zuko was on the night Zhao killed the Moon Spirit and Katara had…passed. It was unusual to go this long without any encounters with the Fire Prince.
Perhaps he died in the wave, too, Aang thought grimly.
"Don't know," Sokka responded. "And so long as we don't see him, I don't care. We've got enough problems without the jerk with the ponytail coming after us."
Aang frowned into his soup.
Despite everything, Aang couldn't help but feel concerned. Although Zuko was frequently an enemy, Aang couldn't help but wonder if they ever could've been friends. Especially after Zuko had saved him from Zhao. Granted, that had mostly been so that he could capture him himself, but still. They had worked well together that night. And Zuko and Zhao didn't seem to like each other much, despite both being Fire Nation. There was something about the prince that provoked curiosity in Aang. Aang couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to the prince.
At times, Aang almost felt like he and the prince were somehow connected.
Moments like this, when he suddenly reconsidered Zuko's fate, and somehow felt certain that Zuko was still alive.
Pakku had told Sokka to keep Aang on track when he practiced his waterbending, and Sokka did his best to do so. Aang did seem to like to mess around, and Sokka frequently had to remind him to stay focused.
Of course, Katara would have been better. All Sokka could do was make sure Aang stayed on track; he couldn't actually help Aang with his waterbending. At one point, Aang was trying to learn something called the 'Octopus Form.' Trying and struggling, Aang admitted he needed help. Sokka raised an eyebrow, but went and looked over the waterbending scroll Aang was using. Looking it over, Sokka tried moving his arms around, attempting to emulate the positions and motions on the scroll.
Finally, he flung his arms down shaking his head. "I have no idea what I'm doing," he admitted. "Sorry, Aang. I think you're on your own here−I'll probably just confuse you even more."
Before Aang could respond, the two of them heard music. A group of travelers introduced themselves as nomads, and before long, they found themselves listening to a story about two lovers who built a secret passage through the mountains.
By the next morning, they had gone through the tunnels, befriended a pair of badger-moles, and Sokka had a big, red mark on his forehead. Those nomads had just about driven him crazy. Aang seemed to like them−although even he had found himself slightly exasperated by them at times.
Still, they had finally reached Omashu. And Aang was happy. After everything that had happened, he was eager to see Bumi again. His old (actually old, now) friend. And he could even teach him earthbending−what was better than that?
And then he and Sokka reached the top of the hill.
Omashu had been taken by the Fire Nation.
"I can't believe it," Aang remarked. "I know the war has spread far, but Omashu always seemed…untouchable."
"Up until now, it was," Sokka told him as he walked over to him. "Now Ba Sing Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left." It wasn't welcome news. The war was getting more and more desperate with each advance of the Fire Nation. With Omashu under Fire Nation control, Ba Sing Se was one of the last barriers to total domination.
It also wasn't welcome news to Aang. Sokka knew that Aang had been looking forward to seeing Bumi, and he had also taken to regaling Sokka with stories about what Bumi and Aang had done before Aang had gotten frozen. After losing Katara, the revelation that Bumi's city had been taken must have been terrifying to Aang.
"I'm going in to find Bumi," Aang declared, and he began walking towards Omashu.
"Aang, stop!" Sokka grabbed his arm. "We don't even know if he's still…"
"What? Still what?" Aang snapped.
Sokka shook his head. He hadn't wanted to start an argument. "We've already lost Katara," he reminded Aang.
"I can't lose Bumi, too." He had lost far too much already.
"But what about you?" Sokka questioned. "Going into a city under Fire Nation control? That's just asking for trouble. Look, we can find another earthbending teacher…"
"That's not what this is about, and you know it! This is about finding my friend. We didn't give up on Katara," he reminded Sokka. "And I'm not going to give up on Bumi. Not when there's a chance he's still alive."
Sokka crossed his arms, but he followed Aang as he led them to a secret entrance he knew of.
"A secret passage? Why didn't we just use this last time?"
Aang finally flipped the lid off, and Sokka found himself being splashed with green sludge. "Yeurgh!"
"Does that answer your question?"
The sewer was disgusting, but it did provide them with a way into Omashu. By the time they come out, Sokka was covered in the green sludge, as well as a few purple pentapuses. He had initially panicked, only to have Aang come over and remove them. The suckers had left little red marks over his face and neck, inspiring 'pentapox'. The guards who had found them fell for it, quickly running off, one of them even convinced he had lost a relative to the imaginary disease.
It was actually sort of funny, despite the situation.
They began their search for Bumi, but quickly found themselves interrupted by the resistance.
"Soo…is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?"
"Of course not!" The earthbender said. "The day of the invasion, we prepared ourselves for battle; we were ready to defend our city, to fight for our lives and freedom! But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered." Sounds like the sort of thing he'd do, Sokka thought. Bumi may be Aang's friend, but Sokka still felt the guy was sort of crazy. "The day of the invasion," the man continued. "I asked King Bumi what he wanted us to do. He looked me in the eye and said "I'm going to do NOTHING!"" He shook his head, and Sokka definitely felt a headache coming on. "It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom, and freedom is worth dying for."
"Actually, there's another path to freedom," Aang corrected. "You can leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered! You can't win. Now's the time to retreat so you can fight another day."
"You don't understand! They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at ANY cost!"
"I don't know general," spoke another resistance member. "Living to fight another day is starting to sound pretty good to me."
Another spoke up. "Yeah, I'm with the kid!"
Murmurs broke out among the people of Omashu, most nodding, agreeing with Aang. The general finally relented, demanding how they could get everyone out.
"Suckers!" Sokka proclaimed as an idea hit him. Everyone looked at him like he'd lost his mind, but he quickly explained his idea. Some people still looked skeptical, but as he related the story of how he and Aang had managed to convince several guards that he was sick, the other resistance members were won over.
"They actually believed it," Aang told them. "One of them even became convinced that his cousin had died of 'Pentapox.'"
Sokka nodded. "We'll fake a plague. And then we'll walk right out of the city, and they will let us."
Sokka and Aang shared a smile.
Their evacuation plan worked, but then it all went downhill. Of all the possible things that could have gone wrong, accidentally picking up a Fire Nation baby was not something Sokka, Aang, or any of the resistance members had thought of.
They weren't entirely certain what to do with him.
Several Omashu residents were in favor of keeping the baby.
"What sort of parent loses their baby like this?" a woman pointed out, a disapproving frown on her lips. "And how did he even get with us? And out of the city?" She shook her head. "Sounds neglectful to me. We may send him back, only for the boy to be lost again!"
"It would be one less soldier later," another man said, arms folded. "If we raise him, he could make a fine Earth Kingdom soldier someday."
"Why bother?" one asked. "Why should we raise our enemy's child? If you're afraid he'll fight us someday, we could easily fix that issue with a large stone."
"What?!" Sokka, who was holding the baby, took a step back, holding the baby protectively. "Do you hear yourself?!" Sokka agreed that sending the baby back to his Fire Nation parents wasn't a great idea. Still, killing babies was beyond crossing a line. He scowled at the mad who had made the suggestion, recalling Jet's plot a few months earlier. Some people, he thought, are going way too far.
Aang stepped forward, glaring at the man. "You are not going to hurt him. He hasn't even done anything!"
"But someday," the man said.
"We'll end the war before this kid can write his name," Sokka snapped.
Arguing broke out−but most of the people of Omashu agreed that killing the baby was out of the question. The general settled the matter, declaring that until they decided what to do, the baby was under his, as well as Aang and Sokka's, protection.
"Nice change from General Fong," Sokka noted. "Can you imagine what he'd do with a Fire Nation baby?"
"I'd really rather not," Aang told him. He was looking rather green.
The question of what to do with the baby was resolved quickly enough, as they received a letter from the governor. The baby was his son.
And he was willing to trade King Bumi for him.
And that went wrong, of course.
It started out decently. King Bumi was in a metal box, being lowered down, cackling as he came into sight.
The girl from the night before, with the knives, came to negotiate. But she wasn't alone. There were two other girls, around Katara's age. One was wearing pink, her long brown hair in a braid. The other girl was…worrisome. She looked vaguely familiar, black hair in a top knot, amber eyes glinting.
That one took over the negotiations, and decided to fight.
Sokka was actually used to having fire thrown at him at this point.
But fire was not supposed to be blue!
Sokka's right arm was still slightly numb as they flew away on Appa.
"Those girls," he announced, "are the creepiest people I've ever met." Between the one throwing knives, to the one who paralyzed half his body, to the one who was bending blue fire, the three girls had definitely overwhelmed Sokka and Aang.
If it weren't for the baby being in the middle of it, and Bumi helping Aang out, Sokka and Aang would've been in a lot more trouble.
As it was, Sokka was forced to hand over the baby. Or rather, toss the baby over, into the pink girl's arms. Knife-girl had only narrowed her eyes, but she seemed to be more concerned with the baby−her brother, as Sokka remembered. She took the baby back, though she also frowned, seeming annoyed at having to take the baby back. After he gave the boy over, neither girl seemed too interested in pursuing him. One had their hands literally full, and the other only watched once Appa came.
Aang had had to deal with the blue fire girl. "It was sort of like facing Zuko," he said. "Except worse. Way, way worse." On the bright side, Bumi was okay. Apparently, he had actually wanted to be captured.
Which sounded crazy.
And, frankly, Bumi was crazy.
But he was also the most powerful earthbender they'd ever seen. If he said he should be left alone, as a prisoner of the Fire Nation, then the Fire Nation really was in for a surprise.
It was only after they got a decent distance away from Omashu that Sokka noticed something.
"Stupid knife-girl!" He glared at his pants, which were full of holes. "These were new, now they're full of holes!"
Aang looked over sympathetically. "I can fix them, if you like?"
Sokka looked to him. "Are your sewing skills better than my cooking skills?"
"I think so," Aang told him "Sometimes I'd have to help mending clothes back with the monks." He shrugged. "It might not be the best, but the alternative is walking around with holes in your clothes…"
Sokka took off his pants, handing them to Aang. Aang got onto Appa's saddle, handing Sokka the reins.
He'd find them somewhere to land, and then he'd make dinner.
They'd have to find Aang an earthbending master somewhere else.
"So we're tracking down your brother and uncle, huh?" Mai wasn't entirely sure whether she should be surprised or not. On one hand, treason didn't sound anything like the Zuko she remembered from her childhood. On the other hand, the main thing she about the Zuko from her childhood was that he had a distinct tendency to go and do things she didn't expect.
It was something she had liked about him
She liked how she couldn't know what he would do next.
At the very least, Zuko had never been boring.
He didn't look half bad, either.
"It'll be interesting seeing Zuko again, won't it Mai?" Ty Lee teased her. Mai smiled, looking to the side. Mai was glad to have Ty Lee back. Even though Ty Lee's perky, bubbly attitude frequently grated her skin, Ty Lee was nice. She prodded her, and sought her friendship when nobody else did.
Besides Azula, that is.
And Azula's…friendship would sometimes leave a sour taste in Mai's mouth.
There were times when Mai appreciated Azula, too.
But Mai didn't forget, and she wasn't anywhere near as forgiving as Ty Lee.
Mai remembered how Azula used to push Ty Lee around, and verbally knock her down whenever she did anything better than her.
She remembered losing her knives after scoring higher than Azula on an exam−and how the knives mysteriously reappeared after she intentionally scored lower than Azula on the next exam.
She certainly remembered how Azula had, just yesterday, broken the negotiations and begun a fight instead of trading the lunatic-king for her baby brother.
Mai was good with her knives.
She was even better at keeping her thoughts to herself.
"I wouldn't recommend setting your heart on him," Azula said. Mai set her face to neutrality again. "When I paid him a visit, I ended up meeting someone new." Her voice was sweet, and sharp. She was clearly enjoying herself. "I'm afraid Zuzu already has a girlfriend. Oh well."
He hates that nickname, Mai recalled. And he has a girlfriend?
"He can date whoever he wants," Mai said calmly. "I don't care." Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "When did he find the time for a relationship, anyways?" From what she'd heard, he was obsessed with finding the Avatar to come home. Mai liked to think he also would have seen her as a reason to come back, but perhaps he'd never really been interested in her the way she'd been interested in him.
"Zuko hasn't changed at all," Azula said. "He still sees the need to go save inferior beings. Apparently, he insisted on rescuing some Water Tribe peasant from pirates. And the rest is history." Her voice was smug.
It was occasions like these that Mai liked to imagine awful things happening to Azula. Bad haircuts, holes in her clothing, messing up a firebending move.
"A Water Tribe girl?" Ty Lee sounded dubious. "Really?" She shrugged, looking sympathetically at Mai. "Didn't see that coming. Did you meet her? What's she like?"
"Hideous," Azula declared. "Like all Water Tribe savages. Witless, and weak. Not worthy to look at somebody from the royal line, much less touch them. But then, Zuko always did love animals." It was a pretty nasty thing to say, but it was Azula, so it wasn't that surprising. It was funny, Mai noted, how Azula prided herself on being better at everything than Zuko. Including people skills.
But she didn't notice how fake Ty Lee's laugh was.
"Zuko has always been unpredictable. It's why he isn't boring." It wasn't a positive or a negative statement. Hopefully, Azula wouldn't be able to use it against her.
"He really is a fool. Who in their right minds would choose some peasant, from an inferior nation, over you?" It was Azula's version of a pep-talk.
Mai didn't need those.
"Perhaps I can ask him why when we capture them."
If Zuko really was in love with this girl, then he wouldn't abandon her. For all his unpredictability, Mai knew that once Zuko devoted himself to something−someone−he wouldn't take it lightly. He had, after all, spent the past three years looking for someone nobody had seen in a century. If he was half as devoted to this Water Tribe girl…
"It's not just Zuko and Iroh anymore," Azula informed Mai and Ty Lee. "We have a third target now."
So they'd also be going after the Avatar. Mai had heard about what had happened at the North Pole. It sounded like going after the Avatar was a spectacular way to die.
At least it would be more interesting than Omashu.
They made their plans, preparing for departure.
Mai thought on what she'd learned. Even she had her dreams and, admittedly, Zuko had been part of many of them. He wasn't boring, after all, and he had been fairly attractive, too. She sometimes thought about what he may look like with his scar. Azula said it was hideous, and completely ruined how he looked. But she was Azula, so Mai would never take her at her word. Mai had, in some moments, imagined him coming her way, and taking her away from her parents, away from the colonies. Wherever he'd have taken her, it would've been more exciting than where she was, so long as he was there.
Crushes really are stupid, she decided, trying to disregard the small sliver of hurt she felt. It doesn't matter; I'll find someone else. Maybe someone even better.
Mai's thoughts turned to Zuko's mysterious girlfriend. Water Tribe. Contrary to Azula's opinion, Mai didn't think being from outside the Fire Nation inherently made people inferior. The nations themselves were weak, on the precipice of being conquered entirely, but she doubted that Zuko would take interest in some weakling.
Azula was miscalculating, if she really wasn't counting on encountering Zuko's girlfriend again.
She was miscalculating, if she didn't think this girl would fight for ones she loves.
And, knowing Zuko as she did, Mai doubted his girlfriend would be defenseless.
It may even make for a better fight than against the Avatar.
A few days after escaping Omashu, Aang and Sokka were traveling through the Earth Kingdom. Truthfully, they weren't entirely sure where they were supposed to be going. Previously, they had known they were going to the North Pole. Then, they had known they were going to Omashu.
Now? They had only the advice of finding an earthbender who 'waits and listens.'
As they flew Appa over a swamp, Aang caught sight of some sort of light down in the swamp. He gazed down at it, feeling somehow enchanted. The light seemed to be following them, or perhaps he was following it.
"Hey, you taking us down for a reason?" Sokka asked. He had been sharpening his weapons when he'd noticed them going down from the clouds, towards a swamp. When Aang didn't answer, Sokka raised his voice. "Aang! Why are we going down?"
Aang jumped, seeming to snap out of…whatever it was. "What? I didn't even notice."
Sokka raised an eyebrow. "Are you noticing now?" Appa was flying downwards. If this kept up, they'd be in the swamp in a minute.
Aang looked over to him. "I know this is gonna sound weird, but I think the swamp is calling to me."
And didn't that sound ominous?
"Is it telling you somewhere we can get something to eat?" That would be appreciated, at least.
"No, I…I think it wants us to land there."
Oh, fantastic.
"No offense to the swamp, but I don't see any land there to land on." It looked full of plants and trees, covering every last inch of the swamp. Sokka couldn't see the ground.
"I don't know. Bumi said to learn earthbending, I would have to wait and listen. And now I'm actually hearing the earth. Do you want me to ignore it?"
Once again, Sokka took a peek over Appa's saddle. "Yes." The more he saw that swamp, the less he liked it−and he hadn't liked it to begin with. "It looks really easy to get lost in, for starters." And something else about it was seriously giving him the creeps. He didn't know what, but with Aang being the Avatar, he just knew they'd attract the worst the swamp had to offer. As if in agreement, Appa let out a big groan. "See," Sokka pointed out. "Even Appa and Momo don't like it here."
Aang sighed. "Okay," he agreed. "Since everyone feels so strongly about this." He looked down at the swamp once more. "Bye, swamp. Yip, yip!"
And they were off again, leaving the swamp behind.
Or they were, until a tornado suddenly appeared, sucking them all in.
They tried to avoid it, but the thing practically seemed to follow them. Finally, it spat them all out, throwing Aang, Sokka, Appa, and Momo into the swamp.
It was pretty much like Sokka thought it would be, with trees completely blocking out the sun. It was wet, too, with a good foot of water covering the ground. He dragged himself up, sopping wet.
"Where's Appa and Momo?" Aang questioned. He used his airbending to jump up the trees, to the top of the swamp. After a few minutes, he returned down, unsuccessful. "I couldn't find them," he reported. "And the tornado, it just disappeared." Sokka's eyes widened, and he turned and looked deeper into the swamp. Between the trees and vines, it was dark enough to obscure anything further into it.
It was ominous, and Sokka didn't like it.
"We have to find Appa and Momo," he stated simply. The sooner they were found, the sooner they could leave. As he began walking, Aang let out a startled shout. Sokka quickly looked back. "What is it? Is something wrong?"
Aang was staring at Sokka. "Don't freak out…but you've got an elbow-leech."
"Where, where?!" Sokka searched around.
"Uh…on your elbow?" Sokka blinked, and then pulled the thing off. Right, elbow-leech.
"Why do things keep attaching themselves to me?!"
Sokka hacked and slashed his way through the vines in the swamp. Aang could tell Sokka didn't like being lost in the swamp, and was eager to find Appa and get out. Aang couldn't say he disagreed, but with every plant torn, Aang increasingly felt wary about the swamp.
"Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp," he suggested. He recalled Hei Bai, the forest spirit that had gone on a rampage after his home was burnt down. Granted, cutting through some vines was hardly the same as burning down most of a forest, but Aang still felt concerned about this swamp. He knew he was feeling something in this swamp; as great as it was to interact with the spirits sometimes, Aang really didn't want to anger one.
"Aang, these are just plants! Do you want me to say 'please' and 'thank you' as I swing my machete back and forth?" Sokka had never been particularly attuned to spirits, or nature.
"But I can feel something," Aang insisted. "It's like the swamp is alive. I don't think angering it is a good idea…"
Sokka looked at him for a moment, and then resumed chopping through the vines. "I'm sure there are lots of things here that are alive," he dismissed. "And if we don't want to get eaten by them, we need to find Appa and Momo as fast as we can."
They resumed wading their way through the swamp, but Aang continued feeling nervous.
He could swear, it felt like they were being watched.
Eventually, night fell, and what little light had reached through the trees to the ground faded into darkness. Aang and Sokka were still searching for Appa and Momo.
"There's no way they can hear us," Sokka noted. "And no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night." Sokka sounded frustrated. He heard bugs flying around his head, and made to swat them, pulling out his machete.
A bubble popped below them, releasing swamp gas. Sokka and Aang made faces, pinching their noses.
That wasn't the worst of it, as they heard what sounded like a woman screaming. They jumped, letting out their own shouts. The two hugged closely together, momentarily panicking. Another screaming sound rang out.
"I think we should build a fire." Sokka ran off and cut into a tree's roots.
"Sokka, the longer we're here, the more I think you shouldn't be doing that." The swamp had been ominous from the start, and now that they would have to spend the night, Aang was certain that there was something strange about the swamp. If there was a spirit guardian of the swamp, Sokka could be angering it.
"No, I asked the swamp! It said this was fine. Right, swamp?" Sokka grabbed a branch, and began pulling it back and forth, using it as a puppet. "No problem Sokka," he imitated. And then he used his machete to cut it off. Aang could only raise an eyebrow.
A couple hours later, Sokka and Aang were sitting in a hollow tree, with a small fire burning through the pieces of wood Sokka had chopped. It was still night, and it was also foggy, giving the strange swamp an even more foreboding feel to it.
"Sokka, I know this might sound crazy, but I really do feel like we aren't along in this swamp," Aang told him. "Do you feel like we're being watched?" Aang did, and he still wondered if it could be a spirit.
"Please," Sokka scoffed. "We're all alone out here." A bug flew around Sokka's face, prompting him to pull out his machete to try and swipe at it. As it flew away from Sokka, the bug suddenly burst into light, nearly blinding them for a moment. It flew off into the darkness of the trees, illuminating what appeared to be numerous sets of eyes looking at Sokka and Aang.
"Except for them," Aang said.
"Right," Sokka acknowledged, a new tremor in his voice. "Except for them." He and Aang huddled together. Aang had never minded the spiritual aspect to being the Avatar. But this swamp, whether it had anything to do with the spirits or not, was officially the creepiest place Aang had ever been to. And, being a nomad, that was saying something.
Eventually, both of the boys succumbed to sleep, still huddled together. The fire slowly died out, casting them into darkness again. Despite the eeriness of their surroundings, they found respite in their dreams. They were too deeply asleep to notice vines moving around their bodies, grabbing ahold of them.
They only noticed when the vines pulled them apart, dragging them through the swamp, away from each other.
Sokka reacted the quickest, pulling out his machete and stabbing it into the ground in an attempt to stop himself from being pulled. "Aang!" he shouted, seeing his friend being dragged through the trees. The young Water Tribesman panicked as Aang left his line of sight. He couldn't help but think of how similar it was−Aang dragged away by vines, Katara by a wave. I can't lose him, too. He took his machete, chopping through the vines, freeing himself. He stood up, looking to where Aang had been taken, ready to follow.
A new set of vines appeared before Sokka could run after Aang, sending Sokka running to avoid them. He ran, dodging the new vines, unaware of where he was heading.
I knew we shouldn't have landed in this swamp! Stupid tornado…
Aang had been slower to react to the vines, and found himself quickly pulled through the swamp. He'd heard Sokka's shout, seen his panicked expression. He knew Sokka probably didn't want to be separated−not after what had happened with Katara.
Pulling himself upright and standing, Aang resisted the vines which had tied themselves around him. Finally, he used his airbending to form a sphere around him, pushing the vines back. Taking the opportunity, Aang jumped up onto a trees branch, fleeing the vines. I have to get back to Sokka! He hoped he was okay. Jumping from branch to branch, however, it seemed that the vines weren't done yet. Another appeared, pulling him down to the ground with a thud. Aang pushed himself away, leaving the vines behind.
Finally, he seemed to have escaped the vines.
And he had no idea where he was.
"Sokka?" he called out. He looked around. This part of the swamp seemed unfamiliar. A small sliver of light reached through the trees, prompting Aang to look up.
It was dawn, and Aang now had to find not just Appa and Momo, but also Sokka.
He sighed for a moment, shaking his head. Then he started walking.
"AANG!" Sokka was calling out at the top of his lungs. It had been several hours since they had been separated, and he'd had no luck in finding him. He pulled out his machete, chopping through the vines. He recalled how Aang had been nervous about the plants the day before. Sokka had disregarded it. Now, he supposed, Aang may have been proven correct. Of course, Sokka was now mad at the plants. If you're alive, he thought angrily, then give me my friend back! He didn't even do anything to you! Sokka was terrified. He couldn't lose Aang, too. He had to find him.
And then they needed to find Appa and Momo. Preferably, before nighttime. One night in the swamp had been enough. "Stupid swamp," he muttered. "Dumb, ugly vines! AANG! You think you're so tough, huh?" He accidentally entangled himself in the vines, falling over into the water. Looking up, he saw a glow. He saw…
It couldn't be.
"Hello?" His voice was quiet now, as he walked forward. It was her. "Yue?" She was every bit as beautiful as he remembered. More, even. She was the Moon Spirit, as he'd seen her when she'd said goodbye. And kissed him. But it wasn't possible−she couldn't be there. "This is just a trick of the light," he told himself, holding his head in his hands, looking for an explanation. "Swamp gas. I hit my head while running away last night…I'm going crazy!" It wasn't out of the question. Sokka had heard of Water Tribe men who had lost their minds after losing their families in Fire Nation raids. And he had, after all, lost his girlfriend (could he really call her that?) and his sister on the same night. Sokka certainly hoped he wouldn't have lost his mind, however. After all, Aang needed him. He turned around, walking toward the…apparition? Mirage? Hallucination?
"You didn't protect me," it said. Yue's voice. "You didn't protect me."
The words hit Sokka like a ton of stones. He rubbed his eyes. Looking again, he didn't see Yue, only a beam of light that passed through the trees. Sighing, he turned around.
Only to be confronted by Yue again.
Gasping, Sokka fell backwards, landing on his butt in the water.
Looking up again, he was alone, but Yue's voice still haunted him. You didn't protect me.
"I'm sorry, Yue," he mumbled. It had been his duty to protect her that night, and he failed. "I'm sorry Katara." He had failed his sister, too. Taking a breath, Sokka stood up, drawing his machete again as he continued his search.
He wouldn't fail Aang.
Elsewhere in the swamp, Aang wandered around, calling for his friends. "SOKKA! APPA! MOMO!" At least it was day, Aang noted. It would have been even worse to have to look for them in the dark. Especially considering how strange the swamp was. "SOKKA!"
"I never wanted to leave you to begin with!" Aang paused as he heard a new voice talking. He blinked. That certainly wasn't Sokka talking−it sounded like a girl.
"Hello?" he called out, quieter than before. Was there somebody else in the swamp? Aang began walking towards where the voice had seemed to come from. There's something familiar about that voice…
"Yes," the voice was softer now, and Aang wasn't sure he'd have heard it if he hadn't begun walking towards it. "We are friends."
Aang blinked. He knew that voice, how could he not recognize it immediately? But then, it had been weeks since he'd heard it, and he'd never expected to hear it again. Eagerly, but nervously, Aang pushed his way through some vines to see the speaker.
"Katara!?"
He saw her, and a wide grin took over his face. It was her, it was Katara.
She looked different than he'd ever seen her before. She was wearing Earth Kingdom clothing, and her hair was done differently. Her loopies weren't beaded, resulting in them loosely hanging back to be pulled into a ponytail. Her hair looked a little shorter than Aang remembered it, but there was no doubt that it was her.
"I thought you were dead! Sokka and I looked for you, but we couldn't find you!" He walked closer, seeing her smile a little sadly. He reached her, trying to go for a hug…
He passed right through her.
He gasped as he did.
At once, the illusion was shattered. She's not real, Aang realized. She's not really here…she's gone. He looked up, seeing the illusion of Katara tearing up slightly. She looked behind herself for a moment, and Aang wondered what she was looking at. When she turned back to look at Aang, she looked slightly stressed. "They need me, Aang. He needs me. I can't leave them now."
"What?" Aang questioned. "What does that mean?" He didn't understand it. And the apparition of Katara was gone. Aang pondered it for a moment, looking over to where Katara had looked. Seeing nothing, he sighed. "Hey, uh, spirits? If this is supposed to be advice, or a test, or something, I'd really appreciate some clearer instructions…"
And then someone was laughing. Aang turned around, seeing a girl standing above him on a tree's roots. The girl looked to be around his age, black hair put up neatly into a bun. She was wearing nice robes−clothes more suited to a nobleman's dinner party than to a swamp. There was a flying boar beside her.
"Hello?" he called out tentatively. Was this another illusion? "Who're you?"
The girl (apparition?) laughed again, turning around and running.
"Hey! Come back!" Aang needed answers now. This swamp's mystery had officially grabbed his attention. He began chasing the girl through the swamp, swinging around the trees, jumping up and down the branches, guided by her light laughter.
It was strange. Aang felt drawn to this girl, whether she was real or not. He knew he had to follow her, he had to find her.
Finally, he saw her standing still. "Who are you?" he questioned as he ran over to her.
Upon getting close to her, however, he suddenly saw Sokka in her place. He let out a surprised shout before barreling into Sokka, falling over him, dragging Sokka to the ground with him. Sokka was the first on his feet. Although he felt relieved to be with Aang again, he began shouting.
"Aang! Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!" His eyes ran over Aang, checking that he wasn't hurt.
"I was chasing some girl," Aang told him.
"What?!" Sokka squinted at him. "So while I've been worrying about where you were, you were looking for some girl?" He stopped for a moment, considering. "Wait, what girl are you talking about?"
"I don't know," Aang said. "I heard laughing, and then I saw some girl in a fancy dress." He didn't immediately tell Sokka about seeing Katara. He didn't know what to think of it, and he didn't think it was the best thing to remind Sokka of.
"Well, there must be a tea party here, and we just didn't get our invitation!" Sokka's voice was oozing sarcasm.
"But this swamp has something going on," Aang insisted. "I think it might be from the spirit world!" He hesitated. "It may be trying to tell me something."
Sokka hesitated for a moment, looking down. "I thought I saw Yue," he admitted. "But that doesn't prove anything! Look, I think about her all the time. It's not that strange that I'd see her, if I had to have a hallucination."
It made sense, Aang supposed. After all, he had also seen Katara, and he thought of her a lot, too. But then, it wasn't just Katara that he had seen. "But what about me? I didn't know the girl I saw." Something else occurred to him. "Our visions led us right here."
Sokka frown, putting his fingers to his chin. "Well, what's here?"
Aang looked around, looked up. "The center…it's the heart of the swamp," Aang declared, looking up to a tree that towered above them, even higher than any other part of the swamp. Aang grinned, understanding. "It's been calling us here! I knew it!"
"It's just a tree," Sokka protested. "It can't call anyone! For the last time, there's nothing after us, and there's nothing magical happening here!"
As if to prove Sokka wrong, the water beneath them surged upwards, splashing around. A figure rose, appearing to be some sort of vine monster. Aang and Sokka let out a startled scream, before running to avoid the vines. Sokka was quickly grabbed by the vines, which tossed him through the water. Aang sent strong gusts of wind against the monster, forcing it to drop Sokka. It turned its attention to Aang, allowing Sokka the opportunity to pull out his machete and begin chopping through the vines. It quickly took notice, grabbing him up again, and began skiing its way through the swamp, Sokka in its grasp.
Aang attacked again, attacking with airbending to try and make it drop Sokka again.
"Aang!" Sokka shouted. "Waterbend! This is a SWAMP!"
Right, Aang thought, lots of water here. Might as well use it! He nodded, and began sending strong waves against the vines, though it had little effect. Aang frowned as he saw Sokka struggle. He created an air scooter, riding it onto the top of the vines. He used his airbending to mix around the vines, compressing it. Then, as he jumped down, he froze the vines around Sokka, and broke him out.
"Are you okay?" he asked as they collided on the ground.
"Yeah, but so is the swamp monster." Sokka had his machete out, and Aang already turned around, ready to face the thing again. "I'd cut through it, but I can't get close." He looked to Aang. "But maybe you can use your bending to cut through it!"
Aang nodded, face set in determination. He recalled the blades Pakku had taught him and Katara. He executed the movements, quickly and swiftly, sending blade after blade to the vines. It worked, and he and Sokka could see openings in the vine.
It wasn't a monster at all.
"There's someone in there! He's bending the vines!"
Aang leapt over, delivering a final, overwhelming blast of wind, blowing away the vines. It revealed an old man, hair gray and wild. "Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us?"
"Wait!" the man declared, now letting go of the remaining vines. "I didn't call you here."
Aang blinked, exchanging a glance with Sokka. Aang and Sokka told him about how they'd been drawn into the swamp. Before they knew it, they were following the man up the tree in the center of the swamp.
"I protect the swamp from folks who want to hurt it," the man told them. "Like this fellow with his big knife."
"See? Completely reasonable," Sokka told Aang. "Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his own! Nothing mystical about it!"
An Avatar and a skeptic. Aang sometimes wondered if there had ever been a stranger pair of friends.
"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place, alright," the old man corrected. He proceeded to tell Aang and Sokka about the swamp, how the world was really one large being. Aang was fascinated. Sokka said nothing, but Aang knew he didn't believe it. Aang found it all rather beautiful.
"When we were in the swamp," Aang told the man. "We both had visions. What did they mean?"
"It the swamp, you see visions of people you've lost. People we love. Folks who we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion, and so is death." Aang smiled for a second as he thought of Katara. Not really gone. But then, there was the other girl.
"But what about my vision? There was someone I've never met."
The old man was smiling. "You're the Avatar, you tell me."
"Time is an illusion," Aang considered. "So…it's someone I'm going to meet." Aang found himself smiling. He had always enjoyed making new friends−if this girl was someone he'd love, then he couldn't wait to meet her.
People you've lost.
That, admittedly, didn't sound too great to Aang. Was he going to know this girl, love her, and then lose her?
He didn't want to lose anyone else.
And what did Katara mean?
Sokka interrupted his thought, pointing out that they still hadn't found Appa and Momo. Aang, now understanding the swamp, used his connection to it to find them.
They were in trouble.
The situation with Appa and Momo was, thankfully, resolved without much hassle. As soon as Hue came, they quickly let Appa and Momo go. As it turned out, they were another Water Tribe.
"I never knew these guys even existed," Sokka had told Aang. He shook his head. "A third Water Tribe, in the middle of the Earth Kingdom. Who knew?"
They stayed the night with them, and the tribe even provided food for them, for which Aang and Sokka were grateful. Aang ate just a few mushrooms which had grown in the swamp, one of the only vegetarian things cooked in the tribe.
Of course, Sokka was eating a bug, so he couldn't exactly comment on Aang's diet at that time.
Aang remained quiet through the meal, eventually prompting Sokka to turn and ask him what was wrong.
"Sokka, I told you about how I saw that girl in the swamp…"
Sokka raised an eyebrow. "What about it?" He didn't want to talk about his own vision.
Aang looked away for a moment, before looking to Sokka again. "I didn't tell the whole truth," he admitted. "I had two visions. I saw two people."
Sokka stopped eating to pay attention. "Who else did you see?" He had his suspicions.
"I saw Katara."
Sokka was quiet for a long moment, then he shook his head. "I'm telling you, it was just hunger getting to us…Yue, Katara. It's not that strange to see them, we've been thinking about them a lot…"
"But Katara didn't look like how I remember her," Aang protested. Sokka blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"She was wearing Earth Kingdom clothing. And her hair was done differently, I think it may have been shorter." Sokka stopped, looking at Aang for a moment.
"That…doesn't make any sense." He frowned. "I can't recall Katara ever looking like that." He shot a glance at Aang. "Did she…say anything?"
Aang nodded. "She said they need her."
"What does that even mean?"
Aang shrugged. "The swamp brought us here for a reason," Aang insisted. "Maybe her message is important?"
Sokka stood up abruptly, shaking his head. "No. NO, we're NOT paying these hallucinations any heed."
"But Sokka−"
"No, Aang! No. Katara is gone. She's dead. Whatever you saw in that swamp…" He shook his head. "Whatever that was, she's gone."
He stormed off to go to sleep, leaving Aang by the campfire.
"They need me, Aang. He needs me. I can't leave them now."
"What does that mean, Katara?" he murmured into the dying flames. His vision made no sense. Time is an illusion. If she never looked like that, then maybe it meant she was going to…
Aang laid down, going to sleep.
His thoughts were going in a dangerous direction, back into denial. It had taken him so long to accept the death of his people, the death of Katara. Was he just latching on to hope to have it dashed again?
Could it really have been a vision of Katara's future?
But she was dead.
Maybe it was just her spirit, visiting him. Giving advice? Giving solace? What did her words mean?
Aang drifted asleep, dreams filled with laughing girls with flying boars, dead friends, and, strangely, Katara and Zuko wandering through the Earth Kingdom together.