Aang runs his thumb across the edges of the note. He glances over his shoulder at his morose companions and voices his thoughts.
"There's hope. Someone sent us this note either because they've found a cure, or because they know that we can stop them."
His observation brings weak smiles and one indifferent silence.
"Yeah! We already defeated the Fire Lord once. We can do so again," says Sokka.
"Are you sure it's the Fire Lord? There's a distinct lack of fire," points out Toph before shrugging and adding, "A face doesn't need a name to be punched, but it would be nice to know beforehand."
Aang looks down at the reins. They'll have to land soon. He twists the old leather in his hands, thinking back on their previous encounters.
"Now that I think about it," he says, carefully, "the Dai Li felt strange. Maybe spirit-like."
"Strange?"
"Maybe?"
"Spirit-like?"
Aang shrugs dejectedly. "I don't really know," he admits. "They looked normal but the way they acted was odd. Like they were reading a script. It didn't seem fully human."
"Well," says Katara after a nervous pause, "we're going to find out exactly what's wrong. And then we'll fix it."
Aang gives a reassuring nod in return, his eyes passing over a seemingly sleeping Princess Azula.
I hope it's not your father, he thinks as he signals for Appa to land.
It's Sokka's turn to cook. The girls are busy training or, in Toph's case, making sure no one kills each other while training. Azula is on waterbending now.
Aang busies himself with the firewood. Sokka's earlier warnings about teaching Azula bending echoing in his ear.
He shakes his head.
First we'll find out what's going on. Then we'll make a decision.
Of course, it may be too late by then.
Aang snaps the twigs into smaller kindling.
Scratch that. It will definitely be too late by then.
Aang sighs, looks down at the pile of wood, and decides to gather more. It could be a cold night, he reasons, and he needs some time alone with his thoughts.
He lifts himself into the trees on a single breath, his feet making only the briefest of touches on the rough bark and brittle branches of the forest as he dances through the leaves. The faint rustles he makes is such a lonely sound accompanied only by the faint twinge in his back.
Azula is dangerous. Terrifyingly dangerous. Even more so now with the addition of double bending. Can I afford to trust her?
Aang drops down onto the ground and starts picking up the broken pieces of wood scattered across the forest floor.
Katara had asked him about soulmates. Back when she didn't know he was the Avatar. She was, is, enamored by the idea of true love. It was a form of hope, she had said, a reason to keep going.
He gathers the wood in his arms. His mind had been made up from the beginning. Regardless of the danger, Aang will not be the one to severe the faint thread of trust between him and Azula. It may very well be him foolishly longing for the impossible, but these sort of titles: Soulmate. Airbender. Princess. Avatar. They were more fragile than they appeared. He would know.
The last airbender starts a fire.
It's a cold night. The warmth of the campfire draws everyone closer, and Aang takes time to appreciate the moment.
"So," he says, pleasantly, "how was the waterbending lesson?"
"Fine," says Katara a bit too quickly and accompanied by a wince. "Waterbending is difficult."
Ah.
Aang can feel the slight rise in temperature of the air around them, but Azula remains deadly quiet.
He keeps his eyes fixed firmly on her unlit hands. Zuko was a buffer. Zuko was gone. Azula was now surrounded by strangers and Aang wasn't sure how she'd react. Azula keeps her emotions as guarded and well-controlled as her flames.
"How difficult can it be when Aang's already mastered it?" asks Sokka. Either he's oblivious to the danger or this is Sokka's way of proving his point. That Aang was too comfortable.
He reflexively glances upwards, but Azula's expression is painted porcelain and there's nothing in her eyes besides a reflection.
His eyes linger there anyways. Waiting for the crack, but Azula says nothing.
"Bending's difficult. Not that you would know anything about that," retorts Toph. There's a slight edge in her voice and a wariness to Katara that has Aang wondering exactly what went down during the waterbending lesson.
"Try using a boomerang," says Sokka, along with something else that Aang doesn't quite catch; too busy balancing the thoughts in his mind like marbles in his hand.
There are platitudes he could say, but Azula would see through them. Aang himself had learned waterbending quickly. Beyond that, any words of encouragement or anecdotes about his struggles with earthbending would be seen as pity.
Aang frowns as his eyes travel back down to her hands.
You're so frustrating.
He wishes he could still go to Gyatso for advice.
"Aang?"
Aang snaps out of his thoughts and looks around. He's missed part of a conversation. "Sorry, Sokka. I wasn't listening. What did you say?"
Sokka opens his mouth as if to say something but then closes it. "Nevermind. My goal is to—"
"Let me guess," says Azula cutting off Sokka. "You're oh so very predictable."
Sokka tenses his jaw before relaxing and saying, albeit grudgingly, "Go ahead."
"Hmmm. Train to be the next Chief of the Southern Water Tribe?"
"How did—"
"You should really try to be less predictable. It's a weakness your enemies could exploit," mocks Azula.
"It's a good goal," says Aang, because it is. Sokka smiles at him.
"Thanks, Aang. We were talking about what we wanted to do in the future."
"I was thinking of rejoining the fighting ring, or making my own if no one is brave enough to fight against the greatest earthbender in the world," offers Toph.
"I'm still deciding," adds Katara, playing with her hair. "There's going to be so much to do once we return home." She then looks at him expectantly and asks, "What about you, Aang?"
"Avatar duties," he says with a shrug, then he glances away and, for a brief moment, his eyes lock with Azula's.
Is this what she was like during the Agni Kai? thinks Aang, because Azula is staring at him and there's a crack in her armor.
"Princess?"
She blinks, and the moment passes.
"Only one heir rules. The second is forgotten," recites Azula, before smirking and adding, "Although, I could launch a military campaign as per family tradition. Who knows?"
We both have titles to bear.
Aang winces and heeds off the bickering she no doubt intended to cause with a joking, "I don't know about that. You're pretty hard to forget."
She gives him an indiscernible look in return before dryly saying, "And here I was wondering if you had forgotten that lightning bolt entirely."
The group tenses around him. He swallows.
"It's a part of me now," he says honestly, and either he had glanced involuntarily at her soulmark or Azula was thinking the exact same thing as him, because she then crosses her arms, hiding the soulmark underneath her sleeves.
It bothers him.
