Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
She didn't move or speak, not knowing what to say. She just stood there with her arms clasped around her waist defensively, unable to make herself relax.
"Umi." The tree spirit began.
"I know." Umi said. "I know. What I did was unforgivable. I am prepared for whatever you decide."
"Umi." Hayashi said again.
"Please, I feel so terrible. Just make it quick." Umi cringed.
"Umi!" This time the spirit of life sounded slightly exasperated.
"What?!" Umi jumped, her voice going higher as a result.
"Listen to me. Just listen." Was Hayashi's answer.
Umi nodded without answering this time.
"What did you do wrong?"
Umi blinked. "I…I let grief overtake me and became something terrible that was going to do terrible things."
"Did you want to do terrible things?" Hayashi asked simply.
"No! Of course not. I wasn't thinking clearly, I just felt pain and grief and wrongness. I lost control." She stared at the ground in shame and self-loathing.
"What did you do wrong?" came the same question.
Confused, Umi took a bit longer to reply. "Well…I lost myself."
"Yes, that is what happened, but Umi, I'll ask again. What did you do wrong?"
"I…I don't understand." Was her reply. The repeated question didn't seem to make sense to her.
Hayashi extended a branch to embrace Umi's shoulders in a strange type of hug.
"Umi, I'll admit, when you…changed…I was frightened. I didn't know what to do because none of us ever expected something like that to happen, least of all to you."
Umi seemed to shrink into herself even more. "I'm so very sorry." She whispered in a broken voice.
"Hush child, I'm not finished." Her voice was warm, and Umi felt a bit better somehow.
"I was afraid of what you might do with the power we bestowed upon you, and summoned help as soon as it happened. It was sheer chaos up here for mere moments before Tenkuu took matters into her own hands with a brilliant move and brought Zuko to you through the spirit world."
"But…I ignored him at first."
"What stopped you?"
"The baby, that precocious little boy who stood there fearlessly, schooling me on proper etiquette as I stood ready to destroy him, everyone and everything." Umi answered with tears in her eyes.
"But you didn't." Hayashi replied "even if Zuko hadn't been there, I don't think you would have been able to walk right up to that child and kill him. Umi that is not who you are; you revere life far too much to commit murder in such a fashion."
"I do. Life is so very precious. But they didn't get a choice, they didn't…I still couldn't preserve theirs." Her tears streamed down her face once again, the grief still fresh in her heart and mind.
"I know, Umi. I know, and I'm so very sorry things happened the way they did. I'm also sorry for our part in it. You have full knowledge of what we did, so you know that we are responsible for the timing and manner of your power and more that was bestowed on you."
Hayashi expressed a sigh. "In a moment such as that, you should never have had that much power thrown into you at once, it's no wonder you went a bit crazy temporarily. With great power comes great responsibility, and we made it very difficult for you, and for that I sincerely apologize."
Umi nodded, tears still streaming down her face. "I still..hurt though." She replied, hiccuping a little.
"Right now I know you must feel like it might have been better if you had died with them in that tornado, and that is something human's call "survivor's guilt". Hayashi sent feelings of comfort and calm through the branch that surrounded Umi's shoulders.
"You should speak with the one called Iroh. I'm sure he could explain it far better than I can, and he may be able to help you with your grief. Just know that you're not alone, and that despite what happened, you will be ok."
"You're not…I'm not going to lose my powers and be locked away?" Umi asked in disbelief, her tears drying up in her surprise.
Hayashi's leaves fluttered with shock. "Oh goodness no child, whatever gave you that idea?!"
"Well…I did something terrible…" she ventured hesitantly.
"Wrong. You stopped yourself from doing something terrible. You showed compassion."
"I…" Umi began, but the tree spirit removed her branch from Umi's shoulders and snapped her with a leaf.
Mouth open in surprised Umi blinked in confusion at Hayashi's tree.
"That's for not paying attention. Now, what have we learned?" Hayashi asked long-sufferingly.
"I made a mistake, but I regret it. Even though my actions didn't end up hurting anyone, I need to be more careful of my emotions in the future because I have so much power."
"Good enough." The tree spirit replied.
"So…everything is…ok?" Umi asked hesitantly, still unable to completely believe that she was not to be punished.
"Yes, Umi, everything is ok. In fact, didn't you say you were going to go back to the village to help out? Maybe they could use some help rebuilding from the tornado." Hayashi mentioned slightly pointedly.
"I did!" Umi replied with a start. "I should go back as soon as I can and help them! I'm sure there is so much to do."
"Very good. Take care of yourself Umi, and if you feel yourself becoming sad, you may come into the spirit world and talk to me or Tenkuu if you like, I'm sure she would be happy for the visit." Hayashi strongly projected peace and calm for Umi because she knew that the girl would be visiting the graves of those she had lost soon and would need a little extra help.
"Thank you Hayashi. Thank you so much." Umi replied with a small smile.
"You're welcome Umi, now be off with you." Hayashi's tree began to grow in reverse and was quickly gone.
"Bye…" Umi said to the empty air before she collected herself and popped into the real world, taking the same form as her water spirit form in the spirit world. She reformed a soft blue to silver ombre cap sleeve dress that only gently hugged her curves and flowed with her power, just like her hair, not entirely obeying gravity in the traditional sense.
Feeling much more herself than she had in a long time, Umi, once again, walked into the still decimated village. It felt strange to be there again so soon. She almost dreaded what would happen when someone noticed her, but no one had, so she simply quietly observed what needed to be done.
"Hi" came a childish voice behind her. She almost jumped and turned quickly, smiling when she saw the very same boy who had helped her find herself.
"Hi there young man. Still taking good care of your momma?" She smiled gently at him.
He nodded his head, thumb firmly planted in his mouth.
She crouched down and opened her arms and he willingly climbed onto her hip. "Let's go find your mother you little scamp." She grinned. He grinned back around his thumb and kicked his legs.
It didn't take long to find the boy's mother. As usual, she was the woman frantically searching for him. Umi was beginning to think she needed some kind of tether for the child, like she had seen some people use on pets, since he seemed to enjoy wandering off so much.
"Toli!" the boy's mother half-shouted. "There you are!" she ran up to Umi and reached for the child as he stretched his chubby little arms in her direction.
Smiling a slightly exasperated smile she kissed her boy's head. "I've told you a hundred times not to run off like that!" Glancing at Umi she inclined her head for a moment. "Thank you for finding him."
Umi smiled nervously. "Of course." She hesitated. "I…is…I mean, can I help?"
Understanding her meaning, the woman smiled. "We need all the help we can get. That tornado did a lot of damage."
Nodding, Umi looked around the village. "I have…few practical skills. I can cook, clean, and sew…but to rebuild…" her voice trailed off. "I can manipulate water and control things that are made with water."
"You are a waterbender?" The mother asked, slightly confused.
"Well, yes and no." Umi smiled apologetically. "I can bend water, but I can do more than that. For instance, I was able to dispel the storm and the tornado. That might be considered airbending, but since am unable to truly airbend, it is more accurate to say that I can 'weatherbend'."
The woman blinked for a moment before answering. "You said you can bend things that have water in them?"
Umi nodded.
"We have no earthbenders in this village and it is late. We have very little shelter for the coming night."
Glancing at the remains of the houses clearly created using earthbending, Umi pondered how she might use waterbending to emulate their structure. "I will do what I can. May I practice on this house here?" She pointed to a small house on the edge of town that was almost completely decimated.
The woman's eyes filled with tears but she nodded. "Yes. That is…was…my house."
"I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Umi. "I can practice on an…"
The woman held up her free hand. "It truly is fine. Please feel free to practice as much as you need."
"Thank you." Umi smiled, and walked over to the remains of the small building and began to study it.
0o0o0o0o0o0
It had been a bit difficult to convince the rest of the gaang that everything was indeed fine after his being out all day. Despite the fact that his father had assured them it was a spirit world matter and that he wasn't at liberty to divulge it, there were still questions Zuko couldn't quite answer either, for those same reasons, and he felt bad.
It was soon forgotten, however, the next morning when he and Aang once again began to practice firebending. That is to say, Zuko practiced firebending while the Avatar practiced breathing. "In through the nose, out through the mouth." The words were stuck in Aang's head like flies stuck in honey.
He did feel pretty awake though. Unable to keep his mind from wandering, Aang remembered what Zuko had asked him to do when they arrived at the island. Then he thought about what everyone kept saying, that he was going to have to destroy the firelord. Did that really mean he'd have to kill him?
There had to be another way. He could not, would not abandon the beliefs and morals the monks had taught him. As he breathed, and breathed, and thought about the firelord, and breathed, Aang began to feel trapped. Trapped and frustrated. Trapped in a destiny he never wanted, frustrated at his lack of control when he had hurt Katara, and frustrated at being forced to do something he swore he'd never do.
Unable to find peace in his tumultuous mind, Aang finally huffed in frustration and hopped up from where he was attempting to 'breathe', hollering to Zuko that he was thirsty, he whirred off on an spinning ball of air, leaving a frowning Zuko in his dust.
Two days later the time for the much anticipated play had arrived, and, after enjoying some local food, the gaang entered the theater, found their places and sat down to eagerly await the play.
At first, it was just funny, the way the cast portrayed each of their characters; but as the play stretched on, seeing the story of their adventures played out in their faces in the light of the Fire Nation spin on what they had done, it ceased to be funny. Each person seemed to feel the sting of the portrayal of their character, Aang of all.
By the time the play had finished, a very sullen and grouchy group of children, teenagers, and one whiskered old man nearly tripped over each other in their haste to leave the theater. Once outside they shuffled around, discussing if they wanted to go into town or go back to the house.
"I, for one, am so done with this place. " Sokka huffed, remembering some of the less than complimentary moments of the play. "Let's get out of here and head back to the house."
"The house that belongs to the Firelord?" Aang sniped uncharacteristically. "The Firelord I'm supposed to defeat? That house?" His face was a thundercloud.
"Aang!" Katara hissed. "Not. Here."
Aang had the decency to look chastised and ducked his head. "Sorry Katara."
"I agree with Sokka" Iroh spoke up before anyone else had a chance to comment. "Let us return to the house where we can talk freely."
By the time they arrived back at the Firelord's vacation home on Ember Island, the entire group was remarkably silent, each person involved in his or her own thoughts.
In almost synchronous mutual agreement, the group each filtered off to their respective rooms for the night, no one having any desire to chat after the first initial burst of emotions had passed.
He tried to meditate. Really, he did. He just couldn't stop seeing the play over and over again in his head. He wasn't a bad guy! He wasn't a killer either! No one seemed to understand that! The monks had taught him the way of peace, to revere all life; he refused to throw that away! He couldn't, he just couldn't!
Frustrated, angry and feeling helpless, Aang popped out the window of his room and helped the scant breezes that existed in the late evening air to keep his glider airborne. Gliding for a few minutes brought him no peace as it would normally have done, so, somehow even more frustrated than before, the bald, tattooed boy floated down by the water and angled his body down, touching lightly onto the sand with the tips of his toes as he snapped his glider back together.
Frowning with his thoughts, Aang began to pace down the shoreline. All at once it seemed too much, everything, the well-meaning intentions of his friends, the play, the comet, it was too much, too much! He was only twelve years old! He should be playing with the other airbenders in the temple, eating cakes and learning at the feet of Gyatso! Suddenly, he didn't want to be here anymore. Snapping out his glider, Aang airbent himself into the skies and headed off towards one of the uninhabited small islands. Away. He had to get away.
0o0o0o0o0o0
For several minutes, Umi circled the remnants of the poor dirt home and imagined what it should have looked like on the inside. More than anything, she wanted to give the kind woman a safe home, and she wanted to make it look like the one that had been so badly damaged. With this in mind, she began to look closely at the muddy walls, considering just how much water was soaking them. Reaching out with a gentle hand, she scooped up some of the mud and held it in the palm of her left hand. With her right hand, she hovered over the small glob of mud she held and studied it intently, feeling the water in the mud. It felt heavy, sluggish. It was earth after all, it didn't want to move.
She narrowed her eyes and concentrated harder, refusing to allow her natural water-like tendency to simply take the path of least resistance to deter her from her goal. Taking a deep breath, she centered herself, pausing before once again focusing on the mud she held.
Earth was resistant, it was stubborn, and she would have to be even more stubborn if she was going to do what she had promised. She allowed herself to feel the push and pull of the water that was perfectly blended with the dirt to form the mud in her hand, she let that push and pull remind the mud of the power of moving water. She remembered the memories of the streams she had spoken to when she first met Zuko. She remembered how they eroded the soil, how they might take the path of least resistance, but, even in that path, they made their own.
She remembered a creek bed that eroded a rock wall, a flood that moved everything in its path. She remembered. And she pushed. And pulled. The formless lump of mud in her had flew into the air between her hands, undulating in mid air.
So focused was she, she hardly noticed. Her mind was already reconstructing the humble home before her. She reached up into the atmosphere, far above the town, and drew moisture from the air, bringing down enough water to begin creating mud from all the stone rubble.
Within a few minutes, with her determined guidance, the water and the earth were blended into mud and she was shaping it with minimal effort. First she fashioned the base of the walls, removing water as she went, allowing a solid foundation to form.
She realized it was too quickly at first, and the portion of the wall she was building began to crumble into dust. Grunting in annoyance, she pursed her lips and focused once again, slowing down to accommodate the need for allowing the dirt inside the mud to settle and compact before moving on.
Concentrating as she was, she took no notice of the townspeople who had temporarily paused in their own work to watch the ethereal silver haired beauty bending tons of mud through the air, seemingly gesturing towards the sky using strange movements only to have water coalesce from thin air above her to mix with more dirt.
Small stones could be seen tumbling about inside the mud as she layered it to raise the walls, several inches over the entire building, over and over and over.
It took longer than she anticipated. It was more than thirty minutes before she was able to elevate the walls to a suitable height. Strangely tired, but unwilling to stop, she was forced to halt her work when the mother, carrying her son walked up to her and stared in awe at the walls she'd bent into existence.
"You spoke the truth." The mother said in awe "you surely can bend something that is made with water." She took her son by the hand and lead him into the house to look around. There was much debris still, but it was her house, the remnants of her things; her home. Tears welled up in her eyes and she picked up the boy whose hand she held and hugged him against her, burying her face in his fine hair.
He snuggled into her arms, somehow knowing his mother needed him. At least for a few moments anyway.
"Whea's woof?" he asked plainly.
His mother raised her head and looked at him questioningly. The lad pointed up. She looked up to see the blue sky. Blinking she turned and looked at Umi who stood in the doorway looking a bit tired and very uncertain.
"I..I'm not sure how to make a roof." She admitted, staring at the ground.
The woman stared at her for a moment, at a loss for words, then looked once again around her fully reconstructed home, even minus its roof, and once again felt awe at the power of the bender before her.
"Ma'am" she began "you have rebuilt my house from almost nothing in less than the span of an hour; a roof is easy for us to quickly build. If you are able, please see to the other damaged houses in the town while I find people to assist with the roof."
Umi agreed quickly, and, since the house was easily visible to all in the town, it was but the work of a moment for her to be directed to the next house in need of repair, while the bemused but focused townspeople began building a roof for the house she had already finished.
By the end of the day, every home in the entire village had been repaired in some form or another, and every single one had a roof.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Katara was beside herself. Aang wasn't in his room, his bed hadn't been slept in, and she hadn't seen him since he'd gone to bed the previous night. She'd asked everyone, no one had seen him. Even Zuko, who was always up at dawn, hadn't seen the young Avatar. Iroh, in his calm, gentle way, encouraged her to give the boy some time. She knew he was probably right, but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
The girl didn't know how right she was. At that very moment, the subject of her worries was laying face down on the beach of one of the small outer islands, looking rather worse for wear. His clothing was ripped, he had scratches on his arms and legs, and he lay in an untidy heap on the sand, not far from where the tide pushed and pulled.
It was this push and pull that finally awakened him. With no knowledge of how he'd gotten there or how long he'd been there, the young Avatar pushed himself up into a sitting position and tasted the salty seawater in his mouth, the grit of the sand, and grimaced. Standing up slowly to get his land legs Aang whipped up an air ball and rode it inland until he found a small stream.
He eagerly gulped up water, coughing when he drank too quickly, and hearing Katara gently chide him inside his head. The boy smirked slightly and finished his drinking with a bit more reserve before realizing he was missing his glider. Aang quickly used his bending to move back to the beach and comb it carefully. After much searching he was overjoyed to find it lodged in a tree, far down the beach from where he had awoken.
Still holding the closed glider in his hands, Aang looked out over the vast ocean and saw yet another small island. Curious, he snapped the glider open and launched himself into the air. It seemed a little difficult to reach the island, even though he was moving, it seemed like the island moved away from him. Confused but determined, Aang continued towards it until he got close enough to see that it was a large forest.
Puzzled at the lack of sand on this island, Aang popped his glider closed and back to its usual position and dove into the water to see what was underneath. "It's moving!" he thought in shock. Suddenly a massive eye opened next to him as he hung suspended in the water. Pushing himself up in shock using waterbending, he shot through the water and burst into the air, using airbending to push himself up high above the water.
A massive platform was below him and he allowed himself to float back down and land gently. Instantly, he knew what he had stumbled upon.
"A lion turtle." He murmured, as he stared up at the truly massive an ancient creature. Instinctively he knew it could help him. This was what he had been seeking.
"Maybe you can help me. Everyone, even my own past lives, are expecting me to end someone's life, but I don't know if I can do it." He stared expectantly at the massive and ancient creature.
"The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can tough the posion of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void but always yields to purifying light."
The ancient lion turtle, in its infinite wisdom raised two massive claws and placed one on Aang's head, and the other on his heart; a great greenish light shot out from the points of contact as the ancient one imparted a knowledge upon the Avatar that had previously been completely unknown to him. Gently, belying its size, the lion turtle deposited Aang on the cliff of the nearby island.
Slowly beginning to submerge as Momo suddenly appeared, having finally found Aang, the lemur landed on Aang's shoulder and the lion turtle left Aang with the parting words, "wait for him, he will come". The Avatar bowed his respect and the ancient creature disappeared into the distance.
Aang's brow furrowed with resolve, and he launched himself into the air with Momo in hot pursuit.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The townspeople thanked the exhausted waterbender profusely until the woman whose house she rebuilt first had finally saved her from their overwhelming appreciation by inviting her to stay with her at her home that night. Umi gratefully accepted.
She shared a meager meal with the woman-whose name, she discovered, was Thomina-and then retired early, utterly weary from the stress of the day.
As she lay on the hollowed out ground (she'd insisted on bending herself a bed) the former ocean spirit was unable to sleep. She was truly exhausted, but sleep evaded her. She missed Zuko. She missed his raspy voice, the gentle uptwist of scarred lips that caused his face to brighten as he smiled at her.
Why did the Fire nation have to ruin so many lives? If only Zuko wasn't destined to become Firelord. If only she wasn't an immortal ocean spirit…wait..what? Her thoughts skipped a moment and her eyes snapped open and stared into the blackness, her heart suddenly pounding. She needed to talk to Hayashi. Now.
Allowing the mortal world to melt away, she slipped silently into the spirit realm, and felt for Hayashi's roots. She walked near one and simply spoke the tree spirit's name.
A small sapling sprouted from the ground and Hayashi's calming voice surrounded her as the sapling wrapped a growing branch around her hand.
"I know why you have come to me. I know we have wronged you Umi, so many times, but this thing I cannot give you." Hayashi answered her unspoken question.
"I…how did you know?" Umi stammered.
"I could feel your question burning the moment you stepped near my roots." She replied, sounding almost amused at the question.
"Oh."
"Umi, you know I would do anything I could for you, but this has been agreed upon by all parties involved, it isn't something we can simply change our minds about now. You have been given the knowledge, you know this is true. You also know how powerful you truly are now." She continued.
"What good is this power when it is the very thing that makes it so that I cannot pursue..."she hesitated "my…my love." She stumbled over the words, almost speaking silently.
"Umi, do you remember when the two of you embraced next to the water barrel at the good people's farm?" Hayashi asked her, ignoring her stammers.
The ocean spirit almost jumped, her head snapping to look over at Hayashi's sapling in surprise. "How..did you know about that?"
"Dear girl, I am an eternal life spirit, and your heart is an open book."
Umi blushed and looked away uncomfortably.
"Don't be embarrassed, it is only natural for you to hold feelings for the boy…"
"It isn't natural!" Umi interrupted "he is the crown prince of the Fire nation and I am an ocean spirit. We can never be together! Yes I remember why I sent him away, I was right to do so, he has a future, and I was never a part of it. I remember now." Tears began to pour from her eyes. " I remember now.
"You are correct that it would be divisive to the Fire nation if the Fire lady were a waterbender." Hayashi agreed, then proceeded to shock her. "What if he were not the Firelord?"
"But he has to be the Firelord!" she gasped "The Fire nation is ruled by a bloodline of royal rulers in which the first born son becomes heir. That isn't likely to change!"
"The Firelord is even now planning to announce himself as the Phoenix King, sloughing off the mundane title of Firelord in his headlong rush to be ruler of the entire planet." The tree spirit declared matter-of-factly. "If that doesn't create an imbalance, I don't know what will."
"The Avatar and his friends will see the duty of the Avatar done and bring balance." Umi stated woodenly.
"Umi, the Firelord has two children."
The ocean spirit froze in place and stared at the sapling she was connected to. "Hayashi is right!" she thought, a small ray of hope broke through the clouds of her sadness. Was it possible?
"Hayashi…I don't think the other heir is…" her voice trailed off as she remembered the terrible battle between Zuko and Azula, and the sheer, unadulterated evil, the abstract cruelty that was Fire Princess Azula.
"Child, we've sidestepped, danced around, bent and downright abused so many rules when it comes to you and the Fire nation crown prince, that I daresay it would be possible to do it once again."
"Even if it meant changing a ruling already made?" Umi asked, her brow knotting slightly.
Hayashi's tree was hesitant for a moment, before she wrapped another branch around Umi's other hand. "Watch." Was all she said.
Suddenly she was disoriented as her mind shifted and she was standing in a dark and dank cell, obviously in some sort of dungeon. It was empty save for a strange, partially upright bed, no..she realized, it was more of a restraining device that doubled as a bed. The figure on that restraining bed was one she had seen before. The terrible and grossly disfigured flesh had 'healed' as much as was possible, which hadn't been very much.
She felt disgust as she recalled how cruel the pathetic not-entirely-human seeming figure before her had been to her own brother. How she'd dismembered and nearly killed him. In a flash, she realized she was looking through the eyes of another person, because that person had begun to speak. Umi realized she could not only see through this person's eyes, but hear him speak, and feel what he felt. As his silken voice carried through the chamber, her skin crawled.
She could feel his hatred. She could feel his disgust. She could feel his delight. Oh. Spirit's above. He was torturing her. With his words. She heard the tormented and agonized moans from the damaged Fire Princess as the terrible man meted out his revenge upon her. Every. Single. Day.
Hayashi, realizing that she had shown an already battered Umi too much, she severed the connection quickly, and tried to send comfort to the distraught woman. It wasn't enough.
Umi, despite being in the spirit world, and not being human, had the most human reaction that her spirit form could produce. She retched. Violently. There was nothing in her stomach here in the spirit world, but the sheer horror she felt had to be expressed, and as she bent over, clutching her waist and vomited up her revulsion and disgust, she felt something she never would have imagined she could feel for Azula.
She felt compassion.
Perhaps she had deserved their sentence, but no one, NO ONE deserved that. Ever.
At last she finally calmed, assisted by Hayashi, who had cocooned her in her branches and surrounded her with feelings of calm, and love.
"I'm so sorry Umi, it was thoughtless of me to allow you to see that, knowing what you've gone through…"
"No." her voice was calm, assured.
"You did exactly right. No one, no matter how terrible, should be treated that way." Umi stood upright and squared her shoulders. Hayashi allowed most of her branches to fall away. Surprise drifted through their link.
"I will talk to Zuko. When he finds out what has been happening, he will not rest until she is safe. I know he regrets what happened." She began. "I won't talk to him right away of course. He has a mission right now to help the Avatar learn firebending and defeat the Firelord. When that has been completed he will go back to the palace, and then…" her voice trailed off.
Hayashi patiently waited for her to continue.
"How long…that could take a month or more! How can I allow this to continue even for one more day?!" She cried out.
"I very recently acquired these memories merely by accident Umi, I too am horrified by what has been happening and feel a certain sense of responsibility since it was our decision that left her in her torment." Hayashi soothed. "It would be remiss of us to do nothing, however, it is up to you. I can do nothing."
"You have power beyond that of an Avatar, you cannot be bound, forced or coerced. You have knowledge of these things. You are the best candidate to assist the poor creature if you so choose to."
Umi nodded confidently. "I definitely choose to. I will spend some thought on how to accomplish this." She shook her head. "The reason I wanted to speak with you seems so childish now."
"No, Umi. It wasn't childish. The heart wants what the heart wants. If you think long and hard, and consider the person or people you love in your plans and decisions, I believe you will find that you can accomplish incredible things."
Umi nodded. "I will." She affirmed. "I will."
0o0o0o0o0o0
"He's been gone too long!" Katara cried out in frustration.
"I know." Zuko replied patiently. "What would you have me do?"
"Do what you do!" She practically yelled in his face, gesturing wildly. "Chase him to the ends of the earth and find him every single time! You haven't suddenly forgotten how, have you?" She said with a hint of a sneer.
Zuko grimaced. "That was..a different time. Another me."
"Oh don't give me that!" the angry water tribe girl exploded. "I know you can still do it if you really want to."
Iroh finally decided to step in and save his adopted son from a true tongue-lashing. "Zuko…what about that absolutely lovely lady you introduced us to?"
"June?" Zuko pondered for a moment. "Yes, that might work if we have something of Aang's for her Shirshu to get a bead on."
"Well, at least someone here has some intelligent thought!" Katara huffed, and stomped off to begin to pack their things.
Zuko eyed Iroh warily. "Are you sure you mentioned this just to help us find the Avatar?"
Iroh pretended an affront, slapping his hand over his heart. "Oh, son you wound me." He intoned, "how could you question my motives when you could see the young lady was clearly distraught."
'Son' huffed behind a hand concealing the smirk that twisted his lips. The old man never changed.
Quicker than seemed possible, the entire group was packed and ready to leave. Katara had an item for the Shirshu to sniff, and the party was eager to leave. They all knew the time of Sozin's comet was nearly upon them, and Aang was their only hope to stop the Firelord. With solemn faces and a myriad of thoughts in each heart, they set off to find June.
0o0o0o0o0o0
A/N: It's been so long since I've seen the series my memory is very sketchy on many details, so forgive me if I accidentally skip or forget things. I'm using the Avatar fandom wiki for things as much as possible so please bear with me.