Well we have one super winner of the guessing game and no minor winners…weak. Well his name is TheFanatics. He guessed both right and both ARE going to be revealed in this chapter. We noticed that in a lot of chapters we go through one day: starting with everyone waking up and ending with everyone going to sleep, so we decided to mix it up a bit. After seven chapters we reached 5000 views and five/four chapters (if you count the authors note) later we get 10000 views! We just want to say thank you to everyone who continues to read this story and please don't stop! We don't plan on stopping this story anytime soon; however we already have an ending tied up. A little jumpy aren't we? Also Line Breaks now represent a change in days, weeks, months etc.
Disclaimer: We do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, if we did then Becka would build a new space sword for Sokka.
After the long trip to the Fire Nation, the remainder of Team Avatar was ready for a long sleep. With both couples going to their rooms, Zuko had requested for no disturbances until they all woke up. With midday rolling around everyone was up and returning to their normal routines. Zuko dealt with updates on the Fire Nation's current status, Mai had returned to her house across the street to say hello to her family, Aang was meditating in the garden and Katara practicing her waterbending out by the turtle duck pond.
Katara returned to the basics to 'try something new' and started to wonder.
What could Aang possibly want me to teach him? I've pretty much taught him every waterbending move I know. Maybe he doesn't want to learn waterbending…maybe he wants to learn Bloodbending. No I can't think like that. Why would Aang want to control another human? Maybe he wants to know how to use Plantbending to get water. No he's the Avatar; he's the protector of nature. What could it be…I got it! Katara ran off to the garden to find Aang was no longer there. She searched the courtyard and to her luck found Aang practicing his firebending. She waited on the stairs until he finished his set.
"Hey Aang." Katara called out to get his attention. He turned to see her running down the remainder of the stairs toward him and hug him.
"Hi, what have you been up to?" Aang asked as he released her from the hug.
"Well I was just going over some basic waterbending moves and thinking."
"What were you thinking about?"
"I was wondering what technique you wanted me to teach you. At first I thought it was Bloodbending but then I knew you wouldn't want that."
"Yeah that's true; it's scary having enough power to manipulate a person. So what came next in your list of techniques?"
"I have Bloodbending and you have Energybending; both are very dangerous forms of bending. Anyways next I thought you would want to learn how to reach into nature and use Plantbending for water, but you're the Avatar the protector of nature, so that was out of the question.
"Well it would be helpful to learn that just in case of emergencies…then again if there's no water I have three other elements to use so I don't see the point. So is that all or do you have any more guesses?"
"Yes I have one more and I know it's the right one. You want to learn how to heal."
"Wow, well I'm surprised and impressed at the same time. I'm surprised because you actually guessed it right. I'm impressed because of how fast you got that. Yes I would love to learn how to heal from you Sifu Katara." Aang bowed as he knew the next step in his waterbending training would begin.
A few days later Katara had taught Aang that in order for him to heal he would have to redirect the chi throughout the other person's body towards the wound to heal it. They traveled to a nearby hospital to practice. Since it was healing the worst that would come to the person is they might get wet. Aang went through about ten patients and still had not figured out how to heal correctly.
"Ugh! This is so frustrating how come I can't get it?" Aang asked Katara as he bent the water around his hands and placed them on the man's injured arm. He was hoping for a white or even blue glow to appear around the man's arms.
"Aang don't worry about it so much you'll get it, just feel the chi in his body first then move it." Katara said as she placed her hands on Aang's shoulders to calm him. Aang inhaled deeply then exhaled to concentrate. He felt the chi flow through the man's arm and sure enough the arm turned white.
"I did it!" Aang cheered as he jumped into the air.
"Great job Aang, now that you did it do you think you can do it again?" Katara asked teasing him.
"You know it, let's go find another one!" Aang cheered still excited from his new ability. Before Aang could leave he felt someone pulling on his shirt. He turned to see it was the man he had just healed. The man had a large but weak smile on and nodded his appreciation to Aang before he fell asleep. Aang smiled at the man and left him to rest. After healing patient after patient Katara challenged Aang.
"Well since you seem to have a hold of it how about a race?"
"You're on! We'll go down this hall and first person to successfully heal every person on their side wins."
"Alright sounds fair, what does the winner get as a prize?" Katara asked Aang as they both thought in silence. Aang suddenly came up with the perfect prize.
"How about this, the loser has to give a kiss to the winner."
"Hmm, sounds interesting, alright let's do this. On three then. One! Two! Three!" Katara counted and the two raced into each room and healed whoever was in there as best they could. At the end of the hall they both tied and went back to check each other's work. Katara laughed to herself as she had all her rooms filled whereas three of Aang's rooms were empty. They met up at the start and went over each other's work.
"Well everyone in the rooms you went to are healed fully, good job Aang." Katara congratulated him.
"Same with you, even though I would like to win you had to heal more people than me, so I guess you win." Aang said as he leaned in and kissed her right on the lips. The kiss they shared was loving, passionate, and long. They both felt as though they were the only people in the hospital until they heard a voice.
"Excuse me, I appreciate all the help you two have done but this is a hospital not a teen make out seminar." A doctor said as he stepped up to the young lovers.
"Sorry, I'm glad we could help so much though." Aang said as he and Katara bowed to the man and left the hospital.
About two weeks later Aang and Katara were summoned to Zuko's private chambers. They were sitting in the exotic room waiting for the Fire Lord to arrive. The doors soon flung open with Zuko calmly walking in and sitting in a chair across from them. He stared at them for a few minutes making both of them feel awkward.
"Did you want to talk with us about something Zuko or did you just want to stare at us all day?" Katara asked Zuko as he took in a deep breath.
"There is definitely something I want to talk to you about. I know the both of you have talked about it amongst yourselves, but I think it's a good idea to have another voice in your…situation."
"Zuko what are you talking about? What situation?" The curious Avatar asked.
"I guess I'll just let it all out then." Zuko breathed deeply. "I know about you two, what you did, what might happen because of what you did and who might kill a certain Avatar if that individual ever finds out." Katara and Aang's eyes widened, knowing well of what Zuko was referring to.
"How would you know anything about that? We haven't mentioned that to anyone before, so how would you know?" Katara asked getting mad at Zuko's sudden invasion of privacy.
"Look, I'm sorry; I couldn't sleep and was walking by your room back in the Southern Water Tribe. I heard some…things that caught my attention and I listened in."
"That still doesn't explain why you decided to listen in. You could have walked away." Aang said keeping his voice calm even though his face said otherwise.
"I know and I should have but I didn't. So now I'm a part of this as well and you two will have to accept that. I haven't told anyone else about this even Mai. I'll keep this quiet, nobody will know of this, and I can offer any assistance for you."
"Well thank you for not telling anyone. I guess we could get advice or help from you. But if you don't know something you can ask a servant or someone and tell us what they said." Katara said still trying to accept the fact that Zuko knew of and wanted to 'help' with their situation.
"I would love to help, but let me say this now I am not an expert." Zuko said adding extra emphasis on the not.
"Well we'll take that into account and I think we're good for now. If something comes up you'll know. Thanks again Zuko." Aang said as he and Katara stood up and bowed to the Fire Lord and left him alone in his room.
Over the course of the next week the conversations between Aang and Katara with Zuko began to be rather awkward, Aang had mastered his ability to heal and he had realized something was very wrong.
"AHHH!" Aang screamed as he ran around the courtyard flailing his arms around wildly. The sudden noise drew Katara and Zuko's attention along with most of the royal palace guard. As Katara and Zuko reached the door leading outside they opened it and saw Aang running in a circle and screaming. Zuko sighed and motioned for the guard to return back to their posts as Katara ran down the steps to calm Aang down.
"Aang calm down what is it?" Katara asked as she stopped the out of breath Airbender.
"It's terrible news Katara I wouldn't want to tell you!" Aang said as his eyes searched all around the courtyard. Katara remembered the last time Aang acted like this was the before the Day of Black Sun when he thought he had to fight the previous fire lord. Zuko soon reached them and joined the conversation.
"Why? Is something happening or going to happen?" Zuko asked his paranoid friend.
"Yeah we forgot someone and if that someone isn't having fun them I'm going to be in a world of hurt!" Aang said as he ran up to Zuko and grabbed his shoulders and started to shake them rapidly. Zuko quickly grew tired of this and threw Aang off of him.
"Ok stop, breath and tell us what's going on! What or who did we forget." Zuko demanded of Aang as he heard a loud gasp come from Katara. They both looked over to her.
"Toph! We said we would be back in about a week or two to check on her and it been about a month and a half." Katara explained to Zuko.
"Exactly and if Toph doesn't like being with her parents again then I'm dead the next time I see her!"
"Relax Aang I'm sure she's having a great time. Remember how happy she was when we left?" Katara said assuring Aang as he stood and remembered that she was happy when they left.
"Ok I guess you're right, thanks Katara. I would say thanks to you Zuko but all you did was throw me away from you."
"Hey what can I say?" Zuko shrugged. "I don't like being shaken." The Fire Lord returned up the steps to his palace leaving the couple alone to further plan the situation.
"Well when do you think we should go back to the Earth Kingdom?" Katara asked the now calm Avatar.
"Probably within the week…it's not that much fun when Toph's mad at me."
"Ok then." Other than that incident the group had a rather normal day and they decided to leave two days later. The day came rather fast and they had said their goodbyes to Zuko and left to prepare Appa for the return journey. Once Appa was ready Aang noticed a messenger run out to him.
"Excuse me Lord Avatar, but I have a message for you from the Fire Lord."
"Lord Avatar?" Katara commented as she raised an eyebrow. Aang jumped off the bison grabbed the letter and bowed at the man; he returned the gesture and left. Aang unrolled the letter and read it. Upon finishing he let out a rather large sigh telling Katara that something was definitely wrong.
"What does the note say? Can it really be that bad?" She asked as Aang jumped back on top of Appa's head.
"It's not bad it's just…difficult. Yip Yip." The Bison took off as commanded and Katara left the saddle to sit next to Aang. She grabbed the letter and read to herself.
Dear Aang,
I hope you have enjoyed this little vacation that we all have been on because it's soon coming to an end. As soon as possible you need to return to the Earth Kingdom of Ba Sing Se and get up to date on any events that need your permission or help with. I sent a messenger hawk to my uncle and he can offer his guidance to you when you reach Ba Sing Se. All you have to do is find him at his shop and speak with the Council of Five about the current state of the Earth Kingdom. Good luck in your travels.
Sincerely,
Fire Lord Zuko
"Wow that is pretty difficult. I don't think you should worry about it though, you'll have Iroh with you to help."
"What about you? Will I still have you?" Aang said as he turned to face her and look into her beautiful sapphire eyes. She rolled her eyes as he put on a puppy dog face.
"Well that's a pretty silly question to ask, of course I'll be there. Why would I be anywhere without you?" Aang smiled at her and kissed her.
"Thanks Katara you know just what to say to cheer a guy up."
"Now where have I heard that before?" Katara asked sarcastically.
"I don't know but whoever said it must be beautiful." Aang said playing along.
"What would I do without you?" Katara sighed as she got comfortable in her boyfriend's arms as they had a long flight ahead of them.
A long flight was right, by the time dinner rolled around they only made it to Ember Island. The couple stayed the night in Zuko's newly refurbished beach house. They were welcomed guests as the servants tried to cling to them in an effort to get attention from the Avatar. Upon the next morning they made their way down to Omashu and visited with King Bumi.
"Hello Aang and Katara it's good to see you again. Wait!" Bumi said as he ran over to Aang and got within a few inches of his face.
"You seem to be missing someone very important from your group…where's Momo?" Aang opened up his shirt to reveal the sleeping lemur.
"He's right here. Wait how come you noticed that Momo was missing but not anyone else in our group?" Aang asked the old king as he backed up a few feet from Aang.
"I did notice." Bumi said as he moved back into Aang's face. "But between you and me I like Momo more than them. " The crazy king returned to his throne and looked at the two.
"So where are the rest of your friends?"
"Sokka and Suki are on Kyoshi Island trying to settle down. Zuko and Mai are back in the Fire Nation and Toph is in Gaoling. She's the reason we're back in Omashu actually." Katara said to the king.
"Ok I don't understand your motives but you do so I guess that's good." The earth king made his customary laugh snort combination and summoned servants to take them to rooms. This time however there was no confusion over which rooms where the newly refurbished chamber that was once bad and the good chamber. The next morning the couple had breakfast said their goodbyes to Bumi and continued to Gaoling to find Toph.
Well sorry it's not as long as we said it would be but it's definitely back up there in the normal chapter length region. I was a little disappointed that only one person could guess the mysterious figure was Zuko, process of elimination people. Ok if you couldn't tell neither of us are good at goodbye's so we just say they said their goodbyes. Also the whole Bumi scene is supposed to be that short. We only made them go to Omashu because I remembered the whole difficulty with the rooms. We also noticed that most of the time Momo is sleeping. Finally I get the feeling that some people are losing the sense of time in this story. Ever since the first chapter almost two months have gone by. So according to my story Aang's birthday is in a month and Katara's is in three months. We do plan to have a birthday chapter for each of them, but maybe not the birthday this year…how exciting! Big time jumps coming up.