Life of Air

Chapter 9

Coming and Going

"And that's when I jumped over my team mate to shove the heads of two guards together! They didn't see it coming and they sure as spirits didn't see much afterwards!" Chit Seng laughed and sat down, seeming to be reaching the end of his tale. "But a couple poison darts to the neck and I was down, not much you can do about that."

"It's not everyday you meet Fire Nation defectives, good to know you went down fighting."

I smiled watching Tanro make friends with the newest member to the group, the two men grasped their strong hands together in camaraderie, grinning proudly at one another. Shortly after everyone gathered around to tell their tales, my brothers Tanro and Yen joined us in the temple. Apparently watching me rush out of the tunnels with Toph worried them so they had to make sure that there wasn't any danger. Of course it was perfectly safe but that didn't stop them from grabbing me and putting themselves between me and the strangers. It took Aang playing peacemaker to calm them until they actually sat down to meet everyone.

Tanro had taken a liking to Chit Seng, appreciating his stories about fighting the Fire Nation army who had stolen land and resources from his home village. The big guy Sokka and Zuko had brought with them was obviously rough around the edges, but he seemed like someone who cared for those around him. The others they had brought were Sokka and Katara's father, Hakoda, and a girl named Suki who described herself as a warrior of Kyoshi. Sokka explained that she had been a comrade of theirs since early on in their journey.

Though I enjoyed their stories, as the sun went down and the moon rose in the sky I found myself almost drifting off to sleep. Worrying about the safety of my friends had given me fitful nights in bed and I felt drained beyond belief, plus I was finally able to relax now knowing everyone was safe and sound. As I did my best to listen intently to Hakoda's tale of being captured, my body started to lean and I felt my head rest on the shoulder of the person to my right, that shoulder being Zuko's. I knew if I gave it the effort I'd be able to lift myself but my tired mind just didn't care to, so I closed my eyes and rested into the comfort of his firebender warm until I was gone to the world.

Zuko's POV

Never did I expect Iyashi to fall asleep on me, but that's exactly what she did. It made me uncomfortable but I couldn't bring myself to wake her as it was easy to see she was exhausted. I had noticed how her teal eyes had been struggling to stay open and alert since the sun had went down, and I had my suspicions that her exhaustion had to do with the recent mission Sokka and I had went on. She cared far too much about everyone around her so there was no doubt in my mind that she had been caring far too much about our safety and losing sleep over it. Such a fool... a kindhearted fool.

I tried to ignore them, but I was receiving looks from a few members of the group. Sokka grinned at me smugly, putting his arm around the girl we had rescued from the prison who obviously was involved with him. Though Iyashi's brother Yen was busy giving Katara and her father his attention, Tanro had locked his strict gaze on me, glaring in the same way as when he first lectured me about getting too close to his sister. He made sure to let me know how little he trusted me, Fire Nation scum, and that if anything happened to her I'd have her entire family to face. Nothing could make me forget that look.

And then there was Aang, who only briefly smiled at me when he caught sight of my situation before returning his attention to the stories. The kid wasn't ignorant, being much more observant in regards to others than almost anyone I'd known. But he also wasn't prying. He kept his thoughts to himself unless otherwise necessary, and for that I was highly grateful in this moment. Soon I had begun to notice Iyashi's breathing on my neck and her unconscious grip on my arm as she snoozed, and the heat in my chest I felt whenever she chose to invade my space was becoming unbearable.

Tanro stood, stretched, and yawned while still keeping an eye on me and his precious little sister. He patted Yen's shoulder to catch his attention. "Looks like the little one needs to be taken to bed, eh brother?"

Yen then seemed to notice where Iyashi had chosen to take her nap, a darker expression moving to his usually gentle giant features. He stood with his older brother and shared his stare in my direction. "Yeah, looks like it. She's tired, I'll carry her home."

The group had all gone silent as the two large men made their way to me. They both lifted Iyashi from the ground, barely disturbing her sleep, then Yen put his arms under her knees and shoulders to hold her against his chest. She shifted slightly but soon rested into her brother's embrace, probably recognizing the safety of his arms. Both brothers gave me one last glare then bid the group their goodnights and carried their sister off. It had become awkward and quiet in the group as they all seemed to notice the brothers' protectiveness over their sister, especially in regards to me, but the young Avatar broke the silence.

"You know, I could turn in for the night too! Plus I bet you guys would like a good night's sleep after all you went through, right?" Aang said, smiling at everyone. There were agreements all around but I chose to stay silent, quickly moving to my sleeping area once I was given the chance.

The last thing I needed was for everyone to be reminded of how others saw me since I had just started to gain their trust, but it seems my lineage wouldn't let go of me for anything.

Iyashi's POV

Waking from the most peaceful sleep I had had in days, I stretched and bounded from my bed to get ready for the day. It was still early however, as I found my family all sleeping in their respective rooms. Even my mother, the earliest riser I know, hadn't found her way to the kitchen to start breakfast for everyone. Deciding not to make a mess or any noise, I grabbed a sack of nuts and dried fruit to eat for breakfast before heading out to the temple with my glider in hand.

The sun had barely risen from the view of the temple and everyone here was still asleep as well. Deciding to use this quiet morning time to take a quick fly in the canyon, I launched myself into the air with my glider above me. The morning air felt cool against my skin even in the usual heat of the region. Nothing could be better. Until something different caught my eye.

Four large flying machines like the one Zuko and Sokka came back with were speeding towards the temple. Shock had me frozen for a moment then my instincts kicked in and I turned around fast, landing on the temple floor at a run.

"Aang! Zuko! Everyone get up!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Aang rose first, looking sleepy for a moment until his eyes widened and he jumped up and ran at me with the speed on an airbender. I was confused at first but as he went past me I heard an explosion and realized something must have been coming my way and he saved my life. Without turning to see what it was, I ran past the now rising group to the tunnels which held my family and tribe. I wasn't surprised to see guards coming my way, assuming they must have been alerted by the noise.

"Turn back! We have to get everyone out through the deeper tunnels! The temple isn't safe!" I yelled and they heeded my orders, turning around fast and separating to cover as much ground as possible to alert everyone. I kept running, heading straight for my family's quarters. My father and mother were already up when I got there and my brothers were all stumbling from their rooms, most likely still half asleep.

"Iyashi! What's happening?" My father asked once he caught sight of me.

"The temple is under attack and we need to leave now! Gather everyone and get them out through the deeper tunnels and go to the flying ship Aang showed you!" I answered quickly then weaved through my family to go to my room. With as much speed as I could handle, I gathered a few things I needed into a small bag and threw it over my shoulder. Once I had everything I turned to leave my room but my door was blocked by my brothers, Yuji and Tanro standing side by side with Yen and Ginko behind them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tanro asked.

I groaned and pushed against their chests. "Let me through you guys! I have to join Aang before they all leave me behind!"

Tanro grabbed my hand and pulled it from his chest, yanking it up and almost lifting me off my feet from the force. "You're not doing this alone! So forget it!"

"You all can't come!" I yelled into his face, fear and anger taking over my other senses.

Yuji put his hand on my shoulder and eyed me seriously. "We know, Iyashi. Tanro is going, we already decided. Just let us say goodbye."

Realization came over me as I looked at each of my brothers' faces, seeing the fear and concern in their eyes. Tears began to fall down my cheeks and then I felt myself being enveloped in a giant group hug, all four of them putting themselves around me protectively. It lasted only a few moments as we all knew we had to hurry and as my brothers released me I felt a part of my heart being left behind in their hands.

"I love you all. We'll see each other soon, I promise." I said, still teary eyed.

"Be safe, little one." Ginko said, giving me a grin.

"Come back to us." Yen said, pain all over his face.

Yuji shoved something into my bag and then gave me a weak smile. "We love you too, Iyashi."

I took one final glance at them then turned and ran, knowing Tanro was at my heels. I slowed slightly for him since he wouldn't be able to keep up with my airbender speed, but kept my eyes forward as I passed members of the tribe being lead away by the earthbender guards. My father and mother would be with them, helping to get everyone out safely. For a moment I wondered if they knew what their oldest and youngest children were doing but knew that they had faith in us and left us to protect ourselves and each other.

Once we made it through the tunnels and almost reached the temple we ran into a few members of the group, including Sokka and Katara's father. I looked around them to see if Aang and the others were there too but they were missing.

"Hakoda, where is everyone else?" I asked fearfully.

"They're flying out of here, go now if you want to catch them!" He instructed and I nodded, running around the group he lead.

"Find my family and get out with them!" I yelled behind me as a final message to them.

When we finally reached the tunnels, at a speed my brother could run but I considered much too slow, I saw Appa start to take off. Grabbing Tanro by the arm, I sent a blast of air under our feet to launch us onto Appa's saddle so as not to get left behind. We landed with a thud as I was more concerned with getting on the saddle than with a soft landing. I looked up to see Aang leading Appa through the canyon but with a large wall of earth covering the bison's face. We moved so fast that I barely noticed the fire coming in our direction but felt the heat surround us even though it didn't make contact due to the protective wall of earth.

Once Aang let the wall fall I felt like it was safe to lift myself up and actually inspect my surroundings. With Tanro and I in the saddle sat Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Suki while Aang was on Appa's head. I then realized we were missing someone. "Where's Zuko?"

Sokka, whose expression shared my concern for the firebending prince, pointing behind us at the large machines where I saw a battle of fire taking place on top of one of them. Fear struck my heart so quickly and painfully that I lurched forward, grasping my chest as my eyes never left the battle. Before I could speak and insist we go back for him, rapidly approaching fire blasts took my attention. Aang was doing his best to steer around them while Katara used her waterbending to protect us from any she could.

I continued to watch the battle Zuko was in and then found myself leaping forward with my glider spread above me after seeing a blast of fire between the two of them throw them both off of the flying machine. Faintly, I could hear my brother yelling after me but I kept to my decent, trying to catch up to Zuko's falling form. I reached out for him and scooped him out of the air, quickly he grabbed onto my glider with one hand while he used his other arm to wrap around me securely. The weight difference caused our flight to sway but I adjusted my air currents to even us out and fly towards Appa. Once we landed on the saddle, a little worse for wear, I was pulled away from Zuko by my brother.

"What were you thinking?" Tanro yelled at me, holding my shoulders tightly.

Glaring at him I pulled away from his tight grip. "I was saving my friend!"

His gaze grew even more angry but I decided to just ignore Tanro's over protectiveness, tearing away from his strong grip and turning my attention to Zuko. He was watching behind us and I followed his gaze to see his opponent still falling. They then sent a blast of fire from their feet and used something to catch themselves against the side of the canyon.

"Of course she made it." Zuko commented softly.

"Who was that?" I asked, leaning closer to him to look at his face. He glanced at me then turned his gaze back to his opponent.

"She's my sister."

I bit my lip, realizing what that meant for Zuko, and sat back next to Tanro to give Zuko his space. We were finally able to escape the on coming attack and everyone seemed to relax. As we flew through the air I looked around at our mismatch group, Toph and Tanro both seeming to be obviously uncomfortable in the air as Toph held onto Katara for support while Tanro sat close to me. Sokka and Suki huddled together which gave me a better idea of what their relationship was. Aang kept his place on Appa's head, steering us towards safety.

Then there was Zuko, sitting across from me and looking out into the open air, his mind seeming to be somewhere else entirely. He had told me before about his sister and how he was never able to beat her, that was true even now as she survived the battle just as he had. I knew there wasn't anything I could do for him now, with everyone around it wasn't a good time or place to ask him about it, but I hoped he wasn't tearing himself apart because of it. Without thinking any further, I reached forward and touched his arm. He turned his gaze to me, obviously confused. I smiled softly, hoping he knew without me saying anything that I was just happy that he was safe.

When I removed my hand and leaned back, Zuko nodded to me, understanding my meaning I assumed. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, enjoying the feel of the air ruffling my hair and cooling my face. It was then that I realized this was it, this was the beginning of the adventure I had been waiting my entire life for. Even with all of the terrifying events of that morning, saying goodbye to my family, watching my home nearly crumble, and almost losing one of my friends, I couldn't help myself for being happy.

There was still the issue of Tanro, his overprotective nature wasn't going to be easy to ignore forever. He was going to get in the way of... well... me. He was bound to get in my way, not allowing me to find myself in this adventure. To him I would always be a little girl, his baby sister who always needed to be protected. No matter what I've done thus far, fighting and protecting others, making decisions about my life on my own.

Glancing up at him I saw his pained expression, still so uncomfortable in the air, but I also saw my big brother. He irritated me to no end, getting in the way of my growth, hovering over me, and never allowing me to just fly on my own. But he loved me too. I thought about how Sokka was Katara's older brother and wondered if he behaved the same way with her. Maybe it was something we could bond over as Katara and I hadn't exactly meshed well from the beginning. I don't believe she ever forgave me for deflecting her attack against Zuko and standing up for him. Come to think of it she still doesn't treat Zuko with much warmth either, even after everything he has done.

The prince was off in his own world still and no one had yet tried to bring him from it. Thinking back to my split second decision to leap into the air and save Zuko and how Tanro reacted, I wondered if something had been going on between them that I hadn't seen. Tanro has hated the Fire Nation for as long as I can remember, so it only made sense that he wouldn't trust Zuko even after I had. Yet somehow... I felt there was something else going on with him. Even as an earthbender Tanro was taught just like me the airbender way by our grandmother, he even told me she would have been proud of my actions. So then why wasn't he proud of me?

For a moment I thought about asking him but decided against it, knowing he'd run around the answer like the smarty pants he was. Tanro has never been very in touch with his feelings, choosing instead to fight his problems physically than talk them out. Oh how different we were.

A/N - Things are going to be getting more serious from here on out, I hope everyone is looking forward to that! Let me know what you think!