The Wolf Returns
I… hate… chapter… titles. But I thought this one fit. End of story.
I was so conflicted when I was writing this! GAH! First I wanted Bato to tell Sokka and the others about the story of how Tora's parents met, then I couldn't think of anything, but I still wanted it to be that, so I tried, and I failed, so I started this, but I still really want to go into the backstory!
I'll go into it later. *sigh* Later, later. Always later!
By the way, have you ever looked up Piandao on Avatar Wiki? Because his backstory - is kinda awesome.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or any characters thereof. Nickelodeon, and Mike and Bryan the proud owners of the fantastic show, while I am just a High School student and am writing this for my own amusement. I only own my own characters, and/or any plot twists that are caused because of them.
Oh! And, remember, readers. While I'm staying true to the original Avatar plot line, I'm adding my own twists and turns and plot points and character backstories. Because otherwise, it would just be a story about a girl who can bend two elements for no reason following the Gaang around, and, you know, the whole show, but with an extra character.
And Sokka is sixteen in this story. I know in the cartoon, or "Real Life", he's fifteen, but I'm saying he's sixteen for a reason of my own.
Aang sat on the prow of Bato's ship. The moon hung overhead, illuminating the darkness. He had pulled his knees up to his chest, and wrapped his arms around them. The wind was causing his shawl to flap around his elbows, though he paid no attention to either the wind or cold. Aang was too busy, remembering what his friends had said just moments before.
Katara and Sokka had been having a wonderful time, reuniting with an old friend of their dad's. That, Aang could understand. But, then they had begun to completely ignore him, in favor of listening to stories that he wasn't a part of, sitting on piles of dead animal skins (he had to repress a shudder at the memory), and eating stewed sea prunes. Again, although he didn't like it, Aang could understand. Bato was a friend of their father's, who they hadn't seen for two years. Of course they would want to do nothing else but listen to him speak about him and their father's adventures as kids.
But then Bato had told Katara and Sokka about a message from their father. Something about a rendezvous spot. Aang hadn't been completely listening at the time, but he remembered Bato saying that maybe, Katara and Sokka could go with him, and meet their father again.
Which would leave him all alone.
And the worst part, the part that had made him walk out of Bato's temporary home and back down to the beach, was that Katara and Sokka had both sounded like they were going to agree to go see their dad, without even a second thought. Not about him, or anything else.
Aang remembered what Tora had told him, in the South Pole. How her own father had more or less abandoned her. Was this what she had felt then? The feeling of being completely and utterly alone? And he hadn't even been abandoned yet. A part of him wanted to go back, and scream in the Water Tribe siblings faces until his throat was raw and he had said words that he would never be able to take back.
"Would they really leave?" He asked himself, finally voicing his thoughts out loud.
The sound of heavy footfalls against the sand made him look up. By the light of the moon, Aang could see a man, wearing Earth Kingdom clothing, and what could have been some sort of Earth Kingdom helmet, riding upon an ostrich-horse dressed in armor. The man approached Aang on his mount, and Aang could see a bag attached to his saddle, almost bursting with scrolls.
"I'm searching for a Water Tribe man." The messenger said to Aang. "He's called 'Bato.' Do you know where I could find him?"
"Uh, yeah. I know him." Aang said awkwardly.
The messenger placed a scroll into Aang's hand. "Make sure he receives this message." The man paused for a moment, before asking, "Do you happen to know Tora of the Fire Nation as well?"
Aang seemed to freeze for a moment. What was he supposed to say? Yes, I did know her, but now she's dead, because she drowned in a freak flooding accident caused by someone I trusted for a while. Finally, Aang just nodded, and said 'Yes'.
The messenger pulled out another scroll from his bag, before handing it over to Aang. "Give this to her. It's supposed to be important."
Aang frowned. "How is it important?"
The messenger shrugged. "How should I know?" With that, the man took off across the beach, soon disappearing from Aang's view.
The airbender looked down at the two scrolls in his hands. One for Tora, one for Bato.
Curiosity eventually won out, and Aang unravelled the scroll, revealing a map of the Earth Kingdom. His eyes grew wide as he realized what it was a map of - the meeting place for Bato and Katara's dad. And, possibly, Katara and Sokka as well.
Aang hesitated for a moment. He could give this to them, and let them abandon him without a second thought, leaving him alone to go off and master the three elements he had left to learn.
No. He wouldn't let that happen. He wouldn't be left behind. He wouldn't be abandoned.
Aang took the paper from the scroll, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his sleeve.
There. It never happened.
An image suddenly appeared in his head - one of Tora, staring at him sadly, her eyes trained on the map he had tucked into his sleeve.
Aang scowled. Tora was dead. It didn't matter what she thought he should do with the map - and, besides, she knew what it felt like to be abandoned. She had told him herself! So she would have agreed with what he was doing! Right?
Aang glanced down at the other scroll - the one for Tora. The piece that the paper rolled around, the part that was usually made of wood, was made of a clear, almost glassy blue stone. The ends were decorated with an oddly designed symbol - almost like the Fire Nation emblem and the Water Tribe emblem had been crossed together to create one symbol. The symbol was mostly just the Water Tribe symbol, a crescent moon with three wavy lines to symbolize the ocean within one circle. But growing out of the circle, out of the Water Tribe symbol, were the flames of the Fire Nation emblem. Like the two elements were one.
Aang paused, staring at the letter for a moment. He didn't know what to do with it.
He glanced at Momo. "What do you think, Momo?" The lemur made a chittering noise and tilted his head.
"You're right - I should just give it to Katara. But I'm not going to tell her about the other letter!" Aang nodded to himself.
With that, Aang lept off the boat, and walked back to Bato's home.
The moment he entered the animal skin-covered room, he grinned hugely, and apologised for staying out so long. Katara ruined his mood by saying that none of them had even noticed. With another huge grin, he picked up a bowl of stewed sea prunes and shovelled them into his mouth with exaggerated happiness. Two seconds later, he gagged and spat them out.
The Water Tribe members stared at him strangely. After a moment, Aang held Tora's scroll out to Katara. "A messenger came - and he gave me this. It's for Tora." He said quietly.
Katara stared at the scroll for a moment, before looking at Aang, then back at the scroll. She hesitated, before taking the scroll with a trembling hand. Once it was in her grasp, she clenched her fingers around it, bowing her head.
Aang watched Katara for a moment, before sighing. "And… there was this." He said sadly, reaching into his sleeve and pulling out the map. With a bowed head, he handed it to Bato. "It's for you."
Bato took the paper from him, and uncrumpled it with a slightly raised eyebrow. "It's the map to your father."
Instantly, both Water Tribe siblings whipped their heads around to face Bato. "It is?" Sokka asked eagerly. Then he frowned, and turned back to Aang. "Why was it in your sleeve?"
The Avatar began tracing circles on the floor. "Can we talk about it later?"
Sokka opened his mouth to say something, but Katara shot him a look. Sokka sighed, and said, "Fine."
Bato smiled at the siblings, before handing the map to them. "I know where the rendezvous point is now. If either of you change your mind, you can find us later." Sokka took the map and folded it up, before placing it on the floor next to him.
Aang's head snapped up. "Wait, you're not going with him?"
Katara frowned. "No, we're staying with you. We have to get you to the North Pole as soon as possible. We don't have time to see Dad again." Katara placed a hand on his shoulder, and her expression became a comforting, motherly gaze when she felt him flinch. "We're not going to leave you alone."
Aang looked at her with big eyes, before smiling. "Okay."
There was a moment of silence, before Bato suddenly spoke up. "Who is Tora?"
"She was a friend of ours." Katara explained, holding the scroll to her chest. "She came to the Tribe a few months after the men left. But… there was an accident a few weeks ago, and she didn't make it."
"Oh." Bato sighed, reaching out and putting his hand on her shoulder. That was the only way he could console her right now. "I'm sorry."
Sokka absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair, sighing, while Aang shifted uncomfortably.
~~Water~~
"Okay, it's later." Sokka said firmly, crossing his arms and looking down at the Avatar with a frown. "Tell us why the map to Dad was in your sleeve."
Aang stared blankly at Sokka for a moment, before looking over at Katara, searching for some mercy. He found none, when Aang realized she was frowning at him exactly the way Sokka was.
The three of them were the only ones awake in Bato's home. The Water Tribe man was asleep on the other side of the room, while the kids were still awake, and surrounding the fire. Sokka was standing up, because he claimed he "looked more intimidating that way".
"Uh…" Aang tried to find a reason - any reason - other than the truth. 'I was being controlled by the Spirits' didn't seem like a good enough answer, and Sokka, being the skeptic he was, would never believe it anyway. "I was being controlled by the Spirits?"
It was worth a shot.
As Sokka raised his eyebrow while Katara did the same, Aang couldn't help but notice for the first time how similar the two siblings were.
"Okay." Aang dropped his head in defeat. "I was listening to you two talking to Bato by the fire - and you were talking about things, you know, from home and your past and things that I didn't even know about, and you didn't even explain what they were, and you weren't paying any attention to me - and I get why you weren't, I guess I'd do the same thing, but it just hurt, you know? So I was just sitting there, feeling left out, and then Bato told you both about the message from your dad. And then you said it would be nice to see him again. That's when I left."
Katara's eyes widened in realization. She felt awful now, knowing what Aang must have felt at that moment. Judging by Sokka's suddenly softer expression, he knew it too - Aang thought that they would just abandon him? After all they had been through?
"So I was sitting on the beach, feeling sorry for myself." Aang winced slightly - he must have sounded so pathetic to them. He must have, if he sounded so pathetic to himself. "And this messenger came up to me, and gave me the scrolls. The one for Bato, and the one for Tora. So then I looked at the scroll for Bato, and I saw that it was the map to your dad…" Aang took a deep breath. "And I didn't want you guys to abandon me so I stuffed it in my shirt and came back but then I thought about what Tora would say and think if she knew what I was doing. So I gave you the map."
Aang looked at both Katara and Sokka. "Please, you have to understand - I thought you were going to-"
The Avatar was cut off as a blur of blue fabric and brown hair suddenly shot towards him. Aang let out a yelp as Katara unexpectedly flung her arms around him and squeezed him in a tight hug.
"Aang - Aang - how could you possibly think that?" Katara demanded, hugging him even tighter. "I - we'd never, ever abandon you - ever!"
Aang cautiously hugged Katara back, while Sokka began to rub Aang's bald head. "You thought we would abandon you?" He asked, frowning. "I mean, I get why you would think that," Sokka ignored the glare that Katara shot him as she turned around while not letting go of Aang. "But, really, we wouldn't just leave you like that. It's kind of insulting to me that you would think we'd do that."
"I know. I don't know what I was thinking - but, you know - I don't know! I just thought you would - I mean, I wouldn't blame you if you had chosen your dad over me. I mean, he's your dad, and he needs you." Aang said, his voice slightly muffled by Katara's tunic fabric.
"But you need us more." Sokka countered.
"And we need you too. And we're not going to leave you." Katara said. It sounded like she was almost crying, just slightly.
Despite the honesty in her voice, despite the fact that Aang believed her as much as he could, he needed to be completely sure. "Promise?"
Katara pulled back, looking her friend directly in the eye. Aang felt himself turning a light shade of red as her bright blue eyes pierced his gray ones. Sokka put a hand on the airbender's shoulder, making the younger male look up. "Promise." The siblings both said at the same time.
In the morning, when Bato woke up before any of them, he would find them all surrounding each other as they slept. Aang snuggling into Katara like a child would to its mother, Katara wrapping her arms around Aang like a mother would to its child, and Sokka, one arm covering both of them, almost shielding them both from any dangers to come.
(A/N I'm a total sucker for those cliche, sappy family moments. Anyone else?)
~~Water~~
The journey to find my friends was very… boring. Boring and long. Despite Nyla's (June had briefly mentioned the shirshu's name at one point) speed, it felt like it was taking hours to get wherever we were going. We had stayed out all night, for Spirit's sakes!
Or maybe I was just impatient. It was probably that. That and the fact that we had been out all night, and I was exhausted.
I slammed my forehead against Zuko's back - then instantly regretted it when I remembered only after my head made contact with his back that he was wearing armour. I hate everything… I thought as my forehead began to hurt.
"What are you doing?" Zuko demanded, glancing back over his shoulder at me.
"Being bored. What does it look like?" I said, sighing in exasperation. I resisted the urge to rub my now-most-likely-bruised forehead, because that would mean taking my arm away from Zuko, and that would most likely mean me falling off and bashing my head against a rock or something.
"There's someone!" Zuko suddenly yelled, pointing off to the distance. I leaned over sideways, just enough so that I could see what he was pointing at. It looked like an old woman.
Nyla growled, suddenly turning sideways and heading towards the woman. "Zuko, I swear, if you hurt her to get information…" I growled.
"Why would I hurt an old woman?" Zuko asked, frowning.
"Well, there was that time in the South Pole, when, you know, you pretty much attacked Gran-Gran."
No response. I won!
As we got closer to the old woman, we entered the ruins of what looked like an old town. The woman was crouched on the ground, searching for something. A fluffy white cat was nearby, its tail swishing back and forth as it watched her. The cat suddenly hissed, and tensed up as we reached them. The woman stood up and looked at us with an almost bored expression. "Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?"
"We're looking for someone." Zuko said to her.
The woman frowned. "Oh, I hope it isn't Miyuki." She looked down at the cat by her ankles with a look of fond exasperation on her face. "Miyuki, have you gotten into trouble with the Fire Nation again?"
I blinked, mouthing "Again?" as Miyuki ducked behind the woman's light green dress, hiding from us - or Nyla.
"The Avatar's been through here." June said bluntly, her grip on the reins tightening again. "Let's go."
~~Water~~
Bato placed a hand against his ship, staring at it fondly. "This boat has always had sentimental meaning to me. It was built by my father."
While Aang stood sort of off to the side, looking somewhat bored (because looking at old boats wasn't something he really cared about), Sokka stood at Bato's left, while Katara stood on Bato's right, both of them staring at the boat with a smile. Katara's smile didn't measure up to Sokka's look of excitement. "Is this the boat he took you ice-dodging in?" He asked eagerly.
Bato made a noise of agreement, before passing his hand over a mark in the boat's hull. "Yep. It's got the scar to prove it, too." He turned to Sokka. "How about you, Sokka? Your stories from ice-dodging must be good."
As Sokka hung his head sadly, Katara spoke up. "He's never been. Dad left before he was old enough."
As Bato realized that Sokka had been too young for ice-dodging when they left, Aang asked what ice-dodging was.
"It's a rite of passage for members of the Water Tribe. When the person turns fourteen, their father takes them-" Bato cut himself off as he put a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "You know what?" Sokka looked up. "You're about to find out."
~~Water~~
"Why are we stopping here?"
"Maybe Nyla realized how bored I was and decided to put me out of my misery by eating all of us."
"You know, your remarks almost remind me of myself."
"Gee, thanks so much. I really want to be just like you."
"Watch it, or I will have Nyla eat you." June casually tossed her sheet of black hair over her shoulder. "Anyway, we've stopped because the girl must have spent a lot of time in this spot."
I eyed the ornate door disdainfully. In all honesty, it was almost simple, but in a very decorated way. It was rather off putting. I couldn't really imagine Katara spending all that much time here. An old woman, her gray hair all pulled up in an elaborate bun set with golden hair ornament, wearing gold-coloured robes and wearing thick makeup stood in front of the shirshu, one eyebrow raised slightly as she watched us.
"We don't have any time for this!" Zuko snarled, suddenly reaching forward and snatching Katara's necklace from June's hand, nearly unseating me in the process. I watched, frowning, as Zuko stormed to the front of Nyla and held the necklace in front of the shirshu's nose.
Then I had to keep from snorting as Nyla's tongue suddenly shot out of his/her (because I really don't know how to tell a girl shirshu from a boy shirshu) mouth, nearly hitting Zuko directly in the face.
Iroh was laughing freely, however, as June smirked and said, "Look, he likes you~"
Okay, so Nyla was a boy. That made everything easier.
The old woman approached Nyla, and looked up at us. "Care to hear a fortune, handsome?"
It took me a moment before I realized that she was talking to Iroh. When I did, I started looking back and forth between the two, mouth wide open. Oh, ew… I mean, sweet, but seriously, ew….
Iroh chuckled, before responding. "You know, when you reach my age, there's only one big surprise left, and I'd prefer to leave it the way it's meant to be - a mystery, and the next great adventure."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as the woman smiled coyly. With a huffy attitude, Zuko remounted Nyla, and I re-wrapped my arms around him. June cracked her whip, and we were off.
~~Water~~
"May the Spirit of the Water Bear witness the giving of these marks." Bato called into the air as he approached Sokka, Katara, and Aang, the three of them lined up in a row. Sokka had been successful in his ice-dodging, and the three children now stood and waited for the Water Tribe elder to give them their marks. Bato scooped some black paint out of a bowl cupped in the palm of his hand. "Sokka, for you…" Bato drew a mark on Sokka's forehead - a short crescent line running horizontally on the bridge between his eyes, and a dot underneath. "The Mark of the Wise. This is the same mark your father earned."
The already beaming boy seemed to shine brighter and swell with pride at these words.
Bato moved onto Katara. "Katara, you've earned the Mark of the Brave." He painted a crescent moon shaped mark on the girls forehead. "Your courage is inspiring to each and every one of us."
Katara's smile grew.
Bato turned to Aang, smiling softly. "And, for you, Aang…" He drew a half circle mark over Aang's arrow. "The Mark of the Trusted. You are now an honorary member of the Water Tribe, and we welcome you into our family."
Aang stared at Bato with wide eyes. After a moment, he looked over to Katara and Sokka, who both smiled at him. "Are you sure I deserve this?" He asked, mostly to himself, but Bato heard anyway.
"Yes, I'm sure. If you weren't to be trusted, you wouldn't have given the map to me when you did."
"If I was to be trusted, I wouldn't have hidden the map in the first place." Aang countered.
Bato shook his head. "The past is in the past, Aang. What's done is done - you gave the map to me, and that's what counts. You are to be trusted. And if you weren't to be trusted, I doubt Katara and Sokka would be willing to travel across the world with you."
"Speaking of which," Sokka suddenly spoke up. "Bato, it's been really great seeing you again - but we have to get going soon."
"I agree." Katara nodded. "I wish we didn't have to leave so soon, but if we stay any longer we'll never get to the North Pole before spring."
Bato chuckled. "I understand. I should be leaving soon, too. Come on, we'll get packed together."
~~Water~~
Aang was wishing Bato a safe trip with Katara and Sokka on the edge of the forest when one of the nuns that Bato had been staying with - the Mother Superior - came running up to them. "Avatar Aang! Please, you must leave quickly!" She said urgently, sounding panicked.
"Geeze, alright, we're leaving!" Aang said, sighing. He was about to walk away from the Mother Superior, before she continued.
"There's a group of people searching for you!"
"Who?" Sokka asked, frowning.
"A terrifying woman riding a great beast - an elderly man - a younger boy with a terrifying scar!" The Mother Superior said.
"Zuko." Katara snarled, her expression darkening.
"And a girl, the same age as you!" The Superior continued, turning to Katara.
This caught them all off guard. "A girl?" Katara said, her eyes widening. "Who? What did she look like?!"
"I don't know, I only caught a glimpse before I came to tell you!" The Superior said. "You must flee! The beast - it was using the scent of a necklace to track you! It's only a matter of time before they catch you! You must hurry!"
Katara's hand drifted to her bare neck. "My necklace - Zuko still has it!"
"And we're going to get it back." Aang stated firmly, clenching his fists.
It went unspoken between the three that, if the girl was Tora, which both Katara and Sokka doubted slightly, they would get her back as well.
"So, Sokka, what's the plan?" Katara asked, looking at her brother.
Sokka frowned, thinking, before his eyes lit up. "The thing sees with its nose, right?" Sokka asked the Superior, who was watching them nervously.
"That's what it looked like."
"Okay, here's what we'll do." Sokka said, and the two others leaned in closer to listen to his plan.
~~Water~~
"We're getting close." June stated. Nyla stood in the center of an abbey, full of nuns that had started running away from us, screaming. I winced slightly. They must have been terrified. I couldn't blame them.
Nyla suddenly began walking around, sniffing the ground, turning in circles.
"What is it doing?" Zuko demanded. "We're going in circles!"
The shirshu continued sniffing the ground, before it suddenly looked up into the air. I looked up as well, putting a hand up to shield my eyes from the sun. I could vaguely make out the figure of something - or someone - flying down from the sky on a glider… a little bald monk wearing orange and yellow clothing, with a Water Tribe girl with a long braid on his back.
Aang.
Katara.
Aang flew right down towards us, and I briefly saw a look of terror appear on Katara's face. I couldn't help but laugh, though, even as the shirshu stood on its hind legs trying to hit Aang with its tongue before sending Zuko, Iroh, me, and even June tumbling off its back and onto the ground as Nyla toppling over.
I struggled to get to my feet, but when I did, I took off running toward Aang and Katara, who had come back to the ground. I heard Nyla chasing me, but I didn't care. I just had to reach my friends.
"TORA!" Katara screamed, her eyes widening and a smile appearing on her face. Spirits, how long has it been since I last heard her voice? Then her smile suddenly disappeared. "Duck!"
I turned around just in time to see Nyla's tongue flying toward me - then a blur of white fur.
Appa had slammed into both the shirshu and June, sending both of them crashing into a wall. "Appa, you are the BEST!" I yelled, resisting the urge to run over and hug the gentle giant. The Sky Bison was currently growling at both Nyla and June.
I turned back around to face Katara and Aang - only to be knocked into by a blur of blue and brown. "TORA! You - you're alive! Aang said he saw you, but I didn't think -"
"Katara, it's great to see you too, but I don't think that now's the time for a reunion!" I said, pulling away, but not before hugging her back. I looked towards Aang, and saw with exasperation that Zuko had gotten to his feet and was now fighting with Aang. "What's Sokka's plan?"
A sudden explosion of fire and air in the middle of the abbey caused both me and Katara to let out yelps of shock. "Okay, screw the plan!" I yelled. "Where's Sokka?"
"He's with the Mother Superior - in that home over there!" Katara pointed, before taking off towards the direction she had pointed at. I followed her, fang necklace and red jewels from my mothers necklace bouncing against my chest as I did.
"Try to avoid getting hit by Nyla - the shirshu's tongue!" I yelled. "You'll be paralyzed!"
"Thanks for letting me know!" Katara shoved me inside the room where Sokka was. "Now get inside."
"Don't have to be so pushy." I grumbled, though I was smiling. It felt so good to be talked to by Katara again.
Sokka and several other nuns were pouring bottle after bottles of some sort of green liquid into about five or six giant white pots. "Perfume?" I asked, frowning.
Sokka suddenly turned around, and as soon as he saw me, his eyes widened. "Tora! But - you - I thought you - we thought you - Jet - and he - what?!" He spluttered, trying to think of something to say.
"I'll explain later! Tell me what you're doing!" I demanded.
Sokka shook his head, before regaining his senses. "The thing sees with its nose - so we're gonna give him something to look at."
I blinked. "Sokka, this might be the first time I've ever said this, but you're a genius!" I yelled, throwing my hands into the air excitedly, and somehow accidentally let loose two medium sized flames. I quickly extinguished them, before grinning and racing over to the nuns. "Okay, just tell me what to do!"
"Pour any bottle of perfume you see into these pots. Then your friend will waterbend them over the shirshu." One of the nuns instructed.
I nodded, before beginning to pour bottle after bottle of the sweet smelling liquid into the pot. "Katara, would you need any help with that?"
"No, I think I'll be okay." Katara responded, beginning to shove one of the pots out into the courtyard.
"Really?"
"Yeah, Aang and I have been practicing more with the scroll, so I think I'll be able to handle it-"
"You girls can chat later!" Sokka yelled. "Focus! Tora, that jar is filled. That's enough, lets go!"
"Sokka?"
"What?"
"I missed you." I smiled, before focussing on shoving one of the perfume pots out the door into the courtyard.
A moment later, we were lined up in the courtyard, before spilling the perfume over onto the ground in a flood of green liquid. I wrinkled my nose. Perfume… ew. I had never been fond of anything like makeup or perfume. It was kind of gross.
Aang suddenly appeared, leaping out of a water well. A short shower of rain followed, which was followed by Zuko falling from the sky and hitting the hard ground with an "Oohmph!"
Without thinking, I raced towards him, ignoring both Katara and Sokka's shouts for me to stop. Once I reached him, I helped him to his feet, ignoring him muttering that he could do it himself. I heard the heavy pounding of feet, and knew without looking that June and her shirshu were behind us.
Suddenly, a wave of green liquid came raining down on us, followed by the sweet smell of flowers- that was coming from not just me, but everything around me. Spirits, I'm going to be sick. I groaned, holding a hand over my mouth.
And then I was on the ground, something heavy on top of me. It took my a moment before I realized that it was Zuko. "Get off me!" I yelled, shoving him off me so he rolled onto the ground, groaning.
"You're welcome." Zuko muttered to himself. I glanced sideways at him as I sat up, and when I saw June struggling to get Nyla back under control, while Zuko lay there, scowling at the sky, not even attempting to get up, I understood.
I had to have been about to get hit by Nyla's tongue… and Zuko saw… and he got hit instead.
Spirits, my head hurt now.
Ignoring this, I got to my feet, and looked over him. "Hey, Zuko? I'm gonna leave with my friends, if that's alright with you."
He shot me a dark look, which I ignored. I turned around and beamed at my friends, who were smiling back. "Now, we should get out of here."
~~Water~~
How long is this smell going to last? I asked myself, grimacing as I smelled my shirt. Flowers.
I felt something nudge me from behind, and I turned around to see Appa standing behind me. He snorted softly into my face, blowing my hair back. I grinned, before throwing my arms out and embracing his nose. "Appa! I missed you, buddy. Did you miss me? I missed you too!"
"We all did."
I looked up, and saw Aang perched on Appa's head, holding the reins in his hands. He was smiling, and I smiled back. I glanced over to where Zuko, June, and Iroh were still lying. "We should go. The toxins won't wear off for a while, but we should put plenty of distance between each other."
Aang nodded. "You're right. Let's go."
And with that, I crawled up into the saddle, joining Katara and Sokka who were already in the saddle, Aang said his trademark "Yip, yip," and we were off.
After a moment of silence, I smiled at Katara and Sokka, who were both on the other side of the saddle and looking at me as if they couldn't believe I was real. "So, how have you guys been?"
Then I was being crushed in a hug from two - three different people. I felt something curl up on my head, and I knew it was Momo.
"You're not dead?" Katara whispered. "Jet didn't kill you? You didn't drown?"
"I don't think so." I said teasingly.
"How'd you survive?" Sokka demanded, ruffling my hair and unseating Momo in the process.
"Amaya - she saved me." I said, smiling at the thought of my friend. "She and I bended the water around ourselves, so we didn't get hit - but then we passed out, and we were rescued by Moro and Kui." I decided to keep the other two wolves - what were their names again? Fenris and Accalia - a secret. For now. There's no way that Sokka would believe me if I said that talking wolves helped Amaya and Moro. Besides, it wasn't my secret to tell - it was Moro's. And she barely knew any of us.
"I'm just glad you're okay." Katara said, hugging me tighter. "Oh!" She pulled away. "Do you want your sword back? I found -"
"YES!" I exclaimed, sitting up. "Do you have it? Of course I want it back! I mean, this one is great, but it doesn't have the same feel as mine!"
Katara started laughing, before she reached over to her bag and pulled out my sword, still in its scabbard. I snatched it from her without thinking, and held it tightly to my chest. "Missed you so much…" I mumbled.
"Where'd you get the new sword?" Aang asked, looking at the weapon still tied to my waist.
"Some woman in an Earth Kingdom town." I shrugged. "Same place I got these." I flicked one of my earrings, fingered my fang necklace, and tugged on my dress and shirt. I glanced at Aang, and saw he was staring at me suspiciously. Well, why wouldn't he be able to figure it out? He was there, after all.
"Oh, speaking of necklaces-" Aang said, turning to Katara. "Katara, were you looking for this?" He held up Katara's necklace, smiling proudly.
Katara gasped, her eyes lighting up in joy. "Aang! How'd you get it?" She exclaimed, grabbing it and placing it around her neck while Sokka rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"Zuko gave it to me and asked me to give it to you." Aang said, shrugging with a smirk on his face.
Katara smirked back. "Oh, that was so sweet of him. Would you mind giving him a kiss for me the next time we see him?"
"No problem." Aang laughed - before Katara placed a kiss on his cheek, causing him to turn bright red.
I laughed. "I really, really missed you guys."
As they smiled at me, Katara seemed to remember something. "Oh, Tora!" She reached for her bag again, and pulled out a scroll. "A messenger gave Aang this - he said it was for you." She handed it over to me.
With one eyebrow quirked, I unrolled it and began to read. "Tora of the Fire Nation, blah blah blah, I live in the North Pole, blah blah blah, I can bend two elements like you, blah - WHAT?!" I shrieked, tightening my grip on the scroll. I began to read the entire thing. "Whoever wrote this says that he or she can bend water and earth, and that she can help me learn how to control my elements better!"
"Well, that's great!" Katara said, smiling. "Who's it from?"
I squinted at the signature. "Says… 'Sincerely, Umi of the Northern Water Tribe, or San of the Earth Kingdom.' She has two names. Or there are two people. Either way, there are two signatures." And for some reason, the writing… looked really, really familiar to me.
"But how'd you end up with Zuko of all people?" Sokka asked suddenly, frowning.
"I was in a town, Zuko saw me, he captured me, and then I spent the rest of the time on his ship until now." I said, shrugging. "That's all there is to it."
"But, what did you do? Did he lock you in a cell?" Aang asked, leaning forward.
I paused, thinking over all of the things that had happened on Zuko's ship. The stories we had told each other, the massacred village when I had gone insane, the storm, finding out Zuko's story behind his scar, our sword fight, freeing Aang from Zhao's prison, and music night.
"Nothing much." I shrugged. I don't know why, but I wanted to keep everything that had happened between me and Zuko stay a secret. "I got a real room, thanks to Iroh, but nothing really happened." I crossed my legs. "So, what happened to you guys?"
The three of them glanced between each other. "It's going to take a long time to tell you."
"Don't worry." I smiled, leaning back against the edge of the saddle. "I've got time."
~~Water~~
"So, basically, you guys left the Freedom Fighters forest, and then saw the biggest canyon in the Earth Kingdom, met up with a tribe of slobs and another tribe of prissy wusses, they weren't allowed to bring food into the canyon but both of them did anyway, so then canyon crawlers attacked them and Katara and Sokka found out about the tribe's feuding and their tribe founders hating each other, but the stories were completely different, but neither of them could figure out which story was true, but they fought about it anyway - that's really lame - and then Aang lied and made up a story about little kids playing a game called "redemption" to get them to stop fighting - that's pretty cool Aang, good job with that - and then a few days later you guys got caught in a storm but before that Aang ran off because of some guy making a rude comment about the Avatar, and then Sokka and the rude guy got caught on a fishing boat in the storm because Sokka was going to make money, but he got paid in fish, which is really lame, Sokka had a dream about Momo talking and food eating people, you guys got sick and started thinking that Sokka was an earthbender - man I wish I could have seen that - and Aang made you suck on frozen frogs. Then you guys saw a guy getting attacked by a platypus bear, but he was totally calm, and the bear ended up laying an egg and leaving because of Appa scaring it away - good job, buddy - and the guy gave you an umbrella and told you about Aunt Wu, the fortune teller from his village, and Katara said you guys should check it out, but Sokka said fortune telling is nonsense - which I actually agree with you about, Sokka - but then it started raining and Katara wouldn't let Sokka under the umbrella unless he said that Aunt Wu wasn't a phoney, and Sokka predicted it was going to keep drizzling, but it stopped raining, and Sokka dropped the platypus bear egg on his head - jeez Sokka, you have pretty bad luck - you all went to Aunt Wu's and met Meng, and Aunt Wu told Sokka his life would be filled with pain and struggle, most of it self inflicted, (snicker) but told Katara that she would marry a powerful bender, and Katara started believing everything Aunt Wu told her was true, so she started bothering her a lot, Aunt Wu said the village wouldn't be destroyed by a volcano, but turned out to be wrong, you guys saved the village, then you guys found a Water Tribe boat, one of the ones from your dads fleet, and a guy I've never met named Bato, who turned out to be a friend of your dads, found you and brought you to the place he was living in at the time, and he told you about meeting up with your dad because he had been injured and wasn't able to continue, Aang left before he could hear you two say that you had to get him to the North Pole and you wouldn't abandon him, Aang got two letters, one for your dad and one for me, and Aang gave it to you guys because he didn't want to dishonour my memory or something by not giving it to you and breaking your trust of him, you guys stayed with Bato for the day, you went ice-dodging - which sounds pretty awesome, wish I could have been there. Then Zuko and Iroh and June and me came to the abbey, Zuko attacked you, Aang saved Katara's necklace, and I was reunited with you guys. Is that everything?"
By the time the trio finished telling me what had happened to them while I had been "dead", the sun had set, and we had made up camp. Katara was making stew out of the supplies she had gotten from the nuns at the abbey, and some edible things she found around the woods. "Yeah, that's pretty much everything." Sokka nodded.
"Wow. I missed a lot."
~~Water~~
"Tora?" Katara whispered to me an hours later, when we were supposed to be sleeping. I had curled up by the fire, closed my eyes… and was unable to fall asleep. So I just lay there, loving the silence, loving the feeling of being by my friends again. "Are you asleep?"
"Well, now I'm not." I said, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "What's up?"
Katara was silent for a moment. "... I'm sorry."
I stopped rubbing my eyes. "Sorry?"
"Yes. I'm sorry."
"For what, exactly, are you sorry for?"
"You don't remember what I said to you?"
"No, I don't, that's why I'm asking what you're sorry for."
"Jet's hideout? Remember what I said to you?"
Then I remembered.
"Need I remind you that this wouldn't be happening if the Fire Nation hadn't started a hundred year war against the other Nations? You're people started this war! It's their fault!"
"I haven't seen my father in ages, and that's because he's out fighting the Fire Nation! He's out protecting us! Your father isn't! He hasn't protected you in years!"
Oh… right.
"So you remember, don't you?"
"Well, now that you bring it up, yes. I do remember."
"Tora, I'm so, so sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have said those things, I was just angry - and I don't even know why I was angry."
"You liked Jet, and you thought I was being rude to him without a good reason. That's why you were angry."
"But I shouldn't have trusted him as much as I did. If I hadn't had trusted him, then you wouldn't have been captured by him, and then we wouldn't have left you behind."
"You thought I was dead. Anyways, the past is in the past. We can't change it - so don't apologize for trusting him."
"But that doesn't excuse what I said. I hope you can forgive me."
"I don't know if I'll ever forget what you said… but I can forgive you for saying them."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Thank you."
"No problem. Besides, it's not like what you said wasn't true."
We were silent for a moment, before Katara spoke up again. "Tora?"
"Yes, Katara?"
"Despite what you think, I think your dad does care about you."
"It's been a long day."
"Tora-"
"Let's go to sleep."
"But-"
"Goodnight."
"...goodnight, Tora."
God, this took forever to write. *exhausted* BUT THAT'S OKAY! Because I finished it, and it's over, and TORA'S WITH THE GANG AGAIN! YAAAAAAYYYY! [confetti and party balloons rain from ceiling]
Is it snowing where you are? Because it is where I am, and I just finished making a snowman with my sister in our front yard. ^-^
Okay, a few IMPORTANT things before we finish our chapter.
Number One - I'm considering starting a Legend of Korra fic. Have any of you ever read Amaya x Kyuri x Asuni's Avatar Amaya trilogy? Because it's going to be like that - I'm going to "remove" Korra, and replace her with my own character to be the Avatar. I think it will be better than it sounds. And Mako isn't going to be the romantic interest - here's a hint: first of all, the romantic interest isn't going to be a guy.
Number Two - I've come up with this idea after seeing a video on youtube bashing The Last Airbender - you know, the film. And I watched the trailer, and I realized, "Hey, the trailer makes it look good! THE DIRECTOR LIED TO US!" So I decided to make a fanfiction, that would basically be a novelization of the film - except I would be making the film better. As in, keeping some stuff from the original show, keeping some stuff from the movies, basically making the characters stay in their original characterization.
How many people would be up for these ideas?
And Number Three - In my own Headcanon, it takes the Gaang a year for Aang to master all four elements, and each element is learned in their corresponding season. Like, Water is learned in Winter, Earth is learned in Spring, and Fire is learned in the summer. Right now it's winter. Okay?
Anyway, that's all for now!
Oh, next is the Jeong Jeong episode! Do you have any idea how much fun that's going to be?!