6

The next day, Katara decided it was time for Aang to get in some water bending training, so they landed near a river.

"Finally!" Sokka groaned happily as he quickly undressed, "A chance to really relax!" He grabbed a large leaf and carefully sat in it so he would lounge on it as it floated on the current. He dipped his limbs into the water as he floated, Momo flying over and resting on his stomach. Sokka took out the string that held his ponytail up and tossed it aside, closing his eyes peacefully.

He opened his eyes when he saw a shadow come over him, and let out a scream as Appa flopped into the water, covering Sokka in water and making the leaf he was on sink into the river. Everyone laughed as Momo, who had flown away before Appa landed, flew back onto Sokka's head and Sokka fumed at the giant bison. He picked his leaf back up and sat in it again.

"I could use a dip myself." Hoshiko said, undressing as well. Her under clothes were the simple enough, a cloth covering her chest and another, larger cloth to cover her lower torso and upper legs. She jumped where the water got deeper and come up, spluttering water happily. She swam to the more shallow area and stood, squealing when Sokka splashed some water at her. "Hey!"

Sokka sent her a wet raspberry and she kicked up some water, splashing him back. The water went farther than she would've liked, spraying on Katara. She glared playfully at the dark-haired Shinjun before bending up a wave of water and splashing both Hoshiko and Sokka. Hoshiko fell back on her stomach into the water and Sokka flipped over in his leaf.

"Katara!" Sokka whined, Katara giggled.

"Sorry." She stopped laughing when her eyes fixated on something. Aang and Sokka followed Katara's gaze and saw she was staring at Hoshiko's back. It was covered in scars and burns, and in the corner of her back was what looked like a brand in the shape of a rhino's head. The burns were a deep red and covered different parts of her back in spidery patches. There were longer, thinner scars, probably from a whip, over the burns. Hoshiko noticed their silence and turned to see they were all staring at her.

"What?" She asked, facing them. When they were still silent, she looked over herself, "Is there something stuck on me?"

"Your back…" Katara said, looking at her sadly. Hoshiko crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Katara with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, what about it?" She asked, when Katara couldn't find the words, Sokka spoke for her.

"Where did you get those scars?" Sokka asked, Hoshiko's expression saddened for a moment before she shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"I think that should be obvious." She said dryly, "I was a slave in the Fire Nation."

"It was that bad?" Aang asked, Hoshiko shook her head.

"Please, the scars were my punishment when I did something wrong." She shrugged indifferently, "They don't really hurt anymore."

"Well what about that one?" Katara asked, pointing to her hip, meaning the one in the shape of a rhino's head, "Is that a brand?"

"Yeah." Hoshiko said, "That's how my master marked his property." Her fingers traced over the edges, "I can't seem to get rid of the damn thing." She looked over at the depressed faces of her friends and sighed. She splashed some water on all of them, "Will you guys forget about it? They're just scars! You have more important things to worry about right now. Like water bending practice." Katara, though still a little worried about her friend, nodded, leading Aang into the water.

She showed him a few different stances and forms to help him learn water bending. Hoshiko had taken to resting on Appa's stomach as he floated in the water, and Momo curled up on Sokka's chest.

After about an hour, Sokka spoke up to his sister and Aang.

"You guys are gonna be done soon, right?" He asked, "We have a lot of ground to cover if we wanna make it to Omashu today."

"What, like you're ready to go right now, naked guy?" Katara asked sarcastically.

"I can be ready in two minutes!" Sokka said, he lifted up his bangs to meet his sister's eyes, "Seriously, whenever."

"So, you were showing me the octopus form?" Aang asked, eager to return to the lesson.

"Right, let me see your stance." Katara said. Aang did so, bending his knees and holding out his arms in the position he was taught to be in. Katara looked at him for a moment before walking over and moving behind his back, grabbing his arms. "Your arms are too far apart. See, if you move them closer together, you protect your center. You got it?" Hoshiko didn't miss the blush on Aang's cheeks from the close proximity of Katara.

"Oh." He gulped, "Yeah, thanks." Katara walked back over to where she was and took her own stance.

"Okay, let's see what you got." Katara said. Aang brought up eight tentacles of water and Katara shot an icicle at him. Aang caught it with his tentacles and threw it away from him. Katara shot out another icicle and he caught it, throwing it back at her. Katara dodged and shot three more icicles at Aang. He blocked them with a tentacle and used another one to travel over to Katara, wrapping around her leg. Katara stopped and looked down at her leg, then she smiled at him, "You make a fine octopus, Pupil Aang."

Aang smiled and brought up more water around him, making the watery octopus have a head as he wiggled around in the water. Katara laughed. Aang released the water back into the river with a splash, stopping when he heard music. Everyone listened as they heard the music getting closer, the words becoming audible and understandable.

"Don't fall in love with a travelin' girl.

She'll leave you broken,

Broken heart-ed." The people making the music came into sight. One was a man with tanned skin in a purple and green kimono, playing a red liuqin. Another was a large man in a white and pink tunic, a straw hat on his head, playing a drum. Another was a woman with a brown and pink dress, a flower resting on her head as she played the flute. Two others, a bunny girl Shinjun in a red dress, and a Reptilian man Shinjun in a purple gi. Both Shinjuns were dancing to the music being played.

The music stopped when the group saw Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Hoshiko in the water.

"Hey, river people." The man in the purple kimono said, pointing to them. His voice sounded kind of distant, Hoshiko noted.

"We're not river people." Katara said.

"You're not?" The man asked, wrinkling his nose in confusion, "Well, then what kind of people are you?"

"Just… people." Aang said, shrugging.

"Aren't we all, brother? Hoo!" The man said, spreading his arms out. Sokka trudged toward them, Momo on his head.

"Who're you?" He demanded, pointing at the man in the purple kimono.

"I'm Chong. And this is my wife, Lily." He introduced. Lily curtsied at them when her name was spoken, "We're nomads. Happy to go wherever the wind takes us."

"You guys are nomads?" Aang asked excitedly, "That's great! I'm a nomad!"

"Hey, me too!" Chong said.

"…I know." Aang said, "You just said that."

"Oh." Chong replied, "Nice underwear." He pointed to Sokka's underpants. Katara and Hoshiko laughed as Sokka pulled Momo from his head to cover himself and he scooted away from them, leaving to go find his clothes.

"So, what are your names?" Hoshiko asked the two Shinjuns, the bunny girl smiled at her, her red ruby eyes sparkling.

"I'm Usagi." She said, her voice high, "This is Tokage," She gestured to the Reptilian, who waved a clawed hand at her, "And Moku." She gestured to the large man with the pink and white kimono. He smiled at her, "Nice to meet you!"

Hoshiko looked up as a ring of flowers was placed in her hair and saw Usagi smiling at her. They were all resting on Appa, fully dressed, listening as Chong played random tunes on his liuqin and Lily braided flowers into Katara's hair. "It's a shame you're hair's so short." Usagi whined as she climbed further up the bison to his head, "I could braid it so nicely." Hoshiko shrugged.

"I prefer it short." She said, snuggling into the fur of the bison.

"I met another reptilian Shinjun once," Tokage began randomly, "Long blonde hair, with a whole bunch of it over one eye. Said her best friend was a Panther, like you. Said she had short hair. What was her name again…?"

"Oh! Oh! I know this one!" Usagi blurted out as she stopped braiding Appa's hair temporarily, "Um, um, it started with, like, a Z kind of sound… It was- It was- Uhhh… Don't tell me, I know it! It was… Zima… Ziva… Zaka…"

"Xana?" Hoshiko suggested, wondering if they met her friend.

"Yeah!" Usagi exclaimed, pointing to Hoshiko, "That was it! We met her, like, eight months ago."

"No, I'm pretty sure it was ten." Tokage said, "I remember, 'cause we were down over at that cave with the funky big crystals."

"Oh yeah." Usagi said.

"You were in a cave with giant crystals?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, when we were there, we saw this huge night crawler." Tokage said, "It was, like, the size of two of you on top of each other." He pointed to Aang.

"That's amazing!" Aang exclaimed excitedly.

"We could take you there if you want." Usagi said, braiding flowers into Appa's fur.

"Really?" Aang asked eagerly, "That would be so much fun!" They looked up as they saw Sokka come over to them. "Hey, Sokka, you should hear some of these stories!" He said, sitting up straight, "These guys have been everywhere!"

"Well, not everywhere, little arrow-head." Chong said, stopping his music for a moment, "But where we haven't been, we've heard about through stories and songs." Sokka quirked an eyebrow dubiously.

"They said they'll take us to see a giant night crawler!" Aang said.

"On the way," Moku began, "There's a waterfall that creates a never-ending rainbow!" He rolled onto his back and spread his arms to emphasize his words.

"Look," Sokka began sharply, "I hate to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara is busy, I guess it's up to me." Katara shot him a glare, "We need to get to Omashu. No sidetracks, no worms, and definitely no rainbows." Sokka listed the things they didn't need to do on his fingers. He crossed his arms over his chest with a sense of finality. As if what he said settled everything.

"Whoa! Sounds like someone's got a case of Destination-fever!" Chong laughed, "You're worried too much about where you're goin'."

"You gotta focus less on the where and more on the going." Lily said, using her hands to emphasize her point, pulling Katara's braid with her.

"O. MA. SHU." Sokka said, pronouncing each syllable in the name clearly and firmly.

"Sokka's right." Katara said, "We need to find King Bumi so Aang can learn earth bending somewhere safe."

"Well, sounds like you're headed to Omashu." Chong noted. Sokka face palmed. "There's an old story about a secret pass. Right… through… the mountains." His dramatic way of saying the last sentence made Aang interested, seeing as he said "Ooh!"

"Is this real, or a legend?" Katara asked, dubious of an old story.

"Oh, it's a real legend." Chong said, sitting up straighter, "And it's as old as earth bending itself." He began strumming the strings of his liuqin to a tune that Lily and Moku began to play as well. Everyone was swaying with the music's beat, except for Sokka, who just rolled his eyes as Chong sang.

"Two lovers,

Forbidden from one another.

A war divides their people.

And a mountain divides them apart." Usagi and Tokage got up and began dancing to the music, swaying and twisting in ways Hoshiko was sure wasn't normal dancing.

"Built a path to be together~!" Chong stopped for a moment, "Yeah, I forget the next couple lines, but then it goes," He started playing again, with more gusto than before,

"Secret Tunnel!

Secret Tunnel!

Through the mountains!

Secret,

Secret,

Secret,

Secret Tunnel! Yeah!" He fell back against Appa and everyone but Sokka applauded.

"…I think we'll just stick with flying." Sokka said, giving the nomad a dry look as he walked over, "We've dealt with the Fire Nation before. We'll be fine." Aang stood up as he came over.

"Yeah, thanks for the help, but Appa hates going underground." Aang said, glancing up at the bison, "And we need to do whatever makes Appa most comfortable." He smiled at Chong.

"LAUNCH!" The Fire Nation general commanded as more catapults fired more fireballs at the group. Everyone screamed as they avoided the flaming projectiles.

The group went past the nomads, scorched and singed from the fire.

"Secret Love cave. Let's go." Sokka said monotonously, pointing to Chong to lead the way. He smiled and the nomads got up, following him down a path that led to the mountains.

After a while, Sokka asked, "How far are we from the tunnel?"

"Actually, it's not just one tunnel." Chong said, "The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth!" Sokka stopped in his tracks and whirled around, looking at Chong with wide eyes.

"Labyrinth?" He repeated.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out." Chong said. Sokka wasn't comforted but they kept going.

"All you have to do is trust in love." Lily said, "Well, according to the curse." Sokka stopped again, Hoshiko watched as he had a small spasm in his frustration at the nomads.

"Curse?!" He whined.

"Eh-Hey! We're here!" Chong said as they came to a large tunnel with a sign at the top that read, 兩個情人洞 (cave of two lovers) at the top.

"What exactly is this curse?" Sokka asked as they stood outside the entrance.

"The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves." Chong explained, "Otherwise, you'll be trapped in them forever."

"And die." Lily said.

"Oh yeah, and die." Chong said, "Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song!" He stepped forward and strummed the strings on his liuqin once as he sang, "And DIE!" in a low, dark voice.

"That's. It!" Sokka declared, "There is no way we're going through some cursed hole!"

"Hey!" Moku said, "Someone's makin' a big campfire!" He pointed to a stack of grey smoke that floated into the air.

"That's no campfire, Moku." Katara said grimly as she saw the smoke.

"It's the Fire Nation." Hoshiko growled, "They're tracking us." Aang turned to Chong.

"So all you need is trust in love to get through these caves?" He asked.

"That is correct, Master Arrow-head." Chong said. Aang turned to Katara and gazed at her back. He felt his heart beat pick up at the sight of her and his insides warmed in a way that had him feeling more content than he ever had in his life.

"We can make it." He said.

"Everyone into the hole!" Sokka said, beckoning them all inside. They followed him, Appa followed with some reluctance as they passed by the statues at the opening of the cave.

When they were further in, Hoshiko's sharp ears picked up the sound of metal scraping the ground. They had come in Fire Nation tanks! She strained to hear their words as one of them spoke, but she couldn't make out what he said. Suddenly there was a shudder through the walls of the cave, and the light from the entrance darkened as the sound of rocks came into their range of hearing. Everyone went back and saw that the rocks had fallen in front of the entrance, trapping them in the mountain. Appa pawed helplessly at the fallen stones. Katara came up and pet his leg to try and calm him down.

"It's okay, Appa. We'll be fine." She said, she looked away and murmured, "I hope…"

"We will be fine." Sokka assured, "All we need is a plan. Chong," Sokka turned to the nomad holding a torch, "How long do those torches last?"

"Ah, about two hours each." He said.

"And we have five torches. So that's," Lily lit the other four torches, "Ten hours."

"It doesn't work like that if they're all lit at the same time!" Sokka growled, snatching the torches and stomping on them to put the flames out.

"Oh, right…" Lily said, shaking her head for being so foolish. Sokka climbed up to Appa's saddle.

"I'm gonna make a map to keep track of exactly where we've been." Sokka said, grabbing some paper and something to write with. "Then we should be able to solve it like a maze and get through." He walked ahead of the group, making marks on his map.

After walking around for an hour, the group came to another dead end, "Sokka, this is the tenth dead end you've led us to!" Katara said. Sokka turned his map upside-down and sideways to figure out what was going on.

"This doesn't make any sense, we already came through this way!" Sokka said, looking at the map. He started pacing around the area to figure out exactly where they were.

"We don't need a map." Chong said as Sokka walked around him, "We just need love. The little guy knows it." He pointed at Aang.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't mind a map also." Aang said. Sokka walked over to another wall and glared at it.

"There's something strange here." He said, then he rolled up his map, "There's only one explanation." He turned to face the group, deadly serious, "The tunnels are changing." Everyone froze as a small tremor went through the walls of the cave. Momo screeched and hid in Aang's shirt. Chong began to panic, grabbing at his hair and pacing nervously around the room.

"The tunnels… They're a changin'!" He moaned, "It must be the curse! I knew we shouldn't've come down here!"

"Right, if only we listened to you." Sokka drawled sarcastically. Hoshiko's ears twitched as she picked up an unusual sound.

"Everyone be quiet!" She commanded, everyone looked at her as her kept twitching one way and another, "Listen." Then she heard it again, a low, long, growling sort of sound that reverberated off of the walls of the cave. Momo flew from Sokka's shoulder as the sound grew louder. Sokka held the light closer to the dark tunnel he faced to see what the sound was. He jumped back when he saw a white, wrinkled, snout face come into view and fly over them, growling loudly at the creatures that had entered its territory. Everyone ducked back as it flew over them.

"Giant flying thing with teeth!" Chong yelled in fear. The creature landed to show that it was a four legged creature with black fur and wings tucked under its front legs.

"No! It's a wolf bat!" Moku cried, recognizing the creature. The wolf bat flew into the air, and flew over Sokka. To ward it off, he waved the flame of the torch at the creature to keep it away. In defending itself, the wolf bat kicked the torch out of Sokka's hands. It flew in the air before it landed on Appa's foot. In his pain, Appa reared back and began galloping around, roaring. The wolf bat ran away, and with good reason. Appa began running around, running into wall after wall in the cave, causing rocks to fall and threatening to crush them under the impact.

Aang, reacting quickly, used his air bending to blow the nomads, Sokka, and Hoshiko to safety and diving to protect Katara from the rocks. Aang's blast did save the group, but Hoshiko felt a few of the rocks fall on her back and she cried out when she landed on her back and skidded against the ground. When everything had quieted down, everyone looked to see the rocks had created a wall separating them from Aang, Appa, and Katara. In a desperate act to get back to them, Sokka began digging through the rocks with his hands. When he ran out of breath, Chong spoke up.

"Yeah, it's no use. We're separated." He said, "But at least you have us!"

Sokka let out a cry and began digging even harder, only to have a pile of rocks fall on top of him. Hoshiko struggled to stand, feeling a burning pain in her back. She used the cave wall as leverage to pull herself up. She looked over at Sokka and sighed.

"Come on, Sokka, get up." She said, "We need to get out of these caves as soon as possible." Sokka pulled himself out from the stone and stood up, dusting himself off, "Are we still sticking to the map plan?"

"Do we have a choice?" Sokka asked as he pulled out his map, "Come on, let's move." As they walked, Chong came up with the idea that playing music would make everything go along faster, or seem that way, at least. He strummed happily on his liuqin as he strung up a cheery tune that Usagi, Tokage, and Lily danced to. Moku provided the beat for the song as Chong sang.

"Oh, don't let the cave-in get you down.

Don't let the falling rocks turn your smile

Into a frown.

When the tunnel's as dark as bats

When you need a clown!

Hey!" He walked over next to Sokka, smiling.

"Don't let the cave-in get you down, Sokka…" Sokka scowled at him and kept walking as Chong kept singing lyrics that didn't make sense. Hoshiko felt a terrible, burning pain in her back as she kept walking. She kept getting slower and slower, until she was at the back of the group, the torch barely lighting up her form. She leaned against the cave wall and held her sides as she walked. Sokka and the others stopped in front of a rock wall, and it took her a minute to join them.

"Oh great!" Moku said, "Your plans have led us to another dead-end!" Sokka rolled up his map with a scowl on his face.

"At least I'm thinking of ideas and trying to get us out of here, Moku!" Sokka said, glaring at the fat drummer.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute." Chong said, "We're thinking of ideas? 'Cause I've had an idea for, like, an hour now."

"Yes!" Sokka said irately, "We're all thinking of ideas!"

"Well, then, listen to this," Chong said, "If love is the key out of here, then all we need to do is play a love song!" Everyone but Sokka and Hoshiko nodded in agreement as Chong began to strum the strings of his liuqin. Sokka face palmed and led the group down another tunnel, Hoshiko instantly falling behind. It was suddenly much harder to breathe and her feet seemed to weigh two tons each. She took in a sharp breath as a sudden pulse of pain went through her body. Her gasp wasn't heard over the sound of Chong's voice as he sang his love song.

"Even if you're lost

You can't

Lose the love

Because it's in your heart!

Hum de dum dum~…"

Hoshiko tried to take in a deep breath, but found her lungs beginning to burn from the effort. She grasped at her side again as another pulse went through and she stopped walking. She couldn't take another step. Momo noticed the absence of the Shinjun and looked to see her leaning against a rock with one hand, the other holding her sides as she stood on shaky legs, trying to take in deep breaths. He let out a screech and flew over to her. Sokka followed the lemur's path and his eyes widened when he saw Hoshiko in pain.

She fell to her knees and Sokka cried out, "Hoshiko!" And ran over to her. He knelt down, Usagi bringing the torch closer so they could see what was happening, "Hoshiko, what's wrong?"

She gasped as another pulse came, "I don't know…!" She said. Sokka put his hand on her back and pulled back when she cried out. Sokka looked to see the area where his hand had been was now becoming a red stain. He carefully maneuvered the collar of her shirt to see some of her scars had reopened and were shedding blood. "I think that cave-in opened up some old wounds…"

"All your scars…" He breathed, "Do any of you guys have medical stuff?" Lily nodded and pulled a small white pouch out.

"Here." She handed it to him and he opened it up. He pulled out some gauze and began to lift up Hoshiko's shirt. She pulled it back down and glared fiercely at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" She hissed.

"Helping you." Sokka replied bluntly, "If we want to cover all the wounds, your shirt has to come off. Underclothes, too." Hoshiko blushed at the idea of being half nude in front of so many people, but when another wave of pain came, she decided she didn't care, and nodded in assent. Sokka carefully pulled her shirt off and unwrapped the cloth on her chest. Hoshiko held it to her so she wouldn't be entirely naked from the waist up. Sokka took out some rubbing alcohol and started cleaning her wounds. Hoshiko hissed at the stinging sensation it caused. Sokka apologized softly and handed the gauze to Lily, saying it was probably better if she wrapped her up. Lily did so, wrapping up her wounds all the way up to her mid-upper-back. She carefully tied the gauze in a knot and helped her put her shirt back on. Hoshiko shakily stood and Sokka looked down at her wobbly legs.

"Get on my back." He said, stepping in front of her.

"Huh?" Hoshiko asked.

"You can't walk in that condition, so I'll carry you." Sokka explained, "Now get on." Hoshiko sighed and did as she was told, grabbing onto his shoulders and slipping her legs into his hands so he could piggyback her. He grunted at the effort, "Why are you so heavy?"

"How much did you expect me to weigh?" Hoshiko asked sarcastically. "Five ounces?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of five pounds." Sokka replied, just as sarcastic as she was. She was suddenly lifted from Sokka and into Tokage's arms.

"I got her, man. Don't worry." He said, "We reptilians are way stronger than we look." He started to carry her on his back as they kept going down the path. His hand under her rear, carrying her like she were a small child. Hoshiko blushed shamefully at the thought and asked him to at least piggyback her, so he did. Chong started playing music again and Hoshiko began to sway with Tokage as he danced to the music as best he could while carrying her.

About thirty minutes of straight walking she heard the same noise as before, the growl of a wolf bat, only this time, much louder. "Guys, stop!" She called, and everyone heard the sound of the growls. They looked into the darkness before them and saw a whole horde of wolf bats running to gain speed before they flew into the air. Everyone ducked past them, but Sokka stayed standing as the wolf bats flew over him. He screamed and flapped his arms around as they flew by him. When they had gone, Chong stood up.

"Hey! You saved us, Sokka!" He said.

"No, they were trying to get away from something!" Sokka exclaimed, seeing that was the only reason there could've been so many wolf bats in one place at one time.

"From what?" Chong asked. The walls of the cave shook as a tremor went through them, only this time, they saw the source as it crashed through the cave wall. It was a big badger mole. The wall behind them crashed open as another one came. They were trapped between two badger moles, one of the fiercest creatures in the world. The first badger mole used earth bending to seal off the pathway in front of them, and the other did the same on the opposite side. The first badger mole then used earth bending to create small dirty whirlwinds that separated Sokka from everyone else. In their shock, Tokage dropped Hoshiko, and Chong dropped his liuqin on the other side of the ditch the badger moles had made.

The second badger mole began to advance on Sokka, using earth bending to throw him back. Sokka began to crawl backwards to make some space between him and the giant furry creature, his hand touching Chong's liuqin and hitting one of the strings, causing a note to hang in the air. Sokka looked up as the badger mole stopped, tilting its head to the side curiously when it heard the sound. Thinking fast, Sokka picked up the liuqin and began to strum the same string over and over. The other badger mole came closer as they sniffed the teenager playing the instrument.

"Hey, those things are music lovers!" Chong cried happily as he saw their interest in his liuqin as Sokka began to sing to try and appease the creatures.

"Badgermoles,

Coming toward me.

Come on, guys,

Help me out!" He looked helplessly to the nomads and Chong pulled out another liuqin and began to play a tune with a fast beat as Moku and Lily joined in with their own instruments as Chong sang,

"The big, bad badger moles!

Who live in the tunnels,

Hate the wolf bats,

But love the sounds!" Hoshiko slowly stood up and gazed at the two badger moles as they listened intently to Chong's music. A light went off in her head.

"Chong, keep playing that music! I've got an idea!"

Hoshiko scooted up behind Sokka as they rode on the badger mole's back. It was slowly getting them closer and closer to the exit they so desired. Finally they burst through a wall, on the other side Katara, Aang, and Appa were already out. Sokka and Hoshiko waved to them from their place on the animal's back.

"Sokka! Hoshiko!" Katara exclaimed happily. Sokka slid off the creature and stopped to catch Hoshiko as she did the same. Once she was on the ground, Sokka ran over to his sister and the avatar, Hoshiko wobbled over and was instantly embraced by Katara.

"How did you guys get out?" Sokka asked.

"Just like the legend says, you let love lead the way." Aang replied with a sheepish smile.

"Really?" Sokka asked, "We let huge, ferocious beasts lead our way." He and Hoshiko turned around, waving goodbye to the two badger moles as they went back into the cave. When they were gone, Aang ran over to the nomads and Katara hugged her brother. When she pulled back, she saw a big, red splotch on his forehead.

"Why is your forehead all red?" Katara asked, Hoshiko looked over and almost burst out laughing. It hadn't been too obvious in the cave, but out in the daylight, it was completely noticeable. Chong came over to the group and leaned in, talking in a quiet voice.

"Nobody react to what I'm about to tell you." He said, "I think that kid might be the avatar." He gestured to Aang as he talked to the other nomads. Sokka face palmed again and Chong squinted his eyes at the red spot that had now grown bigger. Hoshiko giggled.

"That's why." She said, pointing to Sokka.

"So, are you guys gonna come to Omashu with us?" Aang asked the nomads.

"Nope." Moku replied.

"Okay, thanks for everything, guys." Aang said, waving as they walked away.

Chong took his lei off from his neck and put it on Sokka. "Sokka, I hoped you learned a little something about not letting the plans get in the way of the journey." Chong said before he embraced him. Sokka scowled at the gesture, but Hoshiko caught a hint of red on his cheeks, was he embarrassed?

"Just play your songs." Sokka muttered.

"Hey! Good plan!" Chong said as he pulled away and began strumming on his liuqin, playing the same tune he had for the love song in the cave as he walked away.

"Even if you're lost

You can't

Lose the love

Because it's in your heart!

Hum de dum dum~…" As they walked further away, Sokka turned to his sister.

"Hey, Katara, can you take a look at Hoshiko's back?" He asked, "The cave-in opened up some of her scars and she's not doing so well."

Katara turned to her Shinjun friend and nodded.

"Oh, sure." She said, "Let me have a look at it." Hoshiko did so and pulled her shirt up, Aang and Sokka looking away as Katara undid the bandages, "Wow, this looks really bad."

"Hey, it could be worse." Hoshiko said as Katara began to use her water to bend the chi around her scars to close them.

"How?" Katara asked as the water swirled around her wounds.

"I could be dead." Hoshiko said. Katara said nothing as she healed Hoshiko's wounds. It only took a few minutes before the pain was gone.

"That's all I can do." She said, "I closed the wounds, but I didn't heal them completely." Hoshiko pulled her shirt back on and smiled as she stood.

"That's okay, this is fine." She began rolling her shoulders, "I feel a million times better."

"Well, if you're done, we can get going." Sokka said, walking down a path, "Omashu's this way, come on." He beckoned for them to follow him, and as he approached a valley, Aang said that Omashu was just beyond one of the hills. They walked up the pathway, Appa keeping the rear, as Sokka spoke, "The journey was long and annoying, but now you get to see what it's really about: The destination." As he came up to the hill, he smiled at the group, "I present to you, the Earth Kingdom city of O-" He stopped as he looked at the city, seeing smoke stacks come up from different buildings and making everything look smoggy. Bridges connected the city to the land on the other side of the canyon it stood over, at the front gate of the city was a big red tarp with the Fire Nation insignia on it, "Oh no…"