AN: Again, I'm going to majorly change the timeline because a few months is not enough time for character exploration.

Chapter 5 - Light as a Feather

Toph had never met an airbender, naturally, but she had never met an air-bison either.

Lee and his brother Aang, the avatar, both felt like airbenders to her.

Aang was, however, personality-wise, the polar opposite of his older brother.

This kid was going to defeat the Firelord?

Lee had told him the others didn't know Aang was the Avatar, and after about five minutes of listening to Sokka argue with his sister, Katara, she completely understood why.

"If you see with earthbending, how are you going to see on the ice blocks of the north pole?" Suki asked.

Toph flinched at the reminder, not only was she going to need shoes, boots, but there was going to be nothing for her to bend.

But if she was going to teach the Avatar earthbending then they wouldn't be at the north pole forever.

A little discomfort for a few months versus the fate of the world was an easy enough calculation.

She had the opportunity to do more than be a rich lady or a ring fighter.

Even if she died trying to end this war, it seemed worth it.

Toph shrugged, "I've never been out of my hometown and no one is going to look for me in the Northern Water Tribe. Besides, Lee says we aren't staying there that long."

"Wait," Sokka said, shifting in the saddle she was clinging to. "Doesn't it take years to master an element? Won't we have to be there for years?"

"Aang and I were going to join the war effort, but you and Katara are free to stay with your sister tribe as long as you like," Lee said, nonplussed.

"The war isn't going to be over in a year," Sokka argued.

"No," Lee agreed. "It will be over in two years."

Aang's voice sounded panicked from where he sat behind Appa's head, "What do you mean over in two years?"

"Sozin's Comet," Lee said flatly. "When it comes back around, the Firelord will burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground. It's how they destroyed all the Air Nomads, air isn't exactly a weak element. I've heard stories about an airbender who caused a typhoon that wiped out a whole fleet of ships. But they weren't exactly militarized and with the extra power the comet gave them, well, fire is the ultimate killing weapon."

Toph and the others remained completely silent for a long time before Aang said, "But why would they do that, why would anyone do that?"

Lee sighed, "Because, Aang, greed and power make people selfish. And the way the Fire Nation treats its subjects is a utopian idea that with their order and technology, everything will be made better."

Toph sighed, "The Earth Kingdom isn't much better, there is so much corruption and self serving interests the Earth Kingdom hasn't been able to mount a counter attack. Ba Sing Se hides behind its walls, our best doctors serve the rich and our best benders are reserved on the back lines. Most towns and villages are left to themselves."

"It's why the Fire Nation wins so often. If there people weren't so stubborn they would have fallen already."

"And the Water Tribes are like Kyoshi Island, isolationists," Suki said.

"All the men from our village are fighting in the war," Sokka said.

"Yeah, but we're just a single village, Sokka," Katara countered.

"The Southern Tribe is much harder to get to," Lee explained. "And there's not a lot of material gain to taking them over."

"But they are planning an attack on them," Sokka pointed out.

"Of course," Lee said. "Destruction for destruction's sake."

"Like the air nomads," Aang said so softly, Toph wondered if she was the only one who heard him.

"Are you a Kyosgi warrior?" Toph asked Suki, trying to distract them all.

There was a smile in her voice, "Sure am."

Toph smiled deviously, "I heard the makeup you wear is actually theatre makeup that was originally worn by a gang of brigands."

Far from being baited by her comment, Suki seemed pleased she knew some of her history, "It was. Avatar Kyoshi was actually the daughter of an earthbending thief who started a gang member from his theatre company, his name was Hark. He fell in love with Jesa who was a air nomad nun."

"No way!" Aang exclaimed excitedly. "Did she convince him to leave his life of crime?"

Suki laughed, "Nope, she joined his gang. Her and her air bison made them very successful thieves though. If the stories are true, however, Jesa lost her airbending."

"What do you mean, lost?" Katara asked.

"Everyone in the Air Nation was an Airbender," Aang answered. "The reason everyone was a monk or nun was because in order to connect with your element you had to disconnect from earthly possessions. People fell in love and had deep friendships, but no one got married or raised their kids alone. Everyone was together and they travelled the whole world to learn from the other nations. If Jesa lost her airbending, it means she went back on the teachings that made the nomads who they were. Killing and greed were strictly forbidden."

Toph huffed and realized how hard it was going to be to teach this Avatar earthbending. They were literal opposites.

"I didn't know that," Suki said. "Avatar Kyoshi was a warrior though, she definitely was more earth bender than air nomad. Under her guidance, she stopped a lot of corruption."

"I mean she must have had spiritualness," Toph argued. "She was 250 years old when she died. Roku only made it to 70 and the Avatar Kuruk died at 33."

"Why?" Sokka asked.

"Avatar Roku died fighting a volcano, he was friends with Sozin and the Firelord left him to die," Lee said cheerlessly.

"Avatar Kuruk died because of a spirit," Katara supplied.

"And Kyoshi died peacefully in her sleep like Avatar Langchen," Suki summarized.

"Presumably," Suki continued, in a way that was almost purposely callous. "The next two Avatars were killed by the Fire Nation, and maybe the third, and since we're never going to have air nomads again, the cycle is broken."

"Could we maybe stop talking about death now?" Aang asked, again with distress in his voice.

Toph wasn't sure how well the others heard it over the wind. But maybe they could see his face and body language cause they shut up.

Except for Sokka who asked thoughtlessly, "Says the boy who got Airbender tattoos."

There was a thwapping sound and Sokka yelped.

Lee snarled, "You don't know anything about our tattoos, so shut up!"

"Ow," Sokka complained. "Alright, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was such a sensitive topic."

There was another awkward silence. Toph almost wished she could say something, but even if she wasn't keeping the Avatar's secrets, she wouldn't have known what to say. She closed her eyes, clinging tighter to the saddle, preying for sleep.

oOo

Aang felt bad when he kept doing better than Katara when they practised waterbending. She had gotten better with the scroll, but so had he.

He had mastered every tier of Airbending sans for the full demonstration of the philosophy and historical context of their Temple's style. Not that he was a slouch in that regard, but he was only twelve, his becoming a Master Airbender hadn't been meant to signal the end of his education.

He had been the youngest Master ever, likely, in part because his past lives had mastered it thousands of times over.

Katara not knowing that made it more difficult to explain.

"Wow, I can't believe you got that so fast," Katara said, shoulders rounding.

"Well, you had to figure it all out on your own. I'm lucky enough to have a great teacher," he tried to encourage.

"OW!"

Aang and Katara turned to see Suki tie Sokka up like a hog-calf.

Toph was keeled over in laughter while Lee held a hand to his temple in exasperation.

"Let's take a break," Katara said as they joined the others.

Aang nodded, hanging back as Katara went to go tell her brother he was an idiot for underestimating women.

"You okay?" Lee asked Aang when he approached.

Aang shrugged, feeling like the distance between him and the others was palpable, "Sure."

"Aang," Lee warned as if they really were brothers.

"I just feel bad keeping the truth from them."

"Toph knows who you are," Lee said nonchalantly.

"What!?" Aang whisper yelled.

"Because," Lee said with no hint of guilt. "She knows how to keep a secret. Also, she has basically no reason to come with us otherwise."

"Right," Aang said. "She hasn't said anything."

"She's not impressed," Lee said dryly.

Aang grinned, "That's okay. When are we going to tell the others?"

"When we reach the North Pole," Lee said.

Aang pouted, "You're no fun."

Lee just gave him a look before turning back to the others, "Come on, everyone, the sun is setting, we have to pack up."

Aang rolled his eyes, but went to go put Appa's saddle on.

He made sure to get close enough to Toph to ask, "Lee told me you were going to teach me earthbending."

"Yep," she said, before spitting.

Aang smiled, then bowed to her, "Thank you, Shifu Toph."

She smirked at him, "Worry about waterbending first. I'm going to break you."

Aang laughed, "Yeah, we're sort of opposites, aren't we?"

She nodded but asked, "How old is your brother?"

"Sixteen, almost seventeen, I think," Aang answered.

"Not a hundred and sixteen?" she asked.

"No," Aang said before lowering his voice. "We aren't really related, I never knew who my birth parents were."

"But he is an airbender, isn't he?" she asked.

"No," Aang said. "I mean he looks like me, a lot. But why do you think—"

"Because he walks like you," she said. "His feet hardly touch the ground, like he's walking on his toes, especially when he's sparring."

"I noticed that too," Aang said. "He might not know. I mean, if my people are gone, he might not have ever tried or had anyone to teach him."

"I can push him off the bison, if you want," she offered cheerfully.

Aang grinned, having found a feather earlier in the day, he replied, "I wouldn't endanger you like that but I have another idea."

"Yo, Chipper and Crabby, let's go," Sokka called to them, cut off a moment later. "Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"Stop being a raging idiot," Lee snapped. "Or I'm not teaching how not to get your ass kicked by the warrior wearing a dress."

"The dress gives me extra movement," Suki argued.

Aang helped Toph up Appa's back as their team continued to bicker, which Toph joined just for the sake of throwing insults around.

Later that night, Aang put his plan into motion.

oOo

Zuko should have been more suspicious about the looks Aang kept flashing at him.

He chose to ignore him and attempted to meditate.

His eyes hadn't been shut that long as he tried tuning out the others when something fuzzy tickled under his nose.

Zuko sneezed.

Which shouldn't have been a problem.

But he sneezed so hard, he was shot out of Appa's saddle up —way up— into the higher clouds.

He came down screaming, and Aang caught him in a puff of air so when he landed on his face on the saddle, it didn't hurt.

But pushing himself back on his knees, Zuko's mind was spinning as he looked down at his hand, the one that had part of the dragon tattoo on it.

He looked at it and it stared back at him.

Amused.

The dragon was definitely amused.

Definitely laughing at him.

Sokka's disbelief was palpable as his jaw snapped up, "You just sneezed and flew ten feet in the air!"

Aang, counter-wise, was radiant with joy, "Nah, I think it was higher than that."

Katara gasped, "You're an airbender!"

"No!" Zuko exclaimed. "No, I'm not."

"Told you so," Toph sing-songed.

Suki stared at him with wide blue eyes, "You're from the right region if any of the airbenders survived or any of their descendants—"

Zuko rose to his feet, "I'm not! I'm not a good enough person to be an airbender!"

They all stared at him, and he looked away from their pitying expressions.

Aang hugged him from behind, "I'm glad. I'm glad I'm not the last. I can handle everything else, maybe, but not being the last Airbender." Aang hugged him tighter and buried his face in Zuko's back. "They aren't just my family, they are my people, an entire culture that will have no say on how the world turns out. I'm just one person, a kid, I can't represent them all."

Zuko closed his eyes, turning his face up to the sky as he placed his hands over Aang's hugging him back.

He finally understood the dragon's reasonings.

Zuko might have been a prince of the Fire Nation, and maybe his grandfather and father's crimes were not his own.

But he had chosen to follow his father's plans.

Zuko had been both complicit and an active precipitant.

He had offered the dragon everything by saying he would change everything.

And everything about him had changed, instead of being an imperial prince, with a family, and wealth, he was now nobody.

No wealth, no home, no family… a true nomad.

He became everything his people sought to destroy.

Zuko turned to pull Aang into a real hug, "I'm so sorry, Aang."

"So you two aren't related?" Suki asked.

"Air nomads don't have families in the same sense that you do," Aang said. "Records are kept, of course, but otherwise, we are all kinsmen." He pulled back from Zuko to say, "Relations are determined by people."

"So if you want to be siblings?" Suki asked.

Aang grinned, "Then if you both agree, you're siblings. The only ranks among Air Nomads were those who had greater mastery over themselves and histories."

"But wait, I have been teaching you waterbending," Katara said slowly.

"Aang is the Avatar," Suki said.

"WHAT!?" Katara and Sokka exclaimed.

Toph laughed, putting her hands behind her head, "Took you guys long enough."

"You knew!?" Sokka asked.

"Lee told me," she answered smugly.

Sokka gave Zuko a betrayed look.

"I figured it out," Suki said with a smile.

"How!?" Sokka exclaimed.

"I'm a Kyoshi Warrior," she answered. "My sisters and I were literally named after one of the Avatars. Aang looks like a Master Airbender despite being a kid. But Kyoshi is the only person I knew who lived until she was 250. I'm used to believing otherwise impossible things."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Katara asked Aang.

"Because I asked him not to," Zuko said, stepping out of the hug. "Aang wanted to be truthful with you, but I want to get to the north pole before anyone figures out the Avatar has returned. The Fire Nation would do whatever it takes to capture Aang, and they would do worse than kill him."

"That's not terrifying," Katara groused.

"It is terrifying," Zuko said.

Aang tugged on Zukoo's sleeve and he met that open and trusting grey gaze, "You are going to have to lighten up if you want to become a real airbender."

Zuko bit his tongue before he said something hostile, because, if he was being honest with himself, it would be an honour to learn how to airbend, even if he didn't deserve it.

Maybe he could earn it, earn the faith that Aang gave him so freely, both in this life and as he once had when Zuko had been the Blue Spirit.

And maybe he would be a better airbender than he had been a firebender.

Maybe Uncle Iroh would have a reason to be proud of him.

oOo

AN: Thoughts, penguin-seals, or feedback, pretty please?