After a while Katara, Appa, and Momo make it to the cave...


"You're late," I said as I noticed our tardy water bender friend walk in with a soaking wet Appa.

"I'm sorry for running away," Aang apologized without turning around to look at her.

"It's okay, that fisherman was way out of line" Katara said as she began walking closer toward us.

"Actually, he wasn't." Aang admitted still remaining motionless.

"What do you mean?" Katara asked confused.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Aang said trying to avoid the conversation all together.

"It has to do with your dream, doesn't it?" Katara said recalling his constant nightmares. She walked over to my side to get closer to Aang and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Talk to me," she told Aang with pleading eyes. Aang looked over to me as I gave him a nod telling him he should tell her what was bothering him.

"Well, it's kind of a long story" Aang said finally deciding to talk about his past. Appa let out a loud groan as Momo jumped in between them trying to dry himself off.

"I'm gonna try to get a fire going," Katara said as she began looking for any lumber in the cavern.

"I'll help," Brianna said as she got up from the ground and began searching for any flammable items inside the cold cave.

"Rebecca," Aang whispered my name making me look over at him. "I don't know if I'm ready to talk about it." I noticed his eyes looked hurt. I knew that it was hard to bring up the past but he had to do this or else he wouldn't be able to grow and mature. I placed a hand on his head and patted it.

"Don't worry," I whispered to him "remember you're not just a Legendary Avatar. You a human too; getting emotional is what makes us all human." Aang looked up at me and slowly put his right hand over mine. He gentle grabbed it and placed both our hands to the ground as he gave it a tight squeeze.

"Got the fire wood," Katara said breaking off the tension between us.

"I'll make the fire," Brianna shouted, happy to be of some use. She took in a small breath then exhaled out a medium sized fire that burned onto the sticks that soon set on fire. When she finished we all circled around the camp fire to warm ourselves. Brianna sat to the left of Aang while I sat on his right. Appa lay behind us while Gin and Nyoko rested in their charms, due to the limited space inside the cave. Momo lay on Brianna's lap and Katara sat across from Aang to my right and Brianna's left. There was a short silence as Aang just looked into the warm fire trying to both prepare himself on how to start his tale. Eventually he looked up from the fire and at Katara.

"I'll never forget the day the monks told me I was the Avatar." Aang closed his eyes as he if he could picture the whole scene in his mind. He opened his eyes slowly and he looked back down at the fire as he continued telling us about his past. "I was playing with some other kids just outside the South Wall. I was trying to teach them how to do the air scooter…"

"He's slowly taking his steps towards being the great Avatar," Gin said in a soft voice as I watched Aang begin to tell his story.

"Yeah," I said in a soft whisper. I felt myself smile as I watched Aang finally face his fear, proud at the fact that he was my master.

((OOOO))

"I never saw Gyatso again," Aang said when he finished telling us about him trying to run away due to the fact that the monks in charge were going to send him off to a different Air Temple, away from Gyatso. "Next thing I knew, I was waking up in your arms after you found me in the iceberg. Days later when I went back to the Temple we found you guys," Aang said addressing Brianna and I.

"You ran away," Katara said after Aang had finished explaining.

"And then the Fire Nation attacked our temple. My people needed me and I wasn't there to help," Aang said as he stared into her blue eyes, the feeling of guilt returned.

"You don't know what would've..." Katara started but Aang interrupted her.

"The world needed me and I wasn't there to help," he continued making himself feel guiltier.

"Aang," Katara whispered his name trying to comfort him.

"The fisherman was right! I did turn my back on the world," he said as he glared down at the flickering flames.

"You're being too hard on yourself. Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed you would have been killed along with all the other air benders," Katara said trying to be reasonable.

"You don't know that," Aang said still in denial.

"I know it's meant to be this way. The world needs you now. You give people hope," Katara said with soft eyes which seemed to comfort him. "And anyway don't you think Brianna and Rebecca are proof enough. They came to help you now. If you were meant to stay and fight then won't that mean they would have been summoned a long time ago."

"She does have a point," Brianna said agreeing with her.

"Hey, I thought I was the only mind reader here" I said with a raised eyebrow, wondering how Katara was able to come up with my same theory.

"Don't worry you still are," Katara said as she let out a small laugh.

"Good cause if there was more than one that would just be creepy," I said as I crossed my legs. The three of them laughed at my little joke, making me happy. I felt a small smile form on my lips as I stared at their happy faces.

"What's wrong Rebecca?" Brianna asked me when she noticed me staring. I looked at each one of them all their eyes on me.

"Nothing really," I said with a small sigh of relief "just nice to see you all smiling is all." They all stared at me a bit bewildered by my random comment. There was a short silence before they all slowly began to understand what I meant.

"Yeah you're right," Aang said agreeing with me as he smiled. "Thanks Rebecca."

"You don't need to thank me," I said in an even tone. "It's my job as a friend and a mother," I said half joking. They all smiled then began laughing once more. I picked myself off the ground and walked toward the entrance. I stood at the edge of the opening as I just stared out at the stormy sky.

"One storm has passed," I muttered under my breath. An image of Zuko entered my mind as I thought about all that he had suffered in his past. "I wonder if the other has cleared up too."

"You shouldn't need to worry about him," I heard Gin tell me in an irritated voice. I raised an eyebrow as I poked my choker.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked in a confused voice.

"You really are too dense for your own good," he muttered under his breath. I raised an eyebrow again but just shrugged my shoulders, not even going to bother to argue with that logic.

"Hasn't that already been stated as a fact," I said with a small smile.

"If not, then it is now" Gin said continuing my joke. I let out a small chuckle as Gin joined in with me. When our laughter died I noticed someone walking over toward us.

"Help oh, please help!" I heard a familiar elderly voice call out. The old woman who fought with her husband before stepped out from the shadows and into the cave entrance completely soaked to the bone.

"It's okay, you're safe" Katara said as she escorted the woman inside to the fire.

"But, my husband isn't" the woman said in a worried tone.

"What do you mean, where's Sokka?" Katara asked worried for her brother's safety.

"They haven't returned. They should've been back by now, and this storm is becoming a typhoon. They're caught out at sea," she said as she looked at the four of us with grim eyes.

"I'm going to find them" Aang said as he stood up.

"I'm going with you" Katara said looking determined.

"Us too," Brianna said for the two of us.

"I'm staying here," the woman shouted as she took a sat in front of the warm fire.

"Well we all can't be brave," I muttered under my breath as I summoned Gin and climbed onto him.

"That's for sure," Brianna said as she did the same and got onto Nyoko.

"Well we better go save Sokka," I said as I looked out at the stormy weather. I let out a small sigh as I scratched the back of my neck.

"We'll be back soon," Aang said as he looked back at the old woman "I promise."