A/N. This chapter is a little all over the place, but I didn't want to leave it at that, and just jump to the following day, with the training, without having a chapter with all the inner ramblings of Aang!
People had left him alone during the rest of the afternoon, as he had been sitting crossed legs with Appa and Momo, thinking about what he had found. The others probably thought he was meditating… But far from it. No, the peace he felt when doing that was a far away dream at this moment.
Aang knew what had happened here. He was not trying to deny that… But it was easier not to imagine it. But to have proof of the murder of his people shoved into his face… Well, it wasn't easy. Spirits, it was horrible! And he felt himself a horrible person, for he had been praying to every spirit in existence that the people in the river were not the nuns or the novices.
How could he even hope that? Those bones had been people… People he had probably met a few times. Aang remembered how he had gone down into the valley several times when he visited this place to help the shepherds. The people who had lived in the canyon had been nomads, using the canyon as a grazing spot for their herds in the summer… And here he was, hoping it was them, lying in the water.
What kind of person did that?
And why was he even hoping this? It was not like the nuns had survived… They were just somewhere else. But as long as he hadn't found them, or had proof that they had died… Well, the airbender could at least pretend that there was a chance.
Aang lay the back of his head against the soft fur of Appa's side. The bison had not moved an inch since he had come to sit here, and he knew why Appa had done that. To show him he cared that he would not leave him… As Aang watched the sun slowly go down, he heard the soft murmurs behind him. Maybe he should join the others… Maybe it would be better to have a normal conversation, for once…
Sighing, Aang stood up, and turned around to see that Haru, Sokka and Katara were standing around the fire, while Teo, Toph and The Duke were talking close to the fountain. Zuko was just sitting against the repaired pillar of the terrasse.
Walking towards him, he saw how the firebender watched him coming with apprehension in his eyes. Aang hated that, he didn't want people to be afraid of him. Even if it was someone like Zuko.
"Come, dinner will be ready soon." He gestured for the prince to join him. The man in front of him looked at him for a few moments, confusion clear on his face. Had… Had the firebender thought that Aang was going to hurt him?
Why would he think that?
"The waterbender is right." Zuko spoke, as he scrambled up and walked up to Aang, "You have no reason to even allow me here."
Ah… Yeah, Aang had heard what Katara had said to the prince at the river. And Aang understood. Spirits, he even felt the same way. But he didn't agree with the fact that Zuko's kind would pay for what they had done… But that was not a discussion for today. Or even tomorrow hopefully.
"And yet, I do. So come have dinner." The airbender answered.
"How… How are you so calm about this?" The firebender looked at him with wide member eyes, surprise clear on his face.
"Who says I'm calm?" Aang smiled thinly, before turning around and walking up to the others. As much as he hated being here… Well, the temples had always welcomed outsiders, and certainly this one. For one, it had been the most accessible of the temples, and the other reason as that it had been the birthplace of Avatar Yangchen… And Aang knew that, during his youth, people prayed to her as if she was a spirit.
Spirits… who would even want to be so popular? Well… It was always better than going down in history as the worst Avatar, like he was probably going to do.
Not now brain. Not a good time.
Sorry, but it's true.
Aang shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. It was no use. He was going to fix the problems he had created. But… Well, he needed to that as quickly as possible… The comet was coming in less than five weeks… Well, closer to four now. And he also needed to end it to make sure his friends were saved from prison.
And Aang also needed to end the war to make sure Katara was safe…
He felt horribly guilty… But that was the most important reason to him.
"… are going to need to hunt something, otherwise, our supplies won't hold until next week." Sokka voice interrupted his thoughts, and, as he looked up, Aang realized he had come to stand in front of their cooking pot, in which their dinner was softly bubbling.
"I know, but take care not to take something that is endangered here. Aang… What kinds of animals lived here?" Katara's face turned to him, and the airbender was surprised to see that her eyes were slightly red… As if she had been crying.
"Oh… there were some good fishing spots a few miles up river before. And I seem to remember that there were hippo-cows. The Sky Bisons are gone from here, otherwise Appa's smell would have attracted them… And there were no lemurs here. They didn't like the climate, although some nuns kept them as pets, but they brought them from other temples." Aang answered. He didn't care if other people chose to hunt and eat meat, of course, not! Live and let live.
"Well, if there is fish… We could use that. That leaves more rations of rice and vegetables for you. And we could stretch our supplies like that." Sokka nodded.
"You don't eat meat?" Zuko asked from behind him.
"No. Air Nomads never ate meat, or even hurt an animal to get something from them. Our mattresses were stuffed with shed bison fur, and we made our clothes out of silk or cotton." Aang explained, as he took the bowls from the stone bench on which they had put them after lunch. Handing them to Katara, the airbender turned to Zuko to see a frown on the firebender's forehead.
"Your people sound… harmless." The prince spoke. Aang heard the sharp intake of breath behind him, and it sounded a lot like Katara, when she heard something that irritated her.
"We choose to be harmless. Doesn't mean we were." The airbender didn't want to go into the whole philosophy of the Air Nomads… At least, not with Zuko. How could he, the prince of the nation that destroyed his people… Understand the airbenders?
But Iroh had.
Iroh had even learned Aang's language…
No. He was not going into the culture of his people with Zuko. No… Even with Katara, it was difficult. And if there was one person, he trusted in this world… it was her.
He took the bowl of soup that Sokka handed him, and went to sit on one of the stone benches. Making sure he had his back turned to the mosaic on the back wall. Apparently, the water tribe siblings had made five flavour soups. They didn't have all the herbs necessary for it, but they would have to make do.
Aang watched as everyone got their dinner. He saw Katara hesitate as Zuko's turn came, but she still handed him a bowl, even if it was a little bit aggressive. Then, the waterbender took her own food and sat down next to him, on the bench.
"So… Tomorrow, we will need to get serious." Sokka interrupted the silence that had installed while everyone took in the first spoon full of soup.
Aang swallowed the thick liquid. It didn't taste quite like it was supposed to, but it was good.
"Yeah, I know." He sighed.
"So, what is our new plan? We can't count on an invasion to help us out…" Katara spoke beside him, and the airbender felt the slight pang in his heart as he thought about that.
"I say, the new plan, is the old plan. We take out the Fire Lord before the end of the summer." The water tribe boy nodded, before a scoff could be heard coming from Toph.
"Sure, I may be blind, but even I saw the thousands of guards, the tanks, the airships… Do I need to go on? How are we even supposed to get near the guy?" The blind earthbender asked, as she pointed her spoon in a wide gesture towards Sokka, spraying some soup over the ground.
"We have some advantages!" His friend objected.
"Do we?" Katara sighed, and Aang quickly glanced at the waterbender. She had her hands around the bowl, and stared straight into her soup.
"Yeah! We have him!" Sokka waved a hand at Zuko, who just raised the eyebrow above his good eye.
"Yay." Katara muttered, but Aang doubted anyone but him had heard her.
"Ozai will probably have changed everything that I had knowledge about, like schedules of the guards. He never gave me access to the things like military manoeuvres, or the planning. Those were only for his and Azula's eyes." Aang looked up, because he had detected a slight bitterness in Zuko's tone.
"So… You don't actually know anything?" Sokka asked, disappointment clear in his voice.
"I… No. Nothing of worth at least."
That was bad. Aang agreed with the water tribe boy that Zuko had been their one clear advantage.
"So, to sum everything up… We're fucked, right?" Toph spoke up, grinning sarcastically.
Silence followed. Yeah. They were fucked, and properly this time. They always had some kind of plan… Defeat the Fire Lord before the Comet. Learn the elements as quickly as possible. Get to Ba Sing Se to save Appa and tell the Earth King about the eclipse. After that went down the drain, they had the Invasion plan…
But now?
Now, the only thing they had were threats hanging above them from all directions. Their friends in prison, the Fire Nation hunting them down, what Azula had said… And with all that, the deadline of the end of the summer. For then, the Comet would come… And Aang didn't want to imagine what terrible thing the Fire Nation would do then.
"Well… Not necessarily." Sokka spoke softly, and the airbender had to strain his ears to hear his friend, "If Aang manages to learn firebending in these coming weeks… At a master level, I mean… And could control the Avatar State… We do have to most powerful being in the universe. I mean, all the stories tell the same thing. The fully realized Avatar is just… invincible."
That was true… But he would have to learn firebending, from Zuko, in… What? Just over four weeks. And that would be hard enough, but that would mean that he would have to fight the Fire Lord at the moment the Comet would come. Better if he learned it faster, and at that, control the Avatar State.
Yeah… They were fucked.
"But we will all fight! We won't let him do that alone!" Katara spoke up, louder than her brother.
"Ehm… Nothing against Twinkletoes, but he doesn't really distinguish friend from foe during his whole glowing eyes thing." The blind earthbender muttered, earning some raised eyebrows from the others, who had probably never even heard about what he was capable of.
"Wait… That was what that was?" Zuko stuttered, "You mean to tell me that that is not the full power? Just… The raw power?
Ah… The firebender was probably remembering that time on his ship where the Avatar State had been triggered by the attacks. And maybe he was even recalling the Siege of the North.
"Yes. So, if you plan to betray us, tell that to your dad. That something invincible is coming for him." Katara bit back, making the firebender shut his mouth.
"So… if we manage to teach Aang firebending, keep his water and earth bending at the same level… And make sure that he can access the Avatar State. And all this in just over thirty days… And find the Fire Lord and kill him. If we can do all of that, then we have a chance." Sokka seemed more optimistic than Aang felt.
How were they supposed to do all of that… In such a short amount of time? Spirits, he was sure he wouldn't be able to bend a small fireball before actually having to face Ozai.
"Well, it is the only plan we have… But at any moment, if something dangerous happens, we don't fight. We just run." The airbender answered, making everyone turn towards him. He saw the rather surprised looks on his friends faces, and then, realized why they were looking at him like that.
"I mean, we can't stop Ozai if we're dead. So… If soldiers find us, we just make sure we get away, conserve our strength. We can't afford an injury."
Aang felt bad for lying. He knew that if someone of them was wounded, Katara would pour all her energy in treating them… But it was not that that made him afraid of fighting. Azula's words still echoed in his head. If… If they were attacked, the soldiers had been ordered to capture Katara. Not him. Not any other of his friends. Katara.
And Aang saw the look Sokka was giving him. Yeah… He knew. The water tribe boy knew exactly why he had said that. And the airbender felt relief as he saw the small nod.
"We will just make sure that no one finds us." Katara said before anyone else could speak.
"And how do we do that?" Haru asked immediately.
"By asking him. And hoping he speaks the truth." The waterbender pointed her chin to Zuko, who looked up, apparently feeling that people were looking at him.
"What do you mean?" The scarred prince spoke softly.
"Does the Fire Nation remember the location of this temple? Do your people have little celebrations here to commemorate what happened?" Aang felt his stomach churn when he heard the venom in her voice. But… Well, he couldn't disagree here. If he himself had thought of that possibility… Well, that would have made him angry too.
"No. The locations have been classified, and most people don't even know that these buildings exist. But I can't guarantee that my sister won't come look for us here." The firebender spoke.
"Us? There is no us. There is us." Aang saw how Katara gestured to everyone, "and then, there is you". With that, she pointed a finger at the prince.
"What did you mean, does your sister know the location?" Sokka asked, glancing at his sister, and then at Aang. Aang himself didn't know what to think of it. Sure… he didn't trust Zuko. But with what the firebender had told them before discovering the river… Well, it made the prince a little bit easier to be around.
"She won't expect us to be here. She learned about the Air Deg… The Air Nomads. She knows about cultural stuff. More than I do. I remember that when you escaped after I… after Ba Sing Se… We talked about possible hiding places. She said that Air Nomads would never go to places with so much death around."
Aang grimaced. Yeah. That was right. His people avoided places like that. Spirits, they even avoided to fly over the hunting grounds of the Water Tribes for that exact reason.
"And how does she know that?" Katara asked, and Aang could feel the slight tremble of her arm against him.
"The Palace has a library… There are some books about your people in there. I… I suspect that they come from the temples." Zuko seemed to realize what that meant, and Aang saw the ember eyes turn to him.
Of course. Killing his people wasn't enough. Looting the temples had also been necessary apparently.
Aang felt a hand on his arm, and, turning to the waterbender, he saw her shaking her head softly, mouthing the words Later. We will talk about that later.
He inhaled slowly, before breathing out. Repeating that several times, the airbender felt himself calm down slightly. It didn't matter. Or well… It did. But it was not a priority. Their most important task, at this moment, was keeping their friends safe.
"So… Azula won't come look here?" Aang asked, trying to sound as neutral as possible.
"No, I don't think so. For the moment… This temple is the safest place in earth for you…" The prince answered, and a silence followed.
Yeah… The safest place on earth. Surrounded by death, with eyes of his loved ones following him on every wall of the temple. With the skeletons of his people lying in the canyon below them. That was why, when Katara had asked him if he had wanted to make the temples his home… After the war… He had said no. How could he live somewhere where friends, family and people he loved had died a horrible death?
Aang put the last spoon of soup in his mouth, swallowed, and looked sideways. Katara had also finished her dinner, and was now staring into the distance, a frown on her forehead. As the silence was slowly replaced by everyone talking softly to the person next to them, Aang bend slightly towards her.
"Are you alright?" He whispered, making sure no one else heard them.
"No… No, I'm not. How can this be the only plan we have? Relying on him?" She muttered her answer, still looking at the landscape of the canyon in front of them. Aang sighed, turning his head a bit towards where Zuko sat. The firebender looked from one small group to the other, confusion plain on his face.
"I know, Tara… But we can't stop this century of violence and distrust if we are not willing to take the first step. We will… We will just have to make sure that nothing happens." And that was the fundamental problem. The only plan they had was Zuko teaching him firebending. And they didn't trust him. Spirits, Aang didn't trust him. But…
But they would have to. Imagine… Just imagine that Zuko was telling the truth. Surely that could only be good for the Fire Nation if they won.
"So, you are going to train with him?" Katara sounded… resigned.
"Yes… But I'll make sure that I won't be alone with him. I'll ask Sokka and Toph to keep an eye on him, without him knowing." Aang answered, to which the waterbender turned her face towards him, with a small smile.
"Good. I… I wouldn't want you alone with him. Even though I know you can fight him off… Easily… It is better if someone is keeping an eye on him." Katara spoke with a glance at the firebender.
Aang closed his eyes, nodding. Yeah, it would be safer. Even if he didn't think Zuko would attack him… But still, it would be better.
Standing up, the airbender walked to the fountain to wash the bowl. There, he was joined by Sokka.
"Hey, tomorrow, when I start training with Zuko… Would you keep an eye on him? From a distance?" Aang whispered, making sure the firebender couldn't hear them.
"Sure, I was already planning on it actually. Toph and I will do that, and Haru has promised to accompany Katara, so she isn't alone either. You know, just in case." Sokka answered, also putting a bowl into the water.
"So… How are you two?" his friend whispered, nudging his head towards where Katara was still sitting, apparently listening to something Toph was saying to the others. Aang didn't quite hear what it was, but he saw the waterbender roll her eyes, shaking her head.
"It… Well, it seems everything is alright. I don't understand… But she asked if we could talk about… you know. I don't want to do that tonight, and she agreed. But she did say that what she had to tell me wasn't bad." That gave him a bit of hope. At least… At least that meant that nothing had changed too much.
"Oh, that sounds… promising. And surprisingly patient, coming from Katara… You are rubbing off on her."
Aang couldn't help it, but after all the horrible things he had seen today… He didn't think about it. Snorting, he gave a sideways glance to the water tribe boy, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Oh, no! No! Shut it! You never make one dirty joke, and this is the moment you decide to do that?" Sokka groaned, sticking out his tongue in clear disgust.
"Sorry, I didn't mean… Spirits, who am I kidding. Yeah, I did mean that." Aang continued to laugh, and it felt good… Good to laugh, even at the worst moments. And he had his fill of horrible things. These last few days had only been one disaster to another. But… But now, now was a new hope. Hope to have at least a small chance to defeat the Fire Lord.
"Seriously, you are a disgusting little man Air Head." Sokka shook his head, but Aang saw a smile crack through the horrified expression on his friend's face.
The airbender, still smiling, turned back to the others. He saw that Teo and The Duke were already leaving, going towards the corridor the others used as bedrooms. Toph was walking, very slowly and very carefully, after them, and Harus followed her. His smile widened slightly. If he was not too mistaken, he would need something to stuff his ears at night… To make sure he didn't hear things he didn't want to know.
Like how Toph sounded when…
Nope. Please imagination, have mercy.
His eyes searched for Katara, and he found her, looking at the mosaic once more. The waterbender stood at the end of the wall, staring at something. Walking up to her, he realized what she was looking at.
And the smile and joy he had felt for a second disappeared. Of course… Of course, when he told her that the nuns changed the mosaic each generation… Spirits, he should have known.
As he arrived near her, Aang saw that he had been right.
Katara had found Jinora.
She had been so proud of being added to the mosaic. He had been there the day the nuns had started on the picture…
"Stand still!" the older nun groaned as Jinora petted Palsha.
Aang grinned, seeing the young woman laugh aloud as the bison licked her fingers, and then, her whole face. As Jinora waved her hands around, he stuck out his tongue to make her laugh even harder.
Katara had probably heard him approach, for she glanced back at him, with a sad smile on her face.
"I know you hate it here… But don't forget the good memories. Don't let what happened here corrupt what you had Aang." The waterbender spoke softly, as Aang took a step sideways to come and stand beside her.
"I won't… I loved it here. And to see the place like this, it is killing me…" He sighed, looking at the mosaic. The face of Jinora gazed straight back at him.
"But the people who lived here… They are still around… In there." Katara gently pointed a finger at his chest.
"Katara… We will talk about everything, I promise. About… Regarding the people here, about what happened with Azula… About what I gave you. But not tonight. Let's just… Let's just act as if everything is alright, just for a few hours." Aang knew that it was just pushing away the inevitable discussion about… everything.
But he just needed to have a semblance of normal after a day like this. It felt like a hundred years ago that he and Sokka had talked about these problems… But between then and now, they had fought the Combustion Man, "accepter" Zuko, discovered the river… Spirits…
"Yeah… We can do that… Come on." She smiled, beginning to walk away. Aang just stayed fixed into place, before he realized she had meant follow me.
The others were also walking to the sleeping quarters, and as he trailed behind Katara, the airbender saw Zuko stand next to the bridge connecting the terrasse to the guest quarters.
"Oh… You sleep there too?" The firebender asked, but Katara just ignored him, and walked past him.
"Yeah… we sleep in pairs. To make sure no one is alone." Aang explained quickly, not really wanting to explain why he had been paired with the waterbender.
"Oh… So, not because of..." The prince actually… looked bashful. As if… As if he realized he had made a mistake.
"Because we think we are in danger, with people roaming around the temple." Aang heard Katara say from the other side of the bridge, and that remark made Zuko shrink slightly.
"Oh… Because of me. No… I get it. Well… ehm… So, training! Tomorrow, at sunrise!" And with that the firebender quickly crossed the bridge, passing Katara without looking at her, and disappearing into the building.
Aang saw how the waterbender waited for him, so he too crossed the bridge. For some reason… he was hoping for something. He knew that it was just his body screaming for it, and that the mind should win in this case. Zuko believed that there was actually nothing happening, and that… That was safer. But if they did something, and he was staying in the room a few doors next to them… he would surely realize what Katara was for Aang… And if he did plan to betray them…
No, it was better not to even risk it.
They arrived at the room, and Aang closed the door behind him. As he turned around, he heard the soft rustling of fabric falling to the ground. He saw that Katara had dropped the dress she had been wearing, only standing in her upper bindings and the light blue leggings she wore under her dresses… Spirits, she was beautiful…
"Katara… We… We can't…" He began, but Katara spoke up.
"I know… But no one says we need to sleep separately in this room…"
That… That was true. They had shared a room, secretly, in Hama's Inn… And no one had known. So, who would even know about them sharing a sleeping niche?
He pulled off his boots, and stripped of the tunic, only keeping his trousers on. As he did that, Aang saw how Katara pulled out the glass beads from her hair, making her hair loopies fall down. He loved her hair, flowing freely down…
As they lay down, he knew that this day… At least this day was over. And tomorrow, there was a chance for some hope. Maybe even some happiness…
And feeling her close to him, with her head against his arm… Well, even with everything that was happening…
It felt slightly better.
Answers :
Jjsmith103 : Yeah, so weird lol! No, next chapter is going to be awkward! Thanks, I know that for the series, they couldn't very well include every little detail to the Western Air Temple, but I like to imagine that these kind of little scenes happened in between! I was not too sure about including the sister story line, but I'm glad I did!
CoyoteLemon : I wanted to include a way to describe the sister, and the mosaic seemed like a good way! And of couse, Katara is going to hate Zuko, while Aang is like "Well, he is not perfect, but who knows…"
Rak : Indeed, and I really want to drive that point home. Everytime I will have an Air Temple to work with, there is going to be a lot of pain. Katara is really not a fan, and we can even see it through Aang's eyes with the little remarks about Zuko and so on!