Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chapter 2: The Avatar Returns

I woke up to the sounds of unpleasant yelling. I lazily walked out of the hut, the cold breeze instantly hitting my skin. I looked into the bright sky and saw a dimming flare. That shooted across the sky. I could only think of one person, Aang. I rubbed my temples and walked over to Sokka screaming at Aang and Katara. The whole village was gathered together. A few children were surrounding Aang.

"Aang didn't do anything! It was an accident." Reasoned Katara.

"What's going on?" I asked pushing through the crowd.

"Your brother just signaled the fire navy! I knew you weren't on our side, Aki." Sokka shouted.

"Excuse me? I was sleeping the whole time! And why would we want to signal the fire navy?" I screamed.

"Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap.. And well, we booby right into it." Aang explained, rubbing the back of his head.

"Aang! I taught you better than this! What would've happened if you didn't get out on time?" I rushed up to him and scolded.

"Katara.. You shouldn't have gone on that ship! Now we could all be in danger!" Gran-Gran warned.

"Don't blame Katara. I brought her there. It's my fault." Aang admitted.

"Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy." Sokka said. The children did as they were told and sadly returned to their mothers. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"Sokka, it was an accident! Why are you being so harsh?" I asked.

"The stuff you said about your mother probably wasn't even true! You lured me into your trap!"

"Are you serious?" I cried. "Why would I make stuff up about my mother?" I threw my hands into the sky unconsciously.

"You know what? Forget it. You obviously can't be trusted. You're banished from our village. And so is your brother." Sokka stated.

I stared in shock.

"Sokka! You're making a mistake." Katara pleaded.

"No, I'm keeping my promise to dad. I'm protecting you from threats like them." Sokka pointed at us.

Rage boiled inside me. I wanted to just slap Sokka across the face.

"Aki and Aang are not our enemies." Katara shouted. "Don't you see? They brought us something we've hadn't had in a long time. Fun."

"Fun?! We can't fight firebenders with fun!" Sokka argued.

"You should try it sometime." Aang joked.

"Aang, not the time." I said

"Sorry."

"Get out of our village. Now!" Sokka ordered.

"Grandmother, please! Don't let Sokka do this." Katara pleaded.

"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it would be best if the airbenders leave." My heart dropped.

Katara backed up, "Fine! Then I'm banished too! C'mon guys." Katara marched away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka screamed.

"To find a waterbender. Aki and Aang are taking me to the South Pole."

"We are? Great!" Aang exclaimed.

"Wait.." Katara and Aang turned around to see me, stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't let Katara come with us. It wouldn't be fair to her family.

"Katara, I can't let you come with us." I said.

"What? Why?" Katara, almost close to crying, asked.

"Well, think about the family you have here. If I were to leave Aang behind, I'd never forgive myself. Please stay Katara. For your village."

Katara took a few moment to register what I said to her. She slowly let go of Aang's hand, her own dropping to her side.

Aang stepped forward, "Katara, Aki and I don't want to come between you and your family."

"So, you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye..?" Katara asked, seconds away from tearing up.

"Probably not goodbye. But maybe see you soon?" I asked, forcing a smile.

Katara returned the smile but it quickly faded. "Where will you go?"

"I guess we'll go back home and look for the airbenders." Aang enthusiastically responded. "Wow.. I haven't cleaned my room for 100 years! Not looking forward to that." he commented. I rolled my eyes and pushed him onto Appa.

"It was nice meeting everyone." Aang remarked.

"Yes, I hope to see you all someday!" I said.

"Let's see your bison fly now, air-boy." Sokka hissed.

I scuffed and hopped on to Appa.

"C'mon, Appa, you can do it. Yip, yip!"

Appa slowly stood up, groaning, but didn't show any signs of being able to fly. "Yeah, that's what I thought." Sokka once again hissed.

I heard a child scream and I looked over to find a small child running over to us, crying.

"Aki, Aang, don't leave. I'll miss you." Tears welled up into my eyes and I slowly floated down and ran over to the child and gave her a hug. I could feel her heart beat even through all her layers of clothes. She sniffled into my shoulder. And I slowly pulled away. I wiped the tears from my eyes and held the little girl's cheeks. "We'll miss you too." I said, giving a little peck on her forehead.

I stood up and hovered back to Appa and Aang. As Aang told Appa to leave, I spared one last glance at Sokka, as we rode into the dimming sky.

We settled on an iceberg close to the village for the night. Appa couldn't fly so we wouldn't be able to go anywhere anytime soon.

"Aki, you haven't said a word since we left the village. Is everything okay?" Aang asked.

"I'm fine." I huffed, wanting to change the subject quickly.

Right on cue, Aang and I saw a huge fire nation ship. It was very unusual for fire nation ships to enter water tribe waters. It was headed straight for the village.

"Aki, the village!" Aang exclaimed.

"Something's not right. We need to go warn the villagers." I said standing up and grabbing my glider.

"Appa, wait here." Aang ordered. It wasn't like Appa wanted to get up anyways.

Aang and I soared into the sky, hurrying to get to the village before the fire nation did. But we were too late. The fire nation ships arrived on land. We landed in the back of the village, and slowly made our way forward. We heard an older voice, screaming and harassing the villagers. We saw blazes of fire, eventually turning to smoke. We heard more screaming, then a couple of grunts. I looked to my left and aang was already gone. I scowled underneath but breath and slowly made my way to the crowd. I was just in time to see Aang flipping over a teenage boy with a penguin.

The teenager face planted into the snow and his helmet landed on his butt, his soldiers circled around him. Kids cheered and screamed as Aang rode in, accidentally hitting them with snow. The penguin threw Aang off him and waddled away. "Hey Katara, hey Sokka!" he exclaimed. "Hi, Aang. Thanks for coming." Sokka bluntly stated. "Where's Aki?" Katara asked. Before Aang could answer, the teenager already got up and surrounded Aang with his soldiers. I quickly jumped in front of Aang, using my staff, I blasted the soldiers with snow, protecting Aang.

The children once again cheered and screamed at me. I gave a quick wave and put my guard up, waiting for another attack.

"Looking for us?" Aang asked.

"You are both the Avatar? That's impossible." The boy said. I noticed his facial features. He had golden, amber eyes and a very bad scar on his right eye. It wouldn't be hard to forget a face like that.

The boy walked around us, circling us, waiting for one of us to make a mistake or let our guard down so he could attack.

"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating.. And you are just children!"

"Actually I'm 16." I shrugged.

"Yeah, and you're just a teenager." Aang snickered.

I snickered under my breath which gave the boy a free chance of attacking. He spun his hands and extended his fist to make fire appear out of thin air. Aang jumped in front of me just in time to evaporate the fire before it hit me. I jumped out of the way and the guards made a move on me. I was surrounded by about 6 of them. I stood my ground, my staff in a ready position, and waited for an attack. I guard from the corner of my eye stepped forward and sent a blow to me feet, I jumped up and spun my staff above my head. Three more ran up to me for hand-to-hand combat. I brought my hands up to my chest and extended it outwards, sending all three flying. Two guards sent blows to my head, I ducked and swept the feet of one of them, the other I blasted into a pile of snow. I looked back to see Aang being taken away onto the ship. I ran up to them but before I could do anything, the man with the scar ordered them to grab me. The took my staff away and led me to the boat. I tried to resist but one look in Aang's eye told me that this was for the best. And he had a plan.

"We'll find out which one is the Avatar, then kill the one who isn't." the man with the scar coldly stated as we got onto the boat.

Katara stepped forward and with a cry she said, "No! Aki, Aang, don't do this!"

Aang and I looked back. "Don't worry Katara, it's going to be okay." With that, they pushed us inside.

"Head a course for the fire nation! I'm going home." The man ordered.

The entrance to the ship started to close, and Aang had the most fake smile I've ever seen. Once the entrance closed, his smile faded.

They put chains around our hands and brought us above deck.

"Which one of you is it?" the man asked calmly.

"Which one of us is what?" I asked sarcastically.

"Which one of you is the Avatar." He said louder, his patience coming to an end.

"How are we supposed to know?" I once again asked sarcastically.

"You two are the only airbenders left! You must know something about the whereabouts of the Avatar!" He yelled. "If you don't tell me, there will be severe consequences. He stated, lighting his hand in fire.

"We don't kn-" before I could say what I had to finish, Aang spoke.

"It's me." Aang said quietly.

"How hard was that? Now, take the Avatar to the prison hold. Take her below deck. We'll dispose of her later." the man said.

They led me away. I was forced below deck. I didn't try to escape. I didn't know what to do. I was stunned. Aang is the Avatar. My little brother, who I've known for 12 years, was the Avatar. My heart beat rapidly as they strapped me down. They closed the door on me, so I could only see darkness. I don't know how long i was there, being trapped in my thoughts, but I soon heard banging on the upper level. The door of the room I was in was kicked in, and there I saw, Aang. He untied the straps and lead me outside. I was furious.

"We still need to find our staffs." Aang said as we ran through halls. We stopped at many rooms, one containing an old sleeping man, which Aang whispered a soft, "Sorry," before lightly closing the door and continuing to run. We stopped, again, in front of this really fancy room, and our staffs were there, waiting for us to retrieve them. Aang and I stepped inside of the room and got our staffs. But before we could leave, the door was shut behind us.

"Of course this is your room." I huffed, turning around.

"Looks like I've underestimated you two.." he said, his amber eyes glaring into our souls. He was very ugly, but scary.

He set himself into a battle stance and punched a fist our way. Uneasy fire came out, roaring into the room around us. I grabbed my staff and spun it so the fire would evaporate. I tossed Aang's his, and we both evaded his techniques. I ran to the door, but the man could care less about me. He had his eyes set on the Avatar. I rolled my eyes, waiting for Aang to hurry up and blow him upside the head, but I heard guards running down the halls so I lent Aang a hand and blasted him against his mattress and airbended against the wall, then the ceiling, then the wall again for reassurance. He grunted in pain as we left, holding in our laughs. Aang and I ran through halls. Geez, how can people navigate through this place? I thought.

"Do you even know where you're going, Avatar?" I said through my teeth.

"Nope." He replied.

We came across a ladder to a hatch on the ceiling. We saved ourselves the trouble and airbended ourselves up there. The hatch opened to the control room. We ignored the captain (or whatever he was) and sprinted onto the balcony. We threw our gliders into the air and jumped onto them. But before we could make it home, safe, that man jumped off the balcony too, grabbing Aang's foot. Aang wheezed and panicked. The glider couldn't hold the weight of the both of them. They soon fell out of the sky, and landed on the ground. The man got up but I swooped down and kicked him in the face. That was going to leave a nice bruise. Aang got up aswell, and before another battle began, a loud groaning noise was heard and there, in plain sight, was Katara, Appa, and Sokka.

"What is that?" The man asked.

"That's our flying bison, here to save us. Now shoo!" I said. I tried to push him off the boat but missed. He proceeded to attack both Aang and me. I ended up being pushed to the edge of the side of the boat. I tried my best to dodge the fires but he was being too fast. I brought my hands to my face and I was knocked back, plummeting into the cold, icy water.

And there I was, unconscious. Ready to drown. I heard people desperately calling my name, but I couldn't get up. See, I would've gotten back up, but it was the shock that held me down. Everything that happened, being in a coma for 100 years, being banished from a village, almost being killed, and discovering that Aang, is in fact, the Avatar. It was all too much to bare. I just wanted to forget it all. I was deep in the water now seconds before losing everything I had. But I felt something, someone, grab me.

Everything was white. I was dumped back on the boat, and people began to drag me onto something furry. Appa. I couldn't hear anything. It was like the aftermath of an explosion. Ringing. I coughed up water, finally being able to breath again. I opened my eyes to the best of my ability, and I saw a giant water tube, and Aang, controlling it. He was in the Avatar State. He pushed all the guards off the ship and his arrows started to return to it's normal blue color. Aang went out of the Avatar State started to faint, and that's when I started to lose consciousness.

I woke up on Katara's lap, she was slowly stroking my hair.

"She's awake!" Katara said, relieved.

"How long was I out?" I said, sitting up and rubbing my head.

"Maybe an hour or two." she replied. I looked at Aang he looked happy to know that I'm alive, but he didn't look at me.

"Why didn't you tell me, Aang?" I bursted out into tears. "After all these years, you didn't tell me how could you? How long have you known?" I said, my voice quivering.

"I was scared. I thought that if I told you then everything would be different.."

"How so?" I asked calming down a bit.

"The monks said they'd have to separate us. So I could master all four elements. You have to understand Aki, I was afraid of losing you! I didn't want your to be heart broken. I never wanted to be the Avatar." Aang started to tear up.

"Aang, you're all I have left of our family. No matter what the monks said, I'll always find a way to be with you." I said, leaping in for a hug. Katara smiled warmly at us. I smiled and held out a hand, inviting her and Sokka to join us. They agreed and we all hugged. It was a nice hug. It felt like I knew them all my life. We all let go.

"So, where are we heading?" I asked.

"Well, since Aang needs to learn water first, we're going to the North Pole to find a waterbending teacher for us."

"But while we're traveling, we should have some fun!" Aang said. He pulled out a map of distinctive places he always wanted to visit when he was younger.

We all chuckled as he excitingly showed us the places on the map.

"Then off we go!" Sokka declared.

"Oh I almost forgot," I crawled up to Sokka and gave him a hard slap on the face. "That's for banishing me from your village, and for calling me a liar about my mother."

Hey fatties! HA just kidding. I hope you liked this part. I know, it took me like a month to create. But I have school, softball, and I'm not allowed to use the computer on weekdays. But It's April Vacation so lucky for you guys, I'm going to upload another chapter after this one by Sunday! But don't be expecting another for awhile. MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) which is basically a big test for grades 3-12, is coming up so I definitely won't be able to make stories. :( but once summer comes I'll be sure to post once a week. Another thing, I won't be adding Akemi into the story only because that story isn't finished and it wouldn't be fair to the creator if I added parts to that story. But I hope you guys enjoyed!

ToOdAlOo :)

(I'm in 7th grade btw) ;)