Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews guys,and the fav! It means a lot to me!I was actually really bored tonight, and I couldn't sleep because I don't feel too well at all,so I wrote another chapter for you all. Enjoy!

Sokka wouldn't go near the large beast. He eyed it warily, and it took Katara to actually climb on top of him, with the help of Aang for her brother to finally step into action. He stepped forward, chest puffed out and approached Appa. The white furry mammal let out a jet of air however that was a sigh. Sokka jumped backwards, earning a laugh from Aang.

"He won't hurt you. He's a vegetarian," he added helpfully.

"Thanks, I'm glad he won't eat me. Just stomp on me or something," he muttered to the boy that was perched on Appa's head. Sokka grimaced, and then caught sight of Katara, remembering she had gone up as well. "Katara, get down from there!" He stared at her from the ground, but she didn't move. "Did you hear me?"

"I heard you Sokka," she answered calmly. "But I don't want to come down. Appa's nice."

"And you would know how?" He shot back. He put his hands on his hips, and Katara burst out laughing.

"Because Aang told me," she said between laughs. "And I think he would know."

Sokka turned to look at this, Aang. He could only make one assumption; he was bald. He could use this later against him perhaps, that is, if they couldn't get rid of him. Something told him to be careful about finding boys in icebergs. "Because Aang told me." He made his voice high and feminine, since he was mocking her and all.

She rolled her eyes and turned back to Aang, a smile on her face. "What are you doing in the south pole?"

He looked upwards and scratched the back of his head in thought. Again, he seemed to suddenly remember something and he grinned again. "I wanted to go penguin sledding." At the confused look on her face, he eyed her as if she was crazy. "You can't tell me you haven't been penguin sledding."

She blinked and seemed to snap out of her thoughts. "Of course I've been penguin sledding, I just haven't done it in a long time!" She shook her head at him. Penguin sledding? And him being an airbender? Why would he even think of going to the south pole?

"Do you wanna go with me then?"

"Sled on penguins?" She laughed and shook her head. "I don't think so, I think I'm a little big."

"Nah, those guys are tough," he remarked thoughtfully. He seemed to think again, as if there was something he was forgetting. Well, being frozen could do that to you she supposed. Meanwhile, behind them, Sokka was scooting closer to them and Appa. "Oh, this is Appa," he said to Sokka, answering his previous question. "He won't stomp on you either."

Katara decided to probe his memory a little bit. Afterall, she couldn't deny the fact that she was very curious as to what he wanted to do, beside penguin sled. "So you came all the way down here with Appa, just to penguin sled?"

Now he seemed to realize what it was, and he snapped in fingers to show he'd gotten it. His face fell however, and he glanced shyly up at Katara before dropping his gaze and patting Appa on the head again. "Oh-it's nothing, really." He turned his head downwards to look at Sokka, who had finally reached Appa and was extending a gloved hand towards him. He prodded him several times, and Aang's face showed amusement. Glad to find something off Katara's subject, he half ran, half glided over to Sokka and jumped back on Appa's head. "Well, I'm getting off of this iceberg," he said happily. "Climb on-er...what's his name again," he whispered out of the side of his mouth.

"Sokka," she said almost in an embarrassed tone. "That idiot down there, would be Sokka."

"That's no way to treat your brother after he saved your life," came his reply from the ground.

"Get on Sokka, or if you want to stay, I understand that as well."

"Me? Get on that thing? You've got to be kidding me." He held a hand out in front of him and turned his head away to show that he was not getting on Appa. "There's no way I'm riding some giant bison. Can he even swim? He'll probably sink."

"He can swim," Aang replied, "but he prefers to fly." Katara's eyes widened slightly. Appa could fly? Well, she supposed that made sense, since he was a creature of the airbending people. "I got here, didn't I? It's fine, just get on." His tone was the least bit impatient, and Katara could tell that was a trait he would always exhibit. It wasn't a one time thing.

"Nu-uh," Sokka continued. "You must think I'm insane."

"Yes, we do Sokka," Katara butt in. "You can either get on now, or we're leaving and you can swim home." She folded her arms and glared down at him. He was prepared to call her bluff, and sit down cross-legged in the snow to make them wait, but her saw her tap Aang on the shoulder, as if signaling him to go when Sokka didn't move quick enough.

"Okay, okay!" He squared his shoulders and looked for a way to climb up. "How exactly, am I supposed to get up there?"

"Use his tail," Aang offered.

Sokka walked around to his backside, and used his large tail as a ramp, and rope. "Sorry to make you wait," he muttered to himself. "I don't have freaky powers like you two." At the word 'powers' he held his fingers out in front of them and moved them up and down quickly. However, it almost caused him to lose his balance, and he went up the rest of the way clinging to Appa's thick tail. "So, let's see this thing fly," he said while sitting down in his gigantic saddle across from Katara. It looked more like a cup anyway, he thought while staring at Aang who sat at the front.

"Yip! Yip!" He twisted his reigns as he did so, but the large beast didn't move. He tried one more time before sitting back. "He must be tired," he explained. For a second, it didn't look like Aang was going to try anything more, but let Appa rest.

"Yeah...magical," Sokka replied, but shut his mouth when Katara glared at him.

"Try again, Aang?" She wanted to get home, in fear of worrying their tribe. It was already growing dark. Proving Sokka wrong also held it's pleasures. He never admitted when he was wrong, and it took a lot to convince him of it. However, if Appa would fly, there would be no way he could deny it. At least, no way Katara could think if. Sokka was the master of excuses.

He turned around again, facing forward and grabbed a hold of the leather straps once more. He repeated his call that hadn't worked last time. "Appa, Yip! Yip!" Appa grumbled in response, but finally lurched forward, surprising Sokka, and Katara as well. "Here we go," he said in a pleased manner. "He's alright now." He smiled back at Katara, and she returned it, hoping he was right.

He walked forward as if he were going to jump into the water. Katara and Sokka braced themselves for the impact of the water, but never felt it. Instead, when they looked down, they were in the air, the ground growing further and further away. Sokka did not look pleased that he had been proved wrong, but Katara was thrilled. They were flying! They were actually flying! They'd be back at the tribe in no time, since they didn't have to navigate their way through the waters. It would have even more difficult, without a boat. Had they not found Aang and Appa, she and her brother would be stuck on their little island, and she'd be listening to Sokka's sarcastic remarks. She directed Aang back to their village, and they landed a little ways off from the huts, so as not to surprise them all at once. Katara and Sokka climbed down his tail again, while Aang merely jumped and met them on the ground.

"What are you going to do with Appa," Katara asked. Surely, something as large as him would be noticed, but could he stay alone? "He might really surprise our people," she said with a slight laugh. She glanced over at Sokka, who was still sour at being proved wrong. Aang, however didn't understand this, and had the notion in his head that he'd done something wrong.

"Appa can stay here by himself for a little while. He's a good boy, and now he can rest." He kept glancing back at Sokka, a look of confusion on his face, which Katara caught. "Did I-"

She cut him off though, and shook her head. "No, he just gets like this when he's wrong and other people are right." She walked over towards him and pretend shoved him forward, in the direction of the tribe. "Come on now, it's getting dark." She waited for Aang, who didn't seem to be coming.

"Oh, am I coming?"

Katara laughed. "Of course you are, why else would Appa be staying alone now? Come on Aang, you saved our lives, and we at least owe you some food and a warm place to stay for the night!" Sokka actually seemed to agree.

"Yeah man, seriously? We'd still be stuck out there if it weren't for you. But of course, we did discover your block of ice..." He said it more as a joke, but it was true. It probably wouldn't have emerged if Katara hadn't disturbed the water.

Aang smiled gratefully. "Well then I guess we saved each other." Katara walked back towards him and grabbed his upper arm, dragging him along with her as she strode towards the village, a smile on her face. "Stay Appa," he shouted back to his friend.

When Katara was sure he'd follow without her holding onto him, she let go, and the trio marched side by side back to their village. It was dark when they finally returned, and as they neared the huts, Aang fell further behind. Both siblings stopped and turned sideways to stare at him, since he'd now come to a complete halt.

"I can't help but feel I'm intruding," he said softly. His head was down and he seemed like he didn't want to go any further. "I can go sleep with Appa, and come back later."

Katara sighed and dropped her head. She trudged back towards him. His eyes were closed, and they snapped open when he felt her push him from behind. He was forced to jump forwards, and he supposed that was his answer. He smiled and sped up, to show that he'd follow now, and she could go in front of him again. She did so, and the three finally reached the center of the village. Katara held a finger to her mouth, and Sokka snuck off silently to his hut. She grabbed Aang's shoulder's lightly, and pushed aside the flap of an used hut. They had many of those now.

"You can sleep here tonight," she whispered. There's a little lamp down at the bottom somewhere. Mine is already lit, I'll bring you some fire in a minute." She then retreated out of the hut, back to her own. There she picked up her dimly lit lamp, and slunk back over to Aang. Once inside the hut safely, she raised her voice, but only slightly. "Here," she said while lighting it. The dancing flame reflected in his eyes, and she sighed.

"Thanks," he said once it was lit. He looked up at her though, now sitting cross-legged on a fur blanket. "Something the matter?"

She seemed hesitant to admit it, but finally sat down across from him, and spoke softly. "It's kind of stupid, but I can't ever look at fire the same after what happened to my people. You see, that's the reason my father, and the rest of the tribe are gone. We also lost many people that day, including my mother." She pointed to her necklace, and rubbed it for comfort like she always did. "This is all I have left of her."

He didn't reply for a moment, trying to figure it out. Nothing came to mind however, and he reluctantly prodded further. "What happened?"

Her eyes snapped back at him, anger almost rising in them, but she kept herself calm. He couldn't have known what had happened in her tribe..."The Fire Nation attacked us, Aang. We were specifically targeted, and many people were killed, to teach us a lesson. Most of the children's parents are dead, and their family has to take care of them." She sounded upset, even though she tried to hide it from her voice.

Aang was genuinely confused. The Fire Nation? Attacked? When, and why didn't he know about this? His brow was furrowed, and he spoke softly to himself only. "What's happened?"

"War has happened," she answered for him. Her eyes suddenly filled with realization. "Aang," she breathed. He looked up at her, confusion etched plainly all over his face. "Didn't you know about the war?"

He shook his head no.

"Tell me Aang, exactly why you ended up in an iceberg under the ocean."

He shrugged his shoulders, and leaned forward slightly. "There was a huge storm. The waves were tall and loud, and I couldn't see, and Appa couldn't fly in it. We fell into the ocean." He left out the part again, where he didn't quite know how he made the iceberg that had saved his life. It had just sort of happened.. "And I said I think it was a few days ago."

"A few days ago, there was no storm. There wasn't been a major storm for as long as I can remember. Long, long ago, one like you described devastated our tribe, drowning many people, and ruining the entire village. Not hut was left standing. The only people that survived were the ones that were visiting our sister tribe in the north pole." She paused for a moment, to see if he was taking it all in. It looked like he was, so she continued. "When they returned, they found our previous village site swept entirely clean of huts, and bodies. We've lost touch with our sister tribe ever since then."

Aang nodded his head to show he understood, but didn't know where exactly she was going with this. "But, Katara, how is that possible then?"

"I think...you've been trapped in there for longer than you think."

"What, like...a year?"

"Try one hundred," she said softly. She didn't want to scare him, but finding out that one had been trapped underwater for 100 years could be quite surprising.

"That's not possible," he simply stated.

"Aang, think about it, please. You don't know of the war, which has been waging for about one hundred years. You say you were brought down in a huge storm, the kind that hasn't happened in one hundred years." She continued, seeming to drive the knife deeper. "Nobody as seen or heard from an airbender in one hundred years." She sounded almost desperate, as if it was of the utmost importance that he believed her.

"Wow," he breathed. "Maybe you're right...everything you said makes sense." She sighed, hoping she hadn't hurt his feelings or anything. She now realized that his previous question hadn't been out of rudeness, but that he truly hadn't known what had happened. "No Appa's either," he asked suddenly.

She shook her head sadly. "Everyone thought the airbenders had disappeared altogether, along with The Avatar." Aang seemed to be processing this all, and Katara laid a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. He looked up, meeting her gaze. "I'm sorry Aang...I'll leave now."

"You don't have to," he said, not wanting to make her feel unwanted in one of own tribe's huts. "I don't mind...in fact I'm glad you told me, otherwise I wouldn't have known anything that was going on."

She stood though, and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm just leaving so you can get some rest, and me too. I'm pretty tired." She smiled at him, and made her way to the door. She was halfway outside when she heard his voice again.

"Thanks Katara, for everything."

"You're welcome Aang," she answered him softly. She returned to her hut now, and dimmed her light as low as it could go without extinguishing it completely. She changed quickly, and then wrapped herself in her warm blankets. Tomorrow, maybe they'd learn more about Aang. She was rather curious about him. He was the last thing she saw and thought of before falling asleep.

Author's Notes: Well? I know, I know...again, too similar, but I really liked how the series started out. I promise though, once I really get into this, they won't be similar. As always, your comments are greatly appreciated, and they make me happy.

-KENshinJI