Chapter Fourty Seven

Seperation

"For Spirits' sake, Sokka! Pass the darn marshmallows before you eat all of them!" Toph bellowed, kicking her foot swiftly against the rough ground, sending a small pillar of earth upwards at the bowl of marshmallows that were sitting in front of Sokka, who had almost eaten all of them. At the sudden movement and sight of his beloved sweets flying up into the air and over to the earthbender, the older boy let out an unmanly squeak, jumping backwards. This drew laughter from the group and a blush from Sokka that could be seen even in the dimness.

It was around midnight, and we all had decided to sit around a fire Zuko had cooked up and roast marshmallows and relax. The night air was unsurprisngly warm, and firebugs drifted around, twinkling almost as bright as the stars above. I still hadn't got the chance to approach Aang, as he was ignoring me, sitting across from the fire, his eyes not once meeting mine. It was frustrating, but now that I realized that I did love him, I knew that it was only a matter of time before he knew as well.

My eyes wandered to Toph, who, with the help of Katara, was roasting some marshmallows. "Hey Toph, will the pass the marshmallows?" I asked, reaching for a spare stick. The earthbender only sighed before repeating the same movement as she did before with Sokka. I lurched forward, catching the nearly empty bowl before it hit the ground. After assembling two of the sweets onto the roasting stick, I rested them over the fire, patiently waiting. My brother quickly snatched the remaining mallow before Momo could. The flying lemur let out an angry set of chatters before climbing over to me and wrapping himself around my neck. I smiled, petting the lemur.

A sudden explosion made myself and Momo jump, along with everyone else in the group, except for Zuko. The lemur scurried away, his hair sticking up out of fear. I glanced at my friends, confused and worried. "What was that?" I wondered.

"I don't know—"

"What if it's Sparky Sparky Boom Man!"

"We better go check—"

Zuko sighed loudly, drawing our attention. He absently motioned towards the darkened sky, "It's just fireworks. See?" He nodded upwards as a high-pitched squeal erupted as a series of fireworks were sent into the sky, a moment of hesitation before they exploded into grand colors behind us. "Don't tell me you've never seen fireworks before." The bender raised an eyebrow at us.

I've seen them before—sometimes in our village, on a special occasion, people would set fireworks off. I hated them because of how loud and destructive they sounded. Fortuantly, they were a very rare spectacule, as the local merchants and peddlers hardly had them in stock by the time they reached our village. Plus, it was difficult to preform, as the soldiers only allowed them when they were drunk.

We 'oohed' and 'aahed' as each firework exploded into a flury of colors and sparkles, while Toph only grunted in the background, obviously annoyed at how awed we sounded. The fireworks continued for about a half hour. Once they had finished, I realized that I had burned my marshmallows, as the melted sweets dripped into the fire. With a sigh I shook them off, pulling out the scorched stick.

"Why did they have fireworks? Do they just do them at random?" Katara asked Zuko once they were done. An eerie silence settled over the area except for us, a change from the booms that were going on earlier.

The former prince shook his head in the negatives. "No. It's because of Sozin's Comet. It's arriving in two days." He shot Aang a look, "That's why I've been so rough on your firebending training," he huffed, a scowl on his face.

Aang shrugged nonchalantly, "I was wondering. Why, anyways?"

"Isn't there some sort of an Invasion on the day of the Comet?"

Sokka looked confused as he studied Zuko, "No? Nothing was planned. Why?"

Zuko looked bewildered and leapt to his feet. "What? I thought there was!" He exclaimed, looking at each of us incredously.

"What's the big deal?"

"On that day, firebenders will be at their strongest. My father is planning to seize the whole Earth Kingdom—the whole world." The former prince replied hastily, nervously running his fingers through his hair as he paced.

Aang's jaw dropped, his eyes widening to the size of saucers.

Olin jumped to his feet, looking frustrated. "Why didn't you tell us this earlier? Thousands of people are going to get killed!" He yelled, glaring at Zuko in disbelief.

"I—I don't know! I thought you guys were doing something!" He growled.

"This is unbelievable—"

I rose in an attempt to calm my brother. "Olin," I warned gently, the older boy fumming. I turned to Zuko, "What's Ozai's plan?" I inquired.

The firebender let out a low breath, "He has a whole fleet of airships. He's going to burn...everything." he motioned towards my brother, "He's right—my father is going to kill thousands of people. If we don't do something."

Sokka stood, rubbing his face with his palms tiredly, "How is Aang's firebending going?"

Zuko made a face, scratching at the back of his head. "It needs work, but its average." he admitted, "But with the other three elements, he can at least get in for the kill—"

"Wait, what?" Aang interuppted, himself on his feet now as well. "Kill?" his gray eyes were illuminated by the faint fire as he stared at Zuko, bewildered and torn. My eyes rested on him, a tugging at my heart.

The firebender narrowed his eyes, "Yes, kill."

The Avatar suddenly looked determinded and angry, "I am not killing him, Zuko!" he hollered, crossing his arms defiantly as he stomped one foot on the ground.

Zuko got closer to him, "How do you expect to defeat him? He's the most powerful firebender in the world!" He yelled into Aang's face, his brows furrowed together, a frustrated expression on his face.

"You don't understand! It goes against my teachings—my beliefs, m-my everything!" Aang sounded desperate, and not an ounce less angry than before. "I can't, Zuko!"

"You'll have to! Or you'll die! We'll all die!"

Aang balled his palms into fists, his face flushing a deep red as he whirled around, storming away into the house with Momo on his trail. I stared miserably after him, feeling horrible and sad for him.

"That went well." Toph mumbled sarcastically, earning a frustrated glare from Zuko.

I walked quickly down the hall, having searched everywhere for Aang and being fruitless. I finally came across the last bedroom in the hallway, which was Zuko's. He had to be in here, I decided uncertainly.

My fists knocked softly on the closed door. After a few moments of no reply, I tried the doorknob. It was unlocked.

I slowly stepped inside, my eyes wandering around the dark room. They eventually rested on a set of opened doors that led to a balcony that faced the ocean. As I neared the doors, I noticed that Aang's glider was propped up against the railing of the balcony. I stared at it in confusion. He wouldn't leave his glider. So, where was he?

I leaned over the railing, closing my eyes tiredly. I longed for Aang, or at least to know where he was. As my eyes reopened, they settled on a pair of footprints that steadily led right to the edge of the ocean, where they disappeared into the water. I gusted myself swiftly over the side of the balcony, hurriedly following the prints.

Once the footprints dwindled to an end, only one question lingered:

Where is Aang?

"He's gone?"

"That's what I said, Sokka."

"Where would he go?"

"Don't ask me. His footprints end right at the water's edge."

My friends that were surrounding me sighed in unison. I lowered my eyes, absently dragging my foot across the floor of the home, playing with my necklace.

"I...I can't believe...he abandoned us." Katara whispered, a look of disbelief and betrayal on her face as she settled down onto one of the many wooden chairs, resting her head in her hands. Zuko tried his best at comforting the waterbender, but he, too, had a look similar to her's on his face.

In Aang's defense, I quietly murmured, "He didn't abandon us. I'm sure he's fine. Everything will work out..." my voice trailed off into space and doubt.

"Maybe he visited the Spirit world." Toph thought aloud, resting her feet on the table, wiggling her toes.

"Then his body would still be here," Katara muttered bitterly.

"Just a suggestion, so cool it, Sugar Queen." the blind earthbender snapped hastily.

I let out a low breath, holding onto the situation with a bright side — kind of. "We need to focus. I know Aang might be missing, but we only have two days until the Comet. Aang's the Avatar—I don't know about you guys, but I trust him with my life." A smile tugged on my lips, "So, I'm sure he'll...well, do whatever he's supposed to do. But while he's doing that, we need to do what we're supposed to do."

"And, what exactly is that?" Olin wondered.

I shrugged, "Obviously, Aang will fight Ozai. Zuko mentioned a whole fleet of airships. Somebody will need to take them down."

Sokka's cerculean eyes observed each of us, "I'd say Suki, Toph, Olin, and I could do that."

"I already know what I have to do." Zuko's facial features settled into a grim expression, "Azula. She's just as dangerous as my father—maybe even more. She'll most likely be at the palace. Probably getting crowned," he snorted, his tone emotionless.

"I'll help you." Katara decided, looking determindly up at the firebender.

"And so will I." I declared, nodding at them.

"Then it's set." Sokka clasped his hands together, smiling dryly at us.

AN: There's chapter fourty seven for you, folks. As you can tell by this chapter, the next few ones will be pretty dramatic, as its leading towards the final showdown. Thank you for all the reviews, as usual! It really makes my day when I get notifications saying that I got a new review, getting added to somebody's favorite story/author list & ect. You guys are definately the best! :)