A/N: Yes, a new chapter! Hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger xD

Once again, thank you so much for all the RFFs! :D

I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.


In an instant, the ice surrounding their legs unfroze and Katara ran for the reins, adrenaline once again replacing the pain in her body. "Appa! We have to catch Aang!" she told the bison, sitting down on its head and grabbing the reins with her left hand. "Kids, hold on tight!"

The air bison swiftly plunged down, causing the children to hold on to the saddle for dear life. Meanwhile, Katara drew out a waterwhip from her trusty waterskin and sent it downwards after Aang.

She growled in aggravation as the whip fell short, just inches away from Aang's foot. She didn't dare stretch it anymore; doing so would compromise the whip's durability.

"Just . . . a little. . . more . . ." She leaned as far as she could to make up for the whip's lack of length.

Katara gritted her teeth. Though closer than before, Aang's ankle was just barely in grasping reach. To catch him, her movements would have to be deft, and she couldn't do that with only one hand.

Most people would panic and do the "noble thing", which was to let go of the reins, but Katara, however, was part of the minority with common sense. She slipped the reins under her arm and used her now-free hand to bend the whip with more precision.

After a few more agonizing attempts, Katara was able to wrap the tendril around Aang's ankle with some skillful turns of her hand.

"Got—woah!" She was no match for the combined force of her husband and gravity, and she screamed as she was yanked downwards.

Oh spirits what am I going to do the kids this is the end Aang I'm sorry Kya Bumi Tenzin I can't—

"Ow!' Her split second-long contemplation of her impending death was cut off by a sharp, searing pain in her wrist.

She panted, trying to process everything. Her head was in a whirl, but she realized with a start that she wasn't falling anymore. In fact, she was leaning on something soft and white . . . Appa's fur?

She heard a low grumble and the soft white thing shuddered, the vibrations shaking her entire body. Yep, definitely Appa's fur.

She glanced down; Aang was still safe, and so was she. She gulped as she looked past him, and noticed how tiny the trees seemed to be . . . and how tinier they seemed to be getting.

Were they rising upwards?

The pain in her wrist intensified, demanding her attention. She turned to it, and her eyes widened at what she saw: her wrist was entangled in ropes.

Or more accurately, Appa's reins.

She gasped as the pieces came together: she had fallen off Appa, and by some miracle, her wrist had gotten caught in the reins, saving her and Aang.

"MOM! Are you okay?" someone called.

Katara looked up. Three small heads peered down at her.

"She's fine!" She recognized the voice as Tenzin. "Gee, Mom, you scared us!"

"Nice work, Airboy, you do know how to fly a bison!" She didn't have to try hard to figure out whose voice that was.

"Uh, I didn't do anything," Tenzin said.

"What? Then who—"

"Flying bison are really smart animals. Appa must have pulled up by himself."

"Oh," Bumi said. "Good job, then, Appa!"

"Not the time, guys!" Kya chided her brothers.

Meanwhile, the reins had started to slowly come loose, and soon, Katara had her fingers tightly wrapped around them. A cry of panic escaped her lips.

"Mom! What was that?"

"I'm slipping!" she called, a note of hysteria in her voice. "Kya, freeze my hand to the reins, quick!"

"Got it!" A moment later, a jet of water flew towards her, securely freezing her hand in a block of ice. Katara sighed in relief. "I also froze the reins to Appa's horns, just in case!" Kya called.

"And we're going to pull you and Dad up now!" Bumi informed her, and they disappeared.

Katara looked down at Aang, then at her strained, shaking waterwhip. She'd never really tested the limits of her bending, and she didn't want to find out the hard way. The kids were going to have to hurry.

. . . . . . . .

Bumi ran to the reins and tugged, accomplishing nothing. "Okay, so maybe it's gonna be a tiny bit harder than I thought."

"And here I thought you were Mr. Plan Guy." Kya rolled her eyes.

"As a matter of fact, I do have a plan." Bumi retorted indignantly.

She scoffed. "Anyone with eyes could see that it just failed." She gestured at the reins.

"That was Plan A, my dear sister." He stuck his tongue out at her. "And I hatched Plan B by learning from the mistakes of Plan A."

"Um, can we hear the plan now?" Tenzin interjected.

Mr. Plan Guy cleared his throat. "Anyway, as I realized, there's no way we can just pull them up by simply tugging all at one point. There's a big chance the tension would be too much for the reins to handle." After a quick glance at Tenzin's blank expression, he added, "In short, they're too heavy."

"Anyway," Bumi continued. "The solution is to distribute the weight."

"How're we going to do that?" Tenzin asked.

"We're going to pull them up at different places, like how we carried Mom to the pond. Kya, do you think you can wrap a waterwhip around Mom's arm? You know, the one she's using to hold Dad up?"

"Sure thing."

"Okay, I'm going to be pulling on the reins." He turned to the airbender. "Tenzin, can you help support Mom's weight? I need you to push the air around her middle, but focusing more on Kya's side since that's were Dad—"

"I usually borrow Dad's staff when I bend air at a distance." Tenzin frowned thoughtfully. "I'll try doing it with my hands, though."

He fumbled with his hands, going through a dozen awkward gestures. "Uh, sorry, I don't really think there's a proper position for that."

"Kids? Are you all right up there?" Katara's voice called.

"We're fine, Mom! Just working on a plan!" he replied before turning back to his brother and whipping out his boomerang. "How about you use my boomerang instead of a staff?"

Tenzin's eyebrows almost flew off his head. "What?!"

"Hey, it's worth a try." Bumi shrugged. "Avatar Kyoshi used fans, right?"

"I know you love your boomerang and all, but a fan's different, Bumi!" Tenzin insisted. "I mean—"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Tenzin met his brother's eyes with skepticism before reaching out to tae the weapon. Bumi had had it ever since he could remember, and it was a gift from their Uncle Sokka. He'd pulled many a prank with it, but only the blunted edges and thin scratches gave away its wear. The boomerang remained an overall shiny silver due to Bumi's nightly polishing.

"Give me that. But I'm pretty sure this isn't going to—" He waved the boomerang, and Kya was blown a foot backward. He stared at the boomerang in shocked disbelief.

"You were saying?" Bumi said smugly.

Tenzin flicked the boomerang upward, this time tossing his sister a foot in the air. She landed face first back onto the saddle.

"Ow! Watch it, Tenzin!" Kya glared at the airbender.

"That was actually meant for Bumi," he admitted. "Sorry."

"That apology better be meant for me, too," Bumi muttered as he helped his sister up.

Ignoring his brother, Tenzin turned the boomerang over in his hands, studying it. "It's made of metal, like Avatar Kyoshi's fan, but its shape doesn't give me good control over the air." He frowned at the weapon.

"Well, it's the best we've got," Bumi said."Now, are we going to save Mom and Dad or what?"

. . . . . . . .

As it turned out, Bumi's plan worked and Tenzin found out that holding the boomerang at both ends helped with (if not solved) the control issues. They successfully got Katara and Aang back on the saddle, after what seemed to be endless minutes of pulling.

Exhausted, Katara let the water from the whip fall limply onto the saddle. "Thank you so much, kids." She melted the ice on her hand (as well as those on Appa's horns) before turning back to her husband.

"No prob, Mom," Kya said.

"Is Dad okay?" Tenzin asked.

They heard a faint groan and turned to see Aang—who was lying on the saddle—groggily focusing his familiar gray eyes on them. "K—Katara? Kya? Bumi? Tenzin?"

"AANG!" Katara cried, and at the same time Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin yelled, "DAD!" Unthinkingly, they tackled the poor Avatar, who was soon lost under a sea of legs and arms.

Katara was the first to come to her senses. "Wait, be careful, kids, Dad's tired," she said, standing up, and wiping at the tears in her eyes.

"No, no, it's okay, Katara," Aang reassured her, pulling himself into a sitting position, leaning heavily on the edge of Appa's saddle. "I'm so glad you're all safe." His eyes lingered on her, obviously still unable to believe she was alive.

"Dad! We were so worried!" Kya exclaimed.

"I'm so glad you're back to normal!" Tenzin said.

"Me, too," Bumi added. "I like normal Dad way better than Glowing Dad."

Katara watched sadly as his expression darkened and he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry for putting you all in danger. I hope you never have to see me like that again, but hoping doesn't do much."

The master waterbender felt a pang at his words. She was suddenly back at General Fong's base, with a twelve-year old Aang in her arms.

"I—I'd understand if you hate me now, or if you're scared of me . . . I'm a horrible father. You all deserve so much better."

"No, you're not, Dad!" Tenzin cried.

"Yeah, Dad, you're great!" Kya told him.

"Aang, don't say that—"

"Say what, Katara? The truth?" he challenged her. "You almost died, the kids were put in serious danger, and I don't even need to look to know that the island is a wreck! All because of me!"

"What happened to Mom was my fault, Dad!" Bumi exclaimed. "She was distracted because she was trying to save me. I was trying to bring you your glider . . . which in hindsight was a stupid plan," he admitted. "Anyway, I'm sorry, too."

Aang was already shaking his head. "The rebels were after me. It was my fault; I failed."

"You didn't fail anyone, Aang—"

"I failed to protect you," he said, cutting her off. "All of you. I—"

"Aang, you need to rest," Katara said, attempting to distract him. "You've used up a lot of energy, and you've been in the Avatar State for a long time."

"Katara—"

"Aang, rest. Healer's orders." The waterbender's voice was gentle but firm. She drew some water and positioned it above Aang's chest. She shut her eyes in concentration, and the water started to glow.

"Katara—" He was unable to finish his sentence, for all of a sudden, he felt incredibly sleepy. His eyes drooped, and he was unconscious in a matter of seconds.

"Woah, Mom, what did you do?" Bumi asked, awestruck.

"I put him to sleep," Katara explained.

"I didn't know healers could do that," Kya remarked.

"It's a technique I developed some time ago. I don't really teach anyone this, though, since it would be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands—"

"YOU DEVELOPED IT?!" Kya squealed.

"Well, with the help of your Aunt Ty Lee's chi-blocking knowledge."

"Mom, you have got to teach me that someday."

"We'll see, sweetie." She was amused at Kya's newfound interest in healing.

"Um, Mom?" Tenzin asked. They all turned their attention towards him. "Is Dad gonna be all right?"

"He's stable, but I'd want to keep an eye on him," she said, glancing his at her husband. "And all that adrenaline is starting to take its toll on me." This time, she glanced at her burns, which had started to sting again.

"I'm sorry for asking so much from you three, but do you think you can handle bringing Appa down?"

"Well—" Tenzin started.

"Sure thing, Mom!" Bumi said, cutting his brother off. "You go watch over Dad and rest, we'll get right on it!" He grabbed Tenzin by the hand and ran over to the reins.

"Yeah, you take a break first, Mom," Kya told her mother. "We'll handle this!" she said before following her brothers.

. . . . . . .

"What do you mean you don't know how to steer Appa down?! What happened to 'sure thing'?" Kya said in a ferocious whisper. She tried her best to fight the sudden urge to throttle her brother.

"I meant 'Sure, we'll figure it out'," Bumi explained, defending himself. "And we will. Tenzin can steer!" he declared, gesturing at the airbender.

"I can?" Tenzin asked incredulously. "I mean, yeah, but I've never done it without Dad—"

"Good enough!" Bumi interrupted him. "You'll do great, Airboy! You were telling me something about how flying bison were the first airbenders, right?" Tenzin nodded. "See, Appa's an airbender, you're an airbender; I'll bet you guys have some weird airbender instinct connection whatever which will make you a natural!" he exclaimed, accompanying his words with some wild hand gestures.

"Weird airbender instinct connection whatever?" Tenzin repeated doubtfully.

"Sure! Now go and grab those reins and steer like your life depends on it!" He gave his brother a light shove forward.

"Bumi!" Kya scolded him. "Knock it off!"

"Don't worry, bro! You've got Captain Bumi right here. World's best navigator."

Kya shot a very disbelieving look at her brother before exchanging a look with Tenzin, who just nodded unsurely.

"What, you don't believe me? Uncle Sokka taught me everything! Even how to steer a ship," he bragged.

"If you haven't noticed, Captain, we're on a sky bison, not a ship," Kya told him sarcastically.

"Pssh. Ship, bison, what's the difference?"

"Um, is everything all right there?" Katara's voice called.

"Yep, just perfect!" Bumi quickly answered, shooting a look at Tenzin. "Go, go!" he whispered.

Tenzin hurriedly seated himself on Appa's head and grabbed the reins. "Okay, now, what was it Dad used to say? Um, yip yip?"

Appa roared and flew higher in the air.

"Down, Tenzin! We're supposed to be going down!" Kya yelled.

"How? Wa-hoo? Yee-ha? Yup yup?" he panicked, yanking the reins in every direction. "Yipee?!"

There was only one option left, but he decided to play it for all it was worth.

"Um, Appa?" He felt stupid for even considering the idea, but he didn't have much choice. "We kind of need to go down slowly. Yeah, um, Bumi said we'd have some weird airbender instinct connection whatever so, uh, yeah, please go down . . ."

To his relief, Appa let out another roar and descended.

"That's better!" Bumi said. "Now, this is where my navigational skills come in." He ran over to the side to get a better look at where they were going.

"Okay, bring Appa down a bit slower," Bumi instructed. "There, that's better . . . wait, STARBOARD! No, no, SHARP PORT!"

"How are we going to board a star?!" Tenzin cried frantically. He couldn't understand why his brother had suddenly decided to speak gibberish. "And why would we need to go where the ferry port is? Bumi, are you feeling okay?"

Bumi, however, didn't seem to hear him. "I said, PORT! What are you waiting for, Tenzin? Steer Appa to the left!"

Tenzin yanked the reins to the left, and the bison roared and followed. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" he fumed.

"I did!" Bumi insisted.

"No, you've been talking crazy! You said something about boarding a star and going to the ferry port!"

"When you're navigating a ship, port means left, airhead." Bumi rolled his eyes. "And starboard means right."

"How many times do we have to tell you? We're steering a flying bison, not a—"

"What happened?" Katara's voice frantically cried.

"Sorry, Mom!" Bumi explained. "Minor turbulence."

There was a sigh. "Just get us down safely and—"

"Carefully, got it, Mom!" Bumi finished for her before turning back to an annoyed-looking Tenzin.

"Just cut out the fancy words and use left and right, okay?"

"Fine. Forgive me for trying to be professional around here," he said, sounding miffed.

Thankfully, Bumi's "weird airbender instinct connection whatever" idea was true to some point—flying a bison was naturally easier for an airbender. Tenzin soon figured out what to do and they got down with a relatively smooth landing (or as Kya said, "A landing much better than anything Bumi could do.")

Katara stood up. "Thank you again, kids. That was some er . . . exciting flying." Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin exchanged sheepish looks. "Good work, though. I'm sure Dad will be proud of you." She smiled at them.

"Speaking of which, we have to get him inside the house. Kids, could you call some acolytes to help us, please?"

"Okay, Mom!" Kya and Tenzin took off, but Bumi stayed, remembering something.

"Bumi? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" she asked, concerned.

"No," he replied. "But uh, yeah, speaking of acolytes, remember that guy Ling you asked to watch over us? He um, sort of had an accident, and needs to be healed," he said slowly.

"Ling? Wha—"

"He'sunconsciousinthelivingroom buh-bye!" He dashed off.

Katara sighed and shook her head.


Oh, Bumi xD

Credits to Aang in the episode "Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang" for the waterwhip-wrapping-around-someone's-leg/ankle move. He used it on Ozai. :bd

Btw, I have no idea when the next update will be. At the latest, it could be sometime around December (a really long time, I know :() I'm really sorry, but rest assured, I will finish this story.

But anyway, I love RFFs! What do you think of this chap? And just curious, who's your favorite Avatar kid (based on this story) and why? :D