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I Do Not Own the image~ Bea-Gonzalez from DeviantArt owns this beautiful image!

(Revised 4.6.20)

There was no point in being sneaky when getting to where the catacombs were since no one knew that their little group knew about the coup. Still, Clara couldn't help but look over her shoulder as Toph leaned down and touched the ground.

"Well, whaddya know? There is an ancient city down there. But it's deep." She moved her arms and feet and the earth suddenly dropped. Clara leaned forward, her eyes wide. Up until now, Aang had only done earthbending to move their group from place to place. Seeing how the earth formed a tunnel just by Toph moving her body was incredible! Glancing at the others Clara felt a little silly with how everything linked to bending fascinated her but everyone else remained like it was an everyday thing.

To them it is ordinary...

"We should split up!" Sokka said suddenly, "Aang, you go with Iroh to look for Katara and the angry jerk, no offense."

"None taken," Clara snickered silently at Iroh's response. She remembered how she had fallen over laughing the first time she had heard it when she had first watched the show ages ago.

"And I'll go with Toph and Clara to warn the Earth King about Azula's coup." Everyone seemed to agree... Except for Clara.

"Um!" She said aloud as they all started to part ways. Having everyone's eyes on her made her face go a little red but she sucked it up.

"If it's alright... I'd rather go with Aang and Iroh..." She crushed her lips together as she looked at Sokka.

He shrugged, "It's fine with me." Aang smiled at her and motioned for her to follow him. Letting out a breath, she relaxed a little. Clara wanted to be near Aang when the big battle with Azula commenced. She understood that it was going to be dangerous but also knew that she would be a high-strung wreck the entire time she was away from Aang, questioning if he was already close to death. Clara was determined to improve the story, preventing Aang from being fatally hurt by Azula. She couldn't just let it happen after meeting him, even if he wasn't from her favorite cartoon series. He was kind and made her smile and that alone made her want to help and protect him from harm.

Iroh smiled at her as he offered her his arm as they stepped down into the ground. She grinned and obliged. When they got farther into the earth, Iroh created a fire in his right hand. He was very warm and she guessed the fan-theory of firebenders always radiating heat was correct.

The group hiked down for a while in silence before Iroh turned to Clara.

"May I ask why such a lovely young lady like yourself is accompanying the Avatar? I don't recall ever seeing you before this day." Clara meekly smiled up at the older man. Not wanting to lie to one of her favorite characters, Clara answered honestly.

"I'm trying to get back to my world," she saw as he raised an eyebrow but didn't stop her explanation, "I keep thinking my hair is a dead giveaway that I'm not from here..." She laughed lightly through her nose as they walked behind Aang.

"What is your world like?" the curiosity obvious in his tone.

Clara mused about it before saying, "People there are all nonbenders. They don't believe that people can be able to have control over nature and would freak out if they saw someone do this," she inhaled softly and concentrated on her left palm that she held up. Like before, heat from her center pulsed forward up and out her arm to her hand. Blue sparks licked her skin as she made the bright flames appear. Iroh's wide smile surprised her.

"You're a firebender!"

Clara brought the flames up to her face, looking at them, "I'm not able to do a lot. I just realized I could yesterday."

"You're keeping your fire burning brightly for just learning. It's a beautiful fire too."

Aang decided to jump into the conversation, "Clara can do more than firebend! She can make herself levitate in the air. It looks like she's flying. It's amazing!" Aang's excitement and praise embarrassed her a little in front of Iroh. Her blue fire she let die out and put her hand back down.

"Could I see that? At my age, you would be surprised how rare it is to see something new."

Smiling, Clara nodded before bringing her arm away from Iroh. Slowly so he could catch everything, Clara made it so she was staring up at the ceiling as they all kept on down the tunnel. Her hair fell back and since it was long, it nearly hit the ground. She smiled as she watched Iroh's face transform into one of awe and wonder. It reminded her of a child seeing fireworks for the first time.

"Truly astounding my dear..." Iroh looked all around her like he was making sure he wasn't seeing things. Smiling brightly, she got her feet back on the ground and they continued on their way down to the ancient city.

Sometime later the three had grown quiet until Aang spoke up. Clara quickly recognized this conversation from the show.

"So, Toph thinks you give really good advice... And great tea."

Iroh smiled, pleased to hear this, "The key to both is proper aging. What's on your mind?" Aang earthbended more of a path before asking.

"Well, Clara and I met with this guru who was supposed to help me master the Avatar state and control this great power. But to do it I had to let go of someone I love... and I just couldn't." Clara watched as Aang's face openly expressed all the emotions he was feeling. He was like an open book when it came to his emotions.

"Perfection and power are overrated. I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love." Aang listened as he continued to create the tunnel for them.

"What happens if we can't save everyone and beat Azula? Without the Avatar state, what if I'm not powerful enough?" Clara moved to put her hand on Aang's shoulder. She gave him a small smile that she hoped he would see that she believed in him.

"I don't know the answer. Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving," Aang earthbended again and this time lights appeared. Clara gasped as she saw the crystals dispersed throughout the catacomb. They glittered far more than she had seen on the show and they were breathtakingly pretty. Looking all over, Clara couldn't get enough of the cave. It was so unlike anything she had seen before in terms of environments.

"You will come to a better place," Iroh said, completing his advice.

Pausing her visual exploration of the catacomb Clara grimaced, "How big do you think this place is? And how are we going to be able to find Katara and your nephew...?" Clara's voice trailed off. Aang walked forward before he stepped down hard with his foot in a way that Clara recognized.

Seismic sense...

That's what the ATLA fandom had called it anyway, as far as Clara could recall. Aang was trying to find them by 'seeing' with the earth. He quickly opened his eyes and pointed.

"This way!"