Chapter 11: The Western Air Temple

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs that are included in this story. They're all owned by Disney. I only picked them because they fitted perfectly in the story.

Normal POV

A flash of light appeared out of nowhere and suddenly the whole group was standing in a remote place in the woods, far from the cave they had been hiding in before.

"Are you okay, Femke?" dizanna asked worriedly as she looked at Femke, who had used all her energy to teleport the whole group out of Miss Faragonda's office and to this remote safe place.

"Yeah, I'm going to be fine." Femke said as she accepted a drink, then slowly rose to her feet and looked around. "You think they won't find us here?" The brunette asked as she looked around with a scared look in her eyes, her eyes glowing up yellow in the dark as she scanned the area for possible dangers.

"I think they won't, we will be fine here until the suns up. After that we go on." Ilena said as she climbed into a tree and sat down there "I will stand watch and wake you up in case something happens." She said as she looked out over the now peaceful woods while Dizanna and Selvia each chose a nearby tree.

"We will all stand watch. Get your rest. You will need all your strength again tomorrow" Dizanna said as she looked down at Femke with a small smile on her face which made Femke nod and just roll out her sleeping bag, none of them feeling the need to set up a camp for the few hours of rest they would take before moving on as they let themselves drift off to sleep.

Femke's POV

The next morning we all rose with the sun, and despite the fact that everyone had slept less than normal, we were in a good mood and happily talking about all kinds of things as we traveled through the forest. Ilena, Dizanna, Selvia and I through the treetops as the rest followed on the ground.

"Catch!" I called, smiling after a while as I threw some fruits I had found in the forest. Zaheer handily catched what I threw at him and handed the stuff out to the others, who looked at the food happily.

"Where did you get all this?" Xai Bau asked as he looked at some of the fruits with surprise since it was near winter and already getting quite cold outside. Despite that I had been able to find this in some nearby fruit trees people of the nearby wood Villages had forgotten to empty.

"From fruit trees nearby. They belong to the Wood Villages." I explained with a small smile on my face.

"That things like this still grow. It's well into winter." Xai Bau observed as he took a bite from the piece of fruit and cleaned his mouth with his shirt, which made Tziza prod him with her elbow. "Show some manners. You should set an example." Tziza told him, who shrugged in return.

"They're old and wise enough to know they shouldn't copy whatever I do." The man said with his mouth full, which earned him another prod.

"Also, we're elves, we always do that kind of stuff." Floxy added with a grin on his face as he copied Xai Bau, which made a gave him a stern look to tell him that was just disgusting.

"That doesn't mean you should behave like this." Tziza snapped, which made me giggle.

"Grouch." I heard both Floxy and Xai Bau mumble which made me chuckle, while Tziza gave Xai Bau another prod in his side. "Stop whining. Let's just focus on not getting caught." Tziza said firmly.

"It's just the truth." Xai Bau mumbled, at which Tziza gave him a firm look, before she turned back to me.

"Any idea where we are heading?" Tziza asked me as I got to the top of a tree and took a good look at my surroundings, suddenly realizing we were heading West and if the landscape hadn't changed to much we were close to the Western Air Temple.

"Right now we're near the Western Air Temple." I said as I came down and took a bite from one of the fruits myself.

"Is the temple still deserted?" Tziza asked, since she might have heard I have been in the position to ask these kinds of things, though it hadn't ever crossed my mind to ask if there were any Air Nomads living in the Western Temple right now, since I never wanted to go into the temple myself again.

"I haven't actually asked if the temple was used again. I think we should carefully investigate if there is anyone there." I replied as I sped through the trees after my friends who were already ahead of me. I saw the others looked at us with smiling faces as we traveled like this for quite some time, only stopping for quick rests when they were really needed. For the rest we stayed on the move for as long as possible to make the gap between us and our followers as big as possible. Every now and then I turned around and used my Earthbending to erase out tracks together with Ghazan. We stopped when the sun was fully gone to set up a quick camp and as some slept, others stood guard.

"You know, I actually kind of missed being on the run. This is life." Ghazan said as he lied down on his sleeping bag and looked at the stars above us with a smirk on his face. "The constellations followed us to this realm it seems. Nice of them to keep watch over us up there." Ghazan smirked as he pointed out the constellations, which looked indeed exact the same as on Earth now I looked closer.

"I have never been on the run before but you're right, this is quite fun." Crossia smiled as she looked at the stars as well. "I mean, look at those stars, they're exactly the same as at home in Pixie Village, how awesome is that?" She smirked as she and Ghazan high fived.

"Hey Femke, care to sing that song again? The one you sang right before Ming and Ghazan's lives, well, almost ended." P'li asked as she looked at me with a small smile on her face as she fed her bounded elf some of her food.

"Song? Did I miss something?" Zaheer asked as he looked away from the stars.

"Femke and the girls sang this song about outcasts and everyone being children of a god she believes in." P'li tried to explain.

"Femke likes to sing. Trust me. I know." Floxy grinned as he looked at me which made me smile, Floxy cared about me a lot, that was for sure.

"What kind of song did you sing, Femke?" Lenny asked as he stole some fruit from the plate of his bound Fairy fast as lightning, shooting him a devious smirk as he did so. "Did you make it up?"

"The song's called 'God help the outcasts'. It's a song from the movie 'Hunchback of Notre Dame' on Eart. It's a movie about a boy who was deformed and was shunned because of his appearance and the lies the evil Judge Claude Frollo told him." I explained as I sat up and looked at my friends with a smile on my face.

"This evil man was hunting the Romani who were in his eyes helpers of the devil, in the song the Romani girl Esmeralda pleads for God to have mercy on them and help her and her people as well as all the other outcasts since their God's children as well." I smiled as I finished my explanation.

"That Frollo sounds like a real bastard." Ghazan commented. "He sounds awesome if you ask me." Rex commented with a smirk on his face.

"No he wasn't. He did what he thought was right but… that doesn't excuse what he did. Not to mention in the end he did all those things to get Esmeralda for himself." I said as I thought about the things Frollo had done during the movie, especially what he sang during his song 'Hellfire'. He did what he thought was right, but in that forgot the true meaning of Christianity and Jesus Christ's Sacrifice.

"That sounds a lot like what we did. We did what we thought was right. Doing whatever we thought was necessary to get to that goal. But we went to far. Hurt innocent people. And in the end we were just…. selfish." Zaheer observed as he looked down with a pondering look.

"In a way. But you redeemed yourself by turning back before it was too late. Frollo fell from the Notre Dame and died." I said as I remembered that scene.

"I remember singing. So that was you." Ming Hua said, which made me look up at her, surprised since I hadn't expected she heard that.

"You heard me sing?" I asked surprised, which made both Ming Hua and Ghazan nod.

"We also heard you last words to us. Pretty melodramatic if you ask me." Ming Hua smirked as she gave me a small hug, which I returned happily since it wasn't usual for Ming Hua to hug people.

"I thought it was kinda nice. You're quite the singer." Ghazan said as he rubbed Ming Hua over her hair, who looked up at him, annoyed.

"I didn't said she couldn't sing. But those last words to us were quite melodramatic." Ming Hua snapped as she shot Ghazan a glare.

I don't know if You can hear me

Or if You're even there

I don't know if You would listen

To a Gypsy's prayer

I started singing softly before they would start fighting which made Ming Hua look up at me surprised, recognizing the song from when she had been in her dying moments, while Rex huffed and went to sit somewhere else, not wanting to be a part of this since he was still an Elf and it wasn't in the Elves' nature to like singing and things like that.

Yes, I know I'm just an outcast

I shouldn't speak to you

Still I see Your face and wonder

Were You once an outcast too?

"That's pretty rough." Ghazan commented, which made everyone else shush him.

"Just saying." Ghazan huffed as I ignored it and sang on.

God help the outcasts

Hungry from birth

Show them the mercy

They don't find on earth

God help my people

We look to You still

God help the outcasts

Or nobody will

I ask for wealth

I ask for fame

I ask for glory to shine on my name

I ask for love I can possess

I ask for God and His angels to bless me

Ilena, Dizanna, Selvia and P'li now sang, P'li smiling a little as she joined in, since this must be the first time she sang.

I ask for nothing

I can get by

But I know so many

Less lucky than I

Please help my people

The poor and downtrodden

I thought we all were

The children of God

God help the outcasts

Children of God

I ended, which made everyone clap while I saw Tziza dab her eyes inconspicuously.

"Now that is over, we might get some sleep." Ming Hua said as she lied down, not at all liking it when I sang.

"Let's get some rest now. Tomorrow will be another busy day." I yawned as we all laid down for the night.

"Night, everyone." Floxy yawned as he crawled down next to me.

"Night!" everyone else replied before we quickly went to sleep.

Somewhere halfway through the night I shook awake from a strange sensation in the ground. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before I silently slipped in a tree and had a look around. There was nothing to be seen; all was quiet around us yet I felt the tremors in the earth. Like something was moving. Something huge.

"You felt it too, didn't you?" A voice called from behind me, causing me to slightly jump in shock, only to see Selvia was standing behind me rubbing out her eyes as she stood on the tree branch near me.

"Yes. It feels like something is moving. Something huge." I replied as I got a small knife from my pocket and stuck it in a tree to hear the tremors better.

"They sound like Mech Suits. A lot of them coming this way." I said after I listened for a while, then got up and ran to were my friends were sleeping.

"Guys, get up! We got to go!" I nervously said as I shook them awake. P'li immediately sat up as I said this and looked at me, shocked.

"What's wrong?" She asked as I shook Ming Hua awake and Ghazan awake.

"You think they're coming for us?" Yucca asked as she and the other Elves used their magic to mess the area up to cover our tracks.

"We heard Mecha Suits coming this way. We got to go before they see us." I said as I tried to wake Zaheer up. The older man didn't. Of course.

"they are. I'll carry Zaheer." Xai Bau said as he lifted zaheer in his arms with ease, before we all started to run.

"Spirits, he is light as a feather." I heard Xai Bau mumble as we started running through the woods in no specific direction at all. As long as we got away from the Mecha Suits.

"Do you suppose they were from Kuvira's Army?" P'li asked as we ran, looking back every now and then to make sure we weren't being followed.

"I think so, that's why we need to get out of here." I said, Floxy on my shoulder holding on to my hair to keep himself there.

"Who is this Kuvira anyway?" Rex asked.

"Kuvira is the dictator that took charge after we took down the Earth Queen. She is even worse, though we aren't going to do anything about her since we claimed to have changed." I told Rex as we ran away from the army as fast as we could while we erased our tracks as well to avoid chasers to find us.

"She sounds like my type of person." Rex smirked.

"Not really, she is trouble. She does anything to get what she wants. Or at least that is what I heard." I said with a stern look. "Exactly like an Elf." Rex said, which made I rolled my eyes at him, even do it was the truth.

"If Kuvira had gotten her hands on us we would have been dead. Unlike when the White Lotus would have captured us." I said, still running.

"You suppose we lost them?" Ghazan asked after a long while of running.

"I don't feel anything anymore. We might be able to get some rest here." I puffed as I gulped down some water since I had gotten quite thirsty from the long running we had done.

"After a quick rest we better move on. I know we're all exhausted but we can't afford to rest with the sun up." Xai Bau said as he put Zaheer down and shook him awake.

"Zaheer! Wake up!" Xai Bau yelled as he shook Zaheer awake, who had slept through two hours of running and fleeing from whatever had been after us until now.

"What? What's going on?" He asked sleepily as he rubbed his eyes out.

"We have to get moving again. Were being followed." Xai Bau said as he helped Zaheer on his feet, who yawned and stretched.

"Nice going, letting us do all the hard work." Floxy joked, which made me chuckle a little.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Zaheer gruffed as he rubbed his eyes out.

"Because that would have taken too long. We had to get out of there fast." Xai Bau replied.

"When it comes to emergencies I can get up faster." Zaheer protested as we all started to walk again, not wanting to spend too much time in the same spot.

"As Guru Tziza said: once lazy. Always lazy." Tziza quipped as she came walking next to Zaheer, shooting a worried looking Xai Bau a stern glare to tell him that he shouldn't try and aid this behavior again.

"Where are we going? We can't stay on the run forever." Xai Bau asked while we walked a little slower now so everyone could catch their breath for a moment.

"I have no idea. But we have to find a place to rest soon, I'm exhausted." I huffed as I rubbed the sweat from my forehead before using my seismic sense to look around, smiling as I suddenly felt where we were.

"I think i found a place to hide. If it's empty." I said as I walked to the edge of the cliff and sensed down with my seismic sense to scan the area; deserted like it had been back then.

"Where?" Zaheer asked as he got next to me, stopping when he realized where we were.

"We don't see anything." The Elves stated as they looked around, confused, while Arsenio and Sapphire flew over the edge and looked down.

"Wow!" Sapphire said as she looked back at the group with a smile on her face.

"There is an entire place down there." Arsenio said as I gasped at the it in awe, while Ghazan and the others came close and looked down as well.

"The western air temple." Ghazan said as he made a stairs with his earthbending so we could get down.

"This place is even more amazing then I remember it to be." Tziza said as I let out a yawn.

"It has something. I have to admit." Narcissa said.

"Femke is right. We should sleep first then get exploring." Ghazan said as he headed down. We all plopped down our luggage and sat down on our sleeping bags near what was left of the fountain.

"Good idea. Yeah, despite the history here it is quite the place." I replied. 'If only that whole thing with Combustion Man had never happened.' I thought as I lied down in my sleeping bag and closed my eyes, soon falling in a deep sleep. I later wished i hadn't.
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I was in the same dream as before; in the middle of the fight between Combustion Man and Team Avatar but this time I was experiencing the whole battle from the perspective of Combustion Man and did I hear his thoughts ring through my head as the battle continued. Most of his thoughts were about the battle; 'now where did they go?' or 'I need to focus' but sometimes I heard thoughts that had nothing to do with the battle. Like the ones before his Death.

"Li... Lee... Oh sh-...!" I heard his thoughts, right before I heard the explosion and right before I woke up I felt a hellish pain on my forehead.
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end of dream
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I yelled hard as I placed my hands on my forehead and rubbed firmly over my it as I woke up. It was light outside and most of the others were already awake. Only P'li was still asleep in her sleeping bag and smiled while doing so.

'Thank goodness I didn't wake her up.' I thought as I sat up and rubbed out my eyes, gasping as I saw something strange. A transparent man was standing next to P'li, looking at her kindly as he bent down and stroked her over her hair with his one arm. His other arm and leg at the same side were missing.

'Why is he doing that?' I thought as I lied down again quickly and hid under my covers, peeking from under them, hoping he would turn around so I would be able to see his face. He didn't. The spirit disappeared again after a small moment, as P'li woke up.

'It must have been my imagination. Must have been.' I thought as I closed my eyes and tried to forget about the strange spirit I had seen as I let myself drift off to sleep again.

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And with that I end the tenth chapter of the story. I hope you all enjoyed reading it!

A/N:

I thought it would be nice idea to let the team flee from place to place a little before reaching the Western Air temple, because the White Lotus members would be after them, trying to bring them to Justice.

The Mecha Suits they felt were on their way to Republic City for the final battle.

Keep the scene in mind with the strange spirit sitting by P'li. It is going to play a part in the next chapter.

Well, that was all for now. Thanks for reading and thanks paranoidgirl for doing such a awesome job as beta reader!

Please review!