Chapter 15: The Northern Air Temple
After three weeks of training with Jeong Jeong, Aang believed he had a decent grasp of firebending. Jeong Jeong would have liked more time to refine Aang's technique, but practicality demanded otherwise. The Fire Nation army was closing in on the rebel camp, and Jeong Jeong needed to relocate it before the army could destroy it.
The entire camp was packed within a day, and many of the rebels had left to scout new locations to take it. Those who remained watched Aang take the next step in being the Avatar. Today Aang wanted to bend all four elements simultaneously.
Next to the river Aang stood alone. Once he felt he was ready Aang started by bending a gust of air upriver. Then he bent a wave of water across the river and a barrage of rocks away from the river. Finally he bent a stream of fire downriver, completing the set of four elements. From the sidelines Aang's friends saw all four elements in motion and gave applause as he finished.
"That was great," Katara said as she walked up to Aang.
"Awesome," Haru said, right behind Katara.
"And you've got plenty of time left to defeat the Fire Lord," Suki said.
Jeong Jeong walked up to Aang as the remaining rebels started to leave. "When your mission is over, come find me," Jeong Jeong suggested. "You still have much to learn."
"I will," Aang said with a bow.
Aang and his friends got on Appa and took to the air as Jeong Jeong left with the remaining rebels. They flew away from the old camp with no particular direction in mind, following the natural winds to let Appa fly with little effort. With no set destination in mind Aang let Appa choose where he wanted to go while he talked with his friends.
"So now that I've learned all four elements, what do we do now?" Aang asked.
"You don't know?" Haru asked.
"All Roku told me was that I have to defeat the Fire Lord before the comet comes," Aang said. "He never told me how I'm supposed to do that other than learning the four elements."
"First we'd have to get you to the Fire Lord," Suki said. "That's going to be tricky, what with the army and navy in the way."
"Not to mention that crazy blue fire girl trying to kill you," Katara said.
"There is one way we could make this a lot easier," Haru said.
"What do you have in mind?" Aang asked.
"We fly straight for Ba Sing Se and get the Earth King to loan us his army," Haru suggested. "With you leading the charge that army could march straight to the heart of the Fire Nation and win the war."
"Do we have the time to fly there?" Suki asked.
"Plenty," Haru said. "And if we fly along the northern coastline we should reach Ba Sing Se with little hassle from the Fire Nation."
"Hey, we can stop by the Northern Air Temple on the way," Aang said. "That should be a safe place from the Fire Nation to set up camp."
Inside one of the Fire Nation's new tank-trains Azula practiced her firebending forms while it sped across the Earth Kingdom. Her broken arm had finally healed and Azula wanted to get it back into shape after a month in a cast. For the moment Azula knew she would have to favor her right arm in combat until she could recondition her left arm.
After practicing the movements for a firewhip Azula stood in the center of the compartment. She lit a flame in both of her hands and observed them for a moment. The flame in her right hand was bright blue, while the flame in her left was slightly smaller and was blue with bits of red in it. Irritated with the weaker flame Azula extinguished them, then walked into the next compartment.
Inside the next compartment the Fire Nation's head of research and development, Minister Qin. "How much longer until we arrive?" Azula asked.
"A few more hours," Qin said, relaxing in his seat. "We're heading far off the beaten path, and it takes a while to get to places around here."
"Even with this machine of yours?" Azula asked, gesturing to the walls of the tank-train.
"Without it the trip would take a week," Qin answered. "Just sit back and relax until we reach our destination."
"This Mechanist of yours had better have something I can use," Azula said.
Aang had been expecting the Air Temple to be just as empty as the one he used to live in, and was shocked to find that new people had taken residence inside. At first he thought they might have been airbenders, but the motions of the gliders they used were enough to disprove the thought. To prove the point to his friends Aang got on his glider and competed with the first person he saw, a boy in a chair with a glider attached. After showing off moves that were only possible with airbending Aang landed in the temple grounds followed by the boy.
Once his glider was separated from his wheelchair, Teo introduced himself to Aang and his friends. He gave them the tour of the temple, not realizing how the machinery inside disturbed Aang. When Katara explained to Teo what the problem was he brought them to the old gathering space outside. It appeared untouched, until a wrecking ball punched through the wall from the other side. Already angry, the introduction to the Mechanist responsible did not go well. Aang destroyed the wrecking ball used and nearly blew the Mechanist off the mountain before his friends could stop him.
After calming down Aang let the Mechanist explain why he and his people were living at the temple. They were all refugees after a flood several years ago, and the Mechanist found the temple and it appeared to be a suitable place to relocate. Using abandoned Air Nomad staffs as a template the Mechanist had recreated the glider, and by extension a new life in the air for his people.
Aang tried to explain why tampering with the temple was wrong, but the philosophical debate with the Mechanist went nowhere. Teo tried to defuse the situation by offering to show Aang a part of the temple that could not have been changed, being behind a door that only airbending could unlock. Appreciating the gesture, Aang eventually decided to open it for Teo. He wished he hadn't, finding the air sanctuary filled with weapons for the Fire Nation.
The Mechanist arrived at the air sanctuary moments after Aang opened it, having an alarm system set up inside. Aang was furious with him. "How could you do this?" Aang demanded.
"Explain all of this, now!" Teo demanded.
"It was about a year after we moved here," the Mechanist said. He explained how the Fire Nation threatened to destroy the settlement if he didn't cooperate. When Teo refused to look his father in the eyes the Mechanist left for his study.
Refusing to let the desecration of the sanctuary continue, Aang set the weapons aflame. Keeping the flames in check with firebending Aang kept the walls from being burned, and he put out the fire after the red balloon inside was the last to burn. Once nothing remained in the sanctuary Aang left with Teo to the Mechanist's study. Aang's friends were elsewhere bartering for supplies among the locals, expecting a hasty departure.
"When are they coming?" Aang demanded when he entered the study.
"Soon," the Mechanist admitted, looking at one of his marked candles. "Very soon."
"You can't give them more weapons" Aang said.
"If I don't give them what they want they will destroy this place," the Mechanist argued.
"I won't let that happen," Aang said.
Before anyone could say more a bell rang in the study, alarming the Mechanist. "You need to leave," he said.
"We're not leaving," Teo said.
"Then hide," the Mechanist said. He pushed Teo's wheelchair behind one of his larger inventions, and Aang hid behind it as well. Then the Mechanist pulled on a rope to activate a lift hidden beneath the floor, opening a trapdoor and raising the platform below. The lift was slower than usual, giving the Mechanist enough time to throw a curtain over his son and Aang.
Aang couldn't see who entered the study, but only heard a man's voice. "You know better than to keep me waiting."
"The lift wasn't built for two," the Mechanist said, trying to stall. "May I ask who the lovely lady is?"
"Trust me, you're better off not knowing," the man said. "Now give us what you owe."
"I'd like to inspect the toys first," a young girl's voice said.
Immediately Aang recognized the voice, and blew the curtain away. He blew wind at Azula and Minister Qin, trying to slam them into the wall. The attack succeeded against Qin, but Azula reacted fast enough to hold her ground. She threw a handful of blue fireblasts at Aang, but was surprised to find him extinguishing them instead of dodging.
"Did my old uncle teach you that trick?" Azula asked, waiting for Aang to strike back.
"Your uncle?" Aang questioned. He was about to ask if she was Jeong Jeong's niece, but then he remembered that she couldn't possibly know who taught him firebending.
"The old man that busted you out of prison," Azula answered.
The vague description was just enough to remind Aang who that person was, that the Blue Spirit was in fact General Iroh. "Wait a minute, you're royalty?" Aang asked.
"Took you long enough to figure that out," Azula said.
With a gust of wind towards himself Aang pulled the study door open, then turned the wind around to push Teo and the Mechanist out the door and slam it shut behind them. Azula threw fire at Aang while he bent the wind, but Aang saw it coming and blocked by deflecting the flames into the ceiling. Throwing his own fire Aang struck back, hitting a bookshelf as Azula dodged.
As Azula stepped behind a desk Aang leaped across the study to Qin. The minister was trying to fake unconsciousness after Aang's initial attack, preferring to stay out of a fight if he could help it. His efforts proved meaningless as Aang grabbed Qin, using one arm to restrain him and the other to hold a small flame at the minister's neck.
"Stop, I have a hostage!" Aang shouted.
"Why, so you do," Azula said. She threw a blue fireblast anyway, hitting Qin's left shoulder.
A quick scream and a spasm later, Qin was dropped onto the floor. "YOU SHOT ME!" Qin yelled, his right hand holding the burned left arm in place.
"You shot him?" Aang muttered, horrified that his bluff had backfired. "He was one of your own!"
"Next time, try using someone that's not expendable," Azula suggested. She kicked the desk in front of her towards Aang, then set it on fire. While Aang was stopping the burning desk Azula threw fire at the rope that controlled the lift in the floor. In seconds the rope burned enough to snap and release the lift, sending its platform plummeting beneath the floor.
Aang put out the fires in time to see Azula jump into the hole in the floor, hearing her drag her limbs along the sides of the shaft to control her descent. He almost followed, but stopped when blue flames shot up into the study, which also set the sides of the shaft on fire. By the time Aang got the flames under control Azula was gone.
With the main enemy gone Aang turned his attention to Qin, who had fallen unconscious after yelling at Azula earlier. The burn in his shoulder was bad, and Aang judged that it would kill Qin if he didn't receive immediate medical attention. Despite being Fire Nation and his enemy, Aang felt that he owed it to Qin to get him help, being partially responsible for the injury.
Quickly Aang opened the door and found only Teo in the hallway. The Mechanist had left to find Aang's friends and get them to help. By the time Aang dragged Qin out of the ruined study the Mechanist returned with Katara and Haru, both of which were surprised to see Aang helping someone from the Fire Nation.
"Katara, I could use some help here," Aang said, setting Qin down next to the door and gesturing to the burn.
"What happened in there?" Katara asked, already applying water to Qin's burn and starting to heal it.
"Crazy blue fire girl," Aang answered. "Turns out she's a royal pain in my backside."
"Did she do this?" Haru asked, looking at burn Katara was healing.
Aang looked away for a few seconds. "Not one of my better moments," he said.
Before the conversation could continue, the Mechanist saw what was left of his study. Nearly everything in it had been damaged to some extent. "My work!" he cried out. "It's all ruined!"
A/N: I condensed a lot of the episode earlier because I didn't want to waste time going over something that wasn't very different from the canon.