Last Time…

The sun set in the west, coloring the skies in a beautiful rainbow of color, and Aang glanced back at the temple. The light of the sun was reflected in his eyes and, for a moment, it looked as if he was in the Avatar state. But that didn't stop me from seeing the tears welling up in his eyes before he swiftly turned his back to the temple.

Katara and Sokka went to sleep quickly. My thoughts were too loud for that, and apparently I wasn't the only one. In the front seat, Aang stared straight ahead, his body completely rigid. The only movement coming from him was the methodical raking of his fingers through Appa's fur. I leaned forward and put a hand on his shoulder. He tensed.

"You should rest. I'll take us down at the next island."

"Don't worry. I'll wake you all up to help set up camp. It'll be alright. You can relax," I promised at his obvious hesitation. He was silent for a moment, then nodded gently. In his exhaustion, I don't think he even noticed that I helped him into the saddle and laid a blanket on top of him as he curled up into a ball. He was asleep in seconds.

I climbed into the front seat and patted Appa's head lightly. "It's alright Appa," I assured. "He'll be back in the morning." Appa rumbled slightly beneath me. "I hope you don't mind me talking a little." He grumbled what I hoped was an acquiescence. I cleared my throat and started, "Well, Aang's just so small and hopeful." Appa growled aggressively.

"Not that he's helpless. No, it's actually quite the opposite," I explained. I began running my fingers through my hair methodically, straightening out any knots as I went.

"It's hard seeing him like this. I know he'll be disappointed by the world. And by himself. I'm not looking forward to the day when the fact that life is messy and unfair slaps him in the face. I don't want him to get hurt. And I'm sure it'll be my fault when it does happen," I worried and started to bite my nails. Appa grunted and shook his head a bit. With a gasp and the sudden terror of falling into the ocean below, I grasped his fur and plastered myself to the top of his head. When he straightened out again, I shook my head with a smile on my face.

"Thanks Appa. I really need to learn optimism."

It was only about a half hour until I could see land and, true to my word, I woke the gaang and, with some grumbles from Sokka, we quickly set up camp and practically fell into our sleeping bags. I didn't even get into mine because I knocked out so fast.

In the morning, I was rudely awoken by Appa nudging me roughly. When I realised what was going on, I laughed and brushed my hand under his chin. That may not have been my best idea because Appa barely let me up and I had to do a great deal of scratching his head to get him to take off with us again.

Aang was silent during that whole process. He kept giving me slightly shifty looks. They were completely gone by the next time we landed, so I forgot about it quickly. Luckily, even with his limited knowledge of the area, Aang knew the exact path from the Air Temple to the island that the hopping llamas lived on. With my competitive nature, I began challenging Aang. We ended up staying there for an entire day.

Then, we got back on the road.

Then, we got lost.

Sokka looked down at the map on the second day.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?"

Aang looked back from the front seat.

"Well, I know it's near water."

I facepalmed. Sokka snarked at Aang, "I guess we're getting close then."

Katara was sewing Sokka's pants. He had ripped them trying to ride the hopping llamas. Aang used airbending to get on the llamas. Somehow, I was able to get on one and I rode that one the whole time. Seeing my success, Sokka decided that it must not be that hard. Now, his pants had a giant rip on the seam. Aang tried to impress Katara with his marbles trick. I watched the ocean beneath us. The water didn't even look like it was moving, instead just shimmering. It sparkled and shifted, reflecting the blinding sunlight. Suddenly, Appa turned sharply and I grabbed hold of the saddle tightly and yelled, "Hey Aang! Ease up!"

"Sorry Rei! I forgot. You drive like a grandma," He teased with a smirk. I gasped dramatically.

"Hey! I drive safely so no one falls off!"

"Uh-huh."

"Well aren't you mister dangerous?"

"Mister dangerous?" Katara laughed, then I started cracking up. Aang joined in and we were all just cackling wildly hundreds of feet in the air.

"So, where are we going? Why'd we change course?" I asked, wiping away the watering in my eyes.

"We're gonna go ride the elephant koi. It's super fun!"

I recognized the bay that we were headed towards. Kyoshi Island. This should be fun. Appa landed softly on the beach and all of us, except Sokka, jumped down onto the sand. Sokka crossed his arms and insisted, "We just made a pit stop yesterday. Shouldn't we get a little more flying done before we camp out?"

He slid Appa's side, landing next to Katara who agreed, "He's right. At this rate, we won't get to the north pole until spring."

"But Appa's tired already. Aren't you, boy?" Aang prompted. Appa didn't do anything. Aang nudged the bison.

"I said, aren't you, boy?"

Appa gave an unconvincing yawn. Sokka frowned, "Yeah, that was real convincing. Still, hard to argue with a ten-ton magical monster."

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go into the woods to… uh, you know… Be back soon." I rushed and slipped into the forest of dead trees. I eventually found a bush that was far enough away that I couldn't see or hear the gaang at all. When I walked back, I found the Kyoshi warriors taking the gaang away. Quickly I grabbed the hilt of my sword, but someone held a fan against my throat.

"Keep walking."

I raised my hands in surrender. A blindfold was placed over my eyes and we walked back to the village. We were all tied up to a pole.

"You four have some explaining to do."

"And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the Unagi."

And Sokka had to prove his masculinity.

"Show yourselves, cowards!"

They took off our blindfolds. Damn. Suki was cute. Good for you Sokka. The boy continued to make a fool of himself however.

"Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?"

"There were no men. We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?"

But Sokka couldn't just let it go. Oh no. That would mean admitting a girl was a better fighter than him.

"Wait a second. There's no way a bunch of girls took us down." I rolled my eyes.

"A bunch of girls, huh? The Unagi's gonna eat well tonight."

Katara pulled herself forward against the ropes and

"No, don't hurt him! He didn't mean it! My brother's just an idiot sometimes."

Aang spoke up from his side of the pole, "It's my fault. I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi."

"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi stayed out of the war so far and we intend to keep it that way."

"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!"

"Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here 400 years ago. She's been dead for centuries."

"I know her because I'm the Avatar."

"That's impossible. The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago."

Aang perked up and proclaimed, "That's me." The elder was not convinced by that rock solid argument. I don't blame him.

"Throw the imposter to the Unagi."

I didn't want to get eaten though. The warriors approached us on all sides.

"Aang, do some airbending," Katara encouraged. Aang swiftly jumped out of the ropes and floated down next to Kyoshi's statue. Everyone gasped and gushed over Aang. One guy even foamed at the mouth and fainted.

"Please Avatar. Let us accommodate you. Untie his friends."

The warriors did so.

"Please follow me. I'll take you to the big house."

We followed and Katara walked fast so she could speak with the elder, "Thank you so much sir. We'd be honored to stay here."

We walked all the way down the village road and they showed us around the house. They gave us our own rooms and, as soon as I saw mine, I leapt onto the bed and took a nap.

It was nighttime when I woke again. I walked around a bit. The quiet of the village and the moonlight reflecting off the ground brought on a tranquil atmosphere. A gentle wind ruffled my hair and I had to push my hair behind my ears and out of my face. I ended up standing in front of the statue of Kyoshi. I knew who she was and what she was like because of the show, but my heart jumped at the sight of her like I was seeing an old friend.

I sat without taking my eyes off the previous Avatar and, after a minute of sitting and looking, I decided to close my eyes. I breathed deeply in the cold night air and I detected a light smell of cherry blossoms.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?"

I turned my head to see Suki come up next to me. I turned back to the statue and hummed my agreement. She continued, "And so strong."

"A brilliant combination," I concluded.

"I hope I can be like her someday." She said wistfully. I smiled and looked her in the eye.

"I daresay you will be, if you aren't already."

She blushed gently.

"Thank you…"

She tried to come up with my name.

"Rei."

She nodded, "Thank you Rei."

I looked back up at Kyoshi's face.

"I think she'd be very grateful to the Kyoshi Warriors that you've kept this island out of the war this long."

"We are lucky to have gone mostly unnoticed. I believe she's looking out for us."

I didn't respond, but nodded along. I didn't know if Kyoshi could do that being dead and all, but it was a nice thought. And who knows? Spirit magic is a bit weird and wacky here.

"Rei, could I show you something?"

I looked at her slightly confused, but nodded.

"Come this way," She beckoned and swiftly guided me back down the village road, but she didn't stop at the big house. That was the end of the village. Where was she going? I didn't voice my concerns aloud. She was trustworthy. We walked a bit into the woods before ending up in front of a veiled cave entrance. It legit looked like the entrance into Rapunzel's tower valley thing from Tangled. She lifted the first layer of vines for me. I looked at her questioningly.

"Just go inside. It'll make sense in a second," She assured. I stepped under the vines that she was holding and parted the rest in front of me. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped at the sight before me.

A small lagoon sat with a massive willow tree towering over it. It was magical. Seriously. I could feel magic tingling in the air. Or maybe it was my nerves. I looked closer and found a simple gravestone and shrine sitting on a tiny island in the middle of the lagoon.

"It's her grave. I come here often to mediate and ask for guidance and strength. Trying to mediate next to the statue in the village is like trying to get a small child to sit still," She explained. I giggled at the thought.

"Thank you for showing me. I doubt we'll be here for long, but this is a much-needed comfort. It's so peaceful."

"You're welcome. And if you'd like to join the warriors for a few sessions, you'd be welcome."

"I'm not much of a fighter," I protested

"You can always learn," She challenged gently. "Think about it."

I hummed noncommittally. I sat at the edge of the lagoon and closed my eyes. She sat next to me. After a while, my eyelids started drooping. I got up without a word and left. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow in the big house.