Here is The Boy On The Ground. Take two!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson, Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chapter 9

Percy lay flat on his back, exhausted and worn from the vigorous day of earth and water bending. The two girls had worked him hard. Katara and Percy had gotten along fairly well but Toph had been her usual sassy self and Percy had, of course, given it right back to her on a silver platter.

Toph didn't even mind that he had yelled at her; in fact, she kind of liked to see someone stand up to her. Aang almost never yelled back, sometimes making Toph feel horrible.

The girls were sitting on the stone steps of the summer house, resting in the shade, watching Sokka and Zuko spar in front of them. It was a good fight and they watched, captivated.

"You know," Toph started to say to Percy, "I don't even know why you're so tired. I thought you said that you train every day at that camp of yours."

"Oh, come on!" Katara interrupted before Percy could say anything. "I think he did well!"

Percy chuckled from where he was lying on the ground. "Thanks... I try."

"Is anyone else getting worried about Aang?" Zuko asked.

They watched as he ducked under Sokka's sword and rolled out of the way as it came down close to his face. "A little." Katara admitted, tracing a crack in the stone with her finger. "I'm sure he'll be back soon though." She said, as if reassuring herself.

"If he's not back in an hour, we'll go look for him." Sokka said, leaping back as Zuko thrust a fistful of fire at him.

Katara began stacking a few pebbles by her feet. "It's not like he could have gone into the Spirit World..." she mused.

"Why not? Isn't the Avatar the 'bridge between the worlds'?" Percy asked.

Toph rolled her eyes and groaned.

"He is," Katara explained. "But when we were in Ba Sing Se he was shot in the back with lightning and that blocked all of his chakras; cutting off his connection to the Avatar spirit, as far as I know."

"Of course," Percy waved his hands in the air, which looked quite comical due to him still lying on his back. "He just blocked his chukla's!"

"Chakra's." Katara corrected him.

"Hey, look!" Zuko pointed at the horizon. "Is that Aang?"

Everybody turned around to look and he took that opportunity to cleanly sweep the legs of Sokka from underneath him.

"Just kidding – I win." He informed Sokka.

"No…" Katara shook her head and squinted at the sun. "It is Aang!"

The young air-bender landed lightly on the ground and closed his glider, causing the dust around him to billow up. Momo swooped in and settled on Sokka's head and started licking his paws.

"Aang!" Katara yelled. She ran to meet him and hugged him hard.

She had been a lot more worried than she had let on. Seeing Aang again was a huge relief.

Aang blushed and awkwardly hugged her back. Physical touch between the two had been extremely limited since the Invasion on the Day Of Black Sun.

"What took you so long?" Katara asked, she pulled away from the hug but kept her hands on his shoulders. "You were gone a long time, Aang."

Aang looked past her to Percy, "Good news, guys." He announced and Percy's insides twisted with anticipation. "We're going on a quest!"

"Yeah!" Toph cheered.

Percy breathed a sigh of relief and grinned. He was sitting up now and with the fading light shining on his dark head, making him look almost unreal, Aang's thoughts drifted back to the visions he had seen.

"Are you sure, Aang?" Katara brought him out of his thoughts.

Aang nodded and broke away from her, he went to sit next to Sokka on the ground and started playing with Momo, scratching his ears.

"When do we start?" He asked Percy.

Percy couldn't seem to stop grinning. He was so glad he wasn't doing this alone. "First thing in the morning!"

"I just have one question…" Zuko spoke up.

Percy waved at him to speak.

"Where are we going… exactly?"

All heads turned towards Percy, who smile grew even bigger.

"You're never going to believe this, but I've figured that out." He puffed out his chest and looked proud of himself. "The prophecy said, 'travel up, win the game.' Up on a map in north, so my best guess is to travel north."

"Wow…" Katara looked impressed. "I can't believe you figured that out."

"I know!" Percy agreed with her.

"We should probably all eat and then get to bed." Aang said. "Looks like we've got a lot of traveling tomorrow."

"Hooray…" Toph said sarcastically. "Just what I wanted." She made a face and Aang laughed at her.

Aang couldn't help but watch Percy as they went to eat supper. His arms swung at his side and his back was straight, he look carefree and happy. Aang hoped he could still be himself after everything was all over.

/./././././././././././././.././.

Aang was tossing and turning on one of Appa's outstretched legs. Sleep wouldn't come to him and it was making him restless.

The brutal images of Percy's life came back to him and they made his insides shudder. Some of those monsters were terrible looking, but it wasn't even that… It was the hard, cold look Percy had as he stared them down.

Sighing, Aang dropped a hand to the ground. His fingered brushed the dry earth and he pressed his palm into the dirt. Immediately, he could feel the vibrations around him and he listened to Katara's steady breathing, Toph's light snoring, and Appa and Momo flick their tails or roll over.

Zuko and Sokka were both taking refuge on Appa, so he could feel them as well, but he knew they were there, and that was enough.

The strings that connected them all traced back to Aang and he breathed a sigh of relief. His heart calmed a little as he counted each and every one of them. All that Aang wanted was his friends to be safe.

He had been doing this lately; feeling for them as the all slept. It might sound a little creepy, but it made him feel better when he was anxious or nervous or scared or even just a bit upset.

Somebody stirred, causing Aang to freeze. They got up and began walking away.

Aang's eyes flew open and he could just make out Percy's back as he disappeared into the trees.

Was he leaving them?

With no other thought, Aang leapt off Appa and started making his way to follow Percy as quietly as he could, but he wasn't quite enough.

"Aang?" A sleepy voice called softly to him.

Aang turned around, Toph's dark head was poking out of her earth tent. She rubbed her eyes.

"Toph? Its okay, go back to sleep. I can handle this." Aang assured her.

Her dull eyes seemed to pierce him and Aang understood why they all forgot she was blind from time to time.

"Okay, but call me if you need me." She told him.

"You got it." He said to her disappearing head.

Quickly now, Aang followed where he had seen Percy go when it all made sense. He was going to the beach.

Aang used air-bending to make his steps light and soundless. Katara always said it was creepy, like a shadow was following her when he did this.

The stars were twinkling and the moon was shining brightly, Aang felt a quiet peace fall over him. The night time was always so still.

Finally, he made it to the beach.

Percy was standing just at the water, contemplating and brooding.

Using air-bending again, Aang sup himself up on a large boulder and hide under the brush growing there. It scratched his hands and head but he didn't move.

Percy whipped around and studied the wildlife behind him, his eyes grazed over Aang's hiding place and Aang held his breath.

Only when he finally turned around again, did Aang allow himself to breath.

The waves were breaking on the sand, and a few night birds were singing. Bugs were buzzing and the wind was still blowing softly. Aang watched an ant crawl under his nose and realized that the earth never really slept. It was all still breathing. And it was his to protect from harm.

He sluggishly drew himself from that thought and watched Percy, refusing to allow his mind to wander.

Percy was standing with his back to Aang, watching the water. Then, a wall of mist rose up before him and stayed there.

Aang was puzzled and only got more confused when Percy swore and then dove into the dark waves.

He was gone for a long time before his head finally broke the surface and he swam to shore

Aang realized with a jolt that he was completely dry.

Percy was carrying a big jewel in his hands, he brought up the wall of mist again and then set his sword in the sand, standing upright. Placing the jewel carefully on top, he started moving it gently about. Until a moonbeam caught the jewel, making the wall of mist light up in a brilliant rainbow.

The wall of mist seemed to satisfy Percy, he started digging in his clothing and then brought out a small, leather bag.

Aang sucked in his breath when Percy opened it up for it was filled with large, glittering, solid gold coins.

Percy turned around and his eyes searched the boulder again. Aang muscles tensed and he froze, fear clenching his stomach. It didn't go away until Percy had twisted around again.

He took one glittering coin in his hand and threw it into the wall of mist. Aang wasn't sure what Percy was expecting because he seemed confused when it flew through and landed with a small, 'plop' in the water behind it.

The coin was still visible through the water, Percy went around and picked it up.

He mumbled a few words under his breath and tried again.

The same thing happened the second time and the third time. Percy was getting more and more frustrated with it. The scene was almost painful for Aang to watch.

He didn't know what was supposed to happen but whatever it was seemed important to Percy.

By the fourth try, Percy was so fed up, he threw the coin as far out as he could. The jewel following closely behind.

Even though Aang had already been plagued with the feeling that he was intruding, Percy only made it worse by sitting himself on the sand and folding his knees under his chin.

Aang finally decided it was time for him to go. As quietly as he could, he slipped out from underneath the brush and crept away.

Percy didn't turn around.

Aang made it back to camp without any problems, but there was a heaviness in his chest that he couldn't explain.

That had been the Percy one would have expected to see after all he had gone through. Alone and defeated.

It scared Aang more than the mighty warrior Percy.

He tossed for a few minutes on Appa, and didn't fall asleep for a long time. Long after Percy had come back and started drooling.

/././././././././././././././././././././././././././..

"Rise and shine! Up, up, up!" Sokka yelled, banging a pot and spoon together. "We've got places to go and people to beat! Up, up, up!"

The ground under him twisted, causing him to fall over and land on his back.

"Oof!"

"Seriously, shut up, Sokka!" Toph growled from her earth tent.

"No!" Sokka scrambled up and brushed the dust from his Fire Nation uniform. "Look at the sun! It's time to go!"

"I can't look at the sun." Toph commented, her head appearing from her tent. "I'm blind!"

Sokka scratched the back of his head. "Oh… Right. I forgot."

Toph let out a muffled scream of frustration.

"You're just going to have to take my word for it!" Sokka resumed his job as the pot and spoon clangor. "Time to wake up!"

A strand of water whipped Sokka in the head. "Please, shut up." Katara implored. "The whole Fire Nation can hear you."

"Yeah… " Percy piped up, he rolled off Appa and hit the ground doing push-ups. "Talk about a rude awakening."

"What are you doing?" Katara asked while tearing down her tent.

"Oh…" Percy seemed to realize what he was doing. "Push-ups?"

"But why?" Katara was rolling her tent now.

"Habit, I guess." Percy answered. "Keeps me in shape when I'm not at camp and stuff."

Sokka rolled his eyes, hating to be outdone. "Can we please just get packed?"

"We are packed, Sokka!" Aang laughed, "You didn't do anything."

Sokka looked sheepishly at the camp, Appa's saddle was all packed and tied down, and all that was left was his pack of stuff.

"Oh, right, I'll do that now." He said.

"Are you ready, buddy?" Aang asked Appa from on top of his head. "You're getting out of shape, huh?"

"Wait…" Percy was finished with his push-ups now and was standing up. "We're riding that?"

"Sure." Aang said. "He's really fast and strong!"

"Really?" Percy looked horrified.

Aang laughed again. "You didn't think we were walking, did you?"

Percy folded his arms and pouted. "Yeah, actually, I did."

"We tried that, once." Sokka piped up. "We walked right into a Fire Nation war camp."

Zuko looked up from where he was checking the rope. "You did? When was that?"

"A long time ago." Katara looked thoughtful. "Before we made it to the North Pole…" She shook her head. "Gosh, that seems like a lifetime ago."

"Was that before or after the whole mess with the pirates?" Sokka asked, he was thinking hard, trying to remember.

"After, wasn't it?" Aang said, he scratched Momo's ears. "What do you think, Momo?"

"How did you guys escape?" Toph asked. "I know it wasn't any earth bending."

"Jet saved us." Katara touched her cheek and lowered her eyes. He was painful to talk about ever since Ba Sing Se.

There was a moment of involuntary silence for the young Freedom Fighter.

Percy looked between all the faces and decided not to ask who Jet was. He could recognize a touchy subject pretty quickly.

"We should get going." Aang decided.

Sokka and Zuko started scrambling up the side of Appa while Aang reached down and pulled Katara up without effort. She blushed and quickly let go of his hand.

"Gunna go, Sea Legs?" Toph asked Percy.

"I'd rather not." Percy replied dryly. "My last ride on a giant beast didn't go over so well. Not the most pleasant experience in the world."

"I don't like air travel either." Toph reasoned. "I get air sick and I can't see anything, I think you're going to live."

"Air?" Percy yelled. "It flies?"

"What did you think he did?" Aang asked.

Percy just shook his head violently. Toph laughed and grabbed his upper arm, then she launched them into the air with earth bending and they landed gracefully on the saddle.

Percy clutched the side of a tent that was poking out.

"Yip yip, Appa!" Aang called.

The giant beast flicked its tail and rose up above the ground.

"No, no, noooo." Percy moaned.

Aang turned around to look at Percy. "Could you calm down? Appa's already nervous around your strong aura."

"Why are you so scared to fly anyways?" Katara asked.

Percy hadn't opened his eyes yet. They were all scrunched together and Katara thought that he looked like a little kid again.

"I was personally promised - by the god of the skies, no less - to get blasted out of the sky with lightning next time I was in the air." Percy announced.

Toph looked impressed. "How did you mange that?"

Percy shrugged. "I can't even remember right now." He stuck his lower lip out in a pout. "I don't want to get shot with lightning."

"If it's lightning you're afraid of, we can handle it." Zuko grinned up at Aang.

"Hm, maybe." Aang agreed.

"And besides, do you see any gods here?" Sokka reasoned. "For now, you can just sit back and enjoy the ride." He put his hands behind his head and tried to lean back but he accidently leaned onto Toph.

"Hey!" She yelled and shoved him away from her with a deep blush on her cheeks.

Katara laughed, "You don't have to worry." She consoled Percy. "I completely trust Appa and Aang in the air. It's their element and they've saved us so many times…"

Aang had turned back to watch where they were going, but he still blushed when Katara said that. The proud sparkle in his eyes was lost on Appa's head.

"Okay…" Percy said tentatively. He lowly loosened his grip. "I don't even think the walls would allowed Zeus over yet anyways."

"I'd really like to know how you managed to get a threat that big." Zuko mused.

Percy shrugged. "It's kind of a long story."

Aang recognized the tone of voice he used - it was the same one he used when people tried to get him to talk about himself and make him seem like a hero when everything he did was just fluke.

But Aang was curious…

"We have time!" Aang decided. "You could tell us now."

"Actually, I don't think we do have time." Sokka peered over the edge of Appa. "I think I see a Fire Nation camp or something down there."

Zuko crawled over a looked out too. "Yup, definitely a war camp. Looks like most of them are still sleeping though. We haven't been spotted yet."

"Come on, Aang." Katara stood up, "Err, there aren't any clouds to bend."

She looked around unsure of what to do.

Aang looked around, in the early morning there was only a few wispy clouds, suspended in the thin air. Nothing big or thick enough to be of any use.

"Didn't that bloodbender teach you how to take water from thin air?" Aang asked, also standing up.

Just watching his newly found friends walk around like that made Percy's stomach churn.

Katara used the technique Hama the blood-bender had taught her and pulled water out of the air. Aang helped her turn it into a cloud and cover the bottom of Appa without looking suspicious or too noticeable.

As they flew away a loud argument broke out in the camp underneath them.

"I wonder why there was a camp in the middle of the Fire Nation…" Zuko mused.

Toph laughed. "Just listen to them! They sound like a bunch of chicken squirrels."

"Chicken squirrels?" Percy's mouth hung open.

"Oh, yeah." Toph continued. "The loudest animals ever! My mother thought they were cute and really like their eggs so we had a bunch."

"But… chicken squirrels?" Percy was still trying to understand. "You mean a half chicken half squirrel type thing?"

"Why is that so hard to understand?" Zuko asked. "They're the most common pest in the Fire Nation, but the Earth Kingdom breeds them and keeps them as pets. It's disgusting."

He seemed to remember there was an Earth Kingdom citizen in his midst.

"Oh, no offense though." He said.

Toph shrugged. "None taken… I agree. You wouldn't believe how many I've gotten rid of but they just keep coming back."

"That's so gross." Percy decided.

"So have you never heard of an alligator bear either?" Katara asked, still keeping the cloud around them.

"Or badger moles?" Aang asked.

"Ewww!" Percy covered his ears. "Gross! No way! This world is sick."

"Yeah…" Zuko shrugged. "It is, isn't it?"

"Hey! Just because we have a few gross animals doesn't mean our world is bad. I like it here." Toph defended her world. "Percy's world doesn't have benders or an Avatar or anything as cool as Appa."

"That's true." Percy uncovered his eyes. "But those are some disgusting creatures."

And with that, all thoughts of Percy's adventures with Zeus had slipped everyone's mind. Everyone's except Percy's.

Everybody needs to say thank you to my totes-ma-goats awesome Beta!