Disclaimer- Go buy yourself a life on ebay if your obsessed with Avatar like me. Too bad I can't buy Avatar off ebay.
AN: I've decided to add extra chapters from the original idea I had. Just to tell you, this story will be more than 5 chapters long.
I would like to dedicate this chapter to my friend on and off fanfiction. Drum roll please...
kae-thinks-of-u
(She doesn't even read Avatar fanfics, she's not even an obsessed fan, like some of us…)
I would also like to dedicate all that is Kataang on this chapter to...
Aangsfangirl1214
Previously, on Avatar...
"If Iroh knew, then what did we do wrong?"
"Toph," Sokka said, "Azula must have spies all over, if she knew that we were going to Ba Sing Se, than she does. The news must have leaked out to Iroh."
"That makes sense. Since that Fire Nation attack almost a week ago, she must have figured us out."
-cut to the gang on Appa-
"Iroh," Aang stated toward the oldest (with the exception of Aang), but yet the newest member of the group. "Why did you leave Ba Sing Se?"
The old man looked fondly at the Avatar and wisely responded, "I knew that if I stayed, Azula would figure out that you were looking for me. Then she'd either have to kill you or be rid of me. I really had no choice. I knew that if I escaped, you'd find out. But I also faced the fact that Azula would try to find me. So, when I was found, I just fought and made sure that a lot of smoke rose in order for you to find me better. After all, you couldn't have gotten that far from the outer walls of Ba Sing Se."
-cut to training-
"…And now to begin your training." Iroh said to a clearly very sleepy Avatar.
-cut to Zuko in the White Lotus Society-
"Ah. Welcome back."
He looked at the two eyes staring at him with determination.
"I need a way to get to Omashu."
It had been a week since the attack the Fire Nation made on their camp. Time was running out as the solar eclipse drew nearer and nearer. The clock was ticking. Everything was moving at a faster pace.
Two days ago, the gang's plans were ensuing and prospering. They retrieved what they expected to find deep within the crystal prisons of Ba Sing Se.
"Again." Iroh nodded toward his pupil as he watched him thrust his fist though the air in order to create a blazing flame, headed for the master. He easily blocked the assault.
"I see you have become proficient in the art of discipline." He smiled, "That is very good. Now, you are ready."
The rest of the group watched curiously (except for Toph). They turned their heads more as Aang got into a better stance.
Sokka spoke up. "You've only been training for what? A day? And he's already ready for something?!"
Everyone stared at him, while the blind earthbender twisted toward his general direction.
"Snoozles, why am I not surprised that it was you?" Everyone laughed. That was true after all. Sokka was in fact the extremely random one around them.
Katara shook her head. "I can't believe I'm actually related to you!"
"Don't tell me that is another beginning to one of your sibling rivalries," Toph looked as annoyed as could be. "...Because if it is, I am calling in Sokka's circle birds to take care of you two."
The two stared at their friend who clearly was in need to a well thought of comeback, but none of them could muster one out. So they just sat there with blank expressions.
Toph shook her head. "You guys are hopeless, especially Snoozles over here." Sokka glared at her, but she just felt his vibrations and poked his head...hard.
He yelled, "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
She turned to him and laughed a little. "Sokka..."
"WHAT?"
"...You're annoying me. Enough said."
There was an awkward silence. While the conversation ensued, there was a mixture of confusion and pointing fingers as the three quarreled like their lives depended on it. The Earth King, although blatantly being ignored, was quietly playing with is bear, Bosco. The last few days were hard on him as he left all he knew back in the previous Earth Kingdom capital. Nothing could change their path now. All that was important was teaching Aang firebending, so then he could master the last element left on the list. They were headed to win this battle, even if it took all they've got.
Through all the chatter and bickering, Aang still hadn't lost his concentration. Even Iroh was slightly laughing at the siblings who were currently threatening each other, but quickly regained posture as he saw his student in constant seriousness.
"Now…as I said, you are indeed ready." The master grinned wide at him.
The Avatar shifted a little. "Let's just hope that I don't do anything stupid."
"I will teach you how to control fire. Although you know how to, this is different. You can make the flames move from out of you and shoot fire from your fingertips. Now learn to actually control it within the palm of your hand. Create it, move it, make it grow, and finally dim it out," All the fighting among Katara, Toph and Sokka ceased. They gained interest. "Be cautious, young one. For this may sound simple enough, but is actually one of the hardest steps to becoming a master firebender."
Aang nodded slowly, "Anything."
"Let us begin. Assume stance."
He did as he was told and moved his legs out wider in the horse riding stance.
"Make sure that your legs are bent carefully and that you have balance."
"Yes, Sifu Iroh."
The boy made sure that he was in the correct position and checked if he was stable.
"Very good. Now, on to step one…create fire in your hand."
The rest of the group, who were sitting on the ground, leaned forward with intrigue. Sokka especially was interested with the whole lesson. He had never seen Aang in so much concentration on bending an element before, besides when in fighting, but that didn't really count.
Aang furrowed his brow with determination as he slowly, but gradually made a flame appear in his palm.
"Excellent," Iroh told him, "Second step now. Make it move. Be careful."
His other hand moved toward the fire and it shook slightly before finally moving up and down, beside it. In his hand, it moved ever so slightly and its red glare shone bright in the sunlight. Aang breathed in and out, remembering how Master Jeong Jeong had said that breathing is important to firebending.
"Wonderful…don't hesitate now. Move it faster."
The boy did so.
"Remember that the sun is essential to this art. Feel its rays upon you. Feel the fire actually move within you. Don't think of controlling the fire, be the fire."
He nodded as he heard the man's wise words.
"Third step. This is the most difficult of all of the other steps. Growing fire. Carefully…"
"Yes, master."
Aang placed his second hand closer to the flame he beheld. Stretching his fingers out more, he breathed out and he grew surprised as it began to expand its size. He hesitated as he was having difficulty keeping it from growing any larger.
Iroh noticed this. "Careful, careful. Keep your hand steadier, widen your posture and breathe deeper."
He assumed his stance even wider and breathed harder.
As this all occurred, the flame stopped growing. It was a success after all.
"Great! Now, final step. Douse the flame."
Aang rapidly pushed his two hands together and small sparks of orange busted out from the sides of his clasped palms. The fire was gone.
"I'm impressed! You caught on very quickly. Time for the lesson to end, we will continue tomorrow and work more on touching up the beginner set. Maybe if you are ready, we will also begin intermediate."
-
Night had fallen upon the sky and the group was readying Appa for travel. Their plans were to move during the nighttime while no one would see the giant, fluffy beast and rest while flying. It was the most convenient way and the safest. If they needed to go during the daytime, they would, but for now, evening it was.
When everything was packed and prepared, they climbed onto Appa.
Aang whispered a quiet 'yip yip'. And off they were, into the dark of night, with all their eyes shut with sleep.
But Katara wasn't asleep. She looked over at Aang sadly, still feeling the pain of seeing him fall. She wasn't content with not being able to really tell him what happened with Azula and the Dai Li, or that Iroh had even helped them. She felt grief of almost not saving him, and the horrible memories of the night as she rushed toward the group with Aang in her arms, not saying a word as she saw her brother in a shocked sadness.
There was a certain anxiety of not being able to get something of your chest, like it was becoming a terrible burden to carry.
Katara felt the cold of a tear slowly come down her cheek. She hardly noticed when Sokka placed a hand on her shoulder, his brotherly instincts kicking in.
He was emotionless. He knew all she was thinking and didn't want to even touch upon the thought himself.
Sokka opened his mouth to speak and whispered into her ear, "Katara, what's wrong?" She didn't need to answer. He knew perfectly well what she was thinking.
"I'm going to try this again," he said to her softy, "What happened underneath Ba Sing Se that was so horrible to you, that you won't even speak about it? What was so horrible, that it actually made me worried about him when I saw him? Katara, what happened?"
She turned to her brother and looked at him with her blue eyes. When he saw this, he felt like her gaze pierced his heart. It pained him so to see his sister like this.
And when she responded, he lowered his head.
"Sokka, down there…" She hesitated, "…A-ang. H-he was in the A-Avatar State. A-a-Azula…THAT EVIL WITCH!" Katara was clearly furious. He knew she was hiding something.
Surprisingly, everyone else was still sleeping after Katara's little shout.
"You're not answering the question."
He smiled at her in a half melancholy way; he wasn't entirely at his happiest and decided to be honest about it. Katara just stared blankly at him, unsure of what to do next. She stayed unmoving for a couple if minutes, hesitant to go on with this conversation.
Sokka's smile faded when he knew he wouldn't get a response. He just nodded at her and looked away toward the moon, Appa's fur rubbing against his clothing as they soared ever so high.
"…You can tell me, Katara, when you are ready. Just remember, we all want to know what happened to our best friend and all we know is that Azula did something with lightning to him, but not really much. Katara, this may be hard for you, but you need to get this off your chest somehow. Aang doesn't even know."
-
The flying bison's hair rustled in the morning air. The whole gang was in the sky for the entire night and Appa seemed to lower to the ground.
Toph was the first to awake, shifting on the brand-new brown saddle as she opened her blind eyes. Katara was apparently awake for basically the whole night, only dozing off for a couple minutes at a time. She was still in a somewhat solitary state and ignored any attempts to get her attention for a while. Her slight frown never disappeared throughout the rest of the ride.
Iroh woke up next with his arms moving from their place under his head. They completely avoided their usual morning routine as Sokka wasn't the last to awaken.
Aang was fast asleep on the flying beast's head. He was unmoving and was silently grimacing under the light of the sun. The Water Tribe warrior stared at him and glanced at his sister.
-
Sokka took the wheel (the rope) and landed Appa as near to the water as possible. He swiftly jumped off onto the ground. They were on a lake surrounded by trees and bushes. In the center of the lake was an isolated island, which they were on. It was just big enough to hold all of them.
Frantic movements were being made from Toph jumping off to Iroh moving side to side to help with the unpacking.
Katara was closing her eyes as she sat underneath the shade of the flying monster, on her lap she carried Aang. Something wasn't right with him. There was a lack of supposed normality in this scene.
"Katara! Find some good water and try to help him out! I'll come with you." Her brother ran toward her and lifted the Avatar from her lap, gently.
Toph ran to their side after they were finished getting all their things off Appa. She looked completely in the dark.
"Hey, what happened to Twinkle Toes?"
There was a turn of heads as the two siblings focused their vision on their friend.
Katara responded, "I don't know," she looked at her brother, "He just kind of…collapsed."
Sokka nodded in agreement. "Maybe he's finally kicking in to the exhaustion of the injury he took on. Katara?" He suddenly stopped talking as he saw his sister's vague expression.
"Katara," he called again. "What …what do you know?" He was almost reluctant to ask, but he knew that the only way to make her actually answer their questions was to keep on persisting.
The master waterbender was deep in thought and also was well aware of what Sokka was trying to ask. She had to admit, she was getting annoyed, but decided instead that the only way to get this off her chest and stop her brother from talking, was to answer. She knew that eventually she'd have to say something and came to a conclusion that it was indeed the right time to make her stand. Sucking in her breath slightly, Katara turned more toward her companions and began to hesitantly tell the horrible tale.
Iroh saw the three and joined in, soon the Earth King sat with them, each of their eyes widening as the story became more and more intense.
-
"Princess," inside the moving machine was more madness, "I'm afraid the storm will not allow us to further track Prince Zuko and the prisoner."
Azula turned to him, eyes determined. "May I ask you something captain?"
The tank full of Fire Nation troops shook.
"Of course." He looked at her with curiosity.
"Does the storm command this vessel?"
"I'm afraid that I do not understand what you are asking."
The firebender smirked. "Does the storm command this vessel?" she repeated more sternly.
"No, princess."
She seemed to become angry with the man and twisted her expression in a more infuriated way. "Then if I were to have you thrown overboard, will the storm think twice about smashing you against the winds and drowning you in this thunder?"
"No, princess."
"Well then, I suggest you worry less about the storm that's already made up its mind about killing you and more about me, who's still mulling it over."
The captain nodded and swiftly went away, clearly shaken up by her sudden death threat.
They were looking for their supposed prisoners again and were unbearably close, even though the troops didn't know it, Azula had.
-
The group had just finished hearing Katara's "short" story and all of them were clearly taken aback. Had Aang really been struck with lightning?
Sokka shifted slightly with his eyes in shock. "Katara…I-I'm sorry."
She just bowed her head and created a small fake smile on her face. "I-It's okay Sokka. I needed to tell you guys anyway. It was about time I say something about it. I-I just…" she paused, looking more solemn, "I just need some time alone."
The rest of the gang looked at each other (except Toph) and nodded at each other in agreement, leaving her alone next to Appa.
When they left her with Aang still resting, she turned to the setting sun with fresh memories flashing in her mind.
She thought of those days past, of the war and her friendships. It was like she never knew how much could be inside her mind at such a great amount.
-
The sun had risen to the next day and Aang still hadn't awoken. With Katara asleep on Appa's side and the airbender on a comfortable spot near her, the gang seemed to be quieter than usual.
But no one really figured out why Aang was suddenly knocked out. He squirmed again and Katara awoke to the sounds.
She turned to him and saw his slight movements within the pupils of her eyes. With a swipe of her hand, she quickly opened her water pouch and bended the liquid toward the Avatar's chest to at least calm him. It was after she was done that she realized the problem.
"It must be…oh no." she whispered to no one in particular.
Quickly, with the realization setting in, she carried Aang onto the back of Appa. Careful not to wake the rest of the group since it was only fairly early in the morning; Katara made sure the flying bison lifted off the ground without that much sound.
The girl was headed toward a body of water, of some sort and was constantly looking back and forth at Aang to the paths in front of her. When she noticed that his tattoos began to glow, she widened her eyes.
"His Avatar Spirit must be trying to heal himself."
With that, Katara finally spotted a smallish lake view and landed swiftly nearby. She left her friend on Appa and ran to it, ready to bend the fresh new water into her pouch. When she did so, she was ready to try to do what she wanted to do all along…
-
In Aang's head:
"Aang, time is short. A great danger looms before you and you are still in need of healing." The Avatar before him (Roku) spoke in a very serious tone of voice.
The young boy stepped forward more. "I know, but what exactly do you want me to do? And what is this danger?"
"I do not know for sure, but I just want you to be on the alert when you wake up. Keep caution, for this danger is indeed very large. It is in your path, choose you tactics wisely."
"Why? What am I here for, Roku?"
The elder person just nodded in understanding. "Do you know what happened underneath Ba Sing Se?"
He hesitated, "N-no. Not really, just that I was knocked out for a while and…"
"Aang. This danger is more than just of the one that is in you and your friends' path, it is one of your own and of us. You were hit down, in the Avatar State. You do know what this means. But you were healed by the young waterbender traveling with you."
"Katara."
"Yes, but you have to understand. Even though you were struck in the Avatar State, you were indeed saved. But because of the seriousness of the injury, you will not be able to enter the state till you have to. And when I say this, more of forced to."
The boy was beginning to become more confused. "What do you mean?"
"When the time is right, you will understand. In the meantime…we must now go our separate ways. Your friend is waiting for you. I am sure that she'll tell you all else you may need to know."
Clouds started to fog his vision and Roku began to fade into the abyss.
-
Katara was doing her best to heal her friend. She placed the new water onto his back, as if to ease the pain.
Suddenly, she heard a gentle groan.
"AANG!" she yelled almost unconsciously.
The Avatar stirred. "Yes?"
With a widespread smile stretched out on both their faces, they hugged each other as if their lives depended on it.
"I'm glad you're okay, Aang."
-
They left on Appa toward the camp, making sure that no one woke up when they landed. But when Aang turned around with a worried expression, she sensed something was indeed amiss.
Katara scooted toward him. "What's wrong?"
"There's…a-a danger, Roku said." He bowed his head, "He said it was bad and that we would face it soon in our path."
"What?" She crinkled her eyebrows.
"But he said I also can't go into the Avatar State till I'm forced too…be-because of what happened under Ba Sing Se."
Her eyes faced downward as she knew well aware of what happened. "L-like what?"
"…Like…I was hit while in the Avatar State or something."
He looked toward her and knew that he just might get what he wanted to know out from her mouth and maybe he could put at least some pieces of the 'getting forced to go into the Avatar State' puzzle together.
"Why? Is there something wrong with that? W-well, there's always something wrong when you get hit, but that's not the point!"
Aang pushed hid hands up and down. "It's okay Katara. It's just that if I'm killed in the Avatar State, there's no more Avatar and…"
"WHAAAT?! How is that okay?"
Her shout seemed to wake that rest of the crew, but they slowly went back to sleep.
The boy laughed nervously. "Heh-heh? It's just…"
Katara looked saddened. "Look. I'm sorry. I was just being stupid."
"No you weren't!"
"Yes, I was. Aang," she replied sheepishly, "I need to tell you something important."
The Avatar listed intently to her commentary, but was beginning to widen his eyes at the thrilling story she was telling about what actually happened under Ba Sing Se. It was about time she told.
What they didn't know….what that Toph was awake and listening. She just quietly heard their voices, unmoving and was the first to know of the rest of the group, about the danger that will loom their path.
-
By afternoon, the gang was already on Appa, flying toward their new destination: Omashu. Everyone was either planning what to do next, or asking Aang if he feels alright.
Sokka was holding a map and scanning every inch. "Okay. So we're headed towards Omashu. If we meet up with the resistance over there, then we can prepare them. We need all the help we can get. Time is running short."
"You've got that right," Aang said, remembering his talk with Roku. "I suppose we have a plan?"
By this time, everyone knew about the supposed "danger" that awaited them and all were sure to be ready for a sudden battle.
"Well, sort of. We have no idea what kind of dangerous thing awaits us, but one thing for sure is that we want to try and avoid all dangerous paths possible. The Cave of Two Lovers is definitely a no…"
Katara and Aang blushed madly at Sokka's statement. No one noticed, but they knew that they still hadn't told him.
Iroh looked at the Water Tribe warrior. "Then what do you propose we do?"
"Well, we can't fly. Whoever we'll meet up with will spot us easily," he scanned the cardiograph once again, "We could go on this sliver of land called 'The Crawler's Pass.' It looks like the best way."
Toph heard the conversation and decided to join in. "No way are we going on that! Last time you led us to one of those things, it was called 'The Serpent's Pass' and let me tell you…it wasn't necessarily a pretty place."
Sokka flailed his arms into the air. "What do you know?! YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE! HOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT'S PRETTY OR NOT?!"
The blind earthbender slapped him.
"OW!"
"Yea, Snoozles, you shut up. Anyways…I propose that we fly Appa across the mountain tops and set up camp on the ridges. That way, no one can see use because we're covered by mountains, and we can get there a safely as possible."
"I like that plan," Aang said, "It's well thought of and very practical."
Katara giggled. "Yea, and we don't have to count on Sokka's instincts to carry our stuff."
-
When it was nighttime, the gang settled on a ridge, sleeping on Appa. But they were all up for an unpleasant surprise.
"Avatar…Iroh, So pleased to meet you once again. And what a lovely evening it is for a reunion."
AN: I'm sorry it took so long to upload this, but I really hope you liked it. Who do you think is the intruder?
The next chapter is:
Chapter 5- To Fight Fire With Fire
(note: it is not part of the original five chapter plan, as this chapter is not either.)
