CHAPTER RATING: M (Language, Violence, Sexually Suggestive Situations)
A/N:
Chapter 24: Midnight Departure
The hour was late. The full moon shined in the night with glittering stars scattered across the dark sky. Aang was peeking out of the small crack while he pushed the door to his room open, nothing but the fire in his palm lit his path.
Clear. Dark, but clear.
With subdued steps, he walked through the halls of the Earth Kingdom Palace towards the War Council's Quarters, his vision guided by a small flame the size of his pinky in the middle of his palm. There was something that he needed. And he'd need it tonight.
The massive doors made no sound as he pushed them open. With more power, the flame in his hand grew. In the center table, a massive map of the Earth Kingdom. Despite his intentions, he had never had the chance to actually find it. With everything that was happening with Katara, Azula, Destiny, and The Trickster, he had never bothered to look at a map.
He scanned the kingdom until he found Feixing, the village where, a century ago, the airbenders took refugee.
Then, there it was. On the eastern coast of the Kingdom, near the Eastern Air Temple.
"Heh." He laughed. "It looks like they never traveled that far from home." But another image brought fear to him. Around the black dot that represented Feixing, there were multiple Fire Nation emblems, and the circle itself was crossed out with a red 'X'. " Now he had no choice. He didn't just want to leave. He had to leave, or else the horrors in his vision would come true. The airbenders would finally be wiped out.
He looked around the room and removed a hooded jacket from a hanging hook on the wall.
General Iroh won't mind if I take this.
With the jacket on, he removed his robe, and threw the hood over his head. With as much stealth as he managed to sneak into the room, he snuck out of the palace.
When he was sure he was in the clear, he ran up to his most loyal friend, who stuck with him through an entire century.
"Appa!" He whispered. "Appa, wake up."
The bison replied with a yawn that echoed like a roar. Aang ducked, fearful that the noise would lead to him being discovered. He turned, flinching, expecting to see Katara or Azula. But he didn't see anyone, and let out a relieved sigh.
But as he turned, dread once again, crept up on him. He heard the sound of a light tapping, a tapping that signaled annoyance, frustration, and disapproval.
"What are you doing, Twinkletoes?" Her tapping foot was grinding an impression into the ground.
"I'm leaving." His tone was flatter than he intended. "I need to go to Feixing. And I need to go alone."
"And why exactly, do you need to go alone?"
"Because I need some time to think, and..."
"And...?"
"I don't expect you to understand what I saw."
"Will you just explain?"
"I saw what would happen if I chose one of them."
"What? Choose one of what?"
"I told you. You won't understand. I need to do this myself."
"Hey, you're going to do this alone when you've got all of us? What are you-"
"I saw all of you die!" His voice rumbled with the memory. "If it is my destiny to defeat the Firelord, then I should be able to do it on my own. Destiny wouldn't let me down. She'll keep me safe."
Her eyes widened, and then a calm returned. "You really think so?" She folded her arms across her chest. "So what do you plan to do?" Her feet dug deep into the ground. "And don't lie."
He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself.
"I'm going to fight the Firelord myself."
Once second of silence.
Two seconds of silence.
Three seconds of silence.
Four seconds of silence.
Five seconds of silence.
"You really think you're ready for that?" Toph's stance loosened. "Have you even mastered firebending yet?"
"I've got the Avatar State." He sighed.
"And if Ozai kills you during the Avatar State?"
One second of silence.
Two seconds of silence.
Three seconds of silence.
Four seconds of silence.
Five seconds of silence.
"Okay. I lied."
"You say that like I didn't know." She smirked. "So, be honest now. Why are you leaving?"
"I'm going to Feixing. I'm going alone. But I'll be back."
"You'll be back, what are you coming back with?"
"An army of airbenders." He took a deep breath, and was surprised at her reaction.
"Sweet." A wide grin revealed her pearly white teeth.
"And I need you to make sure that no one follows me there. I need to talk to them, and I need to do it alone."
"Yeah, yeah. Xenophobia, and all that God stuff. I've got you covered. I'll keep my eyes shut, and my mouth closed." Her joke made him smile.
"Thanks, I'll see you in a bit, well...In a while, Toph." He climbed onto Appa's saddle. "Yip! Yip!"
Toph nodded and walked back to her room. As she recalled the interactions she had throughout the weeks with the Avatar, she had one thought on her mind: What if we could have…
But shrugged it off.
Nah, it'd probably just be a one-time thing…probably.
And she walked back to her room. But she said that she would keep him covered, so she turned around, cracked her knuckles, and walked towards Azula's zeppelin.
He's going to owe me big time.
As he took off into the night, he was wondering if he could really pull it off. It has been a century since the airbender genocide. One hundred years of hiding could result in a loss of everything. A loss of identity and trust. A loss of hope, and a generation that could be oblivious to the existence of the Avatar.
The worry crept in his mind, but in the uncertainty, there was a single shining light. Destiny itself had told him that everything was going to be alright. Destiny was on his side.
As so he rode on, he couldn't wait to see another airbender after so long.
"Yip! Yip!" He shouted, and Appa sped up. It would take awhile...It would take quite a while until he reached Feixing. And they'd be right behind him. No matter what Toph said.
...
"So it is true." Iroh spoke with Aang's robe in his hand. "He is gone." In the War Council's room that Aang had snuck into the night before, he stood in front of the current six members of Team Avatar.
"Why the hell would he leave? Doesn't he know that he's got a massive target on his back?" Sokka's sarcasm was filled with anger instead of mischief.
"Sokka, Aang probably has his reasons." Suki tried her best to calm him.
"I do not know his intentions, but he has made his decision." Iroh added.
"But we can go after him!" Katara asserted.
'Why would we? He obviously doesn't want us to be with him. " Zuko's anger showed through his cynicism. "Let him go."
"How dare you say that!" Azula shouted back. "If he dies, what will we do?!" Zuko turned away at her outburst. "I don't care how angry you are at Father for what he did to us! If the Avatar doesn't stop him, he'll do the same to millions of others! Do you want that?!" She looked to Katara, and saw the fire in her eyes. "We're going after him."
"You know, there's a reason why he left alone." Toph finally spoke up. "It's not that he's scared. It's not that he wants to be alone, it's not that he thinks he can do this alone. He knows he can do this alone."
"How do you know this?" Azula asked.
"I talked to him last night before he left."
"And you didn't stop him?" Katara asked.
"Nope. You see, I seem to have something that you all are lacking. I trust Twinkletoes. And I trust his judgment. He just didn't want anyone else to get hurt. He cares about us, and won't risk any of us getting injured or dying for something that he believe he is destined to do: defeat the Firelord."
"Yeah, that's true." Katara let her words hang for a moment. "But that doesn't make a difference! Azula's right. We should go after him. He may believe that he can do this alone, but having us there with him can only help!"
So this is how love can make Calm Katara turn Stubborn Katara? Wow. Toph folded her arms and shrugged.
"Uncle, we're leaving after we gather enough supplies to last us the journey."
Iroh nodded his approval.
"If anyone else is coming with us, let's go." Katara offered and walked out of the room, right behind Azula. Everyone followed, but as Zuko began walking, he heard his uncle's voice.
"Wait, Prince Zuko."
"What is it, Uncle?" Zuko asked with a deep breath.
"It is your choice to make, but I do not believe you are fit to follow your sister and the others."
"What are you talking about, Uncle? I'm fine."
"Physically, yes. You are stronger than ever before. But mentally, you are still struggling with the pain of your past. Your mind is closed, and I fear for what could happen to you."
"Uncle I'm fine." He let out an awkward laugh that died when he saw Iroh's expression.
"You're outburst at the mention of the Avatar's departure proves otherwise. I do not think it is a wise decision. I would have you stay here, in Ba Sing Se. But I will not stop you from leaving."
Zuko didn't answer immediately. Instead, Iroh's words seemed to linger within the entire room until he answered.
"Okay. I'll stay."
...
"What?! What do you mean it's missing?!" Azula's screeching voice cut through the thick walls of the massive Zeppelin's bridge.
"It's as if something has just cut it away. Forgive me, Princess, but without it, we have absolutely no way to control the direction that the zeppelin goes in. It will take a few days to find new parts and repair." The man's forehead was imprinted into the steel with how deeply he was bowing. He mumbled to himself a request that he hoped only he could hear. "Please, spare me."
"I want you to begin immediately. Is that understood?"
"Yes! Yes, Princess, right away!" He scrambled to his feet, and scurried away.
"Damn it. Why would you do this?" The veins in her wrist were popping through her skin with how tightly she balled up her fist.
"Maybe he isn't so sure about the answer he gave us yesterday." Katara stepped through the steel frame of the doorway arch.
"Do you think what we did was right?" Azula seated herself in a chair. "Maybe we shouldn't have pressured him."
"Maybe." Katara leaned up against the door frame. "Maybe he feels guilty. Maybe he feels that we only came to this compromise because we didn't really love him. But only because we just didn't want him to worry about us anymore."
"If he thought that, he'd be partly right. I never imagined that in my first relationship I'd be sharing the person I love with another woman." She cringed. "Sharing. What an ugly word. Never would I have guessed that I'd be competing for someone's affection against a poor, over-protective, two-faced Water Tribe peasant"
"I don't disagree with you there." Katara was grinding her teeth with those words. "Sharing a person with someone else like a toy? Especially not with an evil, stuck up, sadistic Fire Nation Princess." Her smile widened as Azula's glare focused on her.
"Then maybe we should fix that problem." Azula spat back. Katara straightened her stance to face Azula. Her hands already able to sense the movement in Azula's blood.
"I'm fine with that!" Katara shouted back. Azula jumped to her feet, lightning skipped across her arm.
They both grinned each other. Not as enemies. No, in this situation, they grinned at each other as if they were rivals in a competition.
And for a long while, they looked at each other, calling one another on her bluff.
"Some other time." Katara smiled.
"Of course. How about after my father is dead?" Azula laughed. "The Avatar would hate to find out that one of us murdered the other without witnessing it himself." Azula fell back into the chair.
"The last thing we want to do is hurt Aang, so maybe we can have our duel another time." Katara waved off. "I'll see you later for those healing sessions we talked about. I wouldn't want to beat you in a weakened state."
"Thank you, and don't worry. You wouldn't beat me."
They smirked at each other, before parting ways.
...
Back in her room, Toph laid in her bed. Her grin as wide as it could be. Her feet, off the ground, and in her hand, hovering just above her palm, a single piece of metal that she triumphantly shaped into other objects.
What favor am I going to ask of Twinkletoes... She thought to herself while twisting the metal around her wrist. It took me an hour to figure out that this was what made Sugar Lips' ship fly. So he better pay me back, and he better pay me back good.
A few footsteps interrupted her wandering thoughts.
"Hey, Toph. What are you up to?" Katara asked with a rather dejected and disappointed voice.
"Just waiting." Toph bent the metal back around her wrist, hiding it from Katara's view. "The faster the repairs are made, the faster we can get to Twinkletoes, right?"
"Right."
"So, what's eating you up?"
"Well," Katara took a deep breath. "I'm still trying to figure out why he would leave in the middle of the night."
"I told you, Katara. He just wanted to keep us all safe."
"No, I mean, what if he left because that we-" she caught herself, remembering that no one else knew of the offer they had made. "-if he left because of something that I did." Katara let out a relieved sigh, noticing that Toph's feet were suspended in mid air.
"Look, Katara. When he talked to me last night, he was telling the truth. He just wants to keep us all safe. Don't you trust him?"
"Of course, I do." She was now lying to herself more than to Toph. "It's just...Why didn't he trust us?"
"Katara, you're reading too much into this." Toph stood up, her feet finally hitting the ground. "This isn't about trust. It's just about wanting to keep us safe. That's all."
"I mean it's just..." Katara was slipping in trying to keep her composure. "Maybe he's confused and angry about..."
"...about the secret your trying to keep from everyone?"
Katara's jaw dropped. Toph shrugged, tapped a toe on the ground and closed the door.
"I...How did you..."
"Vibrations from the bed. Spill the beans."
...
Aang's progress towards Feixing was going well. Even in the white clouds, he could see below a massive forest of green, while to his left, he saw the shining blue waters of Chameleon Bay, and the three islands within it.
"So, why did you leave again?"
"I told you, Momo! I needed to leave because I didn't want to put Katara or Azula in danger anymore!"
"You seem frustrated." Momo's squeaky voice continued as he flew around Aang.
"I am frustrated!" He threw his hands up and picked Appa's saddle.
"Hey! Watch it! That hurt!"
"Sorry, Appa. I just don't know if what I did was the right thing to do."
"We can still go back, want to go back?"
"No, we can't do that...It's too late now."
"Pfft." Momo scoffed. "You're just scared!"
"...Yeah. Y-Yeah, I am. I'm terrified." He pulled his knees in close, and wrapped his arms around them. "After what I did, how can they forgive me? They probably hate me for leaving."
"But you're only doing this to protect them. Remember that." Appa chimed in.
"Yeah, you're right." He nodded. "Let's go. We've got to get there in time to warn them."
His eyes slowly opened. He sat up, stretched, and yawned. His shoulders slumped, and hands flexed.
A dream.
"Momo?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
His lemur friend answered with unintelligible chatter.
"Appa?" He looked over to the side of the saddle.
The bison answered with an unintelligible roar.
Despite the fact that he was with two of his best friends, he couldn't help but feel the pain of loneliness.
...
"You decided to share him with her? Do you have any idea how that makes him feel?"
"I can't imagine." She shook her head.
"He probably feels terrible, despite what he says. You coming to an agreement with Azula to treat him like some sort of..." She took a deep breath. "...SEX TOY?!" Katara shook her low-hanging head. "Why would you ever agree to something like that?"
"I just didn't want to hurt him anymore. That's all. I-I felt that it was the best...For him."
"Yeah, and now that you've done that, he's gone. Well..." Toph began to play with the metal around her wrist again. "I guess we'll just have to wait until repairs are made." She grinned, and shaped the metal to it's original form.
"Toph, you...!" Katara snatched the hovering metal from Toph's palm. "You sabotaged us on purpose?!"
Toph jumped to her feet, and moved closer to Katara.
"I did it to help him. He asked me to help, and I couldn't resist at all, because he's just so..." Toph could feel Katara's heart pounding in anger. "Ha!" She laughed. "You're willing to share him with her, but you lose your cool when I say that I love him?! Think about that for a minute, Katara. And while you're at it, why don't you remember how Azula's such a good liar. After all, she is 'A four hundred foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns, and silver wings.'"
"Toph that doesn't make any sense."
"Aang would understand."
Toph opened the door, and stepped out of the room, prepared to leave Ba Sing Se. As soon as Katara gave that piece of metal to Azula, they'd be off.
...
"So, this is the room that Aang was stuck in?" Suki asked.
"I don't know what he was complaining about, this place is pretty comfortable." Sokka nodded to the guard behind him with a wink. The barred door was slammed shut. "I mean, look, we've got a nice bed, a bathroom, and even a nice, bright light."
"Sokka, he was being held against his will. You'd hate it too."
"Yeah, I guess." Sokka began examining the walls. Running his hand against them until he struck a button. A sharp shirk cut at their ears, and they saw four metal loops come out of the wall.
They looked at each other, Sokka pressed it again, and the bonds receded. Suki smiled a devilish smile.
"It's been a long time, hasn't it? Let's do a little roleplaying." Suki whispered.
"What do you suggest?" He saw Suki reach into her pocket, and pull out a make up packet.
"Close your eyes."
"Heh. Okay. I like where this is going." Suki placed a single finger in his chest, and pushed him back. She brought his hands up.
"Hold them there." She whispered. "And I'll make you feel good. Really good." She removed a small sheet from a drawer and gave him a makeshift blindfold.
"Oh man! I can't wait!" Sokka's anticipation grew, both in his chest, and in his pants. Suki walked over, pressed down in the button, and Sokka felt the metal bands wrap around his wrists and ankles, holding him up as if he was floating.
The sound of ripping cloth entered his ears, and the touch of her cold hands against his overheated chest made his heart rate spike. Then he felt the cloth around his eyes loosen, and he nearly fainted in surprise, not arousal, at the sight of her, dressed in clothes that resembled her original Kiyoshi Warrior outfit, in full make up. She wore her golden crown, and even carried with her the sharp fans that served as her weapons.
"Uh...Suki, is this supposed to be sexy, because, I'd rather have you lose the clothes."
"Sokka! You're not supposed to say that!" She folded her arms across her chest.
"Oh, then what am I supposed to say?"
"Haven't you roleplayed before?" The mood was beginning to die. "You're a captured Fire Nation Spy, sent to gather information on Kiyoshi Island. And now I have to extract information from you, at any cost."
"Oh...well, let the interrogation begin!" His smile faded with her disapproving look. "I mean..." He cleared his throat. "I'll never tell you anything! Do your worst, you won't crack me!" The smile across her lips gave him a sigh of relief.
"Oh. Cracking this nut will be easier than you think."
"Wait. 'Cracking this nut?' That doesn't sound sexy, that sounds pain-"
He was pushed back into the wall with her aggressive kiss, with her tongue passing through his lips, and pushing against his own. He fell limp, letting his bonds hold him up entirely. She pulled away with a devilish smile that was only accentuated with her make up.
"Y-you'll never get the information out of me." Sokka breathed out.
"Oh, I will, don't worry." Her cold hand slipped down his chest, and laid itself upon his erection. "You're going to tell me everything I want to know."
Oh boy. I didn't know Suki was into this...
With another breath, he growled in defiance.
"I'd like to see you try."
...
"There's nothing in the entirety of Ba Sing Se to replace what's missing?" Azula rubbed her temples. "Absolutely nothing? This place is the size of one thousand Fire Nations!"
"No, Princess. The Earth Kingdom has nothing fit to replace it, they are technologically impaired. We'd need to request parts from the Fire Nation directly. Which would take months."
Azula let out an annoyed breath. "Fine. Then we'll walk."
"You won't have to do that." Katara's steps entered the bridge. "Look what I've got." Azula nodded to the engineer, who bowed, took the metal, and fled.
"How did you come across that?"
"It doesn't matter." Katara shrugged. "While we wait for the repairs, why don't we get to healing you?"
"If you insist." Azula led Katara through the zeppelin to the room she had chosen to be healed. A place that she found to be comfortable. A room that always reminded her of Aang.
She led Katara to Aang's original room when he was a prisoner.
...
What she was doing to him was indeed, torturous. He squirmed as she tempted him. Suki began shedding a part of her armor, revealing to him nothing but her shoulder. Overcome with arousal, he couldn't help but feel his pants tightening.
But pushing him closer, and closer, Suki ran a single finger up and down the bulge in his pants. Slow, and teasing. She watched his breaths enter and exit his lungs, and listened to his light cries.
"How about now?" She whispered. "Will you tell me now?"
"N...N...Neh..ver." He breathed out with a major gasp when her hand tightened around him.
"Then maybe we'll just need to go a little further..." Suki reached down to his waist, and began to pull down his pants. Sokka tried his best to play the part, holding back his anticipation with a false scorn.
click.
Everyone's face was stricken with red. In the doorway, Katara and Azula, with puzzled and surprised faces. In the room Sokka and Suki, drowning in embarrassment.
"...We'll leave you two to your business." Azula slammed the door behind her, and led Katara in another direction.
"S-SOKKA! YOU BETTER NOT LECTURE ME ON HOW TO SPEND TIME WITH AANG ANYMORE! YOU-YOU HYPOCRITE!" Katara's voice broke through the door, trying its best to knock it down.
"...uh...yeah, Suki, could you help me get down from here?" Sokka asked in a flat voice. "I think the moment's lost now."
"S-sure." Suki reached over and pushed the block, letting her boyfriend fall into his feet. "I guess...I'll see you later."
"Y-Yeah. Sure."
...
Azula walked down the hall with Katara nearing a room that brought back memories for both of them. Both good, and bad.
Azula opened the door, immediately, her senses were overwhelmed with memories of what she had done in this room. What she had done to both Katara, and Aang.
Katara entered the room behind Azula, she too was revisited with the shocking memories in this room lit by blue flames.
"We can start here." Azula's somber tone was a surprise. She took a seat down onto the bed.
"Lie down." Katara said. "It'll be easier that way." Katara sat at the head of the bed, withdrawing water from her pouch.
Azula felt a guilt build with the feelings that were left in this room. She had to at least try, no matter how she thought Katara would act.
"Look, K-Katara." She didn't even know if she'd ever addressed Katara by name. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything that I've done. To you, to the Avatar. To everyone. I need you to know this. I know it'll take a long time for you to accept it, but please believe me when I say that all I did, I did, because of what my father did to me."
Katara listened to her plea. Azula went on to explain how Sozin's technique was passed on to Ozai, who used it on his own children.
"Okay. I understand." Katara remembered Toph's words about how good of a liar Azula was. But looking down at the Fire Nation Princess, she saw in her amber eyes that this wasn't a lie. A person's eyes are the windows to the soul, and the pained anguish Katara saw in Azula's eyes, told her that it wasn't a lie. "Get ready, this could be painful." Katara moved her fingertips to Azula's temples, and the water began to glow with a brilliant sapphire.
...
Aang sat in a small depression that collected water from a nearby stream. Both slightly depressed, and relaxed, he threw water on himself, not even bending, it was long overdue since he took a bath.
He was lonely, but in his solitude, he felt relaxed. Between Katara and Azula, he would never be able to decide. And being with them both...for some reason, just seemed...wrong.
But alone, he decided to not dwell on the idea. This was not a decision he could ever make on his own.
He looked to Appa and Momo. After a whole night of traveling, they hadn't even made it that far, and Appa was exhausted.
"Come on, buddy. Let's take a few hours to regain our strength." Appa rested, and Aang led them into a deeper part of the forest to sleep under the thick canopy.
His assumption was correct, within minutes of sitting in the shade, the bison and lemur were snoring. He hadn't seen anyone for miles, and moved deeper into the forest to find a source of fresh water.
A quiet spring greeted him after some searching. In this peaceful ambiance, he sat down, closed his eyes and began mediating.
An hour of sleep would be enough, and in the afternoon he began walking back towards his two animal companions.
But when he reached where they were supposed to be, they were gone. Appa's imprint was still in the grass, his footprints leading back out into the beach.
"Appa?!" He called out to no answer. "Momo?!" He called again to no answer.
Worry began to build in him. He looked at the trail of Appa's footprints and saw that they were accompanied three other sets.
No. He began running towards the beach head. His eyes followed Appa's steps until they vanished.
His mind only half-concious of his surrounding, Aang failed to notice two figures step out of the woods.
With no time to react, he felt two darts pierce his neck, the pain made him flinch just enough to see them step towards him.
He fell, his vision became blurry, and then went black.
Leaving. Alone.
It was a terrible decision.
PUBLISHED ON: 11/13/2014
A/N:
A couple of things that I need to get straight:
Wow. That was a long time between publishings. And it pains me to inform you that, from now on, those times may even be longer. I've got quite a bit on my plate again, it's been a while since I've had this much to do. So, here's a quick checklist, in no particular order, of the projects I have lined up:
1) Fan Fiction: A Change of Heart.
2) Fan Fiction: One Verse, One Shot.
3) Fan Fiction: No Longer Left Behind. (A big maybe, most likely not)
4) Amazon Kindle: Erotic Novel #1 and #2
Those are the reasons why the updates will now be slower than before. I won't be able to publish on a (nearly) weekly basis anymore.
Let's put all our hope in me still being enthusiastic about this story. I don't want to abruptly end it, I don't want to abandon it. I don't want reach the point where I have no choice but to stop writing, because of boredom, burnout, or otherwise.
If only I got paid for writing Fan Fiction.
I'll see you next time...Whenever that may be, and as always...
Thanks for reading!