Chapter 10

The sun was a little blinding as he emerged from the tower's window, but that was of secondary concern for Feng when he compared it to what was happening below.

It seems like Feng's suspicions had been right about the sand benders, as they were currently here in mass in what seemed to be an attempt to steal Appa, judging by the muzzle and ropes they had wrapped around him.

Toph had done her best to hold them off, and had done an admirable job seeing as over 10 of the sand benders were down in some form or another, either pummelled into unconsciousness or just stuck in place by being encased in rock. But even her large circle of solidified earth wasn't enough for her to counteract the numbers that she faced, as 20 experienced sand benders against one girl, even if that girl was the most talented earthbender in the world, was always going to go their way.

They merely needed to delay Toph while their companions stole Appa after all, although the lesser amount of people going for Appa had resulted in being slowed down, with them still being in sight.

"You Muzzled Appa!?" Aang yelled in outrage, swinging his staff and sending a blade of wind at one of the sand sleds, obliterating it in one move under his fury. At the same time, his eyes and tattoos started glowing, mysterious energy filling the air and for the first time, Feng laid eyes on the Avatar State.

He only had one word to describe it.

Terrifying.

Seeing the normally happy-go-lucky boy become the host of millennia of wisdom and bending, their knowledge filling his body, was enough to cause a tingle of fear down Feng's spine. He couldn't let that stop him, however, not in the middle of battle.

So he joined Katara and Sokka as they fought off the remaining Sandenders with Toph's help, the girl dismantling their attacks as they replied.

"It seems like I got here just in time," Feng commented, touching down next to them softly, his bending softening the blow as he withdrew his war fans, turning towards one of the four Sandbenders closest to him.

"No Kidding," Sokka grunted, one hand on either end of his club as he fended off the tendrils of sand coming towards him, barely ducking underneath one that came from behind.

"Yeah, my bending isn't exactly the greatest out in the desert." Katara agreed, whipping the hand of the boy in front of her with her pouch's water as he withdrew it in pain, clutching his wound instead of finishing his attack.

"Luckily for you two, that's not the case for Airbending," Feng smirked, splaying open his fans and thrusting them forward, a large blast of wind traveling forth as the sand the benders were using was blown away, the little pieces unable to maintain their structure as Feng effectively neutered their abilities.

Blinking, one of the Sandbenders looked down at his hands before punching as another sand tendril reached towards Feng, only to be blown away again. It only took five more attempts for him to get the message as he slumped, raising his hands into the air in surrender.

"That's just not fair." He muttered with a scowl.

"I'm sorry," Feng snarked, one hand grabbing onto the sand bender as he tossed him towards Toph, the young girl slamming a foot into the gourd as slabs of earth surrounded him, pinning him in place.

", when did I ever say I play fair?"

"Hah, nice one!" Sokka cheered, before yelping as his ankle was snatched., his inattention costing him. "A little help here guys!"

Katara sighed at her brother's incompetence, purposefully looking away even as Toph intervened, slamming a foot into the ground and thrusting her hands forward in a jerky motion with her hands splayed, a large boulder erupting from Toph's now pockmarked slab as the boulder erupted into multiple pieces under Tophs movements, each of them impacting the sand tendril in multiple places as it was ripped apart, the final rock catching the final Sandbender in the head with a thud, the man falling down as before he was pinned in place.

That meant that all of the attacking Sandbenders were now dealt with, with only the fleeing ones to contend with. Fleeing Sandbenders that were dealing with an angry Airbender in the Avatar state, so really, they may actually be in need of some assistance.

Aang did look quite angry after all and was currently enclosed in a rotating sphere of air as he soared above the sand benders, wrathful roars leaving his mouth as an air column slammed into the ground in front of the group.

"No one takes Appa!" Aang yelled, his voice laced with the overtones of a thousand masters.

"Ah crap, here we go again," Sokka complained as he started sprinting in Aang's direction, the other three of them doing the same.

"Is there any way to stop this?!" Feng yelled, projecting his voice loud enough to be heard over the rushing wind.

"Not really!" Sokka replied. "It'll only stop when Aang calms down, and right now he's looking pretty not calm!"

"No, really?!" Toph yelled sarcastically even as she began to fall behind, her smaller gait slowing her down in comparison to the water tribe siblings when she couldn't use the sand to propel herself forward, while Feng pulled ahead, his large stride quickly eating up the ground even before he sped it up with the wind run, easily quadrupling his speed.

He was fully aware that this would be dangerous, but Feng has been with Aang long enough to know that as soon as he calmed down, he would be filled with regret if he harmed the sand benders grievously, let alone if he killed them.

That would destroy the young bender, and Feng would do anything to keep that from happening. Not just because he was his teacher either, but because he was the Avatar. The Fire nation already had enough of an advantage over the world's military, only an overwhelming force like a fully realized Avatar would be able to change that.

"Aang! You have to snap out of it!" Feng yelled, trying to get his words through to the boy. "Appa's fine, there's no need to go overboard!"

Unfortunately, it seems like Aang didn't hear him, as he sent another tendril of air, this one traveling horizontally along the dunes as the five leading sand benders were all sent flying through the air, each of them losing hold on the ropes that kept Appa tethered as they were forced to tumble down the slope.

"Rarrgghh!" Aang yelled again, doing the same twice more to send the rest of the Sandbenders away from his Flying Bison, Appa quickly taking advantage of his freedom to retreat back away from the edge, knowing to keep away from Aang in this state even if he wasn't frightened by it.

"Ah crap, how can I stop this?" Feng asked himself as he paused at the top of the slope, watching with a hint of fear as Aang's flying sphere made him hover over the terrified Sandbenders.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know it was the Avatar's Flying Bison!" A younger Sandbender yelled, his brown hair flapping wildly in the wind as the whites of his eyes showed. "We weren't going to hurt him! Just sell him to some traders!"

Yeah, those were not the words you wanted to use to calm down a rampaging Avatar who at this point was more like a rampaging spirit than anything else. In response to the boy's words, Aang allowed the top half of his sphere to float away, the bottom half keeping him floating as the rest collected above his outstretched arm, swirling rapidly around him as it collapsed into a fine point.

When Aang reared his arm back, he knew that something had to be done. The others wouldn't be able to do anything either, not when they were just now getting within striking distance, and any defense the sand benders raised would just be blown away by Aang's assault like Feng had done to them.

Time to do something stupid.

"You must suffer the consequences!" Aang roared, throwing his arm forward with the intent of smiting those who had offended him with the might of god. The column of roaring air left Aang's body, howling as it traversed the short distance to the group of paralyzed sand benders.

If it struck, the results would have been devastating, for both Aang and the Sandbenders, but luckily someone was there to intervene, a tall figure slamming down into the earth in front of them with a poof of sand that was quickly swept away by the wind to reveal their savior.

Feng.

"Snap out of it Aang, this isn't what you!" he yelled one final time even as he prepared himself, harnessing all of his willpower, pushing aside the thoughts of the scroll on spirit transformation, pushing aside thoughts of the danger he was in, even pushing away the thoughts of doubt he was facing at this very moment.

He couldn't afford to be distracted in any way by what he was about to do, not if he wanted to come out of this alone against a rampaging Avatar.

"Air Fortress!" Feng yelled in defiance, using the words to help focus as he crouched, slamming his arms together and pulling the air with all of his might, focusing all of his effort on just what was in front of him, on condensing the air into a shield wall that would be unbreakable.

It took less than a second for it to form, the quickest it ever had as a swilling barrier of wind formed in front of the young man, as thick as his arm and twice as wide as his arm span, the direct center being positioned right in front of the tip of the Avatars tendril.

With a thunderous crash, the two forces of nature collided, the two Airbenders testing their will against one another, the howling sound of furious air filling everyone's ears. At first, it seemed like Feng would come out the loser in this exchange as his barrier began to waver against the Avatars unrelenting assault, as would be expected.

Feng wasn't even a master Airbender and Aang was the Avatar.

But as the seconds passed, as the tendril of air broke itself on Feng's wavering shield, it seemed like Aang came to his senses, realizing he was attacking his friend as the light shining from the tattoo on his leading arm dissipated, his hand relaxing as his attack weakened, the rest of his tattoos doing the same.

Taking advantage of this, Feng heaved in an enormous breath, the first in almost a minute as he twirled on his feet, crossing his arms as he did so before stopping on a dime as he wrenched them apart, dissipating his barrier in an explosive manner as the last remaining air of the attack ceased to exits, the wind returning to what was normal for the desert as everyone's hair was thrown backward.

"….Are you…back with us Aang?" Feng heaved in question, his arms lowerering as his eyes remained alert, watching his young friend.

"Yeah...yeah I'm back," Aang replied softly, shame and guilt showing in his expression as he turned away, not even looking at Feng as he looked at his feet.

Seeing that he was in no sign of danger, Feng sighed in relief as he turned to face the still terrified sand benders.

"I don't think I need to tell you about the consequences of attacking or trying to steal from us again, do I?"

The eight still awake Sandbenders rapidly shook their heads, almost looking like bobbleheads in a way with their eyes as far open as they were.

"Good, then go get your men, go get your stuff, and get out of here. I don't want any of you to still be in my sight after 10 minutes are up. If there are, there will be consequences. Is that clear?"

"…Y-yes!" One of the braver members answered, leading the charge as they set out to do what Feng had told them to, hastily packing up on the remaining sand sleds and bending themselves away in a hurry. Meanwhile, Feng watched as Aang walked over towards Appa, checking that he was alright even as his shoulders remained slumped.

This was an issue Feng would have to deal with he supposed. Unfortunately, he had no idea how, but luckily, Katara was already there to give Aang some calming words, as Feng had never really been any good at that. That didn't stop him from walking towards them though, his movement drawing their attention.

"Feng, you good?" Sokka asked, inspecting the elder teen for any sight of damage after the attack he had just blocked, admiration and concern present on his face in equal measure.

Feng placed his still shaking hands behind his back even as he nodded, a fact not missed by the observant boy but something he chose not to comment on.

"I'm good. The question is...are you good, Aang?"

"I'm…" Aang trailed off, not looking at Feng. "…I'm alright."

Now, why did Feng doubt that?

"You don't sound alright."

"Well, how could I be!?" Aang yelled throwing his arms in the air as he faced Feng straight on, his eyes filled with despair even as he missed the slight flinch Feng gave. "I almost killed those Sandbenders, Feng. I would have if you weren't there and when you stepped in to protect them, I almost killed you as well!"

He wrapped his arms around him as he spoke, and while Katara reached out a hand to comfort him, Sokka kept her in place.

"But the important thing is Aang…you didn't," Feng said softly. "You were just in the Avatar state. I like to think I'm good, in fact, I know I am."

Toph snorted at his bravado.

"But I'm not good enough to block off an attack from the combined might of several hundred Avatars. I'm not going to lie that I was completely safe, in fact when I stepped in front of you I was mentally preparing myself to be hurt, but I wasn't hurt. You, didn't hurt me Aang, and right now? That's all that matters."

Aang shrugged non-commutatively, looking down at his feet.

"So cheer up Aang, I'm not hurt, nor is anyone else, and Appa is still with us. All is well."

Aang looked up from his feet, a tired expression in his eyes that Feng caught.

"But it might not have been. Yes, everything was fine this time, and it worked out well enough the last few, but what about the next time? What if I witness you or anyone else I care about being hurt or even…die? Will I lose myself to the Avatar state? Will I brand myself as what the Fire Nation says I am?" Aang shook his head, unshed tears appearing in his eye. "Whose to say that that the next time you step in to stop me, I won't accidentally kill you? The last Airbender aside from myself. I've always hated being the Avatar, but the Avatar state…I hate that even more."

Feng opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. What could you say after something like that? Cheer up, it'll all be alright?

No, he couldn't say that, because he couldn't be sure that that was the case. Sometimes in life, things did go wrong, and sometimes people really do die.

And the Avatar state? While Feng was 100% sure that Aang would never hurt him intentionally, the Avatar State wasn't just Aang. It was every single Avatar since the start of the cycle, and while Avatar Roku was a relatively benign Avatar, Kyoshi and Yanchen both killed countless foes, let alone the rest of his past lives.

So he stayed quiet, for a lack of anything else to say. He felt helpless in this state, unsure of what to do. He didn't like that feeling.

"Come on Aang, let's go make sure Appa is unharmed, okay?"

"Okay." Aang nodded numbly, letting the waterbender lead him away, leaving just Feng standing there, staring into the distance alongside Toph and Sokka.

"Are you really okay, Feng? I saw your hands." Sokka said quietly, not looking towards the man as they stood there.

A grimace crossed Feng's face as he brought out his hands in front of them. They were still trembling, and they wouldn't stop no matter what he did. It wasn't even that they were hurt or anything, as Feng had been truthful when he'd told Aang that he had held back the force of the Avatar states attack.

But this issue wasn't physical.

"I'll be okay."

"Feng."

"I will be okay, Sokka. I'm not hurt, I just need some time to calm down, maybe then the shaking will stop. Do me a favor though?"

"Sure, man, what do you need?"

"Don't tell Aang. He's already going to have a hard enough time as it is, and he's far too wary of his identity as the Avatar as it is. We both know exactly how badly the war is, don't we?"

Sokka nodded solemnly.

"Then you know that we need the Avatar State. The Fire Nation is too powerful for anything less to let us pull off a victory. Even with the Solar Eclipse, it still won't be enough. The Northern Water Tribe is weakened, and the Earth Kingdom's soldiers are depleted. I'm not sure if you knew this, but just before Aang's existence was made known to the world again, I'd been hearing rumors of some of the Earth Kingdom generals wanting to surrender. Two cities, even one as big as Ba Sing Se, is not enough to counter the entire Fire Nation Navy."

"They were considering it?" Sokka blinked in surprise as well as shock. "I didn't know it had been that bad."

"It was," Feng promised sadly, turning his gaze from the horizon to look at Toph and Sokka. "The only thing giving people hope now is the Avatar, that'll he'll somehow defeat the Fire Lord by himself."

Feng didn't need to ask their opinions on the matter itself, their frowns were clear enough.

"But Aang is just a boy. A talented, extremely powerful boy yes, but a boy nonetheless. One that is still naive about the world in many ways that most no longer are. That's why you can't tell Aang. I honestly don't believe that he can win if he doesn't use the Avatar state, and if he's too frightened of it, he'll fight against it." He frowned. "We can't have that."

Sokka didn't reply, but he did nod, turning about to walk over to where Aang and Katara were tending to the few minor abrasions Apa had gotten in the kidnapping attempt.

"But what if Aang is not enough? What if a single person, as powerful as the Avatar is, is not enough to win against the Fire Nation?" Toph asked, her voice takin ion a steely quality.

Looking the girl in the eye, Feng saw a little bit of himself. He saw a level of maturity that shouldn't be present in the eyes of someone so young, something that would have only been caused by being forced to grow up early. He suspected that being blind and considered helpless, needing to do every little thing she could to assert herself would be enough for that.

So Feng chose not to give her the safe answer, the answer that he would have given to any other twelve years old asking him such a question. He chose not to give her empty platitudes like he would have if Aang was asking the same question.

Instead, he said this.

"If it's not enough, if Aang is not enough, then that only leaves one other option aside from surrendering, which I suspect is not an option at this point."

"You got that right oh sleuthy one." Toph tried to joke, but it fell flat, her normal enthusiasm just not in it after the day's events.

"I suspected as much." Feng chuckled darkly, looking away from Toph to instead take in the swirling patterns in the sand below.

"If direct fighting is not enough, then that only leaves indirect fighting. Avoiding taking the fight to the Fire Nation in a way that they could counter."

"But aren't we already doing that? Like raiding patrols and forming resistance groups and such." Toph asked, her voice clearly voicing her doubt.

"Ture." Feng acknowledged, feeling his hands finally stop shaking as a deadly coolness overcame him. "But that's not what I'm talking about. In the hundred-year war, time and time again it has been shown the Fire Nation Military is a great threat to the world, succeeding time and time again where their numbers would suggest they fail. They did this through superior technology and strategy, with their metal ships and skillful placement of troops. But those things only come about because of the nation's leaders, from the people who possess authority over the rest of the nation."

Feng reached out towards the sun that was only now just beginning to set, its golden light setting over the sandy dunes.

"If you take them out, it all falls apart. That's what the fallback plan is, Toph if Aang fails."

Feng clenched his hand shut, forming a tight fist with it in a way that blocked the light from his eyes, letting shadow form across them.

"We assassinate the leaders."

And who better to do so than an Assassin who could evade any and all detection? Feng suspected that many had tried before, but there was just some things that could not be overcome with physical training.

Airbedning though? Well, that might just be enough.

…

"Good." Aang nodded calmly, watching as Feng sliced his hand through the air, a well-defined blade of wind leaving it as he did, flying off into the sky. "I think you've mastered the gale slice now, Feng. You can probably attempt the wind blade with your fans whenever you want, just remember to think of your fans as an extension of your body, rather than a separate piece."

His wisdom said, Aang leaned back in the saddle, crossing his arms as he looked up into the sky, becoming quiet. This was not an uncommon occurrence these past few days, although the others had hoped he would have snapped out of it by now.

"Well, that's another move from the list down," Feng muttered contently, stretching his arms into the sky even as his legs unconsciously flexed to deal with a sudden change in the airflow around him. It had long since become subconscious for him, and he hadn't fallen off Appa in almost two weeks.

"And so many more to go, am I right?" Toph joked from the side, next to where Feng would sit if he weren't practicing his bending.

"Not so many now," Feng replied, releasing the stretch as he moved his arms around it, letting them loosen. "It's just the ones that I can't practice on Appa that I have left, the gale slice being the last feasible one on Appa's back. After all, I somehow doubt you'd like me to practice the cannonball when you guys are in range."

"Please don't do that," Katara said from her spot, looking up from the jacket she was sewing, Sokka having managed to form another hole in the garment. "I don't want to have to get rescued by Aang again, the first time was enough."

That hadn't been a fun time.

"You see what I mean?" Feng grinned, earning a bark of a laugh from the girl as he collapsed beside her, enjoying the feeling of the breeze through his neck-length hair. "So really, I can now do what you guys do when we're on the move, aside from chores like Katara's doing."

"And what do we do?"

"Absolutely nothing," Feng replied, earning a snort from Toph.

Which was a nice change, as he still probably practiced this bending too much in most of his free time. But he still had a lot to learn and a not-so-long time to do it. He wanted to be a master bender by the end of the year after all, and there were so many airbending moves to learn. From his questions to Katara and Toph, it was a lot more than them, as Air was far more free form than Water and Erath, at least until they qualified as masters.

Then it was the other way round, where Airbending didn't have too many different things to learn, having already learned a basis for most things, while waterbending and earthbending did not.

It actually took up so much of his time that he barely had the time for his thoughts to dwell on other things, which was a bonus really. Reminiscing was never his favorite activity, which is why he was glad when Sokka interrupted their quiet time.

"Hey guys, could I get your attention for a second?"

"Yes, Sokka?" Toph sighed, shuffling forward so they could actually hear each other, an action Feng did not do. He could hear perfectly fine from here.

The boy turned around from where he was sitting on Appa's head, looking at their updated map instead of directing Apa who was perfectly capable of keeping a straight line.

"From what I can tell, we're about four days out from Ba Sing Se via Appa, and I can't imagine that our stay will be short. Is there anything else you guys want to do beforehand, or should we just go right in?"

Now he was no longer as glad, as this had been one of the topics he'd been dwelling on. On if he should go back to the place it all began, and if he even wanted to. But Aang, for all that troubled him, was pushing through his own worries and concerns on the Avatar state, so Feng could do the same. No, he would do the same.

"Actually, yes, I do have somewhere I want to go, as my own mini-vacation."

"You do? Then go right ahead my man, where should we stop?"

Feng cleared his throat as he moved towards where Sokka was sitting with the map, carefully scanning it for the information he wanted.

"Here," Feng said, tapping a point on the map about a day's travel towards Ba Sing Se and a little to the left. "I want to go here, there's a village located there that's not on the map."

"A village?" Sokka asked in surprise, scrunching his eyebrows in thought. "Why do you want to go there? I mean, we will, it's your turn to pick after the library, but still, I'm curious."

"I am as well, Feng." Katara nodded, looking up from the patch job she was performing with a tread and needle.

Swallowing slightly, Feng turned away from the others, looking into the distance, his voice taking on a distant quality.

"Because that is the location of the village I was born in."

…

The group had fallen quiet after his proclamation, all of them aware at least to some degree about the hardships Feng had faced in the past, how he had needed to leave the village for some reason. He had never revealed why though, even if Sokka and Katara had their suspicions. So they spent much of the next day and a half keeping to themselves, with the occasional words between the others, but none from Feng.

"I'm taking us in for a landing." Sokka declared, carefully tugging on Appa's reigns in the signal to move downwards, aimed at a medium-sized forest clearing a half-hour walk from the village proper.

"Thank you," Feng said softly, his eyes glazing over slightly as he looked around the woods they were traveling over, moving closer and closer until finally, they touched down, Appa's bulk only causing a slight justling to the team.

Already cloaked like normal, Feng jumped off the saddle, landing softly on the ground below with a flare of his cloak as he took it in, moving from tree to tree as he traced his hands over them.

"I recognize this place." Feng mused, wrapping a single hand around a familiar handhold that a broken branch had made. "I used to come here when I was younger, just exploring all that I could."

Feng continued walking, moving to the other side where three of the trees had grown up at an angle, their trunks leaning away from the clearing's center.

"It was also where I practiced my grandfather's teachings, in the only place I could with any kind of privacy."

Continuing his walk, Feng finished his trip around the tree line, making it back to the place he started where Toph, Aang, Katara, and Sokka were waiting.

"It was my happy place. My safe place. Or at least, it was." Feng frowned, his hands clenching slightly as he grits his teeth, the memories rushing over him in a torrent.

The others let him think for a minute, just standing there awkwardly as Feng reminisced over his past, waiting for him to start moving, which he did eventually.

"Come on, I want to see the village," Feng said, leading the group to the barely traveled pathway leading through the forest, the one he had always taken. He had used it practically every day for four years, so the path was easily traveled by the young man, the few tripping hazards like the deceptively deep ditch skipped over.

"Gah!" Sokka cried, falling on his face.

Or at least Feng skipped over it. His steps were swift and confident, his pace unerring.

"What's the village like?" Aang asked curiously, striking up a conversation as Feng hummed, considering it.

"Well, to begin with, when I left, it wasn't very big. There were maybe 500 people all up scattered across about one hundred rough-crafted buildings. Most of these were lumberers, harvesting the woods of this forest to be sent over to Ba Sing Se. It's only real export that supported the village, really."

Feng almost knocked his head as he ducked underneath a low-hanging branch, having never had to do that before.

"Aside from them, we had three doctors, one smith, and maybe two dozen hunters. The rest of the village roles were really just done by everyone who could, everyone chipping in to support the village life. As a result, everyone was quite close, even when the Fire Nation took control of our village."

"They what?!" Katara yelled in surprise, shock clearly present on her face. "You were under Fire Nation control the entire time?"

"Not the entire time." Feng shook his head, frowning slightly. "Only in my final year at the village, when the Dragon of the West and his armies assaulted the mighty walls of Ba Sing Se. What were we going to do, fight them? Their army numbered in the tens of thousands, a small village like ours would never hold out. But we didn't mind." Feng smiled wryly.

"It didn't change anything for us, as instead of sending Ba Sing Se the harvested lumber, we would send it to the Fire Nation for a fair price. Because we were so compliant, they only stationed three patrols in our village, a measly 21 soldiers. I remembered being quite fond of one of the female guards too." He sighed wistfully.

"…what?"

"I was eleven, turning twelve. Shui was only 18, and far too pretty for young Feng. She was my first crush, something I'm sure both of you have experienced, Sokka, Aang. Maybe even the two of you as well, Toph and Katara."

All four of the teens looked away, red blushes appearing on their cheeks as they thought of their respective crushes.

"Yeah." Sokka coughed awkwardly, trying to regain his equilibrium. "For me, that was Suki, a Kyoshi Warrior, so I can understand what you mean, but come on, a Fire Nation soldier? That's like, one of the worst choices you could have made."

"There weren't exactly a lot of options." Feng shrugged, feeling regret over his past decisions, but not begrudging himself for them. At the time, it had made perfect sense to him. "And Shui was nice, she always went out of her way to play with me when she had the time, teaching me some of the games of her youth."

"Fire nation games huh? Who'd of thought it?"

"Fire Nation citizens are people too, Sokka," Feng said dryly, moving around a large stump that had been a tree the last time he'd been here. "Most of them aren't cruel either, their just…people. People put in the uneasy position of having to obey the orders of a superior, though that's a conversation for another time."

Sokka nodded, and even Aang looked intrigued. Toph, well Toph was indifferent while Katara scowled.

"As I was saying, Shui always played with me, becoming my best friend after almost 9 months stated here. I can't say that Mum approved, but Dad always found it funny that I, an Airbender, was best friends with a fire bender. Sadly, it seems like it all things, my mother was eventually proven right."

"What happened?" Katara asked softly when Feng trailed off, getting the attention of his saddened eyes.

"What else? I showed my most trusted friend my greatest secret. I showed her my Airbending in the very clearing we landed in, thinking that she would accept me for who I was."

"And I take it that did not go very well?" Sokka drawled bluntly, earning a glare from Katara even as Feng nodded, his eyes washed over with imaginary fire.

"No, no it did not go well, as you put it," Feng admitted with sorrow, stepping around one final tree to reveal the village to the group, in all its splendid glory. Or at least, all the glory that around 50 barely hanging together structures could.

"And here we are, my hometown. Try not to breathe too heavily, you may blow something over." Feng joked flatly as the rest gathered behind him, waiting for him to make a move.

"Are you going to move anytime soon?" Toph asked callously, tapping a foot in impatience.

"I will." Feng nodded, folding his arms behind his back as he dug his fingers into his forearms, staring at the ghosts of his past. "…eventually."

…

Eventually is right, as it took him a half hour to muster up the courage to move forward, even with the support of Katara and Aang. But move he did, taking careful steps between the unkempt street of Senlin Village, where there was strangely no one around except themselves.

Every step felt heavy to Feng, who was normally quite light on his feet. The weight of his memories weighed down on him, threatening to overwhelm his normally calm nature, but he wasn't a boy anymore.

While some might argue that he wasn't quite a man, he was far more mature and worldly than when he had last stepped foot inside the village, and the years since had let him overcome some of his troubles.

"My house is just up this way, come on," Feng said, gesturing to the left at a four-way intersection, the dirt path barely holding against the toll of time but still present all the same.

"Woah!" Katara threw her hands out, the uneven pathway tripping her up a little but Aang was there to catch there, as sure-footed as he always was.

Step after step Feng took, leading him to where he wanted to go, until finally, after 5 minutes of a silent march, they arrived.

To the delipidated remains of his family home.

In its prime, it had been quite a beautiful place. Standing two levels while being fairly long and wide, it had held more than enough room for a family of three, with a total of 8 rooms in the entire house and a courtyard out the back. Everything a young boy could dream of really.

But in his escape, as he evaded the fire nation soldiers and villagers standing witness, much of this splendor had been ruined to become what it was now. The outer walls were scorched, still blackened with fire from all those years ago, while the outer wall on the right was blown out where his mother had created an escape route.

The ground around the property was similarly torn apart, used to block the blast of fire and arrows of the fire nation, and the door was just plain not there, having been kicked in when they'd assaulted the property.

But it was still his home, so with nary a breath to prepare himself, Feng stepped forward, entering through the hole in the front door as he observed the room.

"…this is just depressing," Feng sighed, lowering his head to rub his eyes. "I don't know what I thought I'd find here after so long, maybe some sense of closure or something, maybe an item or two of my families to remember them by, but instead, there's nothing."

Feng scowled, gesturing around the kitchen that they were currently in, judging by the bench and sink.

"Everything's long since been scavenged along with, I suspect, every other house in the village, left to the animals and the bandits who roam these lands."

"Well…" Aang darted his eyes around to look for anything, anything at all for Feng to take back. "…is that pot your mothers, maybe?"

"A pot?" Feng said curiously, his rant momentarily forgotten as he looked for the aforementioned item, spying it sitting on the inbuilt dish rack that his mother had created.

"That's strange." Feng frowned as he stepped forward for a closer look. "It's still wet."

"It is?" Sokka said in surprise, staring at the pot and coming to the same conclusion. "Huh, it is wet. But why? I don't see any water damage, and it hasn't exactly rained recently. Honestly, the only reason I can think of it being wet is if there was someone…still…here."

It seems like the spirits that watched over these lands had a sense of amusement, or at least irony, as at that very moment the door leading to the other half of the house creaked open, causing Feng to snap his head towards the sound as he opened his eyes in surprise, his moth falling out of place as he looked at the form of somebody he recognized.

"Shui?!"

AN: Aang overcoming hundreds of lives of ruthlessness seems unlikely, especially when he is still learning. When he's more experienced, against the fir lord, maybe, but not at this point. Earthbending training theoretically increases willpower, and he hasn't done too much of that yet. Also, we're finally getting into some of Feng's backstory, yaaaayyyy.

Thanks for sticking around this long. Peace.