Chapter 6: The Storm

With an extra person on the team, it didn't take long until the food supplies ran out. The next morning, Aang had a nightmare about how he got trapped in an iceberg for a hundred years.

As the group got prepared to go to a nearby town for food, Sokka stopped them, "Guys, wait! This was in my dream! We shouldn't go to the market."

"Really?" Kaiden asked, a bit skeptical, "What was in your dream?"

"Food eats people!" Sokka replied, a bit terrified.

Kaiden face palmed as Katara shook her head.

"Also, Momo could talk," Sokka glared at the flying lemur, "You said some very unkind things."

Momo just looked at him funny.

After nearly getting swindled by a shopkeeper, they realized they had no money.

"Out of food and out of money," Sokka groaned, "Now what are we supposed to do?"

"You could get a job, smart guy," Katara replied.

As if on cue, an old couple started arguing about a storm the old lady thinks is coming. Kaiden looked to the sky and saw that here wasn't a single cloud. Yet, Kaiden had the sneaking suspicion she was right.

"Maybe we should find some shelter?" Aang suggested.

"Shelter?" Sokka exclaimed, "From what?!"

Sokka walked over to the old fisherman and got himself a job hauling fish. But sure enough, a storm appeared just an hour or so later. But Sokka insisted that he go help the old man.

"Sokka," Aang said, "Maybe this isn't such a good idea. Look at the sky."

"I said I was gonna do this job," Sokka retorted, "I can't back out just because of some bad weather."

"The boy with the tattoos has some sense," the old woman snorted, "You should listen to him!"

"Boy with tattoos?" The fisherman asked, turning to Aang, "Airbender tattoos...well I'll be a hogmonkey's uncle! You're the Avatar, ain't ya?"

Katara smiled, putting her hands on her hips, "That's right."

"Well don't be so smiley about it," the old man replied, "The Avatar disappeared for a hundred years. You turned your back on the world!"

"Don't yell at him! Aang would never turn his back on anyone!"

Kaiden just watched the scene unfold, unsure of what to say.

"Oh? He wouldn't, uh? Then I guess I must have imagined the last hundred years of war and suffering."

"Aang is the bravest person I know! He has done nothing but help people and save lives since I met him. It's not his fault he disappeared, right Aang? Aang? What's wrong?"

Aang had been backing up while Katara had been telling off the old man. When she finished, he opened his glider and took off towards the mountains.

"That's right!" the old man yelled, "Keep flyin!"

Kaiden hopped on his board and flew after him, "Hey! Aang, wait!"

"You're a horrible old man!" Katara sneered, mounting Appa, "Appa, yip! Yip!"

After a while, Kaiden and Katara tracked Aang down. He was in a cave, sulking.

"I'm sorry for running away," he apologized.

"It's ok," Katara replied, "That fisherman was way out of line."

"Actually, he wasn't," Aang frowned.

"What do you mean?" Kaiden asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

Kaiden frowned, "It has to do with your dream, doesn't it?"

Katara walked over to Aang, kneelt by him, and put a hand on his shoulder, "Talk to me."

Aang brightened up just a bit, "Well, it's kind of a long story..."

"Hey," Kaiden smiled a little, "We've got time."

Katara got a fire going and Aang told them his tale. Apparently, Aang was told he was the Avatar ahead of schedule, considering that the war was approaching. One monk, Monk Gyatso, treated Aang like his own son, no matter how differently Aang was treated. Aang was still just a boy. Then the other monks, tired of Gyatso's constant coddling, decided to send Aang off to a different Air Temple. Aang, terrified, ran away with Appa. On the way, they were struck by lightning and fell into the water. Invoking the Avatar State, Aang had froze himself and Appa in ice. Next thing he knew, he was waking up in Katara's arms.

"And then the Fire Nation attacked our temple," Aang finished, "My people needed me and I wasn't there to help."

Kaiden frowned, "You don't know what would've-"

"The world needed me and I wasn't there to help."

Katara tried to soothe him, "Aang..."

"The fisherman was right! I did turn my back on the world."

"You're being too hard on yourself," Katara argued, "Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders."

"You don't know that."

"I know it's meant to be this way. The world needs you now. You give people hope."

Aang slowly smiled, raising his head to look at her, an expression of hope spreading across his face. Kaiden watched the two, slight curiosity on his face. But before he could think about it, the old woman from before stumbled into the cave.

"Help!" she cried, "Oh, please help!"

Katara rushed to her side, "It's ok, you're safe."

"But, my husband isn't."

"What do you mean?" Kaiden asked "Where's Sokka?"

"They haven't returned," the old lady answered, "They should've been back by now, and this storm is becoming a typhoon. They're caught out at sea."

Aang stood, "I'm going to find them."

"I'm going with you," Katara volunteered.

"I'm staying here!" the old woman sat down.

Katara and Aang turned to Kaiden, "Well?"

The Image frowned, "Look guys, I really want to save my best friend but... well... I can't. I won't risk your lives."

"What?!" Katara exclaimed, "How is going with us risking our lives?"

"Well... This storm... My metal... I'm guessing lightning will not take kindly to that."

"Oh... That makes sense."

With that, Aang and Katara got on Appa and took off. And Kaiden was left in awkward silence with the woman.

"Soooooo..." the lady said, "You could fly on metal. Tell me about that."

Kaiden sighed, "It's a good thing you're sitting down. This is gonna take a while."

XXX

After a while, Aang and Katara came back with Sokka and the fisherman. The woman ran and embraced her husband.

"Oh, you're alive!" she said, then pointing at Aang, "You owe this boy an apology."

"He doesn't have to apologize," Aang insisted.

"Mmm, uh, what if instead of an apology I give him a free fish and we call it even?" he suggested.

"Actually, I don't eat meat," Aang brought up.

"Fish isn't meat," Kaiden put in.

"See?" the man said, "This guy knows what I'm talking about!"

"Seriously," Sokka said, "You're still gonna pay me, right?"

His answer was the fish put into his hands by the fisherman. Aang then turned to Katara.

"Katara," he said, "I think you were right before. I'm done dwelling on the past."

"Really?" Katara replied.

"I can't make guesses about how things would have turned out if I hadn't run away. I'm here now and I'm going to make the most of it."

Katara smiled, "I don't think you're gonna have those nightmares anymore."

The old man put his hand on Aang's shoulder, "Uh, if you weren't here now, well, I guess I wouldn't be either. Thank you for saving my life, Avatar."

"You hear that?" Sokka asked, listening, "It's stopped raining."

Everyone walked outside... and immediately got drenched by Appa.

"APPA!"

Get used to the short chapters. I was really lazy with this book when writing it. Till next time guys!