A/N: I'm going to answer a few questions here. Wonders of My World, you're pronouncing Ayaka's name perfectly. Someone asked about Suki…I might be a real rebel (yeah, right) and leave her out altogether. I'm not sure yet.
Equivalent Exchange
Chapter 23: News Travels Fast
The South Pole
Aang was in shock. He'd been in that iceberg for one hundred years. His people were all dead. He was the only airbender left and the world was at war. It was too much to take. Katara kept talking about how he was the last hope for peace, how the Fire Nation was evil and needed to be stopped before there was no world left. She spoke of her dead mother and her father, gone to help in the war. What was he supposed to do against the entire Fire Nation, a country that wiped out his people mercilessly simply in an attempt to kill the avatar? Was it his fault that everyone died? Maybe if he hadn't run away, the Fire Nation would have taken him only and let the other airbenders live. Distraught and almost crying now, he snuggled in closer against Appa, his animal guide, his best friend. The animal's warmth and the rumble of his breathing were comforting. Were all the air bison gone too? Was Appa the last of his kind?
More than anything right now, he wanted to go home. He wanted to see the Southern Air Temple. Unless the devastation was there before his eyes, he wouldn't really believe that it had happened. Katara also said that she wanted to find a master to teach her waterbending. The North Pole was the only place where they could find such a person. He needed to learn it too, and earthbending and firebending. But that took the other avatars years and years. Should he go? Should he just leave in the dark, leave Katara and Sokka behind, the only people he knew now? Or should he take them along?
"Can't sleep?" Katara asked.
She stepped outside of the tent she shared with her brother and her grandmother and sat down beside Aang, giving Appa a gentle pat.
"Too much to think about," Aang replied brokenly.
"What are you going to do?"
"I, I want to visit the Southern Air Temple. That's where I lived. I have to see it for myself. After that, I don't know."
"If you don't have a plan, then why not go to the North Pole? You need to learn, Aang. You need to learn if you're going to help the world."
"Couldn't we just go penguin sledding instead? It's much more fun."
The Avatar's eyes looked at the girl hopefully. Maybe everything was just a bad dream. Maybe penguin sledding was all anyone had to worry about.
"No, Aang. I mean we can, but just once and then you need to make a decision."
"What are you doing out here, Katara?" Sokka demanded as pushed back the tent flap and rubbed at his sleepy eyes. "How do you even know you're safe with him?"
"Oh shut up, Sokka. He's the Avatar. Of course I'm safe with him."
"Well, maybe he's an evil avatar. They're people too you know and people can be bad, so maybe he's really bad and is just tricking us."
Both Katara and Aang stared at Sokka with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard and you babble when you're tired."
"I'm just sayin'," Sokka drawled. "We don't know this guy."
"Well, I trust him," Katara said. She stuck her bottom lip out and crossed her arms. "Aang wants to visit his old home and I think we should go with him."
Sokka snickered.
"You just want to get to the North Pole. This whole thing is about you and your stupid magic water."
"Oh, bending isn't stupid, Sokka," Aang said, suddenly bright sounding. "It's awesome."
"Yeah, you're flying bison was really awesome," Sokka replied sarcastically.
"Hey, he's just tired," Aang defended the animal.
"Tired! He was asleep for one hundred years. He should have enough energy to fly around the world nonstop."
"Leave him alone," Katara hissed.
She scuttled closer to Aang and moved between him and her brother like a mother puma bear protecting its cub.
"Alright," Gran-Gran's stern voice came from inside the tent. "Both of you get back to bed. Let Aang think. He's got some big decisions to make."
Grumbling, Sokka and Katara reentered the tent. The waterbender gave Aang a look that said, 'I believe in you'. Aang wondered why. Like Sokka said, she really didn't know him.
He slept finally but when he woke up in the morning, Aang felt more tired than he had before going to bed. His dreams had been, well, nightmarish; visions of the entire world on fire, images of Gyatso and all his friends at the temple reduced to nothing but ash.
"You look awful, Aang," Katara observed as she handed him a bowl of seaweed stew. "Didn't you sleep well?"
"Poor boy," Gran-Gran fussed. "Here, have some seaweed tea."
"Yes, ma'am," Aang replied and took the bone cup.
He sipped and then his eyes bugged out.
"Don't like the taste?" Sokka laughed.
"No, no, it's fine, just a bit seaweedy."
Aang looked around at the Water Tribe people, decimated by the war, vulnerable to attack. He looked out at the huge Fire Nation ship, the one that had brought Katara's mother's killer, sitting awkwardly on top of a wave of ice, suspended in time and motion, and then he looked at Katara herself. She smiled at him warmly. Her pretty face was alight with hope and anticipation, and he felt something stir inside.
"I've made up my mind," he announced, his voice strong and sure.
Everyone looked at him expectantly.
"I'm going to the North Pole to learn waterbending. Katara's welcome to come along."
"What about me?" Sokka asked, his voice wounded and his eyes big.
"I thought you didn't trust him," Katara snapped.
"I don't. So I should go along as protection."
Gran-Gran walked into the tent and came back a few minutes later with two sleeping bags folded up neatly.
"You'll need these," she said and looked at both of her grandchildren. "We'll manage without you. Aang is here for a reason. You discovered him for a reason. Your destinies are entwined now."
Two hours later they were on their way to the Southern Air Temple.
"You know," Sokka mused as he looked down at the sea far below. "You're like our secret weapon, Aang. No one but us knows that you're back and everyone thinks that you're supposed to be a really old man anyway. It's great. Watch out Fire Nation!"
"He has a lot to learn first, Sokka," Katara chastised.
"Yeah yeah, I know. But it's still cool."
When Aang found the lemur at the temple and named him Momo, he felt almost hopeful. At least there was some life there. But after Aang found his friend and mentor and father figure, Gyatso, nothing but a skeleton now, surrounded by quiet and emptiness, he lost it. He entered the Avatar State and within days, everyone important in the world knew he had awakened. He wasn't a secret any longer.
Gaoling
Enjoying some rare idle time, Mai and Zuko sat in comfortable lounge chairs, each reading a book, while Iroh and Jee talked about the old days over a cup of green tea. Keung was busy in his office while Toph was stuck at home with a minor cold. Her parents wouldn't let her out of the house and had actually posted a guard at her door.
Half an hour later, Keung burst into the room, a letter in one hand and his reading spectacles in the other.
"I think that you'll all want to hear this," he announced.
Everyone looked up, giving their full attention to the scholar.
"It's the Avatar," Keung began. "He's back."
No one said anything for a full minute and then the questions came fast and furious.
"Let me read the letter," Keung said firmly. "It's from an Earth Kingdom sage that I correspond with occasionally. He lives at the Avatar Temple."
"Please, Keung, read. We're listening," Iroh said and took a long draught of his tea.
Everyone inched forward in their seats, full of anticipation.
My esteemed colleague,
I have wonderful news! The Avatar has returned. Today, just this morning, while I was meditating in front of a huge portrait of former avatars, a light burst forth from the head of each avatar represented. Such a light means that the Avatar Spirit has awakened. He is out there somewhere. Whatever kept him away for all these years doesn't matter anymore. There is help for us after all.
It was a beautiful sight, Keung, and warmed my heart. Already I feel hopeful that this terrible war will soon end.
Sage Zheng
"Agni," Iroh said softly. "That's incredible."
"If temples lit up, doesn't that mean the one on Crescent Island did too," Mai said seriously. "That means the Fire Lord also knows that the Avatar is back. And he'll want to capture him. We need to warn him, get to him first."
"But we have no idea where he is," Zuko countered. "He could be at one of the poles for all we know."
"True," Mai agreed. "So what are we supposed to do, wait until he appears in Gaoling? Or do we randomly wander the Earth Kingdom hoping to hear something about him or interrogate any man who looks one hundred years old."
"The Avatar could be a woman too," Iroh mused. "It's a difficult thing. But perhaps it is time to move on, much as I will miss our host."
"How about you stay for another week and then leave. Perhaps I'll receive some more news," Keung suggested.
A week it is," Iroh agreed. "After that, it's aimless wandering."
"Great," Mai said. "No baths… again."
Fire Nation Palace
Ozai sat in the throne room, a high wall of orange fire surrounding him. He was bored. The war was going well. His meeting had just gone well and Azula was improving her skills so rapidly that every day she was better than the one before. He was impressed with the new girl, Ayaka, whom Azula had handpicked from a select group of specially trained warriors. He chuckled to himself. What was not to like about the girl? She had one ambition in life and that was to slaughter as many Earth Kingdom soldiers and citizens as she could get her hands on. And her loyalty to Azula was unwavering, almost slavish. She never questioned anything or balked at an order. That Ty Lee girl was another matter, however. Ozai wasn't quite so sure about her. He glimpsed compassion in those big eyes of hers sometimes. Compassion had no place in war. It had no place with him.
"My lord, please excuse me, but you have a letter," a timid servant said as he slowly approached the throne.
"I've told you not to bother me in here before," Ozai responded coldly.
"I'm sorry, my lord, but the letter has two red seals."
"Why didn't you say so in the first place?" the Fire Lord roared. "Two red seals indicates urgency, you idiot. You should have run here. Bring it over and then leave. And don't come back. I'll find a competent replacement for you."
"Yes, my lord," the man said with a quavering voice.
He backed out, keeping his eyes on the floor, and once he reached the hallway he ran. Ozai used a long sharp nail to break the seal on the scroll. He unrolled the paper curiously and began to scan the neatly painted characters. The letter was from a fire sage on Crescent Island, home of the Fire Nation's Avatar Temple.
Most esteemed Fire Lord,
I will get to the point. The Avatar has awakened. There is no mistaking it. The temple light shone brightly indicating the Avatar State. I do not know where he is in the world, but he is very much alive.
Your faithful servant,
Sage Nagami
Ozai's eyes narrowed to slits and he crumpled the paper savagely in his right hand. With a quick motion from his left, he set the letter ablaze and then dropped it the floor, looking at it with disgust and the slightest hint of fear. Perhaps things had been going just a little too well.
Seas near the Southern Earth Kingdom
Commander Zhao's ship prowled the seas of the southern Earth Kingdom. He stopped to resupply at Whale Tail Island and then proceeded on, looking for any stray Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe ships to engage in battle and promptly destroy.
"Sir," the lookout called frantically from his post. "Look up!"
For just a moment Zhao considered blasting the man from the highest point of the ship and letting him fall to his death for the impertinence of his words; the nerve of him giving an order. But the commander thought better of it. Good lookouts were hard enough to come by. He looked up.
In the sky overhead was a huge animal, white, with some kind of brown markings. Zhao could see what looked like three people on board. It was an air bison and airbenders flew air bisons. Could it be? Could it really be the Avatar? Who else? Zhao ordered the helmsman to follow at a discreet distance. He would capture the old man and bring him back to the Fire Nation in chains. The Fire Lord would surely give him another promotion after that, something grand.
But the airbender wasn't an old man after all. He was a young boy, twelve years old at the most and when Zhao caught up to him and his two friends on Kyoshi Island, his defeat was humiliating. He'd never fought an airbender, of course, and it was disconcerting. His flames and those of his soldiers were blown away by whooshes and blasts of air. The boy was agile, like a dancer almost and flitted about, popping up here and disappearing there. He was like the wind, Zhao supposed, ever changing and unpredictable.
The commander did manage to set the village on fire, though. It would serve them right for helping the brat. All the air in the world wouldn't stop those fires. All the face paint and fans and katanas in the world wouldn't stop them either. He hoped the cursed village burned to the ground and all the people too. As he boarded his ship again and regained his fragile composure, he looked back at the island and watched as the Avatar put out the fires, using that sea serpent like a giant water spout.
Zhao cursed the boy and vowed to capture him if it was the last thing he ever did.
Gaoling
During their last week at Keung's, on their last day there, actually, a letter arrived from Bumi via his fastest messenger bird. It brought more shocking news.
"He's just a little kid," Zuko said again with disbelief. "And he was stuck in an iceberg under the water for one hundred years. No wonder I couldn't find him."
"Twelve years old," said Mai, "and he's supposed to save the world; poor guy."
"At least Bumi told him and his friends all about us. That should save us some trouble," Zuko mentioned hopefully.
"Yeah, maybe, but we have to find him first. They're headed to the North Pole but I don't think they're taking the direct route."
"I'll bet they're following along the western part of the Earth Kingdom and will fly over Jeong-Jeong's place on the way to the North Pole rather than Ba Sing Se. There are more towns on this side than on the east," the prince reasoned.
"Hey, that's some pretty deep thinking there, Zuko," Toph called from the doorway.
"I thought you were sick," Zuko retorted.
"Keung convinced my folks to let me say goodbye. You're leaving tomorrow morning, right?"
"Yeah," Mai agreed.
"So, the Avatar is really back and you need to find him. What are you going to say when you do?"
"I don't know," Zuko replied. "I'm not good at that stuff."
"Sooo, maybe all of you will visit Gaoling one day," Toph said softly.
"Maybe," Mai replied. "We'll miss you, Toph."
The tiny earthbender moved closer to her two friends and gave each a solid punch on the arm.
"Something to remember me by," she blurted out and then ran from the room.
"Toph," Zuko called but the girl was long gone already, pushing her way by Liang and out the front door where her escort waited for her.
"Leave her, Zuko," Mai advised as she watched her betrothed make a move to the door. "She doesn't want to cry in front of us. She's got that whole tough thing going on."
"Oh, oh yeah," the prince agreed.
"We'll write to her through Keung. He'll read the letters to her."
"Okay," Zuko nodded. "I feel bad. Besides you, I've never had a friend. I don't even know how to act half the time."
"I'm no better off," Mai replied.
They sat thinking about their friend for a few moments before resuming their interrupted conversation.
"What do you think about the boat idea?" Zuko finally asked.
"It's fine," Mai stated. "A boat's more comfortable than the ostrich horses so I can't complain."
Keung had hired a boat and pilot to speed their travel up. They would follow the coastline northward while keeping watch for a huge flying bison.
"Do you know how ridiculous that sounds," Zuko complained.
Mai giggled. "I guess it does, but what choice do we have? "
"I know. We need to join forces with the Avatar. Our chances of taking down my father will be much greater. But he's not even fully trained yet. I mean, he's not even close. So how powerful can he be? I was hoping for some real help, not a little kid."
Zuko's voice rose in pitch and he looked agitated.
"Zuko, would you calm down. Let's just wait and see, okay?"
Mai looked mischievously thoughtful for a moment and then got up from her seat, shut the sitting room door and turned the lock. She walked back toward Zuko, swaying her hips seductively. He licked his lips as he watched her graceful movements. She stopped directly in front of the prince's chair and looked him right in the eye before straddling his lap. She began to kiss him, slowly at first and then with more fervor. Zuko clumsily loosened the silk sash that held her pretty top closed and ran warm hands up and down her back, then over breasts constrained by snug bindings. He tried to reach up inside but Mai slapped his hands away.
"We'll do that later," she whispered hoarsely.
"What if I don't want to wait?" Zuko replied, his face buried in her chest. "I'm almost there already. I want you, Mai, all the time."
Mai felt a lump form in her throat and tears well up in her eyes at the vulnerability, honesty and raw emotion in her betrothed's voice.
"I know," she answered softly. "I want you too. But at least you're not worrying about the Avatar." She slipped off his lap and adjusted her clothing, tying her sash and rearranging her skirt. "It's time for lunch anyway. Iroh will come looking for us." She looked down at Zuko's lap and smirked. "You'd better cool down for a few minutes unless you want everyone to know what we were doing."
Predictably, Zuko flushed bright red and pulled at the front of his loose pants.
"I'll meet you in the dining room," he mumbled.
Gaoling was close to the coast and it took only a short ride by ostrich horse to get there. Keung led the way in a carriage pulled by his own animal. Toph hadn't appeared, but Mai and Zuko knew that she wouldn't. Her punches of the day before were her goodbyes and both young people could still feel where her fist had impacted their arms. Something to remember her by indeed. Zuko looked back a few times and watched Toph's house fade into the distance. He had a real fondness for the strange girl and so did Mai. Come to think of it both Jee and Iroh liked her very much too.
"Thinking about Toph?" Iroh asked his nephew.
Zuko nodded. "I hope things get better for her."
"So do I, Zuko, so do I," the former general admitted.
They arrived at the coast after a hard hour of riding and like Keung had promised, a ship waited for them, captain and two man crew already aboard.
"These good men will follow your orders," Keung told them. "It's the finest design of sailing ship we have in the Earth Kingdom and it moves swiftly, well as long as the wind is right."
"Well, friend, I suppose we won't see you for some time," Iroh stated. "We've enjoyed ourselves and your hospitality was wonderful. Thank you for everything, especially the time you spent with Mai and Zuko."
Keung clapped Iroh on the back and smiled his crooked toothed smile.
"It was great just to have the company. You four did me a favor."
Everyone said their goodbyes. The ostrich horses were loaded onto the large ship, led down a ramp and tied off below deck. The travelers carried their bags and satchels and weapons aboard next and waved to Keung until he was nothing but a green speck in the distance.
"Good luck," they heard him call. "I have faith in you."
"Hope it isn't misplaced," Zuko said under his breath and then turned to look out at the sea.
"It isn't," Mai said.
Zuko looked over at her. How had she heard that or had she sensed his thoughts as she so often did?
"You're so easy to read," Mai continued with a wry chuckle. "I have faith too, as weird as that sounds coming from me. I've always believed in you, long before we left on this freakish journey of ours. You were the only one."
They stood together on the deck for a long while, watching the waves, not saying anything. It was perfect.
Everyone expected days, maybe weeks to go by before they spotted the Avatar in the sky, if they ever did. So when Jee, who was looking through a telescope, scanning the sky every few minutes, cried out with excitement just over a day later,* everyone was shocked.
"It's the Avatar's bison," he called. "Zuko, come look."
Zuko ran down the deck, wet with ocean spray and took the telescope from Jee.
"Agni, it really is," he breathed out quietly. "But there's only one person riding it and it's not the Avatar. It's a girl and she's wearing blue."
"We need to get to shore and ride, nephew," Iroh said urgently. "We can't afford to waste time on speculation."
The captain brought the ship as close to the shoreline as he could while everyone gathered their belongings and ran below deck to untie the ostrich horses. Shortly after they were racing along the coast, eyes upward, following the huge beast. As soon as they noticed the bison descending they all pushed their animals to the limit.
When they came upon a small village, partially destroyed by Agni knew what, the group of four pulled their ostrich horses up short. The bison sat near the village gate and the girl in blue was petting its nose and talking to it. Her face wore a sad look.
Zuko approached slowly and cleared his throat. Villagers gathered around, curious about their latest visitors.
"Excuse me," Zuko said tentatively. "You're traveling with the Avatar, right?"
Katara whipped around and looked at him curiously, examining his scar and then letting her blue eyes move up and down his body.
"And you're Prince Zuko. Bumi told us to expect you."
*you'll have to give me a little creative licence with the time/distance thing.
A/N: Don't worry. Katara isn't going to accept our little group that easily. I'm sad to see Toph go but she will return, many, many chapters from now. This story is going to be so long. I get anxiety when I think about it.
I made the decison to leave the whole attack at the South Pole out of things. Aang needed to leave anyway to master the elements. That was enough of an excuse to move things along. I suppose he seems a bit more serious than he was in the show, but his playful, young side will show itself too. And really, I didn't want to write about Zhao or whoever spotting him at the pole and I didn't want to write the attack on Kyoshi (done that once before). It's enought to know that Zhao knows of Aang's existence now and is hot on his little heels.
It's a Maiko story after all.
Thanks for reading and reviewing. I thrive on feedback.
Alabaster