Disclaimer: I do not own A:TLA or any of it's characters. The only thing I own is my OC.
The Six Rules:
Rule Number One: Alec won't warn the Gaang about things in advance or solve their problems for them, with a few rare exceptions.
Rule Number Two: Only Alec has the right to tell people his true origins, and he will mostly limit this to group members. He will tell new group members his secret as soon as they join the Gaang.
Rule Number Three: There are some changes Alec wants to make, and he will use his knowledge of the future to make those changes.
Rule Number Four: Sometimes, to make a change, Alec will act in a way that doesn't make sense. If that's necessary, he'll tell the Gaang "I need you to absolutely trust me." After he says that, the Gaang has to either do whatever he asks or leave him to do what he needs to do.
Rule Number Five: After a change happens, Alec will tell the Gaang what happened in the original story, in the interest of transparency.
Rule Number Six: If a major change happens that Alec doesn't expect, the Gaang will have a meeting ASAP. In this meeting, Alec will break Rule One and tell them all relevant information that will help them figure out how to respond to the change.
Chapter 18:
The Cave of Two Lovers
Alec POV
It had been three days since we left General Fong's fortress. Aang, Katara, and I made a new learning schedule. In the mornings, I would work on firebending. In the afternoons, or earlier if I mastered a scroll before then, Katara would teach Aang waterbending and both of us would spar with him. It was mid-morning. I was working on learning the fire whip. The fire whip was very appealing for one reason: the scroll described it as a non-lethal move. It would injure, and it would burn, but most of the time it wouldn't kill. It was difficult to learn. It required precise control to lengthen the fire and give it a flexible, tactile quality. I was able to make the whip, but I wasn't able to control it easily.
"This time, I'll get it for sure." I said, frustrated.
"Maybe you should try to be more flexible." Katara suggested. "The fire whip looks a lot like the water whip, so it might help if you act like a waterbender." She showed me the fluid movements of the water whip as an example.
I looked at the scroll again. Katara had a point. Now that I thought about it, the movements depicted in the scroll definitely looked more fluid than most other forms of firebending. I took a deep breath, and made the whip again, focusing the stream out of my index and middle finger. I made a circular movement over my head and slashed the whip down. It hit a rock about fifteen feet away. Success!
I turned to my sister and smiled. "You're a genius!" I praised.
She smiled back. "Sometimes it just takes a different perspective. Now, you just need to try the fire lash."
I nodded. "Stand back." I warned. Fire lash was an evolved form of the fire whip that traded some of its flexibility for power and range. Unlike fire whip, fire lash was potentially lethal. I took a deep breath and started the whip again, this time putting more power in it. I created a lash of orange flame almost thirty feet long and two feet in diameter. I brought it down on the rock. It impacted with a loud crack, and kicked up a big dust cloud. When the dust cleared, the rock, once gray, had been scorched black, and a trail of embers stood between me and it.
Aang looked at the rock and turned to me with wide eyes. "You're not gonna use that on me, are you?" He asked fearfully.
I gave him a look. "The only technique I won't use against you once I learn it is lightning, because that will kill you if it hits, and there's no weaker version of it." I said seriously. "Everything else, I can tone down the power so it won't kill you, and Katara can patch you up."
He gulped, but then nodded. Katara decided to change the subject. "Well, since Alec's mastered that scroll, we should probably move on to waterbending." She suggested. Aang and I nodded in agreement. She looked at us. "I'll get changed. You two, take off your shirts and boots and get near that arch." She instructed, pointing at a rocky arch in ankle-deep water.
Aang and I stood in the water. "Okay, I'm ready." I heard Katara say. We turned to face her, and I heard Aang gasp slightly. Aang had never seen Katara in her swimwear before. To be fair, it was pretty conservative by the standards of my world. That being said, Katara's usual outfit only left her hands and a little bit of her neck exposed. Now, she was wearing a white top that cut off just under her breasts, and a white sarong-like skirt with white wrappings on her legs that cut off just above her knees. For Aang, this was eye candy, and judging by the fact that his eyes were nearly falling out of his head, he was enjoying it.
Katara looked at the bug-eyed, blushing airbender with slight concern. "Aang, you okay?" She inquired.
Aang blinked and came back to reality. "Oh, yeah." He said hurriedly. I suppressed a chuckle. He was head-over-heels for her. Speaking of love, we were coming close to step one of my plan to get them together faster. All I had to do was be in the right spot and say the right thing at the right time. Easy enough.
Katara had Aang start on some basic warmups. While Aang did his stretches and a few waterbending moves, she waded over to me, with a curious look in her eye. "Do you know what made Aang freeze up earlier?" She asked.
Perfect. A golden opportunity to move things along nicely. "I'm not sure." I lied, keeping my face neutral. "Maybe he got distracted by something he saw and liked." I speculated.
Katara's eyes widened. She gave Aang a familiar look: the same look she gave him at Makapu Village when Sokka said Aang was a powerful bender. A few seconds later, she went back into teacher mode. "It doesn't matter, as long as he's not distracted right now." She said firmly.
"Denial." I thought, barely keeping myself from grinning.
A few hours later, close to noon, the three of us were still working on Aang's waterbending. Sokka decided that the river looked good, and was lying lazily on a massive leaf, floating on the river wearing only his loincloth. Momo curled up on his lap.
"You guys are gonna be done soon, right?" He asked. "We've got a lot of ground to cover if we want to make it to Omashu today." He pointed out.
Katara got out of her stance and put her hands on her hips. "What? Like you're ready to go right now, naked guy?" She teased with a smug smile.
"I could be ready in two minutes." Sokka objected. "Seriously, whenever."
"So, you were showing me the octopus form?" Aang prompted Katara.
Katara turned her attention back to Aang. "Right. Let me see your stance." She instructed.
Aang got in a stance. Katara considered it for a moment, before walking over and getting behind him. "Your arms are too far apart." She positioned his arms closer together. "See, if you move them closer together, you protect your center. You got it?"
Aang blushed at the close contact. "Oh, yeah." He swallowed. "Thanks."
Katara moved back to her original position about a dozen feet away from Aang. She took a stance. "Okay, let's see what you got."
Aang bent the water, creating a globule that transformed into eight whip-like tentacles of water. Katara shot multiple icicles at him, Aang moved the tentacles and grabbed a few of them out of the air, using the tentacles to block the ones he couldn't catch.
"Very good." Katara praised. "Now, one of the advantages of the octopus form is that it helps you defend against multiple attackers." She turned to me. "Alec, let's go."
I nodded and got in a stance of my own, standing about fifteen feet to Aang's right. I shot a fireball at Aang. Katara shot an icicle at him at the same time. Aang grabbed the icicle out of the air with a tentacle and swatted my fireball away with another tentacle. Then he threw Katara's icicle at me. Smart move, using one opponent's attack against another. I cut the icicle in half with a fire blade, sending both halves of the icicle into the water beside me. I was about to attack again, but I felt something cool and wet grab my right leg. I looked down and saw one of Aang's tentacles wrapped around my leg. He got me. I looked at Katara and saw that she was also caught in his grip.
I smiled at Aang. "Nice work."
Katara put her hands on her hips and looked at Aang proudly. "You make a fine octopus, Pupil Aang." She praised. Aang bent a globule of water around himself, making him look like an actual octopus. He danced playfully inside it for a few seconds, making Katara laugh.
I heard a sound in the distance. It started out faint, but slowly grew louder. It sounded like…music?
"Oh no." I thought with dread. "Not them."
We all looked towards the source of the noise. A group of people walked towards us. Five people in total, three men, two women. A man in a purple robe and a woman in a red dress served as backup dancers, while the other woman and other two men played instruments. I turned my attention to the instrumentalists. The first man I saw was short and fat. He wore a beige robe with pink trimming and a straw hat with a pink flower in it. His instrument of choice was a small hand drum. The woman wore a brown robe with pink trimming, along with a turban-like headdress with a large pink flower in the center. She played the flute. The final man was tall, thin, and tanned, with messy dark hair and prominent stubble. He wore a blue robe with yellow trimming with a green belt. He wore a tall hat that was the same color as his robe. He played a dramyin.
The nomads. The Avatar world's version of hippies. Just as annoying here as they were in my world. On the bright side, I was pretty sure they wouldn't sell Aang or me out to the Fire Nation. For one thing, I was fairly certain they didn't know who we were. For another thing, they didn't seem like the type of people that cared about money, or much of anything really.
The dramyin player began to sing. "Don't fall in love with a traveling girl. She'll leave you broke and brokenhearted."
Our group just stared, unsure of what to make of the travelers. Sokka lost his balance on his leaf and fell into the water. The nomads stopped playing, and the dramyin player pointed at us. "Hey, river people!" He exclaimed happily.
"We're not river people." Katara denied.
This puzzled the man. "You're not? Well then what kind of people are you?" He inquired.
Aang shrugged. "Just…people."
"Aren't we all, brother?" The man asked rhetorically.
By this point, Sokka had picked himself up out of the river. He walked over to the lead nomad and pointed his finger at him. "Who are you?" He asked in an accusing tone.
"I'm Chong." The man answered. Then he indicated the flute player. "This is my wife Lily." Lily gave us a curtsy. "We're nomads." Chong explained. "Happy to go wherever the wind takes us." He then strummed his dramyin in a crazy fashion almost like a rock star shredding.
"You guys are nomads?" Aang asked. "That's great! I'm a nomad!" He said excitedly.
"Hey, me too!" Chong replied.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I had no idea if Chong and the nomads were just that easygoing, or if they had been imbibing certain plants and mushrooms. I suspected the latter.
"I…know." Aang replied blankly, raising an eyebrow. "You just said that."
"Oh." Chong replied, rubbing the back of his head. He looked at Sokka. "Nice underwear." He complimented. Sokka's eyes bulged out, realizing he was only wearing his loincloth in front of complete strangers. He grabbed Momo and put him strategically in front of his underwear and moved quickly over into the bushes to get dressed. I went over to get dressed as well. Anything to get away from the nomads for a few minutes.
While we got dressed Sokka spoke up. "Did you have people like that where you come from?" He inquired.
"Yep." I admitted.
"Were they that annoying there, too?" Sokka grumbled.
"Unfortunately, yes." I said with a frown. "And in this world, I don't have my usual method of making them go away."
"What's that?" Sokka asked.
"Heavy metal music." I answered. Even though South Park said it as a joke, I found from personal experience that blasting Slayer was an effective hippie-dispersal method.
Sokka looked confused, then he shook his head in defeat. "I'm not even gonna ask." He muttered.
We got out from behind the bushes and joined back up with Aang, Katara, and the nomads. The female dancer sat on Appa's head, braiding his fur with pink flowers. The male dancer lounged on Appa's tail. The drummer, who introduced himself as Moku, sat on the ground. Katara and Lily were sitting on Appa's right front leg, Lily putting flowers in Katara's hair. Aang and Chong sat together on Appa's right middle leg. Aang had a wreath of flowers on his head, and Chong strummed his dramyin casually. I fantasized briefly about pulling a John Belushi and smashing that instrument into a million pieces.
"Hey, Sokka and Alec!" Aang greeted. "You should hear some of these stories. These guys have been everywhere!"
Chong stopped playing. "Well, not everywhere Little Arrowhead." He corrected. "But where we haven't been, we've heard about through stories and songs."
"They said they'll take us to see a giant nightcrawler!" Aang said excitedly.
"On the way, there's a waterfall that creates a never-ending rainbow!" Moku said in a dreamy voice.
Sokka and I had no desire to see either of those things. "Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here," Sokka said, "But since Katara is busy, I guess it's up to me." That earned him a sharp glare from our sister. "We need to get to Omashu. No sidetracks, no worms, and definitely no rainbows." Sokka insisted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Whoa, sounds like someone's got a case of destination fever." Chong teased, laughing lightly. "You're worried too much about where you're going."
"You've got to focus less on the 'where' and more on the 'going'." Lily added.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Must not burn the hippies to death. Must not burn the hippies to death." I repeated in my head.
Sokka wasn't having it either. "O. Ma. Shu." He said impatiently with a glare.
"Sokka's right." Katara said. "We need to find King Bumi, so Aang can learn earthbending somewhere safe."
"Sounds like you're headed to Omashu." Chong stated.
Sokka facepalmed. "Must not burn the hippies to death! MUST NOT BURN THE HIPPIES TO DEATH!"
"There's an old story about a secret pass right through the mountains." Chong said dramatically.
Katara raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Is this real or a legend?"
I decided to speak up. "The pass is real." I said, hoping to avoid hearing a certain song. "It's a series of tunnels that two lovers built to meet each other in secret." I explained. "The story of the pass has been passed down through a song over the years."
I said too much. Aang perked up. "Ooh, do you know the song?" He asked Chong. "I wanna hear it!"
I didn't want to hear that song. All I wanted to do at that moment was throttle a certain airbender. It was too late. Chong, Lily, and Moku began playing. Then Chong began to sing. "Two lovers, forbidden from one another, the war divides their people and the mountain divides them apart! Built a path to be together!"
Katara and Aang moved their heads with the rhythm. Sokka twitched an eyebrow, his arms still folded. I pinched the bridge of my nose. A lot of people in my world liked the secret tunnel song. At first, I did, too. But, when you watch the show that many times, hearing that song over and over again becomes grating.
Chong stopped singing. "Yeah, I forgot the next couple of lines but then it goes…" He started singing again. "Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountains, secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel! Yeah!"
Aang, Katara, and the dancers clapped. Sokka and I did not. "I think we'll just stick with flying." Sokka stated. "We've dealt with the Fire Nation before. We'll be fine."
"Yeah." Aang agreed. "Thanks for the help, but Appa hates going underground, and we need to do whatever makes Appa most comfortable."
I frowned. "Actually, Aang, we need to have a conversation." I turned to Chong. "Can you guys give us some privacy for a few minutes?"
Chong nodded. "Sure, man." He replied breezily. He and the nomads left into the nearby forest. Once they were out of earshot, I turned to the group. I gave Appa an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, buddy, but we need to go in the tunnel."
Aang looked puzzled. "Why?"
"The Fire Nation is close." I answered seriously. "If we try to fly to Omashu from here, they'll shoot more fireballs at us than Zhao did when we ran the blockade. We can't safely fly there." I looked Appa in the eye. "I'm sorry, Appa."
Sokka looked confused. "Why are you explaining this to Appa?"
I smirked at Sokka. "Appa understands more than you think." I turned to the bison. "Appa, grunt twice if you understand me." Appa grunted twice. "Now, Appa. I know you don't like going underground, but it's the safest option." I explained gently. "I promise I will never make you go underground again, is that okay with you? Grunt twice if it's okay."
Appa was silent for a few seconds, then he grunted twice. I smiled and patted his nose affectionately. "Thanks, buddy."
Aang shrugged. "Well, if Appa says it's okay, I guess we can go."
Katara looked at me. "I'll go along with what you think is right." She said.
Sokka still looked unconvinced. "Are you sure this is the only way?"
I gave Sokka a flat look. "Sokka, if there were any other option besides traveling with those nomads, I'd take it in a heartbeat." I deadpanned.
We found the nomads sitting just inside the edge of the forest. "Secret love cave. Let's go." Sokka said, exasperated.
We walked with the nomads for a little while. We found ourselves traveling through the ruins of an old temple. "How far are we from the tunnel?" Sokka inquired.
"Actually, it's not just one tunnel." Chong corrected. "The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth." He explained.
Sokka stopped in his tracks, alarmed. "Labyrinth?" He yelped.
"I'm sure we'll figure it out." Chong replied casually.
"All you need to do is trust in love," Lily added, "According to the curse."
That didn't reassure Sokka at all. Sokka stopped in his tracks again. He was quiet for several seconds, before he flinched in terror. "Curse?!" He exclaimed in a whining voice.
A few minutes later, we found the entrance to a dark cave. The words 'lover's cave' were carved into the stone above the entrance. "Hey! We're here!" Chong said happily.
"What exactly is this curse?" Sokka asked.
"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves." I explained. "Otherwise you'll be trapped in the caves forever, and die."
Chong brightened. "Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song!" He strummed his dramyin and sang "And die!" in a low, ominous tone.
Sokka was at the end of his patience. "That's it!" He yelled. "There's no way we're going through some cursed hole!"
I turned around and saw a tower of gray smoke in the distance behind us. "You might want to reconsider that." I said grimly, pointing at the smoke.
Moku saw it, too. "Hey, someone's making a big campfire!" He said dreamily.
The rest of the group turned and saw the smoke. "That's no campfire, Moku." Katara corrected seriously.
"It's Fire Nation." Sokka explained. "They're tracking us."
Aang turned to me. "So all you need to do is trust in love to get through these caves?" He asked for clarification.
I gave him a small smile. "Correct."
Aang turned and looked at Katara, who still had her back turned to him. He stared at her, his eyes shining with adoration. He smiled. "We can make it."
Sokka gestured towards the cave. "Everyone into the hole!" He ordered.
We walked into the tunnel, past several large carved statues. Chong lit a torch to provide light. A few minutes after we entered, we heard a loud crashing noise. We turned and saw the cave entrance being closed off. Appa pawed at the walls, clearly distressed.
"It's okay, Appa." Katara said gently. "We'll be fine. I hope."
"We will be fine." Sokka stated firmly. "All we need is a plan." He turned to Chong. "Chong, how long do those torches last?"
"About two hours each." Chong answered casually.
"And we have five torches." Lily said, lighting up all the others. "So, that's ten hours!"
Sokka snatched the torches from her hand and stomped them out. "It doesn't work like that if they're all lit at the same time!" He exclaimed.
"Oh, right." Lily said. The more time I spent with the nomads, the more it amazed me that they were still alive.
Sokka turned to me. "Alec, do you know the way through?"
I had to phrase my answer carefully. "No." I lied. "I know that people have gotten through the tunnels, and one of the stories I know mentioned how they did it, but I forgot that detail."
Sokka, Aang, and Katara looked at me with exasperation. "It's not like I knew I was gonna ever be in this tunnel." I said defensively. "I know there's a way out, but I don't remember what it is." Normally, I didn't like outright lying to the group. In fact, before I met Lady Ài, my plan to get through this tunnel was to tell them the answer as soon as the Fire Nation shut us in. Now, however, I had other plans. This was an opportunity to make progress on one of my tasks for the Love Spirit, and I was going to take full advantage.
"Okay, you try to remember the answer." Sokka said, clearly frustrated. He climbed up on Appa's saddle and retrieved a scroll and an ink brush. "In the meantime, I'm going to make a map to keep track of exactly where we've been. Then we should be able to solve it like a maze and get through."
With our tentative plan, we walked forward in the dim torchlight through the caves.
After many dead ends, Sokka stood still, unsure of where to go. He examined his map closely, tilting it to the side a few times to try and make sense of it. "Sokka, this is the tenth dead end you've led us to." Katara said exasperatedly.
Sokka looked at the dead end in front of us, confused. "This doesn't make any sense." He said. "We already came through this way." He began to pace, trying to make sense of this.
"We don't need a map." Chong insisted casually. "We just need love." He pointed at Aang. "The little guy knows it."
"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind a map." Aang reasoned.
Sokka looked up from the map. "There's something strange here." He muttered. "There's only one explanation." He gave us a serious look. "The tunnels are changing." He stated.
The tunnels suddenly rumbled and shook, surprising all of us. Chong looked around, frantic. "The tunnels, they're a-changin'!" He put his face in his hands, terrified. "It must be the curse! I knew we shouldn't have come down here!"
"Right, if only we listened to you." Sokka said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Katara put her hand up in warning. "Everyone be quiet." She said sharply. "Listen." We heard a growling noise coming from the darkness. Momo flew away from Sokka's shoulder and perched on Katara's shoulder. Sokka held his torch out in front of him, looking for the source of the noise. Suddenly, a wolfbat flew into the light, causing the group to panic.
"It's a giant flying thing with teeth!" Chong exclaimed.
"No, it's a wolfbat!" Moku yelled.
The wolfbat lunged at Sokka. Sokka waved the torch at it to scare it away, sending hot cinders everywhere. Some of the cinders landed on Appa's skin. Appa yelped in pain and began running around in the tunnel in a panic, crashing into a column and causing rocks to fall. Aang quickly pushed the nomads out of the path of some falling rocks with airbending, before racing towards Katara and tackling her out of the way of falling rocks. I made sure to jet-step to Aang and Katara's location before the cave-in ended. I needed to be with them for my plans to work.
I helped Aang and Katara up to their feet and took stock of our current situation. It was just the three of us and Appa, along with a single lit torch. I wasn't worried about the lack of torches, though, considering I could just hold a flame in my hand, if necessary. Appa pawed at the rubble behind us, but we were stuck, totally separated from Sokka, Momo, and the nomads.
Katara and Aang stared at the rocks for a few minutes. I picked up the torch. "We have to keep moving." I said, trying to reassure them. "I know all of us will make it out of here, I just don't remember how."
Aang and Katara looked at me for a few seconds, their eyes showing concern. They eventually nodded and we walked forward into the gloom.
After a few minutes of walking, we found a large, circular rock door. I suppressed a smile. It was almost time to make my move.
"Look!" Katara exclaimed cheerfully. We ran over to the door.
"We found the exit!" Aang yelled happily.
We tried to open the door for a few moments, but it wouldn't budge. I heard Appa snort behind me. I turned and saw him pawing the ground, preparing to charge. "We need to get out of the way!" I said urgently.
We jumped to the side, and Appa charged the door, impacting with a loud thud. The stone door loosened and rolled away to the side. It wasn't an exit, but a massive elaborate chamber with two massive sarcophagi on a dais and stone carvings on the wall.
"This isn't the exit." Katara said sadly.
Aang walked up to her side. "No, it's a tomb."
We entered the tomb, and walked over to the dais. The dais was covered in carvings of words and pictures. I held the torch close to the dais so everyone could see it clearly.
"It must be the two lovers from the legend." Aang realized. "That's who's buried here."
Katara examined the dais. "These pictures tell their story."
She began reading. "They met on top of the mountain that divided their two villages. The villages were enemies, so they could not be together, but their love was strong and they found a way. The two lovers learned earthbending from the badgermoles; they became the first earthbenders. They built elaborate tunnels so they could meet secretly. Anyone who tried to follow them would be lost forever in the labyrinth. But, one day, the man didn't come. He'd died in the war between the two villages. Devastated, the woman unleashed a terrible display of her earthbending power. She could have destroyed them all, but instead, she declared the war over. Both villages helped her build a new city where they would live together in peace. The woman's name was Oma, and the man's name was Shu. The great city was named Omashu as a monument to their love."
Katara and Aang looked up at the far wall, and saw a massive carving depicting the two lovers kissing. Katara read the inscription carved in the wall aloud. "Love is brightest in the dark."
We were quiet for a few minutes, before Aang spoke up again. "How are we gonna find our way out of these tunnels?" He asked, worried. He turned and looked at me. "Do you have any ideas?"
I shook my head. "No," I said, "I still don't remember the way out."
Thank the spirits I had a good poker face, because I was lying through my teeth. I was a diehard Kataang supporter, and this was one of my favorite episodes, despite the annoying nomads.
"I have a crazy idea." Katara suddenly said.
Aang turned towards her. "What?" He asked curiously. I hid a smirk behind my hand. It was almost time to change the story.
Katara turned away from Aang and took a few steps. "Never mind," She said, hesitant ant slightly embarrassed, "It's too crazy."
"Katara," Aang insisted, "What is it?"
"I was thinking," Katara began, "The curse says we'll be trapped in here forever unless we trust in love."
"Right." Aang said.
"And here," Katara indicated a section of the floor, "It says 'love is brightest in the dark'," She turned around and pointed at the wall, "And has a picture of them kissing."
"Where are you going with this?" Aang wondered, totally lost. He was so naive that it was almost adorable.
"Well," Katara started, before looking at Aang with a blush, "What if we kissed?" She suggested shyly.
Aang was taken aback. "Us? Kissing?"
Katara turned around. "See, it was a crazy idea." She said softly. Aang was still in his own little world.
"Us…kissing." He said with a dreamy expression on his face. It was time to make my move before he stuck his foot in his mouth.
"You know," I said, putting my hand on my chin in an attempt to look thoughtful, "That's not a terrible idea, actually."
Aang and Katara snapped out of it and turned to me. Katara was still blushing slightly. "What do you mean?" She asked quietly.
"I'm just saying," I replied, "Your logic makes sense. 'Love is brightest in the dark' could be a riddle. Maybe if you two kissed it would help us find our way out."
Aang looked like he accepted the idea. Katara narrowed her eyes at me. "Why me and Aang specifically?" She asked with suspicion.
"Well, it's the only option." I said diplomatically, still struggling to keep my face neutral. "I'm your adopted brother, so I can't kiss you. And I'm not kissing Aang. Therefore, the only option is you and Aang." I pointed out.
Aang was blushing furiously now. Katara's suspicion disappeared, and a blush of embarrassment took it's place. "I don't know." She said uncertainly.
"How about this: I swear to both of you that I won't tease either of you about this, or tell Sokka." I offered, raising my hand as if I was about to testify in court. "You know I'm a man of my word." I said reassuringly.
Katara gave a shy nod and turned to face Aang. "Aang?" She whispered. "Are you okay with this?"
Aang met her gaze and gave her a nervous nod. They stepped closer to each other, so that they were within touching distance. They opened their mouths slightly and leaned towards each other. My poker face was getting one hell of a workout. Katara and Aang leaned closer toward each other. They kept leaning forward, and their eyes closed when their lips made contact. They held the kiss for several seconds. It was very cute and sweet.
Then something happened that I didn't expect.
They each took a step forward, so their bodies were almost flush together. Then they deepened the kiss. What started out as a chaste peck gave way to passion and teenage hormones. Katara put her arms around Aang's neck. Aang returned the gesture by wrapping his arms around her lower back.
Wait. Was that tongue?!
There was no doubt about it. They were sticking their tongues in each other's mouths. Holy shit, this worked out even better than I hoped it would. I gave them about ten seconds, before I coughed loudly. They broke the kiss slowly, their eyes fluttering open. Then, they realized exactly what they had done. Their eyes went wide, and they quickly broke their embrace and took a step back. Both of their faces were strawberry-red with embarrassment.
"Well," I said awkwardly. "I don't think that worked, unless either of you magically knows the way out all of a sudden."
Aang and Katara blinked and turned to face me, pointedly looking away from each other. Their faces slowly returned to their normal color. I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on Katara's face, but that might be wishful thinking on my part. "I don't think it worked." Aang admitted. Then he nervously looked at Katara. "Do you think it worked?"
Katara could barely meet his gaze. "No." She whispered nervously.
"Well, that was a bust." I said, trying to end the awkwardness. "Sorry about that." I apologized. "Don't worry, I won't tease either of you about it."
Katara nodded, and calmed down. "So, now what do we do?" She inquired.
I'd had enough of this cave. It was time to leave. "Well," I speculated, stroking my chin in mock thought, "Maybe you were right about the riddle, but wrong about the answer."
They both looked at me, confused. "What do you mean by that?" Aang wondered.
I looked at the lit torch in my hand. "Love is brightest in the dark." I said. I made a show of looking thoughtful. "I wonder…"
Without warning, I dropped the torch on the ground and stamped it out, plunging us into darkness. "What are you doing?!" Katara shouted.
"Now we can't…see…" Aang trailed off.
Before Aang finished his statement, a bluish green glow lit up the tomb. The source of the glow appeared to be some crystals embedded in the rock wall.
"They're made of some kind of crystal." Aang observed in awe. "They must only light up in the dark."
"Let's check the tunnel." I suggested.
We made our way out of the tomb and saw that one of the tunnels was lit with the crystals, but the other branches of the labyrinth remained unlit.
"That's how the lovers found each other." Katara realized. "They just put out their lights and followed the crystals."
"Love is brightest in the dark." I said with a smile.
She pointed down the tunnel. "That must be the way out!" She exclaimed happily. She gave Aang a massive hug. When she broke the hug, Katara looked at both of us. "Let's go!" She exclaimed.
It took us less than an hour to find the exit. As soon as we saw daylight in the distance, Appa bounded past us, desperately running towards the open air. After we got out of the tunnel, Appa flopped on his back, his tongue lolling out of his mouth in content.
Aang turned back towards the tunnel. "What about Sokka?" He wondered.
Right on cue, we heard a rumbling sound. Suddenly, two large holes appeared on either side of the tunnel exit. Sokka, Momo, and the nomads emerged from the cave, riding atop giant badgermoles.
"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed in relief.
Sokka dismounted the badgermole and ran up to us. The four of us embraced in a group hug. "How did you guys get out?" Sokka asked.
"Just like the legend said, we let love lead the way." Aang replied with a sheepish smile.
"Really?" Sokka replied. "We let huge, ferocious beasts lead our way." He turned and waved at the badgermoles. The beasts slowly made their way back into their holes. The rock walls rose up, closing the holes they made behind them. Momo flew down and chattered at Appa, almost as if the lemur was telling Appa about his experiences in the tunnels. Aang went over and chatted with the nomads.
We took a good look at Sokka and realized that he had a large, red mark on his forehead. "Why's your forehead all red?" Katara inquired.
Chong walked up to the three of us. "Nobody react to what I'm about to tell you." He said in a low voice. He pointed his thumb at Aang. "I think that kid might be the Avatar."
Sokka facepalmed, making his forehead redder. I groaned. The nomads and our group decided to part ways. Thank the spirits. I couldn't take much more of them, and I wasn't stuck with them nearly as long as Sokka was.
Before he departed, Chong put a wreath of yellow flowers around Sokka's neck. "Sokka, I hope you learned a little something about not letting the plans get in the way of the journey." He said, wrapping my brother in a hug.
"Just play your songs." Sokka grumbled, clearly done with their hippie antics.
"Hey! Good plan!" Chong replied good-naturedly. He strummed his dramyin and began singing. "Even if you're lost, you can't lose the love because it's in your heart." He began walking away with his nomad friends.
While he sang, I saw Aang give Katara a shy look. She returned his look with a blush. I saw their hands brush together briefly. I hid a smile behind my hand. Those two were coming along quite nicely.
A few hours later, we walked up a hill. Once we reached the top, we'd be able to see Omashu. Sokka was walking in the lead. "The journey was long and annoying, but now you get to see what it's really about: the destination." He said. He made it to the top of the hill. "I present to you the Earth Kingdom city of O…" He started dramatically, but stopped abruptly. "Oh no." He whispered in horror.
The rest of us made it to the top of the hill. I knew it was coming, but it still broke my heart to see it. The rock wall of the city had been plated with metal to prevent earthbending. Smoke billowed out of several new factories in the city. A Fire Nation banner was draped over the city entrance where the Earth Kingdom symbol should be.
Omashu had fallen to the Fire Nation.
AN: Next time: Meetings and reunions in the city.
