Disclaimer. I do not own anything except any original characters.
The moon hung high in the night sky, the only sound coming from the soft waves against the shoreline. Akaya continued to pace, her eyes darting to the sea every so often. The sun had set hours before and the siblings had not yet returned from their fishing trip. They had never stayed this late on the water, always arriving before the sun had fully set. Akaya had gone to the harbor to keep watch, having noticed the concern that had been etched on Kanna's face. As the minutes ticked, she finally gave up her pacing, quickly moving to an unoccupied canoe.
Before she could settle herself in, a noise in the distance caught her attention. Her eyes moved to the water, widening when she saw the silhouette of something large heading in her direction. Before she could move to a defensive stance, a voice halted her. "Akaya! It's us."
Sighing, her body relaxed at Sokkas voice. She watched as the silhouette drew closer to the shore, taking note of the three figures on top. Her eyes moved to what she could see was an animal, however one she had never seen at the shore, the beast let out a loud groan before shimming up to solid ground, its white fur soaked.
Akaya took a cautious step forward, jumping back slightly as the animal shook the water off his fur, his large eyes finding hers. He starred curiously before emitting a huff of contentment as the three passengers disembarked.
"Thank the spirits." Akaya moved, her arms moving to hug the siblings. "Everyone was worried when you guys had not come back. I was on my way to go out and find you both," She pulled away, her eyes moving to the new person standing beside the strange beast.
He looked young, a bit younger than Katara but not by much. His clothing stuck out to Akaya, the orange and yellow material flowy and thin, not meant for the south pole. His youthful face was staring back at her, a smile stretched across his face. Her eyes drew up to his head, noting the large blue arrow tattooed onto his skin.
"Akaya you'll never believe what happened! We got stranded when our canoe got caught in a current. I...I broke an iceberg! You should have seen it." Katara continued to ramble, Sokka interrupting every so often to the annoyance of his sister. Akaya stood there, her mind working to process what she was being told. An airbender? That was impossible. She knew of the stories of the Fire Nation, the cruelty they had displayed, wiping out all the air nomads. They were thought to have been extinct.
As Katara came to the end of her story, she took Akayas hand, practically dragging her the short distance to where the boy and the beast still stood. "Akaya this is Aang. Aang this is Akaya, my best friend. She's the other waterbender I told you about."
"Nice to meet you and this is Appa my flying sky bison." Aang smiled, his hand moving to pat the fur of the animal lovingly. She heard a snort from behind her, seeing Katara throwing Sokka a glare.
"It's nice to meet you both. You must be exhausted, all of you must be. Come on will go to the village and get you settled in. We have a spare igloo for you to rest in" Akaya replied. The group made their way back towards the village, Appa bringing up the rear. Sokka immediately went home, grumbling about food. Katara and Akaya got Aang settled, bringing him to one of the vacant igloos. After bidding him goodnight, the girls made their way towards their homes.
"Akaya, he's another bender, an airbender. This..this could be what we've been waiting for. He could help us with our bending. Maybe he could take us to the North Pole to find a master. I mean if it's true about Appa he could get us there," The hope was evident in Katars voice, her eyes wide with determination and hope as she looked at her friend.
"Whoa let's slow down Katara. This is a lot to take in, especially for Aang." Akaya sighed, her eyes drifting back to the home they had just left. "He's going to have a lot to process."
"I don't like that she's out there with him on her own. We still don't know this guy," Akaya had to stop her eyes from rolling, dropping the small water wipe. She had lost count the number of times Sokka had complained about their new guest. Yes he was a stranger, but from what she had seen, Akaya felt Katara was safe with him. She had gotten the feeling, however, that he was not being completely truthful. She could see it on his face, and more importantly his eyes. She wandered about it, had wanted to ask him but did not want to over step.
"Sokka...for the last time please shut up." Sokka went to speak but Akaya was quicker, moving her hand over his mouth. "Look I understand your just trying to be a big brother but I trust Aang. Katara's safe with him."
When the hand was removed, Sokka sighed, his eyes casting down. "Look maybe I'm overreacting sure but my dad told me that I needed to protect the people here, to protect Katara. I don't want to fail him."
Akaya smiled a bit, her hand moving to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly. "And you have Sokka. Hakoda would be so proud of you, I know he would." Sokka's lips twitched up, looking at his friend.
"Thanks Ak-oh no." Noticing his gaze shift to something over her shoulder, she turned, her eyes widening to match his. In the distance against the clear skies, a single fire signal shot straight into the air.
"That came from the direction of…" Akaya couldn't finish her sentence, her eyes still locked onto the falling fire.
"The fire nation ship." Sokka finished through clenched teeth before running towards the village. It only took Akaya a few moments to get her bearings before she was on his heels.
Chaos. That was the word Akaya used to describe the scene. After finding out just how the flare had been sent, Sokka had immediately banished Aang, Kanna reluctantly agreeing with her grandson. Akaya did not agree. She agreed that it was completely stupid that the two had wandered onto the old navy ship. Katara had known better. But to outright banish the young airbender was something she could not fully get behind.
But the moment black soot started to blanket the snow, her focus shifted. She rushed through the village, ushering the youngest of her tribe into their homes, trying to sooth their cries as best she could. Katara had soon joined her, putting her own anger aside at the moment to help her people.
A shuddering rumbled the earth, stopping her in her tracks. Her eyes locked onto Kataras as silence fell onto the village. The rumbling grew, everyone's eyes directed towards the source. Through the mist, she could make out the black silhouette of a large ship, its speed steady and increasing the closer it got.
Which happened to be right in Sokka's path.
"SOKKA MOVE!" Akaya yelled, Katara joining her. Both girls stumbled, watching the ice crack beneath their feet as the ship drew closer to the village, breaking through the ice wall. Fortunately for Sokka, instead of being crushed by the bow of the ship, he was pushed down with the avalanche of snow that had been the wall.
An eerie silence fell over the village before it was broken by the mechanics of the ship. The bow of the vessel slowly lowered, the ramp landing with a thud against the snow covered ground. No one dared move, everyone's focus on the darkness that was the ship. Akaya chanced a step closer, her eyes narrowing to the entrance of the ramp.
From her vantage point she was able to make out figures as they descended from the ramp. She could make out the red and black of the fire nation uniform, most of the men's faces covered in skull masks. She shuddered, a cold sweat blanketing her neck suddenly. The last time she had seen those masks had been years ago when she was a child, when Kya had lost her life. She took note of the formation they were in, most of the men following behind a single person. Akaya assumed this was the man in charge.
A loud cry, brought Akayas eyes to her right gasping when she saw Sokka run towards the ramp, his spear held tightly in his hands. She wanted to shout at him to stop, but even she knew it would not do anything. He was his father's son. Both she and Katara flinched when he was disarmed by the leader, quickly being tossed to the side and into the large bank of snow, luckily unharmed.
The group of fire nation soldiers disembarked, making their way to where the group stood. Now that they were closer, Akaya could see the leader more clearly, confusion crossing her face. She had assumed the leader was a general or some admiral. But what she saw in front of her could be neither. The man in front of her looked no older than her, maybe 16 or 17. A small part of her brain, a very small part, thought he would have been quite handsome if it were not for the deep scowl on his face. While his helmet hid most of his features, her eyes immediately wandered to his left eye, taking note of the scarred tissue surrounding it. It was a burn from what she could make out, one that had happened some time ago with the way the skin looked.
"Where are you hiding him?" His voice was stern, as his eyes roamed through the gathered group in front of him. Everyone remained silent, from both fear and confusion.
Akaya's eyes widened, as his hands shot out grabbing hold of Kanna and pulling her forward, Katara moving to take a step forward. Akaya immediately stopped her, quickly shaking her head as both stared at the young man as he gripped Kannas parka.
"He'd be about this age, master of all elements?" the man continued to question, his only answer the silence he had gotten before. Huffing, he shoved Kanna forward, both Akaya and Katara catching her before she fell.
The man suddenly let out a yell, his hand moving forward as fire flew , arching towards the villagers. Cries and screams rang out as everyone moved back from the fires heat. When it finally died down, the man glared, his fists clenched, ready to unleash another torrent of fire. "I know your hiding him!"
A loud war cry tore through the air, Sokka rushing at the firebender with his weapon. But the young man was too quick, ducking down as Sokka flew over him, landing in the snow. Sokka was quick to move, dodging the fireball shot at him before one of the younger boys threw him a spear. Catching it, he lunged forward, aiming for the scarred man.
However he was ready, quickly destroying the spear in Sokkas hand before knocking him to the floor. When Akaya saw the fire burst from his fist, his glare directed at Sokka, something snapped. Quickly moving forward, her hands moved, bending the water from her waterskin, quickly guiding it to the fire and extinguishing it.
The firebender's glare moved to her, his amber eyes narrowing as they landed on the water peasant before him. A waterebender? From the stories he had been told and the rumors he had heard, there were no more waterbenders left in the South Pole. His eyes moved over her, taking in her stance and her posture. He would have laughed at her, her stance showing how inexperienced she truly was, if his anger was not so fueled.
"You dare attack me you water peasant." he spat the word as if it were an insult, quickly moving into a fighting stance as she did the same.
"Look however your looking for their not here so just go." Akaya kept her voice steady and firm, trying to show that she was not as terrified as she really was. When she noticed that he did not move from his stance, she took the initiative to attack first. Concentrating, her eyes shut as her hands moved fluidly forward towards the soldiers in front her.
"AKAYA!" Her eyes shot open at Sokka's yell. She chanced a glance behind her, groaning when she saw Sokka knocked over, his feet all the way to his calves frozen in solid ice. She cursed under her breath, realizing now she had been in wrong position to direct the ice at the fire nation soldiers.
"Sorry Sokka." She called out lamely before turning back to the young man in front her. He smirked, his hands catching fire once again.
"Want to try that again?" He mocked as he took a step towards her. She backed away, feeling Kataras hand move to hers.
Something caught Akayas eyes, a figure coming in fast from the distance. As it grew closer she was able to make out Aang on a….penguin? She didn't have much time to fully comprehend the sight before the airbender was barreling into the firebender, quickly taking the young man off of his feet. A cheer rang through the crowd as Aang came to a stop, the penguin knocking him off before simply waddling away.
"Hey guys." Aang said, shooting a smile over to Katara and I as we moved to help chip away the last bits of ice trapping Sokka's feet.
Akaya smiled, as she and Katara helped Sokka stand up. "Good to see you Aang." Looking at Sokka, she nudged him slightly, giving him a look.
Sighing a bit, he reluctantly looked over at the airbender, a look of embarrassment crossing his face. "Hi Aang, thanks for coming."
The group turned their gaze back to the soldiers, the young firebender moving to his feet as his men fanned out around him, surrounding Aang who took a defensive stance. WIthout the helmet, Akaya was able to get a better look, taking note of the mostly shaved head except for the the black ponytail. Yeah he would be handsome if he wasn't… Akaya quickly stopped that train of thought in an instant.
Taking note of his opponents, Aang quickly used his staff, bending the air around him, the snow slamming into the soldiers, knocking a few off their feet before staring at the firebender in front of him. "Looking for me?"
Zuko stared at the boy in front of him. Akaya noticed the confusion cross his face, as if he was not able to process the information he had just heard. And Akaya could agree with him. She had had an inkling that Aang had been hiding something but being the Avatar? That had been the last thing that had crossed her mind. "Your the airbender? Your the Avatar?"
Aang slowly nodded, gripping his staff as he and the firebender circled each other, both ready to strike. "I've spent years preparing for this encounter, training, meditating...your just a child!" The man exclaimed, almost insulted that he was facing a kid.
"Well your just a teenager?" Aang commented back. The comment seemed to only anger the firebender who quickly unleashed a fury of blows, the fire only inches from Aang who tried to deflect them the best he could with his staff. At one point, the fires spread out near the villagers. Akaya turned her body, trying to push back some of the younger children away from the flames. She could feel the heat, closer than before as the children cried out in fear.
Aang's eyes glanced to the village, moving to Katara as she shielded her grandmother before turning back to the firebender.
"If I go with you, will you promise to leave them alone?" Aang lowered his staff, still ready in case of a surprise attack. When he saw the stiff nod from the young man, he felt his arms grasped by two fire nation soldiers, before being ushered towards the ship.
Katra quickly moved forward, Akaya moving to take her arm to stop her. "Katara you can't." she whispered sadly as her friend starred after Aang, a look of anguish crossing her features.
"No Aang, don't do this." she pleaded, feeling her eyes water with tears as the young airbender turned his head, giving both girls a small smile.
"Don't worry Katara, It'll be ok." His eyes looked from her to Akaya. "Can you guys take care of Appa for me until I get back. Tell him it won't be long." The hope in his voice broke Akayas heart as she felt her own eyes water.
She nodded softly, giving a sad smile to him. "We will." They watched as the group ascended the ramp, disappearing into the ship, the ramp raising up behind them. Once it had secured, the engines started up again, the ship slowly pulling out onto the sea to make their journey back.
"Ok so the canoes a no go. How are we going after them? They have a huge head start and a giant fire naval ship." Sokka questioned, quickly removing his supplies out of the small canoe he had placed them in.
"I think I have a solution." Both siblings turned, smiling when they saw Akaya walking over, Appa lumbering after her. Seeing the astounded looks on her friends faces she snorted, moving to toss her pack up onto the saddle of the beast. "What? You didn't think I'd let you guys go off on an adventure without me did you?"
Katara rushed forward her arms moving around Akaya as they hugged, before pulling away, Sokka joined them, gripping Akayas shoulder as he gave her a smile. "Course not. Now come on." Sokka eyed the animal warily, still a bit unsure of him. The trio quickly loaded up the small supplies they had packed onto the saddle before scrambling up on top. Katara moved taking the reigns of Appa as Sokka and Akaya moved to settle down.
Akaya didn't know how long it had been that they were on the water but she knew at this pace their chances of catching up with the warship were slim. Katara had hoped that Aang had been right about Appa, that the bison could really fly, but right now her hope was slowly starting to diminish.
"Go, fly, soar." Sokka droned on to Akayas annoyance.
"Knock it off ok, that is not helping the situation." She said as Sokka turned to her.
"Hey its not my fault. Aang said he could fly but I'm not seeing any flying. At this rate by the time we catch up with the warship, will be 100 years old." Akaya knew that Sokka was right, even though he was extremely over exaggerating. They were so far behind and they would need some kind of miracle to make it.
"Please Appa we need your help." Katara said softly, getting only a loud snort from the animal below them. Sokka continued to rattle off commands, quickly stopping when a kick to the leg from Akaya hit him.
Akaya moved to the edge of the saddle, her hand moving to stroke against his fur. "Please buddy. Aang needs your help. Sokka doesn't believe you can fly but Katara and I, we do." She said softly, her hand continuing to stroke the beast soothingly.
Rubbing the area she had kicked, Sokka sat back, looking forward. "What was it that kid said? Yee-ha? Hup-Hup? Wa-Hoo? Uh..Yip-Yip?" The group tensed, quickly grabbing a hold of something as Appa let out a loud growl, the sound shaking them all. One moment they were on the water, the next they were soaring in the air, the land below them slowly growing smaller.
Akaya gasped, quickly moving to look over the edge, laughing as the wind whipped around them. "Oh my god were flying!"
"You did it Sokka!" Katara yelled, her hands moving to tighten on the reigns as Sokka stood to his feet, a smile plastered across his face.
"HE'S FLYING! HE'S FLYING! GUYS HES-," Sokka stopped, noticing both girls giving him a knowing smile. He blushed, moving to sit back on the saddle. "I mean big deal he's flying." While Sokka tried to brush it off, Akaya saw the small smile still on his face as he continued to watch the water below them.
With their new form of travel, the trio quickly picked up ground and soon enough, the looming warship was in sight below them. Katara urged Appa furthur, the animal picking up a bit of speed as they continued. As they drew closer, they could make out two figures on the ships deck, engaged in some sort of combat. Once they were a bit closer, they could see one figure shrouded in all red, the other in orange and yellow. Aang.
"Guys hes-" Akaya couldn't finish her sentence. In that moment, she watched as fire fanned out towards the airbender, connecting with him and sending him spiraling down into the waters below.
"AANG NO!" Katara screamed. Akaya moved without thinking, starting to shred her large parka. Sokka saw what she was doing, moving to grab her arms in an attempt to stop her.
"No are you crazy! A jump like that will kill you." He said, both their eyes moving to the still waters below them. They all waited with baited breath, hoping for some sign that Aang was still alive.
Moments passed before a rippling on the water's surface caught their attention. Suddenly the surface broke and Aang was up, a whirlpool of water surrounding his body and propelling him up. They could see the glow coming off of him, his arrow and eyes completely consumed as he landed back on the ship. He easily used the water, bending it to his will as he whipped it towards the fire nation soldiers, sending a good portion of them over the railings.
"Did you see what he just did?" Katara said, her eyes still locked on the deck below them. For all the years they had practiced, they had never come close to anything that they had just seen.
"Now that was some waterbending." Sokka said, Akaya nodding, unable to really speak after what she had just witnessed. Katara moved to take back the reins, steering Appa down and towards the ship were he landed. As soon as they touched down, they quickly slid from the saddle running towards the fallen airbender.
"Aang are you ok?" Katara was the first to his side, kneeling beside him and helping him sit up. He groaned slightly, his eyes slowly opening to look at the three of them.
"Hey Katara. Hey Sokka. Hey Akaya. Thanks for coming" He said tiredly. Akaya smiled a bit, moving to help Katara stand him up.
"Well we couldn't let you go off an have all of the fun." They moved towards Appa, knowing they needed to get out as soon as they could. Akaya quickly climbed back onto the saddle, leaning down to take Aang's hands and helping him up.
A commotion made both girls turn their heads, seeing Sokka struggling with Aang's staff. Akaya saw the young firebender, gripping the end as he tried to climb back up. Sokka used this to his advantage, quickly poking the end against his head before he lost grip, falling back. "HA! That's from the water tribe." Sokka called out raising the staff up victoriously.
"Katara we got company." Akaya called down, seeing a few soldiers rush up from below deck taking fighting stances. Katara moved into one of her stances, bending the water on the deck around her. However, instead of going forward, the water rushed backwards quickly freezing behind her, to Sokka's annoyance.
"Oh come on, not again." He called out, quickly starting to chip at the ice with his boomerang.
"Katara position your body facing the other way." At Akayas urging Katara quickly re-positioned herself. Closing her eyes she moved again, repeating the move once more. Turning she gasped, the soldiers frozen in place before her.
"Oh my god! I did it!" Katara celebrated, quickly smiling up at Akaya who had a matching one plastered across her face.
"Good job Katara! Will celebrate later when our lives aren't in peril come on." She reached down, helping her friend up the saddle before calling out to Sokka. "Sokka hurry we need to go."
"I'm coming, I'm coming." He finished chipping away at the ice, rushing over to Appa before pulling himself up and into the saddle. "Yip-Yip! Yip-Yip!" At Sokka's urging Appa moved forward, taking to the skys quickly. As the group continued their escape, something on the deck of the ship caught Akayas attention.
"Um Aang got a little problem down there." She called out to the airbender. When he turned and saw the flames shooting towards them, he grabbed his staff using it to send a large blast of air. As both elements connected, the fire was redirected, slamming instead into the wall of the glacier. The ice crumbled sliding down and connecting with the ship, stopping it in their tracks.
"Nice one Aang." Katara called as Sokka cheered, laughing and pointing down towards the ship as the group continued on their journey.
"Who was that guy?" Akaya questioned, her focus glancing back to the direction they had just flown from.
"I heard someone call him Prince Zuko when I was on the ship." Aang said, moving to take the reins from Katara.
Prince Zuko? Why was a prince from the fire nation searching for the Avatar. Most people believed after a 100 years that the Avatar had been dead. It made no sense that there were active searches, let alone by the fire nation prince.
"How did you do that back there with the water? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen." Katara exclaimed, all three of them looking to Aang.
"Yeah it was incredible. I haven't even learned how to do anything close to what you did." Akaya commented.
Aang shrugged a bit, staring out over the vast land below them. "I don't know. I just sort of did it."
"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" Katara was the first to broach the subject that had been hanging over the group.
"Because I never wanted to be." Aang turned his head away, his shoulders slumping at the confession. Akaya felt something pull on her heart at seeing the young boy so vulnerable. Avatar or not he was still a kid with a whole world of problems thrust onto his shoulders.
"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war." Katara said gently, not wanting to further upset her new friend at the reality of what needed to be done.
"And how am I going to do that?" Aang questioned, turning to look at Katara.
"According to legend, you need to first master water, then earth, then fire right?" Katara said, remembering the stories that her gran-gran had told them growing up.
"That's what the monks told me." Aang said, making Katara smile.
"Well if we go to the North Pole then you can master waterbending." Katara said enthusiastically.
It seemed to spread to Aang, who quickly smiled as he looked from Katara to Akaya.
"We can all learn it together." he quickly added to both girls excitement.
"And Sokka I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way." Katara turned to her brother, Akaya laughing a bit as he smirked at the idea.
"Plus," Akaya looked at Aang, moving to grasp his hand gently. "You have us to help. You won't have to do this on your own." Aang smiled gratefully, bowing his head towards her.
"Thanks Akaya." Turning he quickly pulled a rolled piece of parchment out before spreading it out before them. "All right but before I learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to here, here and here." he quickly pointed to a few places on the map as the other three huddled around.
"What do we need to do here?" Akaya asked, pointing to one of the places Aang had stated.
"Well there were going to ride the hopping llamas. Then way over here we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish.." as Aang continued going on and on about what needed to be done, Akaya couldn't help but laugh, leaning back on the saddle.
Just the other day, the young waterbender had been going about her life, continuing to practice, to perfect her skill the best she could, complacent to spend her days in the south pole. Now she was on the back of a flying sky bison with a 100 year old airbender talking about riding wild hog monkeys.
If only her dad could see her now.