Previously...
"Good news for the Fire Nation, their greatest threat is a kid." Uncle said.
"That kid, just did all of this." I said, gesturing to the snow-covered ship.
"I won't underestimate him again. Dig the ship out and follow them." And I turned to see some soldiers thawing out the few who were frozen by who I assume, the (e/c) eyed Water Tribe girl.
"After you're done with that..."
'I will capture the Avatar is it is the last thing I do.'
Meanwhile on Appa's back...
"Just wait until you see it, guys! The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world." Aang said, as he was making sure Appa's reins were tight around his horns. Katara heaved a great sigh,
"Aang, I know you're excited about going home, but it's been 100 years."
"That's exactly the reason why." Aang replied, were wide and filled with excitement. Katara then said, with a sad face,
"A lot can change between the time you left until now."
"I know that, but I want to see for myself." Aang then jumped off of Appa to wake Sokka, who was still sleeping, snoring loudly.
Aang tried to wake him up by shouting,
"Wake up Sokka! It's Air Temple time!" Sokka groaned and said,
"Sleep now, temple later." He then rolled over on his side and continued to slumber. Aang grabbed a stick and ran it up and down his sleeping bag while shouting,
"Sokka! Get up! There's a bricklesnake in your sleeping bag!" Sokka jumped up, suddenly wide wake, and hopped around shouting 'Get it off! Get it off!', until he fell over, on his face. Katara and I giggled at the scene that just took place.
"Looks like Sokka's awake now." I said, smirking a little, earning a small scowl from Sokka. We all got on Appa and took off, but there was one thing bothering me, Aang's high hopes.
'I just hope he doesn't think he his friends from 100 years ago are still alive to this very day, when the Fire Nation started the war, they might have invaded the Air Temples too. He can't be that naive...can he?'
~~~Zuko's POV~~~
"Uncle, I want the repairs make as quickly as possible. I don't want to waste much time here and lose his trail."
"You mean the Avatar?" Uncle said, loudly.
"Don't say his name on these docks!" I hissed at him.
"Once word gets out about the Avatar being alive, every Firebender will be out for him, and I don't want anyone getting in the way." Then someone behind me said,
"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?"
"Captain Zhao" I muttered under my breath.
"It's Commander now. And General Iroh, great hero of our nation."
"Retired General." Uncle said with a bow.
"The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime. What brings you to my harbor?" Uncle answered by saying,
"There are repairs being done on our ship." Gesturing towards it, the front of the ship practically mangled, with pieces of metal missing.
"That's quite a lot of damage." Trying not to tell him about what really happened with the group of kids and the Avatar, I said,
"Yes, you wouldn't even believe what happened. Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened." Uncle looked caught off guard, but then said.
"Yes of course. It was phenomenal..." He paused mumbled towards me 'Did we crash or something?'
"Yes! Right into an Earth Kingdom ship." I said.
"Really? Tell me all the thrilling details, over a drink of course." Commander Zhao mused, with a slight smirk planted on his face.
'Can't I just leave now?'
"Sorry, but we have to go." I said, starting to walk away from him. Unfortunately, Uncle placed and hand on my shoulder and told me to 'Show Commander Zhao respect.'
'Show him respect my-'
"It would be an honor to join you. Would you happen to have any Ginseng Tea? It's my very favorite." Uncle said, as he walked of with Zhao. With both of their backs turned, I growled and threw flames at the ground.
'This was going to be a long evening...'
~~~(Name)'s POV~~~
As we were flying over the clouds, I just couldn't look away. They were just so beautiful, and everything was peaceful until...Sokka's stomach disturbed it. The stomach's owner replied,
"Stomach be quiet, okay? I'm trying to find some food." As he looked through the bags. Sokka pulled a little sack out and emptied the contents into his hand, but only a few crumbs came out. Sokka asked, a little peeved,
"Who ate all my blubbered seal jerky?" Aang said,
"That was food? I used to start the fire last night." Sokka groaned and fell back onto the saddle, and I heard him mutter, 'No wonder the flames smelled so good.'
'Looks like Sokka has to starve for a little while longer...' I thought with a little smile on my face. As we came to some mountains, Aang said that we were almost there.
'Almost to the temple. Almost to Aang's old home. And almost to the skeletons of his friends.'
I saw Katara talking to Aang on top of Appa's head. Suddenly, Aang pulled up until a big building that was decorated with blue spires. As we got closer to the beautiful building, we all 'Wow'd' in awe.
"Aang, it's amazing!' Katara said.
"It's beautiful!" I said, I was sure I had huge grin plastered across my face.
'This place sure is going to be fun to explore!' I thought, completely forgetting about what might have happened to Aang's friends.
~~~Zuko's POV~~~
"And by the end of the year, the Earth Kingdom will be under our rule. And we can finally claim victory." Commander Zhao concluded, finishing his plan to take over the Earth Kingdom.
"If my father think that the whole world will follow him willingly, he's a fool." I said, thinking about how that (h/c) haired, (e/c) eyed Water Tribe girl stood up for herself, and later on jabbed me in the face with the Avatar's staff, forcing me into the icy waters of the ocean, just a few days before.
"2 years at sea have done nothing to temper your tongue." Commander Zhao said, taking a seat next to me.
"So, how's your search for the Avatar?" He said, just as Uncle knocked over a rack of weapons.
"M-My fault entirely." He said as he put his arms in his sleeves and slowly backed away.
'You have to be kidding me...'
I answered Zhao's previous question with,
"We haven't found him yet."
"Did you really expect to? The Avatar died, along with the rest of the Air Nomads a 100 years ago." Commander Zhao paused.
"...Unless you discovered something that proves that the Avatar is in fact alive." Zhao said, with the usual smirk on his face.
"No. Nothing." I smoothly lied.
'I don't want or need anyone else after him, especially Zhao.'
"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only person in the entire world that can stop the Fire Nation from winning the war. If you have the slightest ounce of loyalty to your land left, tell me what you know."
"I would love to tell you," Zhao perked up a little.
"If I found anything. Besides, it's like you said the Avatar probably died a long time ago." His face fell. I stood from my seat and proceeded to walk out of the tent as I said,
"Uncle, it's time for us to leave." But, as I was almost out the door, two soldiers blocked my path. Another solider told Commander Zhao that they interrogated my crew.
"The crew confirmed that Prince Zuko had the Avatar in his possession, but let him escape with three Water Tribe people, two girls, and another boy, on a flying creature. Also, one of the Water Tribe girls, who was described to have (e/c) eyes, (h/c) hair and (s/t) skin, took down some of Prince Zuko's guards and froze three of them."
'Damn.'
"Now remind me, how exactly was your ship damaged?" Zhao said.
'I hate my life.'
~~~(Name)'s POV~~~
"So, were can I get something to eat?" Sokka said, well, more complained, as he held his stomach, which has been growling for who knows how long.
"We're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an Airbender temple, and all you can think and worry about is food?" Katara said.
"Hey, just a simple guy with simple needs, okay? I can't help that I'm starving." Sokka snapped back. We all caught up with Aang who was standing over an area where there was a bunch of posts sticking out of the ground.
"What's that?" I asked, with curious (e/c) eyes. Aang explained that he and his friends would play a game called Airball on those posts. And after that, he pointed to a few other places and told us what they were. Aang let out a big, sad sigh.
"What's wrong Aang?" Katara and I asked.
"It's just...that this place used to be filled with monks, lemurs, and bison, filled with life. Now, all that's left are a bunch of weeds. I can hardly believe how much things have changed." Aang just stood there, and I could feel that he was really upset about things not turning out how he thought they would.
'I just hope that we don't find something worse...'
In an effort to cheer Aang up, Sokka asked how to play Airball.
'Watching Sokka fall off the post a hundred times is going to be fun.' I giggled out loud at the thought.
As I saw Sokka standing on a post, in a ready stance. Aang threw the ball in the air, but it didn't come back. Until it zipped back down, and Aang threw an air current at it and sent it ricocheting off of the posts, and it hit directly into Sokka's empty stomach and sent him flying into the goal. Sokka landed in a small mountain of snow, that luckily, broke his fall. Aang let out a laugh, and he said,
"Aang, 7. Sokka, 0." Sokka mumbled into the little patch of dying grass he was stretched out on,
"Making him feel better, makes me feel worse." Then, he suddenly crawled away somewhere. It wasn't until he said 'Katara, (Name)! Over here!' that I got worried.
As Katara and I walked closer, we saw a...Fire Nation mask.
'That is not good, at all.'
"We should tell him, you know." Sokka suggested. Katara called him over, but at the last second, she covered the helmet in snow. Aang took us to show the rest of the temple. But, as I caught up with them, I thought,
'You can't hide the truth forever Katara, he's going to find out eventually.'
~~~Time Skip!~~~
"Aang, no one could have possibly survived in there for a 100 years." Katara said, as we all walked towards this big door, with...a lock on it?
"I survived in the iceberg for a 100 years."
"True..."
"Whoever is behind that door, might be able to help with the Avatar thing." Aang said, optimistically.
"And maybe that person also has, delicious, purified meats." Sokka added, with drool coming out of his mouth. He then, ran at the door, only to crash into it.
'That's my brother...How lucky am I...' I though while I smacked my hand to my face. (A/N: Facepalm!)
Sokka tried pushing on the door, with no success.
"I don't suppose you have a key."
"The key Sokka, is Airbending." Aang said. Aang blew air into the two holes, and then the blue swirls on it flipped over and then they were red swirls, and the door opened.
"Hello? Anyone in there?" Aang called as he walked into the dark room, with Sokka, Katara, and I following closely behind.
'Well this should be interesting...'
~~~Zuko's POV~~~
"So, a 12-year old defeated you and your soldiers? You are more pathetic than I thought." Commander Zhao said.
"I underestimated him, once. But, it will never happen again." I said.
"No it will not, because you won't be getting a second chance."
'What?! I've been searching for the Avatar for 2 years!'
"Commander Zhao, I've been hunting the Avatar for 2 years and-" I was cut off by Zhao, throwing fire at me, while shouting, 'And failed!'.
"Capturing the Avatar is too important to leave to a teenage boy. He is my responsibility now." I lunged at him, only to be held back by two guards.
"Keep them here." Zhao said and walked out of the tent. I kicked over a table, after doing so Uncle asked for more tea.
'All he's worried about is food and tea...'
~~~(Name)'s POV~~~
We were in a room filled with statues. I was just looking around until I heard Aang say,
"I feel like in know them somehow." Then Katara noticed that they were in a pattern Air, Water, Earth, and Fire.
"That's the Avatar Cycle."
"So that means all of these people are your past lives!" Of course Sokka, had to say something negative.
"You really believe in that?"
"Well it's true, once the Avatar dies they were reincarnated into the next element." I said. After I said that, Aang froze while he was standing in front of a statue of a Fire Nation man. Katara told him to snap out of it.
"Who is that?" Katara asked
"He's Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me." Aang answered.
"You couldn't just get any weirder." Sokka said with a slight growl in his breath. Then, a shadow of something or someone was walking into the room, at least towards it. Sokka and I were hiding behind one statue while Aang and Katara were behind another.
"Firebender, nobody make a sound." Sokka whispered.
'But you're making a sound idiot...'
"You're making a sound!" Katara whispered harshly, only to be shushed by Aang and Sokka. Sooka stood with his club at the ready,
"This Firebender won't know what hit him." But when he stepped out a animal sound echoed throughout the room, I stand up, and look towards the doorway, only to find a, little animal with brown and white fur, and bright green eyes, just staring at us. Aang shouted,
"Lemur!" At the same time Sokka groaned, drooling,
"Dinner..." They both chased after the poor animal, who probably thought he was going to be harmed.
'Poor little guy...'
~~~Zuko's POV~~~
"My search party is ready, once I am out to sea my guards will escort you back to your ship and you will be free to go." Commander Zhao said as he entered the tent.
"Why? Are you afraid that I will try to stop you?" I asked, with venom in my voice. Zhao just laughed.
"You? Stop me? Impossible." I shot up from my seat,
"Don't dare underestimate me Zhao! I will capture the Avatar before you!" I said, glaring daggers at him.
'If only looks can kill...'
"Prince Zuko, that's enough!" My Uncle scolded.
"You can't even begin to compete with me, I have hundreds of warriors and warships at my command, and you, you're just a banished prince. No home, no friends, your own father doesn't want anything to do with you." Commander Zhao said.
"You're wrong, once I deliver the Avatar to my father, he will welcome me with honor! And restore my place on the throne." I snapped.
"If your father wanted you, you would be home by now, Avatar or not. But in his eyes, you are nothing but a failure and a complete disgrace to the Fire Nation."
'No, it's not true...Don't believe what he saying. It's all a lie.'
"That's not true."
"You have a scar as evidence." I got in his face and shouted, shaking and growling in anger,
"Maybe you'd like one to match!"
"Is that a challenge?" Commander Zhao asked.
"An Agni Kai. Sunset."
"Very well." As he was walking away he said,
"It's such a shame that your father won't be here to watch me humiliate you, I suppose your Uncle will suffice." He left the tent.
"Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened the last time you dueled a master?" My Uncle asked.
"I will never forget."
'Because that master was my father.'
~~~(Name)'s POV~~~
Katara and I were still in the Avatar statue room, until suddenly, the eyes of every statue started to glow. Katara and I looked at eachother with worry, for Aang, you both ran out the room to find Aang.
~~~Time Skip!~~~
When Katara and I got there, Aang's arrows were glowing, the same with the statues, and was inside an air shield.
"What happened?" Katara shouted over the wind.
"He found out that Firebenders killed Gyatso." Sokka said.
"I'm going to try to calm him down!" Katara moved closer to Aang, as he ascended into the air.
'I hope this ends well...'
~~~Zuko's POV~~~
"Remember your Firebending basics, Prince Zuko, they are your greatest weapons." Uncle said, as I stood.
"I refuse to let him win this battle." Commander Zhao and I stood at the center of the arena, waiting for one of us to make a move.
'Guess that'll be me...'
I gathered fire in my hand and shot it at him, which he easily dodged. I shot another fireball at him, and he dodged it again. Then, I shot a fireball four times the size of the previous one, which he blocked. I stood there, panting, as I shot a series of fire from my hands and feet, which Commander Zhao just dodged or blocked with ease. Commander Zhao shot four fire blasts at me, the first three I blocked, but the fourth knocked me down. Zhao leaped into the air, and landed right in front of me, about to shoot fire at me.
'Not this time! Not again!'
I swept him off his feet, getting on my feet in the process. I shot fire at his feet making him stumble backwards. Then, I shot fire from my feet at him, twice, the second blast knocking him down. I stood over him, in my Firebending stance. Commander Zhao, said,
"Do it!" I shot fire at not him, but at the ground close to his head. As I walked away, I said,
"Next time you stand in my way, I promise you, I won't hold back." Commander Zhao tried to shoot fire at me with my back turned, which was stopped by my Uncle. I started to charge for him, but Uncle held me back saying,
"Don't taint your victory. So this is how the great Commander Zhao acts in defeat, disgraceful. Even in exile, my nephew is more honorable than you. Thank you for the tea, it was delicious." With that, he turned and walked away, with me following. When we were out of the arena, I asked him if he really meant what he had said,
"Of course, I told you Ginseng tea was my favorite." He responded, joking.
'Uncle sure does love his tea...'
~~~(Name)'s POV~~~
Once Katara was close enough, she said,
"Aang, I know how hard it is to lose the people you love, I went through the same thing when I lost my mom, Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family, (Name), Sokka, and I. We're your family now." With that being said, Aang's feet touched the ground.
"We won't let anything happen to you," Sokka said.
"We promise." I said, with a small smile on my face, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Aang came out of the Avatar State, and collapsed into Katara's arms.
"I'm sorry." He said, with a gloom look on his face.
"It's alright, it's wasn't your fault." Katara said.
"If the Firebenders found this temple, that means they found the others too. I really am the last Airbender." Katara and I grabbed him in a hug.
'Even though you are the last of the Air Nomads, you can still achieve great things Aang.'
~~~Time Skip!~~~
While you were packing up everything and putting your stuff on Appa, Aang came back with the Lemur from earlier.
"Guys, say hello to the newest member to our family." Aang said, with the Lemur on his arm.
"What are you gonna name him?" I asked, soon after, the Lemur snatched a peach out of Sokka's hands.
"Momo." And we all laughed.
"Momo, the perfect name for the peach-snatching Lemur..."