Book Two: Earth
Chapter Two: The Cave of Two Lovers
Xena ran the whetstone against the blade of her sword. She had been taught by the wolf warriors to always maintain her swords and to never let the age grow dull. Your swords are more than just weapons, they are life and will always protect you as long as you keep care of them, they had said. So when Katara and Aang had spotted this lake from the air and decided it would make a perfect spot for some training, Xena had chosen to work on her swords. Sokka on the other hand . . . She lifted her head and watched as he floated past on a large leaf, wearing nothing more than his underwear.
"You guys are gonna be done soon, right?" Sokka asked in boredom. "We have a lot of ground to cover if we're going to make it to Omashu today."
"What?" Katara asked sarcastically as she straightened from her fighting stance, her hands on her hips. "Like you're ready to go right now, naked guy?"
"I could be ready in two minutes," He retorted as he pushed the hair out of his eyes. "Seriously, whenever."
Katara rolled her eyes and turned back to Aang
"So, you were showing me the octopus form?"
"Right," Katara replied as she turned fully to face Aang. "Let me see your stance."
Aang assumed a defensive stance, his arms raised and his legs slightly apart. Katara considered his stance carefully then she walked over to him.
"Your arms are too far apart," She noted, ducking under Aang's right arm so she was behind him then positioned his arms closer together."See, if you move them closer together, you protect your center. You got it?"
"Oh, yeah…" Aang replied with a grin as he blushed brightly. "Thanks."
"Okay, let's see what you got," Katara said as she stepped away from him and resumed her fighting stance.
Aang took a deep breath and began bending the water around him, creating a sphere of water which he transformed into the eight whip-like tentacles of the octopus form. Katara smirked and started sending ice shards at Aang, who fended them off by maneuvering the water tentacles around to slap them out of the air. Katara took a few steps forward as she continued to throw ice shards at Aang, who continued to deflect them with the water tentacles. Suddenly, Aang lashed out with one of the tentacles and wrapped around it around her leg. Katara looked at the tentacle in surprise and grinned proudly at Aang.
"You make a fine octopus, Pupil Aang," Katara said only to laugh when Aang started dancing around playfully inside a large sphere of water that he'd shaped to look like an actual octopus.
"Hey do you guys hear that?" Xena asked, cocking her head to the side.
"It sounds like singing," Sokka replied, sitting up slightly.
She stood and pulled water from the water, flipping Sokka off his leaf in the process. He came up sputtering and his complaint went unheard. Xena bent the water into a ring of water around her before allowing it to snake around her arms and waist, freezing it in place. It was an advanced skill that wolf warriors created for those who didn't have a water skin or hollow weapons.
"Da, da, da. Don't fall in love with the traveling girl. She'll leave you broke and broken hearted," A man sang as he and several other people playing instruments, singing, or dancing approached the lake.
The lead man stopped singing and pointed at their small group with a grin. "Hey, river people!"
"We're not river people," Katara said as she spread her arms out slightly, giving them a strange look.
Xena sighed and turned the ice back into water before returning it to a lake. A group of nomads was no threat to them.
"You're not?" The man asked, lowering his pipa in puzzlement. "Well, then what kind of people are you?"
"Just…people" Aang replied with a small shrug.
"Aren't we all, brother," The man said with a chuckle as he shook his head in amusement.
"Who are you?" Sokka demanded suspiciously, standing in the middle of the lake.
"I'm Chong and this is my wife, Lily," The man, Chong, introduced as he gestured towards the woman who had been playing a flute. "We're nomads, happy to go wherever the wind takes us."
"You guys are nomads? That's great!" Aang said excitedly as he gestured towards himself. "I'm a nomad!"
"Hey, me too!" Chong said happily.
"I know…" Aang replied, looking at Chong oddly. "You just said that."
"Oh…" Chong stated airily then noticed Sokka standing in front of him and his expression brightened slightly,. "Nice underwear."
Sokka blushed and used Momo to cover his underwear in embarrassment.
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Zuko growled as he came out of the bushes with leaves sticking to his clothes and his back to his uncle.
"I didn't find anything to eat! I can't live like this! I wasn't meant to be a fugitive!" Zuko shouted as he threw his hands in the air and yelled at the sky. "This is impossible!"
Zuko frowned then turned around to look at his uncle when he didn't get a response. Iroh was crouched beside a small bush with red and white flower, staring at it with an intense expression.
"Uncle, what are you doing?" Zuko asked, walking over to look at the flower as well.
"You're looking at the rare white dragon bush. Its leaves make a tea so delicious, it's heartbreaking," Iroh said as he frowned thoughtfully. "That or it's the white jade, which is poisonous."
"We need food, not tea," Zuko snapped and began walking away. "I'm going fishing…"
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Xena crouched on a tree branch, watching the scene below. She had been down below with the others, but had moved to get as far away from the nomads as she could when Lily had tried to braid flowers into her. Lily had been persistent, but when Xena had climbed the tree she had turned to Katara and was sitting with her on Appa's front leg, braiding flowers into her hair instead. Aang was lying with his head on Appa's stomach next to Chong, wearing a wreath of pink flowers on his head.
"Hey, Sokka," Aang greeted when the other boy approached, the wreath slipping slightly. "You should hear some of these stories. These guys have been everywhere!"
"Well not everywhere, Little Arrowhead. But where we haven't been, we've heard about through stories and songs."
Aang grinned at Sokka. "They said they'll take us to see a giant night crawler."
"On the way, there's a waterfall that creates a never-ending rainbow!" One of the nomads, said dreamily as he rolled onto his back with a dreamy smile on his face.
"Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara is busy, I guess it's up to me," Sokka stated in exasperation, ignoring her glare. "We need to get to Omashu. No sidetracks, no worms, and definitely no rainbows!"
"Wow, sounds like someone has a case of destination fever," Chong said in a sing-song voice as he grinned at Sokka. "You're worried too much about where you're going."
"You got to focus less on the where and more on the going," Lily added.
"O. Ma. Shu!" Sokka enunciated each syllable.
"I hate to agree with him, but Sokka's right," Xena piped in suddenly. "We need to find King Bumi, so Aang can learn earthbending somewhere safe."
"Sounds like you're headed to Omashu," Chong stated causing Sokka to face palm.
"There's an old story about a secret pass right through the mountains," Chong added, sitting up.
Katara gave him a skeptically look. "Is this real or a legend?"
"Oh, it's a real legend. And it's as old as earthbending itself," Chong replied then began strumming his pipa and singing. "Two lovers, forbidden from one another, the war divides their people and the mountain divides them apart. Built a path together…'
Chong paused and scratched at his head for a moment. "Yeah, I forget the next couple of lines, but then it goes… Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountains, secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel! Yeah!"
"I think we'll just stick with flying," Sokka grumbled, unamused as he glared at the nomads. "We've dealt with the Fire Nation before. We'll be fine."
"Yeah, thanks for the help, but Appa hates going underground," Aang said to Chong and Appa grumbled slightly in agreement. "And we need to do whatever makes Appa most comfortable…"
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"I don't think Appa's comfortable and I'm most certainly not comfortable!" Xena shouted as Appa dodged the wave of fireballs. Appa bellowed in agreement as several more fireballs were launched. The four teens screamed in terror.
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They trudged past the nomads covered from head to toe in ash and soot.
"Secret love cave, let's go," Sokka said, pointing forward.
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Zuko stomped back into the small clearing where he had left his uncle, the long branch he had sharpened to use as a fishing spear resting against his shoulder while an extremely tiny fish flapped about helplessly on its end. Zuko's brow frowned when he saw his uncle still hunched over in front of the plant with his back to the banished prince.
"Zuko, remember that plant that I thought might be tea?" Iroh called out sheepishly without turning around.
"You didn't…" He groaned.
"I did," Iroh responded then turned around. "And it wasn't…"
Zuko gasped and recoiled sharply. His uncle skin was swollen and covered in bright red rashes.
"When the rash spreads to my throat, I will stop breathing," Iroh explained calmly as he scratched at his cheek for a moment then he stood and walked over to his nephew and showed him a branch with berries. "But look what I found. These are bacui berries, known to cure the poison of the white jade. That, or maka'ole berries that cause blindness…"
"We're not taking any more chances with these plants!" Zuko snapped angrily as he snatched the branch of berries and threw them away. "We need to get help…"
"But where are we going to go?" Iroh asked as he crouched down and began to scratch at his rash. "We're enemies of the Earth Kingdom and fugitives of the Fire Nation."
Zuko folded his arms over his chest. "If the Earth Kingdom discovers us, they'll have us killed."
"But if the Fire Nation discovers us, we'll be turned over to Azula," Iroh added as he stood up still scratching at his arm.
The two paused and looked at each other for a moment then nodded in silent agreement.
"Earth Kingdom it is," Zuko muttered and walked away with Iroh trailing after him.
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"How far we from the tunnels?" Sokka asked from the front of the group, glancing over his shoulder at the nomads.
"Actually, it's not just one tunnel. The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth."
Sokka halted in his tracks and whirled around to stare at Chong in shock. "Labyrinth?"
"Oh, I'm sure we'll figure it out," Chong stated casually as they started walking again.
"All you need to do is trust in love," Lily said dreamily as she walked alongside her husband. "According to the curse?" Sokka halted in his tracks once again, but the other just walked past him.
"Curse?!" He shouted in alarm andthen ran to catch up.
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"Hey-hey!" Chong exclaimed and stopped in front of the dark entrance of a cave. "We're here!"
Sokka looked at the cave entrance with narrowed eyes then looked at Chong. "What exactly is this curse?"
"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves," Chong explained as he stared at the cave. "Otherwise, you'll be trapped in them forever."
"And die," Lily piped in with a smile that did not fit what she had just said.
"Are you high?" Xena asked much to the amusement of Aang and Katara.
"Oh yeah, and die," Chong said ignoring her. "Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song!"
He started strumming his pipa.
And die!" He sang ominously.
"That's it!" Sokka exclaimed as he threw his hands in the air. "There's no way we're going through some cursed hole!"
Moku turned his head and pointed behind them. "Hey, someone's making a big campfire!"
"That's no campfire, Moku…" Katara replied in concern.
"It's the Fire Nation," Xena said with a soft sigh, hand closing on the hilt of one of her swords.
"They're tracking us," Sokka muttered angrily.
Aang turned to look at Chong and Lily. "So all you need to do is trust in love to get through these caves?"
"That is correct, Master Arrowhead," Chong confirmed with a nod.
Aang turned to stare at Katara's back. "We can make it," He said with a smile and slight blush as he looked away from Katara and back at Chong.
"Everyone into the hole!" Sokka ordered as he pointed at the cave.
Appa growled lowly as he entered the cave. Suddenly there was a loud rumbling sound behind them. Xena spun around sensing the flare of the fireball. Everyone else whirled around and stared in horror as the rocks fell in front of the cave entrance, blocking them in. Xena sighed and held up a flame in her open palm. Lily lit a torch and passed it to Chong as Appa growled loudly and began to paw frantically at the rocks keeping them inside.
"Its okay, Appa. We'll be fine," Katara said trying to reassure the bison by putting her hand on his side. "I hope."
"We'll be fine. All we need is a plan," Sokka stated firmly then he looked at Chong. "Chong, how long do those torches last?"
"Uh, about two hours," Chong replied casually while his wife lit the rest of the torches in her hand.
"And we have five torches, so that's ten hours!" The nomad woman said excitedly as she held the lit torches.
Xena snatched the torches from her hand and quickly stomped out the fires after putting out her own hand held flame first. "They won't last that long if they're all lit at the same time!"
"Oh, right…" Lily mused with a sheepish and yet strangely happy smile.
"She's totally high," Xena mumbled to herself, holding on to the torches herself so they weren't lit before needed.
Sokka scurried up the somewhat calm flying bison's tail and began digging around the saddle.
"I'm going to make a map to keep track of exactly where we've been," He stated grabbing a blank scroll and charcoal. "Then we should be able to solve it like a maze and get through."
"Hopefully," Xena whispered without much optimism, staying at the rear of the group.
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"You two must not be from around here," A young woman with dark hair said in slight amusement as she gently rubbing at Iroh's rash. "We know better than to touch the white jade, much less make it into tea and drink it."
The girl slapped Iroh's hand away when he began to scratch at his rash, which had gotten considerably worse.
"Whoops!" Iroh said with a small chuckle as he rubbed the top of his head.
"So where are you traveling from?" The girl asked curiously as she glanced over at Zuko, who was sitting on a bench a few feet away.
Zuko stood nervously. "Yes, we're travelers."
"Do you have names?" The girl questioned as she grabbed Iroh's arm and began rubbing the cloth on his arm again.
"Names? Of course we have names…" Zuko stuttered with trepidation., "I'm, uh…Lee and this is my Uncle, uh…Mushi?"
He wanted to facepalm as soon as he realized that the first name to come to his mind had been the real name of Xena's fiancé. Iroh shot Zuko an annoyed look at the name he was given then smiled pleasantly at the girl as she took a jar and began putting lotion on the rashes.
"Yes, my nephew was named after his father, so we just call him Junior," Iroh said then leaned to the side and shot Zuko a smirk.
Zuko's eyebrow twitched slightly and he glared at his uncle them moved his finger across his throat, signaling that Iroh was a dead man. The scarred prince stopped instantly when the girl turned to look at him.
"Mushi and Junior, huh. My name's Song. You two look like you could use a good meal." The girl glanced at Iroh and swatted at his hand again when he started scratching. "Why don't you stay for dinner?"
"Sorry, but we need to be moving on," Zuko responded carefully as he looked away from the girl's gaze.
"That's too bad," Song replied as she screwed the lid back onto the jar. "My mom always makes too much roast duck."
Iroh's eye lit up excitedly and he grinned widely at the girl,."Where do you live exactly?"
Zuko sighed and closed his eyes to refrain from facepalming.
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Xena watched Sokka in amusement -and with a tiny bit of fear- as he looked at the map, rotating it to the side a few times.
"Sokka, this is the tenth dead end you've led us to," Katara pointed out in exasperation.
"This doesn't make sense," Sokka grumbled in annoyance. "We already came through this way!"
"We don't need a map," Chong stated. "We just need love. The little guy knows it."
"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind a map also," Aang replied with a shrug.
"There's something strange here. There's only one explanation," Sokka said as he stopped pacing. "The tunnels are changing."
Everyone's eyes went wide with shock and surprise as the tunnels suddenly began to shake around them.
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"My daughter tells me you're refugees," Song's mother commented, placing a platter of roast duck on the table then took a seat across from Iroh. "We were once refugees ourselves."
"When I was a little girl, the Fire Nation raided our farming village," Song said sadly. "All the men were taken away. That was the last time I saw my father."
"I haven't seen my father in many years," Zuko stated quietly as he glanced off to the side.
"Oh?" Song questioned as she looked at Zuko curiously, "Is he fighting in the War?"
Zuko hesitated before answering."Yeah." He sat his plate down and looked away.
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"The tunnels, they're a-changin' It must be the curse!" Chong said frantically as he put a hand to his head. "I knew we shouldn't have come down here."
"Right, if only we listened to you…" Sokka snarked sarcastically.
"Everyone be quiet," Katara said suddenly. "Listen…" Xena twisted her head looking down the tunnel.
"Wolfbat!" She shouted just as it flew forward with a loud screech.
"It's a giant flying thing with teeth!" Chong yelped in panic, his fingers curling slightly to represent fangs.
"Yeah, it's called a wolfbat," She snapped, pulling one of her swords.
The wolf bat leapt into the air again. Sokka swatted at the creature with the lit torch in frenzy when it flew at him and Katara, but the creature knocked the torch out of his hand with its wing. The torch landed on Appa's front paw causing the bison to roar in pain as he began running around the tunnel, which released a discharge of rocks and debris when Appa ran into the walls. Aang gasped and rushed over to Katara and pushed her out of the way of the falling rocks. Xena opened her water pouch and created a thin ice shield above Sokka, the nomads, and herself. When the rocks finally stopped falling, she dropped the battered shield and Sokka rushed towards the wall, attempting to dig his way through to get to his sister and Aang.
"It's no use. We're separated," She said, grabbing his shoulder.
"At least you have us," Chong said optimistically.
"No!" Sokka yelled and began digging more frantically only to be buried by a couple of rocks that fell on him.
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Zuko sat cross-legged on the front porch of Song's house, looking out at the trees. The sliding door suddenly opened and Song stepped out.
"Can I join you?" She asked then walked over without waiting for a reply. "I know what you've been through. We've all been through it."
She sat next to him and her eyes flicked over Zuko's scar for a moment then turned her head to face him fully.
"The Fire Nation has hurt you," Song said quietly, reaching up to his scar.
Zuko caught her wrist and pushed her hand away defensively. Song folded her hands in her lap in understanding.
"It's okay. They've hurt me, too," She shifted her right leg out from under her and pulled her pant leg up, revealing a large burn scar on her lower leg. Zuko frowned at it sadly.
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"Oh don't let the cave-in get you down!" Chong sang loudly as he and the other nomads followed an irritated Sokka down the tunnel. "Don't let the rocks turn your smile into a frown! When the tunnels are darkest, that's when you need a clown, hey! Don't let the cave-in get you down, Sokka!"
Sokka scowled darkly and continued walking when the torch suddenly went out.
"Give me another torch, Xena," He asked.
"I dropped them during the cave-in," She said with a soft sigh.
She heard the slap and saw the blur of heat of Sokka facepalming. With a sigh she lit another flame in her palm, lighting the cave up with the unnatural light.
"Pretty," Chong said, tilting his head.
They had seen her flame the first time she lit it, but hadn't seemed to notice it all. Chong started a song about the shifting colors of her flame.
"Can we leave them here?" Xena asks Sokka in completely seriousness as they started walking with her in the lead.
"I'd say yes, but Aang and Katara would probably chew us out about how we're supposed to help people and that kinda of stuff."
"True."
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Sokka glared at the map in his hands with Momo perched on his head.
"Oh, great!" A nomad whined from behind them. "Your plans have led us to another dead end!"
"At least I'm thinking of ideas and trying to get us out of here, Moku," Sokka snapped in annoyance as he glared over his shoulder at Moku.
"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," Chong suddenly piped up. "We're thinking of ideas? Because I've had an idea for, like, an hour now."
"Yes!" Sokka shouted angrily, spreading his arms out and began waving them around dramatically, hitting Xena's hand and causing the flame to flicker wildly. "We're all thinking of ideas!"
Xena pulled her hand closer to her chest in order to protect the flame, glaring at Sokka.
"Well, then listen to this," Chong stated. "If love is the key out of here, then all we need to do is play a love song!"
He began strumming a tune his pipa and Sokka slapped his forehead with his palm, causing Momo to jump away from him. Xena let her flame go out and pulled Sokka along several feet away before relighting it, leaving the singing nomads behind them, but still in the radius of the flame.
"I'm not gonna be responsible for what I do next if I hear one more completely idiotic idea."
"I have to agree."
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"Thank you for the duck." Iroh said with a grateful smile. "It was excellent."
"You're welcome." Song's mother said, handing Iroh a parcel of leftover roast duck and rice. "It brings me pleasure to see someone eat my cooking with such…gusto."
Iroh patted his stomach,. "Much practice."
Zuko turned to leave without a word, but Iroh stopped him.
"Junior, where are your manners?" He chided softly. "You need to thank these nice people."
Zuko turned back around and bowed to the two women respectfully. "Thank you."
"I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world, but there is hope," Song told Zuko. "The Avatar has returned.
Zuko paused at the gate.
"I know," He muttered bitterly then continued walking with Iroh trailing behind him.
Zuko stopped walking when he heard the ostrich-horse tied to a post. He hesitated a moment before quietly walking over to the animal and untying the reins from the post. He led the ostrich-horse away, mounted it and rode it over to where his uncle was standing.
"What are you doing?" Iroh demanded quietly. "These people just showed you great kindness."
"They're about to show us a little more kindness," Zuko retorted calmly as he waited for his uncle to climb into the saddle. "Well?"
Iroh sighed in disappointment then reluctantly climbed into the saddle. Zuko urged the ostrich-horse forward holding the reins in one hand.
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They continued to walk in front of the singing nomads. Suddenly ferocious snarling filled the tunnel. The nomads stopped playing and Momo screeched jumping from Sokka's shoulder toena's. The heat waves in front were large and fluctuating in a dizzying effect, forcing her to dim her heat vision down. Several wolfbats came charging out of the darkness of the tunnel and straight at the small group. Sokka shrieked and began waving his hands above his head as the wolf bats flew over.
"Hey!" Chong exclaimed in amazement as they were left untouched. "You saved us, Sokka!"
"No, they were trying to get away from something!" Sokka stated.
Xena unsheathed a sword with her free hand.
"From what?" Chong asked in confusion just as the tunnel began to rumble and shake violently.
The wall of the tunnel a few feet away suddenly exploded outward and a giant creature burst into the tunnel. The same thing happened behind them and several of the nomads screamed in fright as they were hemmed in by the creatures, which Xena recognized as badgermoles.
The badgermoles earthbended the tunnels behind them closed. Suddenly the first badger mole earthbended a crack in the floor that separated the nomads from Sokka and Xena. The second one stalked towards them. It slammed its paw onto the ground creating a tremor that knocked Sokka and her down. Sokka hastily backed away, raising one arm to protect his face while his other reached behind him, his fingers accidently hitting a string on Chong's dropped pipa and producing a musical note. The badger mole stopped approaching Sokka and tilted its head curiously. Sokka's eyes widened slightly and he hurriedly grabbed the pipa and began playing, watching in surprise as the badger moles began to sway to the music.
"Hey!" Chong exclaimed throwing his arms in the air. "Those things are music lovers!"
"Badger moles coming towards me," Sokka sang nervously. "Come on guys, help me out!"
"The big, bad badger moles who earthbend the tunnels, hate the wolfbats, but love the sounds!" Chong began to sing as he pulled the lute strapped to his back in front of him and began playing it as the other nomads began to stand.
"You to Xena," Sokka sang giving her a hard look.
Her eyes widened in surprise and she quickly shook her head no, suddenly a cold nose poked her in the back and she stood still. She shot Sokka a glare before singing one line.
"We shall never speak of this."
After that one line she began to sing in earnest, slowly turning to face the badgermole. The nomads hesitated before changing the tune of the instruments to match the unknown folksong she was singing. Sokka recognized and after giving Chong his pipa back he began to sing it with her.
'Black, black, black/
is the color of my true love's hair
Her lips are like a rose so fair
And the prettiest face and the neatest hands.
I love the ice whereon she stands
She with the wondrous hair.
Black, black, black
is the color of my true love's hair
Her face is something truly rare.
Oh I do love my love and so well she knows
I love the ice and snow whereon she goes.
She with the wondrous hair.
Black, black, black
is the color of my true love's hair
Alone, my life would be so bare.
I would sigh, I would weep,
I would never fall asleep
My love is 'way beyond compare
She with the wondrous hair.
Black, black, black
is the color of my true love's hair.'*
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They exploded out of the tunnels, riding on the backs of the badgermoles that they had tamed with their music. Katara and Aang were already out and turned to face them in surprise. Sokka grinned as he looked down at them, waving enthusiastically almost hitting Xena in the face. She grabbed his hand and twisted hard before sliding of the badgermole.
"Sokka! Xena!" Katara shouted happily.
"How did you guys get out?" Sokka asked.
"Just like the legend said, we let love lead the way," Aang replied with a sheepish smile.
"Really? We let huge, ferocious beasts lead our way," Sokka commented then grinned."Hey, Aang, did you know Xena could sing?"
"I said we'd never speak of this," She growled at him.
"Yeah, why?" Aang asked answering his question and looking towards a red faced Xena.
"Badgermoles like music," She stated dryly and then turned her back on them to watch as the badgermoles departed, closing the tunnels behind him.
Momo flew from her shoulder over to Appa, chittered as if he was telling Appa about his journey through the caves. Appa roared at him. Aang headed over to the nomads, ignoring his two pets.
Katara hugged her brother happily then pulled back and looked at his forehead. "Why is your forehead all red?"
Chong leaned against Sokka's shoulder, speaking out of the corner of his mout. "Nobody react to what I'm about to tell you, but I think that kid might be the Avatar."
Sokka's eye twitched before he slapped his forehead. Xena unsheathed her sword part way, taking one step towards the nomads. Aang tilted his head at her curiously and she grusgingly resheathed it.
"So are you guys going to come to Omashu with us?" Aang asked the nomads, rocking back on his heels.
"Nope," Moku replied.
"Okay," Aang said. "Thanks for everything, Moku."
The nomads began walking away with Lily in the lead. Chong put his flower necklace around Sokka's neck then clapped his hand on the teen's shoulder.
"Sokka, I hope you learned a little something about not letting the plans get in the way of the journey," Chong stated seriously then hugged him.
Sokka scowled slightly in irritation. "Just play your songs."
"Hey! Good plan!" Chong said gleefully as he pulled away from Sokka then began strumming his pipa and singing as he followed after the other nomads. "Even if you're lost, you can't lose the love because it's in your heart. Da, da, da…"
Aang glanced over at Katara then back at the nomads just as Katara blushed brightly and looked off to the side.
"Maybe Xena can sing while we walk," Sokka suggested as they turn away. She dropped to the ground and swung her leg out, tripping him before rising effortlessly.
"I just spent the last three and a half hours listening to songs about cave-ins, love, badgermoles, not to mention my fire," She growled. "There is no way I'm singing anything for you."
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"The journey was long and annoying, but now you get to see what it's all about; the destination," Sokka said as they walked up the mountainside towards Omashu.
"I present you the Earth Kingdom city of O-" The Water Tribe boy started to say, but paused abruptly as he reached the crest of the hill. "Oh no…"
"No," She whispered in shock and dismay.
The great city of Omashu had fallen, a Fire Nation flag hung above the city entrance.
*This song is an actual folk song titled, Black is the color of my loves hair. I changed a few of the lyrics to match it being from the South Pole (which it's not actually). I also changed the original song to this folk song, for reasons of my own.