Chapter 2: The Forgotten Air Temple
Aang, Katara, and Sokka spent the day flying from the Northern Water Tribe. Aang hadn't spoken a word to either of the other two. Instead, he sat, still staring at his feet, in complete silence. I can't believe I did that! I'm such an idiot! Aang thought to himself. I hope he never realized what I really meant. I'm such an idiot!
Katara could tell that Aang was eating himself up. "Appa looks like he's getting tired. Maybe we should find some place to rest." She said, trying to break the silence.
"Yeah, looks like there's an island down there." Sokka chimed in.
"Fine," Aang said. With that, the giant bison headed towards the island.
As they got closer to the island, Aang noticed a giant building in the middle of it. "What is that?" Katara asked when they got within a mile of it.
"It looks like one of the Air Temples." Sokka replied.
"It is an Air Temple," Aang began with slight excitement in his voice. "It's the Forgotten Temple! Sokka, find a spot for Appa to land!" Aang exclaimed as he grabbed his glider.
"Aang, wait! What are you doing?" Katara asked as Aang took off towards the temple.
"I want to see if there are any Air Benders still alive in here!" He yelled back to Katara. He knew that all of the Air Benders in the other temples had been killed by the Fire Nation, but no one knew about the Forgotten Temple except for Air Bending Elders, and Aang.
Munk Guyastso often spoke of a temple in between the Northern Water Tribe and the northern most cities in the Earth Kingdom. Only the best Air Benders and Elders were allowed to enter the temple; this brought new hope to Aang.
When Aang arrived at the temples' doors, he saw scourge marks all over the place, along with helmets of the Fire Nation soldiers. However, the door remained closed. There was the same Air Bending Lock attached to it as he had seen in the room of the Avatar in the Southern Air Temple. When the others landed and ran up behind him, Aang showed them the lock. "Maybe there are some people inside." He said, still not losing hope. With that, Aang created a massive vortex and launched it at the door. Within moments, the lock opened, and the doors opened with a jolt.
Aang and the others headed into the temple with great speed while Momo stayed outside of the temple with Appa. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" Aang asked loudly as they entered the temple. As soon as Aang spoke, the doors shut, and the temple lit up.
"Who goes there?" An elder voice spoke.
"My name is Aang, I'm the Avatar." Aang replied. "I'm with my friends Katara and Sokka from the Southern Water Tribe."
"The Avatar?" The voice asked. "How interesting; no one has seen the Avatar in nearly 100 years."
"We'll I'm here now." Aang said stepping forward. "May I ask who you are?"
"My name is Monk Jinwae." He spoke as he appeared in a doorway on the opposite side of the temple.
"Please, Jinwae, tell me, are there Air Benders in this temple?" Aang asked.
"The Fire Nation has yet to breach our door. We have lived in the confines of our temple for around 100 years." Jinwae began. "We are the last remaining Air Benders since the Fire Nation started its war. We stay in the confines of our temple, trying to keep our kind alive."
"Can you show us the others?" Aang asked with sheer excitement.
"Of course, Avatar." Jinwae spoke, leading them into the temple.
They walked down a two long hallways, leading them into a giant courtyard in the middle of the temple. Here, hundreds of Air Benders and Air Nomads walked, played, and enjoyed the fresh blue sky. A waterfall crashed over the northern wall of the temple, flowing into a stream that snaked its way throughout the gigantic courtyard. "Is--" Aang had to stop and think of what he was going to say. "Is there anyone from the Southern Air Temple?" Aang asked, trying to suppress his joy.
"Are you looking for anyone in particular?" Jinwae asked.
Before Aang could answer, he remembered that the only person who had ever cared about him in the Southern Air Temple was Guyatso, but he had died trying to defend the temple. "Never mind." He replied. Sorrow had returned to him as he walked back into the temple.
"Excuse me," Katara began. "Do you have any place where we can sleep for the night?"
"Certainly," Jinwae replied turning to Sokka. "Grab your bison and fly him into the courtyard. He and the Lemur can rest in here."
Sokka ran towards the front gates while Katara and Aang followed Jinwae. A few more hallways later, and Jinwae led them to another door. "Here," he began. "You may stay in here." The doors opened, revealing a giant room with lavish beds, another waterfall, and great decorations. "I hope this is good enough for you, Avatar."
"It's fine." Aang said as he walked towards a bed. "I'm going to sleep." He laid face down on the bed when he heard Katara's muffled, I'm going to go looking around the temple.
Within moments, Aang was asleep. In what felt like seconds, Aang was jolted awake by movement on his bed. Momo was climbing on top of him, trying to find a spot where he could curl up and sleep. Aang was wide awake as he looked around the room. Katara and Sokka lay in their separate beds asleep and the sky was so dark it had to be close to Midnight.
Aang lay back down and tried to fall back asleep, but he couldn't. The moon shined bright into the windows and the light seemed to fall on Aang. "I can't sleep." Aang muttered as he climbed out of bed. "Sorry Momo," he added as Momo cried out as he fell off of Aang.
Aang walked out into the hallway and tried exploring the temple. The hallways were lit with candles, all adding to the reddish ting of the temple. Random windows allowed the moonlight to seep into the halls.
In the distance, Aang heard Appa snoring. Aang, without thinking, headed towards him. When he arrived in the courtyard, the giant bison woke instantly. "Hey boy!" Aang said stepping towards him. Appa instinctively licked him, getting him soaked. "Hahahaha!" Aang laughed blowing the spit off of him. "Didn't mean to wake you up boy." Aang spoke as the bison slowly nodded back to sleep. "I'm just going to explore the temple."
With that, Aang took off and continued his expedition throughout the temple. The lighting never changed, but the designs in the temple did. Back towards their room, and the courtyard the temple was decorated in the traditional Air Nomad designs, but now where Aang was, a mix of Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe decorations lined the hallway. At the end of this long hallway was a gigantic door. Aang ran up closer to it, only to be disappointed. "Why can't I seem to catch a break anymore?" He yelled as he hollered at the locked door. It looked similar to the Air Bender's Lock, but on the outside of the lock laid two dragons entwined with the Air Lock. It was obvious that only an Air Bender and a Fire Bender could open this door, luckily, it looked as though it hadn't been opened in years.
With another disappointment, Aang headed back down the hallway. On his way, he found another door, one he had passed. This one wasn't locked so Aang pushed it open. Behind the door was a flight of stairs. The stairs weren't lit, so Aang had no idea where he was going. Slowly, he made his way up the dark stair well, lifting up one foot at a time all while hugging the wall. Closer to the top, a window allowed moon light into the room, lighting a few stairs, still, Aang hugged the wall and walked up the stairs one foot at a time.
At the top of the stairs was another door. Again, this door was unlocked. As Aang pushed open the door, he was hit by a flash of bright light. Once his eyes adjusted, he realized where he was. He had seen a room like this, but only in a Fire Nation Temple. This room was similar to the one that he spoke to Avatar Roku in. Light from the moon shined in through a little hole in the all to the left of Aang, hit a gem covering the hole, and refracted a purified light at a stature of Avatar Kiro, the last Air Nation Avatar. Why isn't this room locked? Aang asked himself.
His thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of boat in the distance. Aang flew towards the covered window and opened it. Out in the distance he saw a Fire Navy ship. "Zuko." Aang spoke. As he did, his heart sank. The boat wasn't moving, but a kayak was coming closer to the temple. Aang slammed the window shut and latched it. He raced across the room, closing the door behind him. He raced down the stairs, and into the courtyard. Appa was still awake, to Aang surprise.
Aang launched himself onto Appa. "Yip, yip." He called, pulling the bison into the air. Aang flew Appa at a high level, trying to get as close to the kayak as he could. Aang circled Appa above the kayak, but couldn't get a close enough look.
Slowly, Aang brought Appa closer to the kayak. "Zuko," Aang whispered, instantly noticing the burn marks on the prince's face.
Suddenly, the kayak stopped moving. "I know you're there, Avatar." Zuko spoke turning the kayak to look at face the Avatar. "I could smell your bison the moment you left the temple.
Aang felt his heart drop into his stomach at the sound of Zuko's voice. "Why are you here?" He asked.
"You know the answer to that." Zuko said, rising slightly in his kayak.
"Not all of it."
"That much is complicated." Zuko spoke.
"I won't let you touch that temple." Aang spoke, rising on top of Appa.
"I don't want to touch that stupid temple." Zuko said. "It's what was inside of it that I want."
"What?" Aang asked with a look of confusion on his face.
"You'd never understand." Zuko spoke, forgetting entirely about their last encounter in the Northern Water Tribe.
"Not understand; try me." Aang laughed. "I lived over 100 years ago. Everyone I knew; all my friends, my family, and the people I loved, everyone is dead! I'm supposed to be the Avatar, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do! So try me! What would I never understand?"
"I want you." Zuko replied. His voice was so calm compared to Aang's rising anger.
"What did you say?"
"I want you."
Aang was shocked. He stayed in silence, staring at Zuko. Aang didn't know what to thing; he didn't know what to do. The Fire Nation prince stayed in his kayak; his eyes looking down at his boat, avoiding eye contact with the Avatar.
Aang jumped off of the giant bison's head and landed gracefully on the boat. "Look at me." The Avatar said softly. "Zuko, look at me." The prince did as the Avatar wanted, making eye contact with him. "Say it again."
"I want you." The prince said staring at the Avatar.
Aang was filled with strange emotions. The prince's eyes were soft and gentle; something he'd never expect to see in Zuko's eyes. Aang was drawn deeper into them every second that they held eye contact. Suddenly, Aang acted on his emotions and launched at the prince. Their lips fastened tightly. Without realizing what was going on, Aang felt the prince's tongue slip into is mouth. He began massaging it with his own. His eyes were shut but he could still see every detail of the prince's face. Aang could see Zuko's burns, his shut eyes, his hair; every detail of Zuko.
When Aang realized what he'd just done, he pulled away. "I'm sorry," Aang began "I didn't mean to. I--"
"Don't," Zuko said, still not letting go of the Avatar. "Don't tell me you're sorry when I know you're not." With this, the prince grabbed the Avatar's chin and pulled him in closely. Both Aang and Zuko closed their eyes as their lips locked again. Again, the prince slipped his tongue into the Avatar's mouth and again, the Avatar began to massage it with his own.
At this point, neither one of them wanted to let go of this embrace, yet the prince still pulled away. "My uncle is still there on the ship." He spoke softly. "We should go to someplace a little more private."
"And a little warmer." Aang joked. With that, the Avatar lifted the prince out of the little kayak and launched the both of them onto the flying bison. Within moments, the bison headed back to the temple with both Aang and Zuko in the carrier on his back.
Zuko wrapped his arms around Aang and looked down at the boy in his arms. Aang looked up at him with longing eyes. Zuko leaned in and attached his lips onto Aang's. This time, the Avatar was the one who slipped his tongue into the prince's mouth. They sat there for moments in that embrace until Appa landed in the court yard of the temple.
"This isn't quite what I meant when I said someplace private." Zuko joked, as he broke contact.
"Not here," Aang laughed, "in another room."
With that, the two set off through the temple. The halls were still lit with candles, but they were almost burned out. The eerie red glow still hung over the halls, but now Aang didn't care. He ignored everything around him, with the exception of Zuko and headed down the hall. Zuko was behind him, holding his hand. Before Aang realized where he was, he stumbled upon the locked door; the one with the Fire Lock and the Air Lock.