Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me.

It's taken me longer than I thought to get this chapter up, but I did.

I mainly started writing this as a return the airbenders story, among other things, and I kinda miss writing about Aang's task and his lessons. The ideas in these chapters are some that I've had since I started writing this fic, but this was the best place to put them. I can only hope they come out okay.

Thanks for the reviews and feedback. It's nice to know I have readers and I'm always looking to improve.

And I hope you've had, or are having, a good holiday season. Whatever you celebrate.

Chapter Twelve: Traps and Lies

"Jumping Joo-Dee!" Teo's father exclaimed. "I didn't see you there."

"Sorry. Oh so sorry," Hana apologized. "I only came to see if my staff has been fixed." Hana held her little sister's hand. Lin squirmed.

"Ah, perfect timing," Teo's dad smiled. "Just finished the repairs this morning. It's right over here."

Since Aang and Katara had left the Northern Air Temple five days ago, for their errands in the Earth Kingdom, Teo's father had made Hana a glider as a gift. He believed every youth at the temple should have their own glider, especially if they were an airbender. Even though, Hana's glider had broken during its first flight. Hana had been able to use airbending to avoid falling off the mountain. Teo's father had felt awful and had set about fixing it, and making improvements, right away.

The man searched for the glider on a wall shelf. His workshop had recently been cleaned. Blueprints and other documents were rolled up and stowed, the wall calendar was finally on the correct month (showing a watercolor of an ox-frog on a lily pad), and everything else was stuffed onto shelves.

"Hey, Hana," Teo said. He was seated at the table at the front of the workshop. The table was covered diagrams Teo and his father had been going over.

"Hello."

"And hello, Lin." Teo waved.

"Tee-toe!" Lin vigorously waved back. "Coming to glide? Weather clear." The little round-faced girl pointed to one of the windows that ran in a row behind the table Teo sat by. It showed a clear afternoon sky.

"I'll come out later," Teo said with his usual smile. "No question."

"That's good," Hana replied as Teo's father called out.

The man flourished the staff. The staff transformed into a pink glider, opening with a 'pop', and knocked a stack of papers on the floor. Teo sighed and wheeled to pick them up. Hana walked over to take her staff.

"Thank you, sir." Hana took it with both hands. This allowed Lin to run over to the table with the diagrams. She rooted through the dinner dishes that acted as paperweights against the wind.

"And if you still have problems," Teo's father began.

"I know where to find you," Hana finished.

"That's right."

Hana thanked the man and left with Lin, who she had to take a half-eaten egg roll from.

Teo dumped the papers he had just picked up on the table. A post card slid out. Teo picked it up. The design on the front showed the outline of a flower with five diamond shaped petals and a swirl in its center. Teo flipped it over. Only his father's name was written on it and underneath it 'The Mechanist.' That was his dad's old university nickname. Teo looked at the design again. He recognized it. It was the symbol for the Philosophy Club his mother was in at Ba Sing Se University.

Teo remembered how he had told Hana of how his mother really had died in the flood which had destroyed his village. Teo's memories of that day were always hazy, ever changing.

"Dad?" Teo held up the card. "When did you get this card from Ba Sing Se?"

Teo's dad did not look away from the shelf he was cleaning. "Never got a card from the city," he said absentmindedly.

"From mom's university club."

"Your mother was never in a club."

"What?!"

Teo's father turned abruptly. "'What?!' What? What did I just say?" When Teo told him, the man sputtered. "Did I say that? Well, I obviously didn't know what I was saying. Happens sometimes." He gave a little smile and walked over, plucking the card from his son's hand.

"Really?" Teo said. "Well, I hope you weren't planning on writing to mom's old friends. There's no message. No return address. Isn't that odd?"

Teo's dad stood speechless. He looked trapped.

"Dad."

"It's better if you continue not knowing."

"Tell me." His father was avoiding something, wanting to keep him in the dark. Teo was worried. What could it be? The last secret his father had kept from him was that he was working for the Fire Nation. Was it that bad?

His father sighed. "Before your mother—she didn't--- Teo, even though I went to Ba Sing Se University, your mother never did. She never visited the city." Teo said nothing. "And that's why I should probably tell you the entire story." His father hung his head. Yet, before he could say anymore a gust of wind blew in, blowing the stray papers everywhere.

Aang scanned the marketplace for Katara. Where was she? Aang could barely see anything through the midday crowds, the colorful booths, and the groceries he carried in his arms. Aang was carrying the food for next week's set of meals and the fresh vegetables and spices for tonight's dinner. These were the ingredients he had gone off on his own to buy while Katara purchased everything else they needed. Suddenly, a person bumped into Aang. This knocked a tomato out of its wrapping. Aang moved quickly. He used his bending reflexes to catch and balance the tomato on his foot, but he overbalanced. Another tomato rolled out. A hand caught it.

"Good catch, Katara."

"I know."

"Are you finished shopping? Good, I got our food." Aang bent his knees as Katara put the tomatoes back. He could not spare a hand.

"And tonight's special meal?" Katara asked.

"And tonight's special meal," Aang answered as the two of them set off to stow their purchases on Appa. They pushed their way through the throng.

"So, what are you making?"

Aang grinned. "It's a surprise. You'll have to wait and see."

"Are you sure you don't want to tell me? That it's not eating you up inside?" Katara put a hand on Aang's shoulder, a smile playing on her lips. "Keeping things pent up will make you sick, I can tell, healer knows best."

"It's a surprise."

Katara had been miserable the past few days. She tried to appear happy, going through her usual routine of planning their route, organizing the inventory, and being her usual self, but Aang knew not being able to really waterbend made her miserable. Aang was sure she would be over the symptoms of her journey into the Spirit World in a few days, the same time they would reach the village the earthquake detection device was to be delivered to.

But as Katara was not over it yet, Aang had decided to surprise her. At their first stop in the Earth Kingdom, Aang had hoped to secretly buy the ingredients to make her dinner. Katara always made the meals. Aang knew she liked cooking but was sure Katara would find enjoy a break. And Aang enjoyed making the simple dishes the monks had taught him. Aang wondered why he had not thought of it before.

Yet, Aang could not buy the ingredients in secret as Katara kept the coins, and he had been caught trying to take some. So, Aang had told her. Even though she had no idea what he was going to make. That was still a surprise.

As they passed a stall, Aang's elbow knocked an orange onto the ground. Aang kicked at the orange. This sent it through the air.

The vendor, a young woman, caught it. She gaped. "You're an airmover."

"He's the Avatar," Katara said.

"Like—like the stories," the woman said.

"What stories?" Aang asked.

"The ones about the airmovers in the woods. My friend's aunt's second cousin's daughter's boyfriend told me how about twenty years ago, 'fore I was born, a group of airmovers came to this area."

"What airbenders?" Aang's eyes were wide. This must be quite the story if so many people told it.

The woman began to peel the orange. "These people were wanted by the Fire Nation, like all airmovers, so they went into hiding. In the woods south of here, the boyfriend said. Not seen since."

"There are airbenders here?" Aang gasped, and Katara asked the woman if she knew anything else.

The woman knew nothing more about the airbenders, but she knew about the forest they were supposedly hiding in. "No one with sense goes in there. It's still a death trap from the war. Land mines that can still blow you to the sky, and traps, oh, and underground bunkers. My aunt said they could collapse under you!"

She boasted that the Fire Nation had wanted to capture this area as it was the best land that sat on the banks of the Earth Kingdom's biggest river. Most of the fighting had taken place in the woods. The fights had gone on for years, until the Fire Nation had gotten wise and smoked the Earth soldiers out of their underground bunkers. The soldiers were gone, their handiwork remained.

This information was wonderful, there could be airbenders, but disheartening to Katara. The war was over, but many places were still scarred by it. Would the effects ever go away? Katara shelved these thoughts as Aang thanked the vendor. They told her they would certainly check it out. The two of them returned to Appa.

"Airbenders. There could be airbenders here! I wonder what they're like," Aang said excitedly.

Katara stowed their purchases, more than they had ever been able to buy before. The war's end had also brought an end to wartime inflation. "Well," said Katara, "Teo did say there were rumors of airbender hideouts in his town. I'm sure there could be others around the Earth Kingdom."

Aang shook the reins with a 'yip yip'. They rose into the air and flew to the forest. The journey was only a few miles. Appa growled as he landed in a small clearing. Aang jumped off right away. Katara climbed down.

Aang hopped in circles on the forest floor as he took his shoes off. He wriggled his toes in the cool soil. Aang could feel the life teeming around him. Squirming earthworms, ants crawling, an owl resting in a tree, Aang could sense the energy and excitement. This was his favorite part of earthbending.

"What are you doing?" Katara eyed Aang's bare feet.

"How else am I supposed to get us through the Forest of Death, as that vendor described it?" Aang took Katara's hand. "Come on, I feel something this way."

Katara allowed herself to be led.

"Up there." Teo pointed. "It's pinned to the wall."

His father jumped. The older man caught the last piece of stray paper and ran to the table as fast as he could. He stuck it, along with everything else, under a bowl.

"Whew."

"Tell me about it," Teo said. "So what did you need to tell me?"

"Oh that."

"Yeah, that." Teo did not take his eyes off his dad as the man leaned against the wall. "So mom didn't go to Ba Sing Se University? Then what does that flower symbol mean?"

Teo's mother, and a few others in Yun Zhen, had a strange diamond-petaled flower tattooed onto the inside of their wrists. This was the design on the postcard. If it had nothing to do with the University, what did it mean? Why had his mom's old friends sent the card to his father?

"Let me start at the beginning," Teo's father said calmly. "I only met your mother and her hippy friends, after my friend I left Ba Sing Se."

"Because you dropped out to apply your knowledge to the real world," Teo continued. "Is that part true?"

"Yes, because if you've ever been to Ba Sing Se, you'd know it's not the real world. But, my friend and I knew nothing of the outside world. So the hippies became our guides."

"You only left the city with 'a set of encyclopedias on your back and your passport in your pocket,'" Teo said almost icily. He was not taking the newly acquired information very well.

If his dad had lied to him before could he be lying now? Yet, the explanation had made sense. Most of his mother's friends, the ones with the tattoos, had been nice albeit a little eccentric. Teo had always assumed they were the nobles his dad had told him about: disenfranchised with the war, they shunned conventional Earth Kingdom values and traveled as hippies promoting love, vegetarianism, unwashed clothes, and daisy chains. Most of the people in Yun Zhen had been hippies.

Teo's father smiled, oblivious of his son's tone. "The very picture of a foolish university student. Nothing practical like food or clothes." His smile fell. "Yet, I learned, after settling in Yun Zhen, that your mother and her friends weren't very friendly with the law. Especially the Fire Nation."

"Okay," Teo said, "my mom was a criminal. What did she do?"

"She never wanted you to know with the war on," Teo's father said, "it was why I promised her I'd keep the truth from you." He paused. "Most hippies were nice law abiding people, but your mother's group used the guise of nomadic hippies, keeping the beliefs of the legendary airbenders, yes the hippies modeled themselves after the airbenders, alive for different reasons."

"Why?"

"Simple. Your mother and her friends were airbenders."

"What?! Seriously?!" Teo's voice was getting louder. "Airbenders lived in hiding."

"Not in our town. Your mom and all of her friends lived out in the open."

"But—but—Dad--"

"How do think we came to this temple? Your mother told me that if anything happened to our town, an attack, a disaster, we would have this temple as an evacuation point. Think, Teo," his father said. "How many people would find a temple on top of a mountain in the middle of the ocean?"

"I don't know, dad," Teo said weakly, "you can figure anything."

"I'm not that smart."

"You lied. I was so accepting of my past, but it was a lie," Teo said, more to himself than his father.

"During the war, it was better if you didn't know. If it was known your mother was an airbender, the Fire Nation would've killed you. You wouldn't have been able to handle it. And those they didn't kill--"

Neither finished the statement. Anyone who practiced airbending was either killed or made an example of. Unlike with other kinds of bending, airbenders could never truly escape their element. Broken limbs were a good way to go.

"Well, fat lot of good you did protecting me," Teo said, "I ended up breaking my back anyway. Your university education isn't worth beans. I guess, in this case, it didn't do you much good."

Teo added angrily, "Didn't teach you everything. Like the fact that you've known me my entire life, but still don't know I hate being lied to. At least if I make a mistake or lie to someone, I'd tell them right away. I'd feel awful."

"We did it for your own good," Teo's father shook a finger. "And I am right most of the time. Your mother and I always told you off for doing the dangerous things you did."

"Dad."

"Climbing trees, walking the dam, running off to join the military or be a hippy, gliding off the roof for kicks! You were eight! You broke your arm three times! My friend, the Bonesetter, told me!" The man yelled. His massive moustache shook in anger. Teo was taken aback. His father never raised his voice.

"I actually broke my left arm two times, my right arm five," Teo corrected. He also had a set of seven red stitches in his knee.

The man continued, "Your mother and I never let you do those things, we always told you--" his voice falthered.

"The Fire Nation would catch me or I'd break my neck. You never wanted me to do or know anything, keep me in the dark, like I couldn't handle it. I have to learn everything myself. Always telling me I could never do those things," Teo said, "and now I can't." Teo put his head in his hands.

The autumn air was crisp and smelled of rotting leaves, fungus and death. Mostly death or maybe it was Katara's imagination. It was in the air. Some of the trees' leaves had begun to go rich gold or blood red. Katara followed her boyfriend as he led her deeper into the trees. Aang's bare feet crunched over dead leaves and tree limbs. They had encountered no traps so far. If these airbenders were hiding, where would they be?

Aang stopped. "Brace yourself and don't move?"

"Don't move?"

"There's a land mine not even five feet away. See the trip wire." He pointed.

The line had been invisible before, but now Katara saw it clearly. Katara saw that the line led to a land mine hidden in the grass a few feet away. The device was as big as both of Katara's fists. She felt slightly silly for not noticing it before. Katara grabbed onto a tree branch with yellow leaves. She watched Aang step over the wire. He moved through a few positions. The ground opened and closed, swallowing the mine and the trailing trip wire and spark box. The ground shook. Katara swayed a little from the detonation. Once Fire Nation mines were set, the only way to get of them was detonation. They lasted for years.

The two continued.

Katara felt useless without waterbending. She knew it would do her little good in this situation, but it was always nice to have just in case. Katara leaned against a tree as Aang detonated another mine. She noticed a crater on the other side of the tree. Katara looked around the trunk.

The crater was about ten feet wide. The earth inside was covered with fallen leaves. Underneath the leaves no grass grew. Nothing else grew nearby. Was it fresh? Compared to the vibrancy of the rest of the forest, this was a nasty scar on the land. An Earth Kingdom helmet was lodged into a tree even further away.

"I wonder what the person who wore it was like."

"Katara!" Aang called from a distance. "I found something!"

Katara joined him.

"Found them," Aang said with a big smile.

Katara looked around. "Where? What do you see?"

"That vendor lied."

"What?"

"They aren't in the forest. They're under it. I've been falling the path of an underground fort for a while, thinking someone could be hiding there. And I'm right. There are people inside."

Katara leaned against a tree with still green leaves. She watched Aang take a horse stance. Katara did not notice the strange symbol etched into the tree, five diamonds circling a spiral. Aang created an opening in the ground. His eyes were wide with excitement.

Aang went in. Katara followed.