Last of Our Kind
I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or the following quote. Also, in this chapter, Yue sings a song in "Water Tribe" (in reality, it's my attempt at copying the lyrics to "Oneida Lullaby" that I found on Youtube. It is really beautiful and I recommend you look it up yourself. The person who posted it is "TheLonelyBearCub").
"It is very strange that the years teach us patience - that the shorter our time, the greater our capacity for waiting."
―Elizabeth Taylor,A Wreath of Roses
Change of Plans
"I can't believe it," Aang said as he stared out at the conquered city of Omashu. "I know the war has spread far, but Omashu always seemed…untouchable."
"Up until now it was," said Sokka, "Now Ba Sing Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left."
"This is horrible," said Katara. "But we have to move on."
"No, I'm going in to find Bumi," said Aang.
"Aang, be practical," said Wenona. "The city is probably crawling with Fire Nation troops and we don't even know if Bumi's still…"
"What? If he's still what?" Aang demanded.
"Around," Sokka finished.
"We know you had your heart set on Bumi, but there are other people who can teach you Earthbending," Katara assured the young Avatar.
"This isn't about finding a teacher," Aang retorted. "This is about finding my friend."
"How are we even going to get in with all those guards?" said Yue. "It's not like we can just knock on the gate and ask where they're keeping him."
Aang gave a knowing smile and led the group down to the side of the mesa on which the city was located. He showed a large tunnel with a metal grate over it.
"A secret passage?" said Sokka in disbelief. "Why didn't we just use this last time?"
Aang pried the grate off and a thick flurry of green slime poured out, causing everyone to reel back in disgust.
"Does that answer your question?" said Aang.
Aang quickly darted up the passage while the others took a few seconds to follow. As they made their way up, the members of the group who could Bend deflected the oncoming green slime, leaving Sokka to get hit by it. Yue kept muttering "gross, gross, gross" to herself; being a princess, she had never had to see much in the way of disgusting substances. By the time the Gaang reached the top of the shaft, night had fallen and they were able to discretely exit through a sewer hatch.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought," said Keng.
That's when Sokka, completely covered in the green slime, emerged from the hatch. The Gaang were startled for a moment until Wenona blasted him with Waterbending, removing the offending substance, while Aang dried him off with an air-blast. Sokka, however, noticed several odd, little purple creatures attached to his face and tried to yank them off, panicking when they wouldn't.
"AHHH, AHH, AHH! They won't let go! Heeeelp!" he screamed until Aang tackled him.
"Shhh, stop making so much noise," said the Airbender. "It's just a purple pentapus." Sokka whimpered as Aang lightly rubbed the top of the little creatures' bulbous heads, causing them to let go and leave behind small markings where their suction-cups had been attached to Sokka's skin.
"Hey!" said a stern voice.
The Gaang looked up to see a couple of Fire Nation troops. Moving quickly, Aang wrapped a sash around his head, hiding his arrow, while Yue quickly hid her white hair beneath the shawl that Wenona had given her.
"What are you kids doing out past curfew?" the leader demanded.
"Sorry, sir, we were just on our way home," Wenona said calmly while the others tried to look innocent. They turned and started walking away.
"Wait," said the guard. "What's the matter with him?"
The Gaang realized he must have noticed the marks on Sokka's face and neck from the pentapuses.
"Um, he has pentapox, sir," Keng said as they turned to face the guard.
The man got closer to look more clearly at Sokka.
"It's highly contagious," Katara warned. Sokka picked upon the ruse and began to act sick.
"Uhhh, it's so awful, I'm dying," he moaned.
"And deadly."
"Hey, I think I've heard of pentapox," said the guard who then turned to one of his compatriots. "Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?"
"We better go wash our hands," said the other guard. "And burn our clothes."
The three guards fled in terror from Sokka who had really been playing up his act. Aang held up a pentapus that he had removed from Sokka and rubbed its head with his finger.
"Thank you, sewer friend," he said.
Meanwhile, a good distance away, a certain Fire Nation princess was listening to advice from the twin, elderly women who had been assigned as her tutors.
"When tracking your brother and uncle, traveling with the royal procession may no longer be an option," said one.
"May no longer be wise," said the second.
"If you hope to keep the element of surprise," they said together.
"You're right," said Azula softly. "The royal procession is dead weight. If I want to catch my prey I must be agile, nimble. I need a small, elite team. It's time to visit some old friends."
The Gaang stealthily made their way up to the palace, ducking around behind construction materials and moving quickly up stairways.
"Let's find Bumi and get out of here," Katara whispered as they hid from two soldiers.
"Where would they be keeping him?" said Sokka.
"Somewhere he can't Earthbend," said Aang. "Somewhere made of metal."
When the soldiers had passed, they hastily made their way along the ramparts; unaware of the group of people down below.
"There really is no fathoming the depths of my hatred for this place," said a somber-looking girl to her mother.
"Mai, your father was appointed governor," the older woman replied as she cradled her infant son. "We're like royalty here. Be happy and enjoy it."
Unbeknownst to either group, several Earthbenders were hiding on a higher rampart and waiting for the Fire Nation group to come into position. Once they were certain, they prepared to send a couple of large rocks down the slope to crush the unsuspecting people.
"I thought my life was boring in the Fire Nation, but this place is unbearably bleak," Mai continued. "Nothing ever happens."
That's when the Earthbenders launched the rocks. Aang noticed it and realized the people would be crushed, so he blasted the rocks away as soon as they came within his range. In retrospect, maybe after doing that he and the Gaang should've run because the Fire Nation people noticed them as soon as the dust had cleared.
"The Resistance!" Mai's mother shouted.
Mai sent a bunch of darts that she had hidden in her sleeves at Aang, who just managed to jump out of the way. The Gaang started running as two Fire Nation soldiers and the pale-faced girl climbed up the ladders after them. Katara and Wenona managed to knock the soldiers off the rampart without a problem, but Mai was a different matter entirely. The Fire Nation girl managed to keep up with them even when Aang knocked some scaffolding down in an attempt to stop her, but she tossed a knife that Aang only just managed to catch on his glider. She had just sent another bunch of darts at them, when the ground suddenly shifted and the Gaang fell into an underground passage. As the shock wore off, they looked up to see themselves surrounded by Earth Kingdom people.
"So, is King Bumi with you guys?" Aang asked once they arrived at the hideout where the Earth Kingdom citizens had holed up. His statement drew everyone's attention. "Is he leading the Resistance?"
"Of course not," the head Earthbender soldier snapped. "The day of the invasion we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city, to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered. The day of the invasion, I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said 'I'm going to do nothing' and started laughing. It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom, and freedom is worth dying for."
"Actually, there's another path to freedom," Aang said sagely. "You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation, but you're outnumbered, you can't win. Now's the time to retreat so you can live to fight another day."
"You don't understand. They've taken our home and we have to fight them at any cost."
"I don't know, Yung," said another of the Earthbenders. "Living to fight another day is starting to sound pretty good to me."
"Yeah, I'm with the kid," added another man.
The other citizens began to mutter their agreement and Yung was forced to concede.
"Fine," he said, "but there're thousands of citizens that need to leave. How are we gonna get them all out?"
"Suckers!" Sokka exclaimed, drawing confused looks. "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox."
They all set to work fishing out pentapuses from the sewers and applying the little creatures to their skin to create the marks that would trick the Fire Nation. Once they were finished, Sokka approached the people.
"The marks make you look sick, but you gotta act sick, too," he said. "You gotta sell it."
At that moment, an old man with a wooden leg began limping forward and moaning.
"Now that's what I'm talking about," said Sokka.
"Years of practice," the old man said with a grin, tapping his wooden leg with his cane.
"Okay, everyone, into sick-formation."
They started to walk off, but Keng noticed that Aang wasn't following.
"Aren't you coming, buddy?" he said.
"No, I'm not leaving until I find Bumi," Aang replied. Momo hopped onto Aang's shoulder and pawed at his face. "Sorry, Momo, I'll feed you later." He set the lemur on the ground.
"Well, good luck, Aang," Keng said. "We'll see you outside, then."
With that, Aang took off and Keng went to catch up with the others. Momo, meanwhile, decided to go off in search of food.
Naturally, the sight of hundreds of seemingly sick people terrified the Fire Nation troops and caused an alarm to be rung throughout the city. When the Fire Nation governor heard about it, he gave the order to have all the infected people ushered out of the city. The people were shown out as quickly as possible, never realizing that they had an unexpected tag-along.
Aang staggered into the refugee camp, accompanied by Bumi's pet Flopsy. Aang had spent the entire day searching for Bumi without success. His friends approached him, concerned.
"We looked everywhere," Aang said somberly, "No Bumi." Katara pulled him into a comforting hug.
Flopsy was also saddened and leaned in toward Sokka who gave the giant creature a hug, too. Then, Yung came over to them with some very serious news.
"We've got a problem," the man said. "We just did a head-count."
"Oh no, is someone missing?" said Keng.
"No, we have an extra." Yung pointed over to where a toddler in Fire Nation clothes was playfully grabbing Momo.
Up in the governor's palace, the man in question was staring out onto the city furiously while his wife sobbed and his daughter stood by impassively.
"So, the Resistance has kidnapped my son?" said the governor. "Everything's so clever, so tricky, just like their King Bumi."
"What do you want to do, sir?" said one of the guards.
The governor stared back out into the distance. He had no choice; he had to save his son no matter what. He would give them the only thing he could. He would give them King Bumi.
The Gaang sat around the campfire wondering what they were going to do and watching as the baby kept chasing after Momo. When the lemur flew out of his reach, the child made a grab for Sokka's club only to have it snatched away by the annoyed teen.
"No, bad Fire Nation baby," Sokka snapped, causing the child to burst into tears. Katara thwacked Sokka over the head.
"What did you hit him for?" said Wenona.
"The baby just wanted to play with it," Katara replied.
"Sure, let's let a toddler play with a weapon, that's a good idea," Wenona said dryly.
"Oh, right."
"Here, hand him to me," Yue said. Katara handed her the crying child and she began to gently shush him. "There, there, it's alright." The child still wouldn't stop. "Here, let me try something. Nona, do you have your liuquin?"
Wenona nodded and pulled out the instrument and began to play a few soft notes. That's when Yue began to sing.
"San-dow, san-dow, o'wil'las,
Go-oh-nu lun-kwa,
Mei-ji, so-ji, sic-sadee,
Go-oh-nu lun-kwa.
San-dow, san-dow, o'wil'las,
Go-oh-nu lun-kwa,
Mei-ji, so-ji, sic-sadee,
Go-oh-nu lun-kwa."
The child drifted off to sleep from the lovely song and there was finally some peace and quiet.
"Aw, isn't he just so cute?" said Katara.
"Sure, he's cute now," said Yung, "but when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation Army. You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer."
"Does this look like the face of a killer to you?" Yue replied, holding the sleeping infant up a bit to show his cherubic little face.
Just then, a Fire Nation messenger hawk swooped in. Aang walked over to the bird and removed the letter.
"It's from the Fire Nation governor," he said. "He thinks we kidnapped his son. So, he wants to make a trade. His son for King Bumi."
They had sent a reply, assuring the governor his son was unharmed and that they were willing to make the trade. The Gaang got up early the next morning, Aang holding the Fire Nation infant in his arms as he walked down to join the others. Aang had fastened his waistband around his head to hide his arrow again.
"You realize we're probably walking right into a trap," said Sokka.
"I don't think so," said Aang. "I'm sure the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi. It's a new day; I have a good feeling about this."
"Wish I could agree with you on that," Wenona muttered. Like Sokka, she was a very paranoid and somewhat pessimistic individual who expected the worst to happen. Not helpful qualities when one is surrounded by a large number of hopeful saps and naïve optimists.
Aang and the others climbed into Appa's saddle and took off towards the city. They knew they should keep him out of sight, so as not to call attention to the fact that Aang was the Avatar. The baby also seemed to have developed some inexplicable liking for Sokka and indicated that he wanted to be carried by the oldest Water Tribe boy during the flight. The baby also showed that he got airsick, as demonstrated by the new stain on Sokka's shirt which had made the Non-Bender squirm and whine. Yue had simply chuckled, finding Sokka's discomfit highly amusing, and Bent some water onto the stain to wash it out.
"Sokka, you're going to have to get used to things like that if you ever want to be a father," she had said gently, a slight twinkle in her eye that her boyfriend noticed, causing him to blush.
"Just imagining Meat-Head as a father makes me weep for the future of the human race," said Wenona.
"This is the same guy who explains sex via sock-puppets," Katara added with a snort.
"Oh, ha-ha," replied Sokka dryly.
Meanwhile, at the governor's palace, two guests had just arrived. One was the princess of the Fire Nation, the other was a nobleman's daughter who had run away to join the circus. Azula and Ty-Lee both approached their childhood friend Mai, who simply looked on in her usual, bored way.
"Please tell me you're here to kill me," Mai said as she bowed to Azula. The faintest hint of a smirk crossed her face and Azula chuckled.
"It's great to see you, Mai," said the princess.
Ty-Lee then pulled the dour-faced girl into a friendly hug.
"I thought you ran off and joined the circus," said Mai. "You said it was your calling."
"Well, Azula called a little louder," said Ty-Lee.
"I have a mission," Azula continued. "And I need you both."
"Count me in," said Mai. "Anything to get me out of this place."
Mai then escorted her two friends inside the palace where they were met by Mai's parents, who both knelt before Azula.
"I apologize," said Mai's father. "You've come to Omashu at a difficult time. At noon we're making a trade with the Resistance to get Tom-Tom back."
"Yes, I'm so sorry to hear about your son," Azula drawled. "But, really, what did you expect by just letting all the citizens leave?" Her demeanor suddenly turned frigid. "My father has entrusted you with this city and you're making a mess of things."
"Forgive me, Princess."
Everyone kowtowed.
"You stay here," Azula continued, rising from her seat. "Mai will handle the hostage trade so you don't have a chance to mess it up. And there is no more Omashu. I'm renaming it in honor of my father. The city of New Ozai."
The governor simply remained silent and did not look up. While he was a loyal member of the Fire Nation and followed his orders, he couldn't help but feel that it was disrespectful to the former Earth Kingdom city's history to change the name like that. He had heard the legends about Omashu's founding and had a great admiration for the legacy of the place, but he kept his thoughts to himself, fearing the wrath of the Fire Nation princess.
Within an hour, Mai, accompanied by Azula and Ty-Lee, met the Gaang out along the ramparts of the statue of Ozai that was being constructed in the center of the city. The Gaang faced the three girls down, feeling confident in their stronger numbers. From above, they heard a chuckling sound and looked up to see Bumi being lowered from a crane at the top of the construction project; he was trapped inside a metal box with only his face exposed.
"Hi, everybody!" Bumi exclaimed cheerfully.
"You brought my brother?" said Mai.
"He's here," Aang said. "We're ready to trade."
"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me," said Azula. "Do you mind?"
"Of course not, Princess Azula," said Mai.
"We're trading a two-year-old for a king? A powerful, Earthbending king? It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?"
"You're right." Mai took a few steps clser to the Gaang. "The deal's off!" She motioned for Bumi to be taken away again and the crane began to lift his box back up.
"Whoa! See you all later!" Bumi declared.
"Bumi!" Aang shouted.
The young Avatar began to dart up the scaffolding in pursuit of his friend. Azula attempted to stop him with a blast of blue fire, but he easily propelled himself over it. Unfortunately, his avoidance technique involved him bouncing off the scaffolding and jumping onto his glider, causing his band to unfasten from around his head, exposing his arrow tattoo.
"The Avatar," Azula gasped. "My lucky day."
Azula shot after Aang, who was attempting to free Bumi. Aang was trying to freeze the chains holding the metal box, making them more susceptible to being broken, when Azula caught up. Back down below, Mai and Ty-Lee were taking the opportunity to attack the rest of the Gaang.
"We've gotta get the baby out of here," Katara called to Sokka, who was blowing on the bison-whistle to summon Appa.
"Way ahead of ya," he replied, just as the baby took the whistle from his hand.
The five Water Tribe children ran, only for Sokka to get tripped by Ty-Lee, who had punched his foot as it passed over an opening in the rampart which she had darted under. Sokka went careening backwards, stopping just short of the edge and Keng, who had been just ahead of Sokka, was knocked over the edge, only just stopped from falling to his death by his brother reaching out to grab his hand in the nick of time.
Ty-Lee then leapt up out of her hiding spot and headed for Sokka as he tried to both hold the baby and pull up his own brother. Yue Bent a water tendril around Ty-Lee's leg, pulling her away from the boys while Katara and Wenona used their own Waterbending to deflect the darts and daggers Mai sent at them. Sokka managed to pull Keng to safety and the two of them ran with the baby, leaving the girls to duke it out.
Back up on the scaffold, Azula launched herself at Aang, forcing him to break the chain and causing him and Bumi to fall from the perilous height. Aang cushioned their fall with a ball of air, just as they were about to crash into a mail-chute. Soon, the two were off down the giant slide as Azula resumed her pursuit of them.
"It's just like old times, isn't it, Bumi?" Aang chuckled.
"Aang! I need to talk to you!" Bumi called out urgently.
"It's good to see you, too!"
At that moment, Azula started shooting fire-blasts at them again. Aang managed to deflect them with his glider. Soon the mail cart that Azula was in was gaining up to them and Aang had to do a great deal of Airbending just to get out of her range. They passed under a series of wooden arches, which Aang promptly blasted down in order to block Azula's path, but the princess emerged from the destruction unscathed and still in hot pursuit.
Back on the ramparts, Katara and Wenona were facing off against Mai while Yue tried to find where Ty-Lee had gone in all the confusion. Suddenly, Yue felt a tap on her back and turned to come face-to-face with the pink-clad girl. Ty-Lee gave a bright smile before jabbing the Water Tribe princess in the shoulders. Yue winced at the uncomfortable sensation and tried to Bend water out of her punch at Ty-Lee, only to realize she couldn't.
"Uh-oh," Yue muttered to herself.
"Sorry about this," Ty-Lee said, suddenly punching the older girl in the stomach.
Yue dropped to the ground, gasping in pain.
Katara had just sent a blast of water and froze it around Mai's arm when Ty-Lee popped over towards her and pressed the same chi-points, disabling her Bending. Wenona sent ice-shards towards Ty-Lee, all of which the circus girl dodged effortlessly. Then, before Wenona had the time to realize it happened, Ty-Lee moved behind her and pressed her chi-points.
"How are you gonna fight without your Bending?" Mai taunted the three Waterbenders as she reached for one of her knives. As she raised the weapon, preparing to throw it, a familiar boomerang struck her hand.
"I seem to manage!" Sokka called out as he steered Appa over to his sisters and girlfriend.
The bison struck his tail against the ground, forcing the two Fire Nation girls back with an air-blast. Sokka hopped off Appa's head and helped Yue up into the saddle as his sisters climbed up. Within a matter of seconds they were up in the air, speeding off in search of Aang.
"Yue, are you alright?" Sokka asked frantically.
"I'm fine," she coughed. "J-just not used to being h-hit."
"There's Aang!" Katara shouted.
"We can catch him," said Sokka.
Sokka directed Appa over to where Aang was still struggling against the evil Fire Nation princess.
"Hang on, Bumi!" he yelled. "Our ride's here!"
As one of Azula's blue flames came towards them, Aang air-blasted them off the chute. The Water Tribe teens all reached up to catch them, but Bumi's metal box fell out of their reach, and by pure luck landed on another chute. Azula was still after them and sent her strongest fire-blast yet when Bumi gave a twitch of his head and a rock shot out of nowhere. Azula had to jump to avoid collision while Aang and Bumi were able to escape.
"You could Earthbend?! All along?!" Aang shouted.
"Well, they didn't cover my face!" Bumi called back.
Bumi Earthbent a rock for his box to settle on as they reached the end of the slide. Aang leapt off and stared up at his old friend incredulously.
"I don't understand," said Aang. "Why didn't you free yourself? Why did you surrender when Omashu was invaded? What's the matter with you, Bumi?!"
"Listen to me, Aang," said Bumi solemnly. "There are options in fighting called 'Jing.' It's a choice of how you direct your energy."
"I know! There's Positive Jing when you're attacking and Negative Jing when you're retreating."
"And Neutral Jing, when you do nothing."
"There are three Jings?"
"Well…technically there are eighty-five, but let's just focus on the third. Neutral Jing is the key to Earthbending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike."
"That's why you surrendered, isn't it?"
"Yes, and it's why I can't leave now."
Aang's face fell and he turned away.
"I guess I need to find someone else to teach me Earthbending."
"Your teacher will be someone who has mastered Neutral Jing. You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking."
Suddenly, Momo leapt onto Aang's shoulder from out of nowhere, causing Aang to turn back around to face Bumi.
"Hey, Momo," said Aang.
"Momo's mastered a few Jings himself," Bumi said brightly, prompting the lemur to screech in agreement. "Goodbye, Aang. I'll see you when the time is right." Bumi started cackling madly as he Earthbended himself back up the chute.
That was when the others appeared on Appa.
Mai and Ty-Lee followed along beside Azula as the princess was carried in her palanquin.
"So, we're tracking down your brother and uncle, huh?" said Mai.
"It'll be interesting seeing Zuko again, won't it, Mai?" Ty-Lee teased.
Mai gave a wry smirk.
"It's not just Zuko and Iroh anymore," said Azula softly. "We have a third target now."
Aang snuck back over to where the rest of the Gaang had set up camp. He had just returned from delivering Tom-Tom back to his parents. Aang couldn't help but smile as he thought of how overjoyed the governor and his wife had been when they saw their son safely restored to them and it made him wonder about his own family. Did he have any brothers or sisters after he was taken from his parents? Did his parents ever think of him in the time he had been separated from them? Were they among the thousands of Airbenders who had been mercilessly slaughtered by the Fire Nation?
Aang took a seat and stared into the campfire. The others were all asleep, meaning he had a moment alone with his thoughts. He was just over four years old, barely older than that little Fire Nation toddler, when he had been taken away from his parents. Unbidden, their faces bubbled up from his foggy memories. His father was a tall, serious man with grey eyes and a beard of thick, dark brown hair; his usually stern demeanor was only broken by the company of Aang's mother, a bright, sunny young woman with her long, light brown tresses pulled back in a low ponytail, her big brown eyes sparkling with laughter.
Aang curled up beside the fire and began to drift off to sleep; trying to lose himself in the memories he wanted to remember so badly.
Two figures hovered over the sleeping Avatar, both knowing he wouldn't be able to see them even if he awoke. The woman brushed her transparent hand over Aang's face, wishing desperately that she could actually feel her son.
"We should go soon," said the male figure. "It will be light soon. The Great Spirit only lets us walk the earth at night."
"I know," said the woman. "I just wish we had more time with him."
The man took her hand in his and looked around at the sleeping Water Tribe children.
"He will be fine, Jamyang. His strong spirit is outshone only by his big heart."
The woman, Jamyang, sniffled slightly.
"I hope you are right, Anil," she said. "He has a long journey ahead of him."
Anil wrapped his arms around his wife as they began to fade back to the Spirit World.
"Aang…" they both whispered into the night. "We'll always be with you, Aang…"
Author's Note: Sorry for the seemingly random way to end the chapter, but I felt like the spirits of Aang's parents had to make an appearance at some point. Yes, Aang's dad's named 'Anil' and his moms named 'Jamyang.' It's my little headcanon that Aang's mother thought it would be cute to combine their names for their son, so that he could have a reminder of them wherever he went. Anyway, sorry for the late update, I've been busy lately.