AN: A new chapter? Is this real? Are we living in a crazy alternate reality where I have copious time to write fanfiction all of the sudden? Yes, the answer is yes.
Edit: Some changes were made to the end of this chapter, please be sure to re-read it before moving on to the next chapter
Chapter Fourteen: The Temple
According to Katara's map, the Western Air temple was on the edge of a large canyon. There was no ocean access to the temple, they would need to dock the ship and walk several miles before they reached it.
Iroh was surprisingly fit for his age and figure. Katara had offered to go ahead and request a bison be sent down for Iroh, but Iroh insisted on escorting her. She discovered, however, that when they reached the edge of the canyon, she was the one panting. Katara looked over the edge of the canyon, it was quiet, serene, and distinctly empty.
"There's nothing here?" She said, "Maybe we missed it?" She asked, swiveling her head back and forth, looking along the edge of the canyon for any signs of civilization in the distance. Iroh began to laugh.
"Good old Western Air Temple." He chuckled.
"What are you talking about?" Katara harped, she must have read the map wrong. Suddenly, a loud gust of wind passed them by, followed by another and another. Three Air Nomads on gliders landed around them.
"State your business." The eldest looking of the trio commanded. Iroh squinted at the man.
"Tashi? Is that you? You're so old." Iroh exclaimed.
"Iroh?" The old man yelled back, "You're so fat!" The old men both rang out with a cackling laughter. Katara sighed in relief. One day she would have to thank Iroh for having so many friends.
"Do not be alarmed, brothers. This is Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation. He is an old friend of Aang's." The two other men relaxed.
"My apologies for the hostility. This is Monk Manko and Monk Kunchen. Due to recent events we have been wary of outsiders, especially those carrying the Fire Nation insignia. Although, I am guessing recent events are why you are here?" Tashi asked.
"It is. This is Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, and I'm afraid we have some unsettling information to share. Could you call a council of elders?" Iroh asked.
"I can. But first, let us get off this hillside." Tashi linked arms with Iroh and the two floated off the cliff.
"An honor to meet you Miss Katara, may I offer my assistance for the ride down." One of the remaining Monks, Manko, extended his elbow to Katara. She glanced again at the empty canon, then reluctantly took Monk Manko's arm.
They plunged into the canyon. Katara closed her eyes as they seemingly fell. But she was quickly met with solid ground. She opened her eyes, looking around at the temple. It was no wonder she couldn't see the temple before, they were under the hillside, tucked away from plain sight. She looked up above her and was met with large hanging structures. The temple was built of massive stone that stretched down into deep tunnels and ramps. The stone was white and gleaming, well cared for. People of all ages whizzed around the temple, loud, lively chatter filling the once quiet canyon.
"Welcome to the Western Air Temple Katara. The pride of the Air Nation." Iroh said, smiling. Katara spun around, still trying to find her bearings. She dizzily squinted to focus on the two figures running slowly towards them.
"Father. Did you discover the invad- Iroh?" The man stopped short. "Iroh!" One of the men exclaimed, faltering his run. He was the taller, and apparently older, of the two, adorning a peppered beard. The other man looked like a younger copy of the other, slightly shorter, with a trim black beard, and missing the tattoos of a master airbender.
"Tenrao my friend." Iroh said. "It is good to see you. Katara, this is Tenrao, Aang's grandson." The two men bowed in sync.
"Ahh. You must be the famed Princess of Ice and Fire." the elder man, Tenrao, said.
"I-haven't heard that one before. It is an honor to meet anyone in Aang's family." She said, returning the bow.
"Are your aunt's and uncle's here? I am afraid we have some urgent news to share." Iroh said to Tenrao.
"They are still in the South, but Yama and Rinchin are here, as are my children. You of course remember Tenji." Tenrao said to Iroh.
"Of course. Although I don't think I recognized you all grown up. Last I remember you were as short as I am. And the beard is sure new." Iroh said, as if it was a joke that only Iroh knew.
"Mock me all you want old man. It won't make you any less of an old man." Tenji jested.
"If you ask me, age has only made me handsomer." Iroh laughed again. Katara scowled, so slightly that perhaps she had only done it in her head, the cheerfulness was ill-timed.
"Well I am sure you two must be tired after your journey. I will have rooms made up for you so that you can rest while I gather the council." Tenrao stated, nodding to two women standing nearby who quickly ran off. They didn't look like the other monks, but Katara supposed she had never seen a women airbender. They dressed in thick gowns and noticeably had no markings.
"Ah yes, I could use a long nap. Katara I am sure would love to see the temple. Tenji, since you are not busy doing anything else it seems why don't you offer to show Katara around."
"Oh, yeah sure. Um, right this way?" he held out his arm, quite uncomfortably for Katara to follow. She trailed behind him as he led her out of the atrium and into the heart of the temple.
Katara spotted another of the gowned women polishing a statue.
"I didn't realize the Air Nation had servants." Katara said as they passed her.
"Huh?" Tenji glanced in Katara's line of sight. "Oh that's not a servant, that's Menki. Hi Menki!" Tenji waved, the girl looked up and smiled, before returning to to her polishing.
"She's an Acolyte. So were the women you saw earlier." Tenji said.
"An acolyte?"
"They're an order of monks devoted to preserving our culture. They helped the Avatar and the other Air Nomads rebuild the temples after the Fire Nation attacked." Tenji answered. Katara wondered if preserving the culture was just a nicer way to describe the help.
"You don't actually have to give me a tour of the temple. I think I would rather rest anyway." Katara said.
"Oh okay. I'll show you to one of our guest rooms." Tenji made an abrupt turn down an offshoot hallway.
"Thank you."
"I have to ask though, it's been so long since I've seen him, is Iroh always that… weird?" Tenji asked. Katara snorted.
"Oh yeah. That's Iroh, the "Crazy old guy" as Zu-Zuko liked to call him." Katara caught on her words. The liveliness of the temple had distracted her from him, if only momentarily.
"Zuko? That's-was your husband right? The prince?" Tenji asked. Katara had been waiting. Waiting for someone to mention him, or offer their condolences, tear her heart open again, and now here it was happening again. Only it was her mistake, she was the one who had been unable to go without mentioning him.
"Yeah-I'd rather not talk about it." Katara said quickly.
"That's okay. If you ever need it though, Gramps taught me how to make jelly tarts for every kind of feeling. I can tell you first hand, they don't work, but the sugar and dough are a good distraction." Katara chuckled, she wouldn't have gotten that kind of response from anyone at the North. Air Nomads were good at letting things roll off their shoulders.
"Gramps? Does that mean Aang?" Aang hadn't spoken much about his family, other than his wife, but Katara knew that he had many children, and even more grandchildren,she hoped they wouldn't hate her when they learned that she had been the unsuspecting bait that had lured him to his death.
"Sure does, he insisted on the name, I think he thought it was funny or something." Tenji slowed to a halt.
"Well, here it is. There should be some fresh food and water in there for you. And sleep as long as you'd like, someone will come get you when the council is ready." Tenji said, showing her an open door. Katara thanked him and closed the door behind her, welcoming the solitude.
A meeting was organized quickly. Katara had barely drifted to sleep when there was a knock at her door. One of the women from earlier, an acolyte, showed her though the temple into a meeting room. There was no table or chairs, rather, the Monks sat on the matted floor in a large circle.
Iroh was already there, looking rather well rested and nodded for her to sit in the space next to him. She recognized some of the men from earlier. Tenrao, as well as the three Monks who greeted them, Manko, Kunchen and Tashi. She also noticed several women monks, whom she had not met, but one she thought she recognized from a photo Aang had once shown her of his grandchildren. When the last seat in the circle had been filled the meeting began.
"Thank you all for meeting on such short notice." One monk spoke up, which Katara didn't recognize. He was a small frail with a white beard that grew into his lap. He spoke with a wavering but strong voice. Katara guessed he must be the eldest member of their council.
"We are joined today by two honored guests. Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation and Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. They have come with important news. It is imperative that we all receive the gravity of what they tell us without interruption or outrage. Prince Iroh, you may have the floor."
"Thank you brothers and sisters, I think it is best that this story come straight from the source." He nodded to Katara. She took a deep breath as she began to speak. She told them of Aang's assassination and Zuko's very intimate alibi. She told them of their discovery and their plans to flee. Katara didn't cry when she told them of his death, of how they waited in the harbor for days. Instead her voice was full of cold rage. She needed them to know how angry she was, she needed them to be angry too.
This time her story was neither questioned or protested. When she finished the room filled with a cacophony of competing voices, shocked at the Fire Nation's betrayl, afraid of attack. But their belief in her story was unquestioned. Eventually, one voice snuffed them all out. Katara remembered him, Kunchen.
"Avatar Aang saved our people. Without him, our culture, our lives would be lost. But he also changed us. Without him, we would have no families, know no duties other than to ourselves. Before Aang we feared no losses. But we are a changed gpeople, we know pacifism has its limits, and abstaining from the terrors of the world is not a victimless act. The world was nearly destroyed by the Fire Nation once before. We will not make the same mistakes as our ancestors. We have no military to offer you. But we can offer our allegiance." Katara felt flush, it was her first victory.
"Our bison are the fastest mode of transport on the planet. We offer them to you to send messages to wherever you need." The elder monk declared and suddenly the game was changed. Katara was no longer a lone foot soldier, preparing to face an army of cavalry. She no longer needed to be the sole driving force of the coming war.
They began immediately. Katara oversaw the sending and receiving of messages. First to the Southern Water Tribe. The North would not fight for her, but the South would. The coastal towns of the Earth Kingdom were warned first, Katara did not know how Ozai would strike. But she knew he would start with the weak and vulnerable. The work consumed her, allowing the weeks to pass by quickly. But the Flying Bison were only so fast, which meant Katara spent most of her time waiting.
Tenji had become her unsuspecting waiting companion. He was always popping up whenever she was alone, waiting for a bison to return. Katara knew it was because he had been unofficially assigned to "watch her" by Iroh and the elder monks, Iroh's attempts to hide that fact was not his greatests act of stealth.
Despite the whole charade of it all, Katara liked Tenji. She imagined he might be what a younger Aang was like: carefree and unconcerned with customs or proper behavior.
Tenji showed her the river at the base of the canyon, it was the perfect place for her to train without worrying about hurting anyone, or the temple itself. He didn't train with her, but seemed perfectly content lying on the perimeter of the river bed and watching.
"So you're like Aang then?" Tenji asked Katara. They had been at the river only an hour or so, she had been practicing daming the water, forcing the water to turn on it's current and creating a temporary wall. It wasn't a legitimate defensive technique as it was an exercise in control. It was one thing to work with still water, it was another thing entirely to conquer a rushing current.
"What do you mean?" Katara asked as she lifted the water up and held it. One, two, three seconds and she could feel the current breaking through, she let the water flow back down into the river.
"You know, one of those great prodigies who masters their bending before they master puberty?" Tenji said, tossing a pebble in the air and holding it in suspension above him.
"I'm not like Aang. He was born with a gift, I didn't even start my training, real training that is, until half a year ago. Before that I could hardly shape the water, let alone use it." Katara huffed between breaths. She was "breathing like a firebender" as Aang would put it.
"So you started less than a year ago and you're already a master? Sounds like a prodigy to me?"
"Who said I was a master?" She huffed out again. "You have to let your breath blend together into one smooth, never ending movement." Aang had explained to her. "If you were a firebender, sending out bursts of energy into the world to create a life of its own, those short breaths would be perfect. But a waterbender must stay connected to her element at all times. Uncontrolled fire can still burn and destroy, but uncontrolled water is, well, a puddle." She refocused her breath. Slow and smooth was her mantra as she contorted the water from the river, she was far from a Master.
"Iroh, he refers to you as 'Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe' Didn't you notice?" Katara hadn't noticed.
"He just says that stuff to be nice." She held the water wall up again, counting, one, two, three, fo-crash. The wall collapsed back into the river. Katara bent a shield around her, keeping the water from knocking her down.
"I think you're too hard on yourself. Look at me, I'm what, three years older than you and I'm not even a master yet. Which is normal, it's only weirdos like you and gramps who are making the rest of us look bad." Tenji exclaimed. Katara trudged through the river, ringing out the water from her clothes as she made it to the riverbed. The rock Tenji had been levitating, wavered and fell, hitting him square in the forehead.
"I think you are capable of looking bad all on your own." Katara said with a laugh.
"It's hard you know. Being the descendant of the Great Avatar Aang. Lots of pressure to live up to. " He spoke like he was joking but Katara knew that there was truth behind his words.
"You're right, it must be hard, trying to live up to the greatest prankster that ever lived. I don't know how he did it." Katara responded.
"Oh, well then you must be mistaken. You see, when it comes to pranks, I am the grandmaster." In a split of a second he bent a gust of wind to the tree above, shaking all the leaves down onto Katara."
"Oh dear, you couldn't be foolish enough to challenge a Water bender to a prank battle… next to a river?" Katara stood shaking the leaves off of her.
"Yes, but it's no use now. You've given away your prank. Pranks only work when you are suspecting them" Katara sighed.
"You're right." Suddenly, Tenji jumped from the stone he was seated on, yelping as a burst of hot steam whistled out of the rock. Katara began to laugh.
"The-" she gasped from laughter, "thing-" gasp "about water" gasp "is you can find it" gasp "in the most unexpected places." Katara grinned.
"Oh just you wait, I will get my revenge. When you least expect it." Tenji snickered. A large breeze came from the tree tops. Katara and Tenji looked up, the sky bison had finally returned.
"We should go back. See what news they have." Tenji grabbed his glider and the two flew back up to the temple.
Apparently the Avatar took on very few students throughout his life. Katara knew this, but she never thought of the implications of being the Avatar's student. According to the Air Nomads, the Avatar only taught those he trusted most. This meant her word was as good as Aang's to the Air Nomads. Between Katara and Iroh there was no doubt to be had. If they said a war was coming, if they said Ozai killed Aang, it was true.
The Eastern and Southern Air temples pledged their allegiance without question.
"The Southern Temple has already begun making alliances in the South. The Southern Water Tribe, as well as the most southern Earth Kingdom territories have been brought together. According to my sister at the Southern Temple, my father has been suspicious of Azulon and Ozai for some time now. He made the arrangements before he left for alliances to be made in the event of his death." Tashi told the group. They had created an impromptu war council. Consisting of the most elder monks, Aang's descendants, and any other Air Nomads who had been involved in international politics.
"This is good news. With the alliance between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribe, ensuring that the Southern Water Tribe will not fight for the Fire Nation is imperative." A woman monk replied, Yama, if Katara remembered correctly, Aang's third granddaughter.
"Yes, though there is a complication. It seems after the Fire Prince's passing, the Fire Nation sent troops to the Southern Water Tribe. The official story is that they were sent as a measure of condolence and reassurance that they would not falter on their end of the treaty. However, from where I was sitting, it looked very much like positioning for a military takeover." Katara worried, if there were Fire Nation troops in the South it meant they could have intercepted her letter to her father.
"Were you able to contact my father?" Katara asked Tashi.
"Yes, though he seemed skeptical of my story. I think your absence has made him grow weary." Tashi replied.
"And if I go there, there will be Fire Nation troops ready to meet me." That worried Katara most. Ozai knew that Katara and Iroh knew the truth, or at least a partial truth. That made them a liability. Ones that Ozai no doubt had the intention to silence at any cost.
"I think it's best we avoid the Fire Nation at all costs. My brother has more than one motivation for taking both of our lives." Iroh added.
"There is one final matter to discuss." Said Monk Manko, who Katara had decided had to be the eldest in the room. He might have even been older than Aang. " As I was on my return journey, I found myself in possession of a scroll with a very particular insignia. Prince Iroh, I know there are many issues at hand, and security is of our utmost importance, but I believe it is time to reinstate you, Grand Lotus Iroh."
Katara had been angry at first. Iroh had kept the secret of the White Lotus from her, even though a secret, multi-national, network had been the exact thing she had been trying to create. Ultimately, she was relieved though, this was exactly what they needed. She was less forgiving however, of the fact that Iroh refused to share the intel from the White Lotus with her, or anyone other than Manko, for that matter.
"I know what you're thinking? We should steal that scroll right?" Tenji said, appearing seemingly out of nowhere at a still Katara glaring indiscreetly at Iroh. Who was eating a jelly tart, seemingly unbothered.
"I was not." Katara exclaimed.
"Right. So you're not dying to know what it says?" He coaxed, hovering on an air ball in front of her.
"If Iroh thought we needed to know what it said he would tell us. Clearly it's a private matter." Tenji sighed.
"You princesses, always so reserved." Tenji chuckled.
"I am not." Katara squealed. Huffing at him. Katara trusted Iroh. More specifically, she trusted Aang, who trusted Iroh. She understood the delicacy of the situation, and some things needed to be kept confidential, but the situation reminded her much too much of being in the Northern Water Tribe and being excluded from important political discussions because she was a delicate girl, who needed to be protected from such unpleasant matters.
"So you were sitting here brooding for some other reason? Likely story." Tenji smiled, clearly he was less affected by the situation than she was.
"You'd be surprised. I have a lot to brood about. I'm just worried, if someone got that message to Iroh that means they know where we are. That means the Fire Nation could know too." Even if they didn't, it was only a matter of time before they came knocking, and the Air Nomads didn't exactly have the power to defend against a military attack.
"Well they don't yet. Your men have been scouting the island diligently. If or when the Fire Nation comes, we would know they were coming." Tenji said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Not my men, Iroh's, and they're Fire Nation soldiers too." A haphazard crew put together in the middle of the night, when mistakes were most often made.
"You have a lot of trust issues don't you?" Tenji stated.
"My father in law murdered my husband."
"Touche." Tenji jumped off his hovering puff of air.
"Come on, I have something to show you." He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the innards of the temple.
"Where are we go-" They stopped in front of a massive door, running the height of the temple. On the door was a winding circular design that looked to Katara like an elaborate horn.
Tenji bent a gush of air through the horns and the doors began to rattle and open. Inside, the large dome-shaped room ran even higher, stopping what must have been just beneath the surface of the land above. The room was ordained with different statues and symbols, all foreign to Katara, but clearly Air Nation.
"What is this place?"
"It's our temple's sanctuary. It is a sacred and secret place that only airbenders can enter." Tenji answered.
"Tenji, I don't think I should be here." Katara was positive that she didn't meet the requirements for entry.
"You definitely should." He tugged her through the doorway
"Why did you bring me here?" Katara walked up to the large statue that ordained the center of the room. Even carved in stone and fifty years younger Katara knew who it was. Aang was the world's Avatar, but he was much more to the people of the Air Nation.
"I thought he'd want you to see it?"
"He who?"
"My grandfather. When Aang took on students, he welcomed them into his whole heart, and in return, he passed on a part of himself to them. Aang had many children and grandchildren and great great grandchildren, he lives on through them, through me, but he also lives on through you. You are part of his legacy. Aang was selective of his students for a reason. His students aren't just allies of the Air Nation, they become Air Nation. And as long as you live, there will be a place for you with us."
"But Aang didn't choose me, he taught me because of Iroh." And despite what she had heard, she doubted she was as special as Tenji wanted her to believe. Aang lived to be over a hundred, he had to amass more than a few students in that time.
"Maybe he came for Iroh, but he wouldn't have stayed, if he didn't believe in you."
Katara stared up at the statue. Aang had been planning for his assassination, he knew there was risk of going to the Fire Nation to teach her. If it weren't for her, he might still be alive. And if Aang was still alive, Zuko would be too.
Her eyes began to sting and she was soon blinking away tears.
"Oh no." Tenji said. "This wasn't supposed to make you cry." He exclaimed.
Once she started, she couldn't stop. Her shoulders shook as the tears turned into wailing. She had turned into the kind of girl who cries all the time. The thought just made her want to cry more.
"It's okay." Tenji said. Katara continued crying, she was sick of people telling her it was going to be okay. "I cry a lot too. He may have been a crazy old fart, but he was my family." Katara laughed. A slow creak came from near the door and the walls began to part.
"Uh oh! We gotta go." Tenji said, grabbing Katara and bounding toward the door.
"I thought you-" "Shhhh" Tenji hushed her and pulled her behind the back side of the door as monks began to trail in. As the last monk entered, Tenji slipped the two of them past the closing door.
"So you may have been right." Tenji said.
"Let me guess, you didn't have the monks' permission to take me in there?" Katara crossed her arms.
"Let's just say I didn't exactly have the monks' permission to take myself in there." He shrugged sheepishly.
"You are loads of trouble, aren't you?" Katara snorted.
"You may call it trouble, but I call it a gooood time." Katara stared blankly at him. Moments passed and then she began to laugh. A giggle at first, then to a hearty chuckle, until she was cackling her breath away and tears pooled in her eyes.
"See. You're having a good time." Tenji said. "Now come on, let's get outta here." He grabbed her hand and began running out of the temple.
The Earth King refused to listen to them. No, his advisors refused to arrange a meeting, despite that meeting being requested by the leaders of multiple nations. They refused to meet with the Air Nomads, and even her father's message went unanswered. Katara wanted to scream.
"'Dear Tenrao, our council has received your request for a meeting with His Majesty, King Kuei and will process your request at the upcoming quarter review. Pending approval, a meeting will be set in the next eleven to seventeen months.'" Katara read. "Eleven to seventeen? Who even picks that?"
"In reference to the confidential message included, the King is not accepting personal mail at this time. We can however assure that your message was thoroughly disposed of to protect the status of the privileged information.' They burned it? They burned it."
"Katara." Tenji interjected, from his place at the edge of her window.
"It's like they don't even care. Well why should I?" Katara crumpled up the scroll. "Let the Fire Nation invade for all I care. We're trying to save them." She didn't fucking ask for this, Katara paced about the room.
"I can't do this. I'm not a war general, this shouldn't be my responsibility." Katara clenched her teeth and let out a gritted groan. Her tribe hadn't wanted to get involved, and now the Earth King wouldn't so much as listen to their warning. Katara didn't understand how anyone could ignore this, death was coming for them and they'd rather not be bothered.
"You're absolutely right." Tenji said.
"I don't have time for bureaucratic tyrants keeping their King from important, life or death information." Katara exhaled through a clenched jaw.
"Katara?" What was Tenji even doing here anyway? He'd just been standing in her room when she got here and,
"What?" Katara growled out.
"I- have to tell you something."
"Is it that the Earth King is going to get us all killed? Already knew that."
"No, Katara, I think you should, sit down, or maybe lie down or something." Tenji sounded solemn, which, not that Katara was an expert or anything, but was very unlike him.
"What is it?" Tenji glanced between Katara and the bed. Katara sighed and took a seat, tapping her leg furiously.
"I'm- there's- I don't really know how to tell you this." Great, someone was probably dead. With the weird, somber act Tenji was using and Katara's apparent no good, fucking horrible, bad luck.
"So, remember how I was saying we should take a sneak peak at that White Lotus scroll?"
"And I said to let Iroh handle it? Yes." She clipped in response.
"Well, I was going to do that. Totally. But then yesterday I heard Dad and Iroh talking about something weird, so I swiped the scroll, and well, I think you should read it." Tenji pulled the familiar scroll and handed it Katara.
Maybe someone had a plan to take out the Fire Lord. Or had information on the Fire Nation's battle plans. Or-
Or.
Katara scanned the contents of the letter.
Once.
Twice, to be sure she hadn't misread.
Three times. Searching for any trace of a misunderstanding.
Her heart began to pound loudly, obtrusively, she could feel it beating in her chest and her ears and in her fingertips.
"Zuko's alive?"