Last of Our Kind
I have returned. Just to let you all know beforehand, Aang does have a little crush on Wenona right now, and she's not as naïve as Katara so she'll make sure Aang knows soon enough that the idea of him liking her like that is kinda creepy, especially when you consider how much older she is. I will also change up the fight scene a bit. Oh, just a forewarning, I will not be including the Sukka pairing and you will see why later on. And, once more, I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or the following quote.
"All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Erol and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death."
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
Girl Power
The team was flying over the water, as they had been doing for quite some time, and Sokka had been acting particularly annoying lately. It was almost as if he couldn't go ten minutes without making a sexist comment, and Wenona was getting to the point where she wanted to hurl him over the side of Appa's saddle and let him fall into the ocean below. Even after all this time, Sokka still hadn't learned that girls were just as tough and smart and strong as men. He didn't even have a huge amount of respect for his older sister as a warrior, even though she could kick his butt if she wanted to; the only reason why he accepted her help in a fight was because he thought she was probably the only female in the world who could hold her own in a fight, and from Sokka that was a high opinion indeed.
"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Sokka asked Aang.
"Well…I know it's near water." Aang replied.
"I guess we're getting close then." Sokka said sarcastically.
"What are you angry at Aang for?" Wenona asked. "You're the one with the map."
"Hmph. What does a girl know about maps anyway?"
"Are you asking to get thrown out of this saddle? Because that could easily be arranged."
"Momo," Aang murmured to the lemur, "marbles please." The lemur ducked into his shirt and handed him some silver marbles. "Hey, guys, check out this Airbending trick." Aang then used his Airbending to make the marbles levitate and spin around.
"Cool." Keng replied.
"Yeah, neat trick, Aang." Wenona said politely.
"That's great, Aang." Katara mumbled as she focused on sewing a rip in Sokka's pants that she was fixing.
"But…you weren't even looking." Aang whined as he stopped Bending the marbles.
"That's great." Katara said as she turned to look.
"But I'm not doing it now."
"Stop bugging her, Air-head, you need to give girls space when they do their sewing." Sokka admonished the young Avatar, drawing the suspicious glares of his sisters.
"What does me being a girl have to do with sewing?" Katara growled.
"Are you trying to imply something, Meat-head?" Wenona added.
"Simple." The teenage boy replied. "Girls are better at fixing pants than guys. And guys are better at hunting and fighting and stuff like that. It's just the natural order of things."
"All done with your pants." Katara said in a fake-sweet voice as she threw the half-finished article of clothing at him. "And look what a great job I did."
"Wait! I was just kidding! I can't wear these! Katara, please!"
"Relax, Sokka." Aang stated. "Where we're going you won't need any pants."
Keng then picked up his brother's unfinished pants and Katara's sewing kit.
"I'll fix them for you, big bro." The twelve-year-old offered.
"Oh, no you don't." Sokka responded as he snatched the items away from the boy. "That is not manly, and I won't let my little brother do something like that. Ever."
Keng pouted, he really didn't like it when Sokka got like that. Keng didn't care what other people thought of him as long as he was happy with himself, he couldn't help it that he liked sewing and just being helpful in general, it was just part of what made him who he was. Wenona, seeing the disheartened look on her baby brother's face, snatched the pants and sewing kit away from Sokka and handed it to the younger boy, who took the items happily.
"You're making him into a sissy." Sokka accused as he pointed irately at Wenona. "He can't go around doing girly stuff like that."
"Shut up, Meat-head." Wenona snapped. "You want your stupid pants fixed, right? Well, neither of us girls are very happy with you right now, so your only hope is for your baby brother to be charitable enough to help you, despite your stupid, sexist, narrow-minded views, which I strongly suggest you change in the near future. Like right now for example."
"Urgh! Why must you always be so difficult, woman?"
"One of these days, Sokka, that big mouth of yours is gonna get you in some serious trouble."
"Whoa." Keng gasped as the four Water Tribe kids watched Aang riding the giant koi fish. "I wanna try that next."
"Don't even think about it." Katara warned him.
"Yeah, Squirt," Wenona added, "we're not ready to deal with the idea of scraping you off the fin of a giant fish."
"I wonder if those things cook well." Sokka thought aloud.
"How should we know?"
"You're the girls, shouldn't you know if something's edible?"
That statement resulted in Sokka getting the back of his head smacked.
"He looks pretty good out there." Katara stated.
"Are you kidding?" Sokka replied. "The fish is doing all the work."
As they watched they noticed something big was following Aang and his fish and screamed for him to get out of there. Of course, Aang didn't realize what was happening until he was launched head-first into the water. At the sight of the giant creature heading straight for him, Aang ran at top speed over the water and crashed into Sokka. When the two got up, Aang proceeded to get dressed again.
"What was that thing?" Katara asked.
"Looked big. Big and mean. And possibly hungry." Wenona stated.
"Well, let's not stick around to find out." Sokka declared. "Time to hit the road."
That was when they were ambushed by mysterious figures in green that appeared out of nowhere. They soon found themselves blindfolded, bound, and tossed to the ground unceremoniously.
"Or, we could stay awhile."
"Like we have a choice." Wenona grumbled.
"You five have some explaining to do." Came the sound of a man's voice.
"And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back in the water with the Unagi." A young woman said.
"Show yourselves, cowards!" Sokka declared angrily.
Suddenly, their blindfolds were ripped away and they saw a troop of women in green robes with bright face-paint.
"Who are you? Where are the men who ambushed us?"
"There were no men." The woman from before answered. "We ambushed you. Now tell us, who are you and what are you doing here?"
"Wait a second, there's no way a bunch of girls took us down."
"Shut up, Meat-head." Wenona hissed at him.
"A bunch of girls, huh?" The woman grabbed him by the front of his parka. "The Unagi's gonna eat well tonight."
"No, don't hurt him!" Katara protested. "He didn't mean it. Our brother's just an idiot sometimes."
"More like all the time." Wenona added, earning her a glare from Sokka.
"It's my fault." Aang stated, drawing everyone's attention. "I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant-koi."
"How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies?" The man from earlier demanded. "Kyoshi's managed to stay out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way."
"This island is named for Kyoshi? I know Kyoshi!"
"Ha, how could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four-hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries."
"I know her because I'm the Avatar."
"That's impossible." The woman declared. "The last Avatar was an Airbender who disappeared a hundred years ago."
"That's me."
"Throw the imposter to the Unagi!" The man declared.
"Aang, do some Airbending." Katara muttered to the Airbender as the female warriors began to advance.
Aang shot himself into the air, breaking free of the ropes that held him to the base of the statue of Kyoshi. He landed lightly on his feet, and the crowd gaped in awe.
"It's true. You are the Avatar."
"Now, check this out." Aang said as he began to Airbend the marbles again.
"Alright! Dessert for breakfast!" Aang exclaimed as he began to stuff pastries into his mouth. "These people sure know how to treat an Avatar." He then offered some pastry to Wenona. "Nona, you gotta try these."
"Uh, sure." She said, taking the offered pastry. She then noticed Sokka glowering in a corner. "Hey, what's wrong, Meat-head? Aren't you gonna eat something?"
"Not hungry." He grumbled.
"But you're always hungry." Aang pointed out.
"Oh, he's just upset because a bunch of girls kicked his butt yesterday." Katara pointed out.
"They snuck up on me!" Sokka vehemently protested.
"Right. And then they kicked your butt."
"Sneak attacks don't count!" He then began to mumble to himself as he stormed off. He quickly returned and asserted that he 'wasn't scared of any girls' and snatched up some pastries as he returned to storming off.
"I'm gonna make sure he doesn't hurt himself." Wenona informed the others as she got up and followed after Sokka.
"What's he so angry about?" Aang asked.
"Sokka can't stand it whenever people challenge gender-roles." Keng explained. "To him, people need to be 'categorized' into certain things. For boys it means that the only things they should be good at is hunting, fighting, fishing, and so on. For girls it means sewing, cooking, cleaning, makeovers, and all that. When people challenge his 'norm' it gets him angry, especially if it means humiliation on his part. But, I guess that's what happens when people are ignorant."
Aang exchanged a look with Katara.
"He's smart for his age." She stated.
"Well, anyway," Aang continued, "I still think it's great here. They're giving us the royal treatment."
"Hey, don't get too comfortable. It's risky for us to stay in one place for very long."
"I'm sure we'll be fine. Besides, did you see how happy I'm making this town?" He glanced out the window at the statue of Kyoshi that was being fixed up. "They're even cleaning up that statue in my honor."
"Well, it's nice to see you excited about being the Avatar. I just hope it doesn't all go to your head."
"Come on, you know me better than that. I'm just a simple monk."
Aang then stood up to look out the window and was met by the sound of cheering fangirls. Katara and Keng exchanged looks. The little boy shrugged and smiled, as if saying 'come on, sis, let him have his moment'. Katara rolled her eyes but said nothing.
Sokka was still grumbling angrily to himself as he approached the training hall, completely oblivious to the fact that Wenona was following right behind him. He walked into the training room with a superior smirk on his face.
"Sorry, ladies, didn't mean to interrupt your dance lesson." He said. Wenona gave a scowl. "I was just looking for somewhere to get a little workout."
"Well, you're in the right place." The leader, whose name they learned was Suki, responded. Suki noticed Wenona approach behind Sokka, the Waterbender put a finger to her lips to let the other girl know not to acknowledge her. "Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know you were friends with the Avatar."
"It's alright. I mean normally I'd hold a grudge, but seeing as you guys are a bunch of girls, I'll make an exception." As he spoke and stretched his muscles, he was completely oblivious to the fact that Wenona was mocking him behind his back and making weird faces that forced the warriors to struggle to keep in their laughs.
"I should hope so." Suki replied in a joking voice that Sokka just didn't seem to recognize for what it was. "A big, strong man like you. We wouldn't stand a chance."
"True. But don't feel bad. After all, I'm the best warrior in my village."
That made Wenona angry, and she glared so hard at her brother that, if she was a Firebender, would've burned a hole in his skull.
"Wow, the best warrior, huh? In your whole village? Maybe you'd be kind enough to give us a little demonstration?"
Wenona smiled. She liked where this was going.
"Oh, well…I mean I…"
"Come on, girls." Suki addressed her fellow warriors. "Wouldn't you like him to show us some moves?" The warriors all giggled and nodded.
"Well, if that's what you want, I'd be happy to. Alright, you stand over there. Now, this may be a little tough, but try to block me." As soon as he swung the punch, Suki blocked him with her metal fan, only having to raise her arm to do so. "Hehehe, good." Sokka said anxiously as he rubbed his shoulder where the fan hit him. "Of course I was going easy on you."
"Of course."
"Let's see if you can handle this!" He lunged and she tossed him back. "That does it!" He charged again but Suki grabbed his arm and began to spin him around and around, then she yanked off the cloth belt that held his tunic in place and used it to bind his wrist to his ankle. He hobbled around a bit and then crashed to the floor.
"Anything else you wanna teach us?"
"It's about time someone did that." Wenona spoke up at last. "I'm just sorry it wasn't me."
"Nona!" Sokka exclaimed. "How long were you standing there?"
"The whole time. I heard everything you said, little brother. Every. Single. Word." A scowl crossed her face. She untied his wrist and pointed towards the door. As Sokka walked past her, Wenona hissed at him: "Walk of shame, Meat-head. Walk of shame." Once Sokka had vacated the training hall, Wenona turned to Suki. "That was really impressive. I'd like to apologize for Sokka, he's an idiot."
"I'll say."
"I'm Wenona by the way, but everyone calls me Nona." She and Suki shook hands.
"Nice to meet you. I noticed you seemed really irritated when your brother said he's the best warrior in your tribe."
"That's because he's pretty much the only warrior, the others are all off fighting in the war. It's just him, some five-year-olds, and me; and that moron won't admit that I'm ten-times better than him as a warrior."
"Well, if you'd like, it'd be a pleasure to do some training with you."
"Do I get a cool uniform like yours?"
"I think we're going to be good friends, Nona." Suki stated as she slung a friendly arm around the Waterbender's shoulders.
Wenona had fit right in with the Kyoshi Warriors, quickly picking up on their movements due to the similarity between the fighting forms and Waterbending. Eventually, they were interrupted by a very apologetic-looking Sokka.
"Uh, hey, Suki." Sokka said.
"Hoping for another 'dance lesson'?" The warrior replied.
"No, I…well, let me explain…"
"Spit it out. What do you want?"
Sokka knelt down on the floor.
"I would be honored if you would teach me."
"Even if I'm a girl?"
"I'm sorry if I insulted you earlier. I was…wrong."
"Well, this is a first." Wenona sniped.
"Nona," Sokka looked at his sister, "I'm sorry about claiming to be better than you because I'm a boy." She raised an eyebrow at him. "I never wanted to show you the respect you deserve because I was ashamed that I wasn't as good as you. And I was jealous that you're both a great fighter and a Waterbender. And, I apologize for not respecting you."
Wenona sighed and rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face.
"You know I can't stay mad at you when you make that face. Apology accepted, Meat-head." She knelt down and hugged her idiot brother.
Suki pondered this for a moment.
"Very well, we'll teach you." She said to Sokka. "But you have to follow all of our traditions."
"Of course." Sokka replied.
"And I mean all of them."
Wenona wanted to burst out laughing at the sight of Sokka in a dress.
"You know, it really makes your eyes stand out." She said, earning a glare from her brother.
"Do I really have to wear this?" Sokka asked Suki. "It feels a little…girly."
"It's a warrior's uniform." Suki explained. "You should be proud. The silk thread symbolizes a brave blood that flows through our veins. The gold insignia represents the honor of the warrior's heart."
"Bravery and honor." Sokka said as he puffed out his chest.
"Hey, Sokka," Aang called in as he passed by, "nice dress." Aang then turned and saw Wenona. "I like your dress too, Nona."
Wenona gave Aang a weird look. That boy couldn't be more obvious if he had 'I'm a weird twelve-year-old who likes older girls' painted on his forehead.
"Aang, we're all wearing the same dress." She said.
"I know…I just…I thought you looked nice in it."
Wenona threw Aang another look and the Airbender backed out.
"What was that all about?" Sokka asked.
"I think Aang has a kiddie-crush on me." Wenona stated.
"A what?"
"You know, a kiddie-crush. That's when a prepubescent child has a crush on someone older than them. Remember back home how a few of those little girls would stalk you?"
"Oh yeah." Then the realization hit him and he made a disgusted noise.
"Don't worry; as soon as you give Aang 'the talk' I'm sure that'll be the end of that."
"Well, if you say s-WHAT?! I have to give him 'the talk'?"
"Not right now, stupid. But, someday very soon you'll need to have a word with him. And Keng too for that matter."
"And why do I have to tell them?"
"Because, you're a boy."
"I hate you so much right now." Sokka grumbled.
Keng hadn't really known what to do with the free time they had. He was happy to help Katara to get supplies for the trip, but whenever he had a moment Aang was too busy with his army of mini-fangirls to do anything fun. Keng also sensed that Katara was getting frustrated with Aang's insistence that they stay a little longer. Keng immediately began to get worried when Aang came in while Katara and Keng were doing a little bit of Waterbending practice to let them know he was going to try and ride the Unagi.
"Katara," Keng said to his sister after Aang left, "we can't let him do this. Did you see the size of that thing?"
"If Aang wants to be stupid just to show off for a bunch of little girls, I say we let him face the consequences."
"But, Katara, he could get killed. And then what will happen?"
Katara didn't respond.
"I know you're annoyed with him, but we can't let him do something like this. We're his friends and we promised to look out for him and stand by him through anything."
Katara gave a defeated sigh.
"Let's go make sure he doesn't get himself killed." She said.
Sokka and Wenona had been making excellent strides in their training, of course Wenona was still naturally better than her brother but Sokka was doing okay. Suddenly, the village leader Oyaji showed up.
"Firebenders have landed on our shores! Girls, come quickly!" He shouted.
"Hey, I'm not a-" Sokka started to protest before Wenona grabbed his arm and began to pull him along. "Ah, whatever."
They hid in the shadows in the village along with the other warriors. They all waited patiently for the right time to strike. Wenona and Sokka immediately recognized the leader of the Firebenders.
"Come out, Avatar!" Zuko shouted. "You can't hide from me forever!"
The soldiers advanced into the town and the warriors withdrew their fans. They ran along the rooftops with expert skill, and then leapt down knocking several soldiers off their rhinos. Suki had charged straight at Zuko, only to get knocked to the side by his rhino's tail. Zuko sent a stream of fire at the warrior captain that was deflected by Sokka who came to her rescue.
"Hey, Scarface!" Wenona called out. Zuko turned and saw the Waterbender, though he didn't recognize her at first. "I think I owe you a butt-kicking for threatening my friends and family!" She withdrew the fans.
"I don't have time for the likes of you!" He shouted back.
Sokka charged up and managed to push Zuko off his rhino. Zuko turned to glare at the boy in woman's clothes.
"Think back about a week ago!" Wenona continued. "When you attacked the South Pole!"
"The Water Tribe peasants." Zuko muttered.
"Welcome to the corner of 'Pay' and 'Back'!"
Wenona and Sokka both charged, Zuko swung fiery punches that the siblings both managed to dodge. Wenona grabbed Zuko's wrist and pushed it back painfully, Zuko didn't flinch but got angrier.
"This is from the Water Tribe." Wenona whispered so only Zuko could hear, and withdrew a dagger that she always kept tied to the side of her shoe. She raised the dagger and froze as she suddenly had a flashback.
She was standing beside a girl in Fire Nation robes. The girl looked sad as she stared at a golden, flame-shaped crown in her hands.
"I would do anything for my people." The girl said. "As their ruler, I must make every sacrifice."
"But, you love him." Wenona said.
"I know…" The rest of the girl's words faded as Wenona snapped back to reality.
Zuko also seemed to have a dazed look on his face, but both remembered where they were and he took the moment of distraction to knock Wenona down with his free hand. Sokka rushed over to his sister to help her up.
"Nice try, Avatar!" Zuko shouted. "But these little girls can't save you!"
"Hey! Over here!" Aang called out from behind him.
"Finally."
Zuko attacked Aang, who responded by using a set of the warrior fans to channel his Airbending into a blast that sent Zuko crashing into some rubble. Aang then flew over to where Katara and Keng were helping some children get inside to safety.
"Look what I brought to this place." He said.
"It's not your fault." Katara responded.
"Yes it is. These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me."
"Then, I suggest we leave." Keng stated. "If we don't, Zuko and his men will continue to destroy everything until they capture you."
"I know it feels wrong to run, but it's the only way." Katara added.
"I'll call Appa." Aang concluded sadly.
"Sokka, you Meat-head, come on!" Wenona shouted as her little brother began to bid farewell to Suki.
"There's no time to say goodbye." Suki stated.
"How 'bout 'I'm sorry'?" He replied.
"For what?"
"I treated you like a girl, when I should've treated you like a warrior."
"Will you two stop yammering?! The whole town is burning!" Wenona cut in. She grabbed her brother and yanked him up. "Just forgive him so we can get out of here!"
"I am a warrior." Suki continued to speak to Sokka as she stood up and kissed him on the cheek. "But I'm a girl too. Now get out of here! We'll hold them off!" She then ran off to join her comrades.
"Augh!" Wenona exclaimed as Sokka began to blush through his makeup. Wenona gave Sokka's arm another yank. "Come on!"
The two siblings rushed over to board Appa. Aang gave the command for the bison to take off. They all looked back sadly as the village continued to burn.
"I know it's hard, but you did the right thing." Katara assured Aang. "Zuko would've destroyed the whole place if we'd stayed. They're gonna be okay, Aang." Without warning, Aang jumped from his seat on Appa's head down to the water below. "What are you doing?!"
About ten seconds later, the Unagi rose from the water with Aang steering it by holding on to its whisker-like feelers. Aang forced the Unagi to open its mouth as it spewed a blast of water over the town, extinguishing the fire. Once the fire was out, Aang returned to the bison and they all flew off.
"I know, I know, that was stupid and dangerous." Aang said.
"Yes. It was." Katara responded and then hugged him.
"Well, Sokka," Wenona said, "I hope you learned a thing or two from this experience."
"Indeed I have." He replied. "I learned that it's not about whether you're a boy or a girl, what matters is how much damage you can cause to a Firebender."
Wenona was about to retort but just sighed and settled back in her seat.
"Close enough."
Hope you liked this new chapter. Sorry if you all have gotten weirded-out by the fact that Aang has a crush on Wenona instead of Katara, especially considering the fact that Wenona is a few weeks shy of 17, but there is a logical explanation. As I had Wenona point out, Aang has what I believe is known as a 'kiddie-crush', when a younger person has a crush on someone older than them; in this case, a twelve-year-old boy crushing on a teenage girl. The reason why I did this was to emphasize a personal opinion about why I don't approve of Kataang. There is a similar situation in the Disney Channel show the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, where Zack was crushing on Maddie despite the fact that she was older than him. Hope I cleared that up for anyone who was confused. See ya.