Author's Note: Hey everyone! As always, I just wanted to thank everyone for reading this story. It means a lot, though reviews would be very appreciated also. Just saying… Anyway, before we start with the next chapter, I wanted to drop a bit of a random chunk of information. As you might know, I usually care a lot about the meaning of my character's names. For this story, I didn't do this in the beginning. I just found the name Takai in a Fire Nation name generator and thought it sounded good. But, recently I googled it and found out that it is indeed a Japanese name meaning "the next world". Isn't that fitting well? Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
Zuko's ship, 100 AC
As Takai was still recuperating from his burn wounds, he slept a lot. He knew, it helped the symbiont speed up the healing process, so he didn't mind taking elongated naps, even though his brother was not a fan. As he awakened from his last one, the smell of fresh jasmine tea filled the air. Takai slowly blinked the sleep away and got aware of his uncle sitting beside his bed. He had a tray with a teapot and two cups next to him. "Uncle?", he asked tiredly.
Iroh smiled widely at his nephew, "Rested well, nephew?"
"What are you doing here, Uncle?", Takai asked bewilderedly.
Iroh chuckled, "I guess, you could say I'm searching refuge. I wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet afternoon tea and this room is probably the quietest one in the whole ship right now. Besides, I can enjoy the company of my nephew, well, the one who appreciates some tea."
Takai giggled, "Not as much as you do though.", in a silent agreement Iroh handed him a steaming cup. "What's going on that you're searching for silence here?"
Iroh's smile turned into a worried expression, "There's a storm coming, outside and inside this ship. I fear, it's going to be a rough night. Dark clouds are looming over us and Zuko and Lieutenant Jee are fighting whenever they see each other."
That got Takai's attention, in an instant he sat upright in his bed, folding his legs under himself. "Why is that?"
Iroh let out a heavy sigh, "The crew has no idea how Zuko received his scar, Takai. What trauma it caused, and to what an obsession it led. On the other hand, Zuko acts more and more reckless, and of course, saying things like 'the lives of the crew doesn't matter' doesn't help their relationship. They nearly dueled earlier, and I fear that things might escalate."
"So, you came here for a battle plan?", Takai asked, his eyes fixated on his uncle.
"Yes and no.", Iroh drank a sip of his tea silently for a moment, "I wanted to talk to you anyway, alone."
Takai gulped and his face paled. He knew that look. He had seen it in other people, back in New York. First they suspect something, and when the suspicion grows there comes a time when they're halfway sure about everything. That was the look his uncle gave him now. He closed his eyes, awaiting whatever might be thrown at him. "What do you know?", he asked without any emotion, besides a little bit of anxiousness.
Iroh took his nephew's bandaged right hand in his own, petting it calmly. "What I know is not that much. But I noticed a few things. Since you're here, you've been hurt. And every time you're hurt I notice that you seem to heal exceptionally fast, be it on Kyoshi Island, or be it these burns. A normal person would need months to recover, if they ever did, and even then they would scar. You're making great progress in your recovery, and where the bandages are off, you seem to have no scars at all. Yet, I have no doubt that you were hurt badly. Zuko also saw that picture of your other family. He told me of it. He said you were missing limbs, and as far as I know, there's no such ability that can grow back a missing leg or arm. I can't understand what it is that makes you heal faster, but I can see that you're hiding something, yet, why you don't tell anyone, not even your twin is beyond me."
"I didn't tell anybody, Uncle, because I'm afraid.", Takai almost whispered, eyes still closed. "I'm afraid that everyone would reject me if they knew."
Compassion filled Iroh's amber eyes, "No matter what it is, nephew, you can tell me. I won't reject you; I promise."
Takai's eyes flattered open, and a weak smile played around his lips, "I'll tell you, but I won't hold you to your promise, Uncle.", he took a deep breath before he held up his hand, palm upwards. Iroh didn't understand what his nephew meant, but then, black material engulfed the teen's hand. It began to grow and thin, tentacle-like things flickered towards the ceiling.
Iroh held his breath, he felt like his heart had just skipped a beat. What in all the four nations was that? Takai smiled at his uncle's shocked expression, not out of joy, but as an offer to apologize. Then he began to speak, slowly and in a rather low voice, "When you reached out to me, I told you that I was found by kind people, and that is true. They rushed me to a hospital where my wounds were treated as best as the doctors could. I will shorten the story a bit here, when I was allowed to leave, I sat in a wheelchair, needing to be shoved around by others. Since nobody was able to locate my family, the couple that found me chose to take care of me, and eventually, they adopted me into their family. For the next six years I was confined to that wheelchair.
Aunt May and Uncle Ben were more than kind to me. They would always search for a way to make my life less miserable. You have to understand, their world is a lot different from ours. It is much more technologically advanced, but there are no benders. Anyway, one day, they found out about a corporation that searched for people like me to help in medicinal experiments. In hindsight, it sounded rather ominous, but the hope that I could be helped was too great not to take the chance.
Once applied, they kept us confined and not allowed to see anyone, and they began experimenting on us. It would probably be too much to tell everything that was done to us just now. The point is, they had somehow gotten their hands on this alien species, uhm,", he tried to find a simple explanation to what an alien is, "a species not from this world, but another. Not much was known about them, but they sought a way to have the alien take over the human body, heal the various disabilities and then leave the human again. I was the last one on the list, so I saw, what happened to the others. "
Takai's face darkened at the memories, "The aliens took over, but they didn't want to heal anybody. Instead they usually wiped out the person's brain and took control, launching itself at the scientists. Whenever this happened, that person was killed, and the alien too. So, when they put an alien in a glass box inside my room for later, I knew what was going to happen. I saw that the symbiont, as we call them, had also been subject to experimentation. We talked. And we agreed that none of us would make it out of there alone. Thus, we made a deal. I offered to set it free, and it promised not to eat my brain. And we became one. Not two beings in one body, but only one.", Iroh just stared at him, blinking, shock plastered all over his face.
Chuckling lightly, Takai added, "I'm still Takai. With all the memories, all the turmoil and all the love for my family. But I'm also a symbiont."
Iroh blinked a few times; this was a lot to take in. Takai stood up and placed his empty cup on the tray. "This is why I heal faster than others, Uncle.", he said as black material again appeared on his skin, this time engulfing his whole body, until he was completely wrapped in it. Iroh noticed that Takai's figure had also slightly changed, taller a bit more muscular. The figure was completely black, except for two white almond-shaped spots where his eyes should be.
Suddenly the black figure jumped and hang from the ceiling, apparently able to walk on it without holding itself somewhere. After a moment, it stretched and its arm became a variety of thinner streams, touching the ground, before it slowly returned to the ground and the arm got back into his former appearance. The black material over the head began to vanish, and Takai's face became visible again, his questioning gaze focused on Iroh.
The former general needed a moment to regain his composure. He noticed the unspoken question that lingered in the air. Iroh stood up and slowly walked towards his nephew. He stretched a hand out and took Takai's hand, still covered in the black material, into his. Testing, he ran his fingers over it. It felt like skin, but then again, not.
The rest of the black material vanished back into the teen's body. Suddenly the old man pulled him into a tight hug. Takai needed a moment before he hugged back. As they broke apart, he looked at his uncle with confusion, "Uncle, I don't understand."
Iroh smiled at him, "Nephew, this was certainly a lot to take in. And I think, I didn't understand all of it. But I do realize that even though you have changed more than I imagined, you still came to help your brother, when I suggested it, even though you suffered, mainly caused by my brother. I just wish I had been there back then and protected you."
Takai smiled, thankfully, but also with a hint of sadness, "You can't always save the day, Uncle. Sometimes, bad things are going to happen. The important thing is that we keep trying to prevent them and fight the ones that cause them."
Iroh raised an eyebrow at his nephew, "Your Uncle Ben raised quite a young hero, didn't he?"
Takai smiled sadly, but also with a sense of pride, "Not one, Uncle. Three.", they sat together in Takai's room until the sun set outside of his window and talked a lot. About Uncle Ben and Aunt May, his brothers Peter and Miles, about S.H.I.E.L.D. and superheroes and New York.
"This city sounds quite impressive.", Iroh said, as a crew member opened the door panicking.
"Sir, Sir! We need you on deck! Now! I think, now they're really going to fight!", they both knew who he meant. Instantly they stood and rushed towards the main deck.
On their way, Iroh whispered, "I think, Zuko mustn't know yet what we talked about earlier."
Takai's answer was a brief nod, "Agreed.", it wouldn't do any good at this moment.
On deck they saw Zuko and Jee argue, well, yell at each other. Takai flinched as the Lieutenant called Zuko a spoiled prince. As they extended their arms in a mirroring motion, Iroh intervened, "Easy now. Enough! We're all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles, everyone will feel much better."
Angrily, Jee turned around and walked away. That could've gone better, Takai thought. "I don't need your help keeping order on my ship.", Zuko snapped at their Uncle, before he shrugged Iroh's hand off his shoulder and stormed away towards his quarters.
Takai closed the distance between his uncle and himself. He looked into the dark sky, "Seems like you've been correct about both storms."
Iroh sighed heavily, "I'll go and talk to the crew. Do you want to try and reason with your brother?", Takai nodded.
He found Zuko in the banished prince's room, meditating. Silently he walked in, making only a sound when closing the heavy metal door. Zuko jumped and turned around. "What are you doing here? Don't even try to lecture me as well! I don't need any of your advice.", his brother snapped angrily.
Takai looked at his brother, compassion in his amber eyes. "Zuko, I'm not going to lecture you. You of all people should know me better. I'm here because my twin seems upset and distressed.", he said calmly as he made his way over to his brother and sat down next to him.
For a little while both sat there in silence, staring at the candles and the decoration in front of them. Then Takai spoke, "Your anger, is it because Jee pushed your buttons or am I the reason?"
"How would you be the reason for my anger? You slept almost all day.", Zuko snapped back at him, "Of course, it's Jee. He's talking about respect, but what respect does he show his superior?"
"Adults often have difficulties with a teenager being their superior, especially if that teenager acts like people our age tend to do and take unnecessary risks.", Takai said calmly.
Zuko raised an angered eyebrow at him, "I thought, you didn't want to lecture me? Maybe you and your new family could take over and lead this ship.", Zuko crossed his arms in resentment.
Takai chuckled, "I heard that you've found the picture. I'm glad that you allowed it to remain with me."
Zuko looked at him, hurt in his eyes, "Are they that important to you? What about us?"
Takai smiled and put a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Zuko, you're my twin. We're always going to have a special connection. Did I give you reason to doubt that?"
"Well, you said, all you wanted was to return home, and that you didn't mean the Fire Nation. So, I figured, you mean return to them.", Zuko reminded Takai of his own, four-years-old self, unsure and fearful of making a step too many, one breath too much and disappoint his father.
Takai nodded, "Partly, yes. But that picture, it's five years old, and some things have changed in the meantime. It will never go back to the way it has been back then."
Zuko noticed that his twin sounded sad all of sudden, "What happened?"
Takai sighed heavily, "The couple you see in that picture, my… parents. They died.", he was a little bit surprised at his own words. He had never called them 'Mom' and 'Dad', but they meant exactly that to him.
His brother's voice, although barely a whisper, snapped him out of his thoughts, "I'm sorry."
Takai smiled and put a hand on his brother's shoulder, "You don't need to be. I can understand why you felt betrayed. But I assure you, they're not more important to me than you are. You, my other brothers, uncle, you're all part of my family."
"Your other brothers? You mean the other boys on that picture?", Zuko asked curiously.
"Yes. The older one is Peter. He's 19 now and lives on his own by now. He works as a photographer for a newspaper. The younger one is Miles, he's 14. We live, or used to, until I joined you, together in the same apartment we used to when our parents were around. In case you're wondering, Peter is the nephew of Aunt May and Uncle Ben, they adopted all three of us.", Takai's gaze lingered on the candles in front of him, a distant look on his face.
"They showed me great kindness, Zuko. I would've died had they not found me. They continued to visit me in the hospital, since apparently, my own family was nowhere to be found. And then they just took me in, a majorly disabled boy in a wheelchair, knowing that it would be a challenge, but still. They were like that, both of them, if they saw somebody who needed help, they would at least try their best at that.", Takai smiled sadly. Suddenly he jumped as his brother took his hand and squeezed it lightly. Takai understood, sometimes, they needed no more words.
They sat like that for a while, the storm raging outside. Then Takai rose to his feet, "The point is, I learned a lot from them. Like Uncle Iroh, Uncle Ben sometimes gave great advice. So, I thought, maybe you want to hear that for a change?"
Zuko chuckled and stood up as well, "Sure, what did he say?"
"He said a lot of things, but one that really stuck to all three of us was, 'With great power comes great responsibility'.", the twins' gazes locked for a moment.
Then Zuko nodded, "I think, I understand.", Takai smiled at him and patted on his shoulder. They were interrupted by a loud explosion. Something had hit the ship. In a second, both were running towards the deck.
Just as they stepped out into the rain, they almost collided with Lieutenant Jee and Iroh. "Where were we hit?", Zuko demanded to know.
Jee's eyes were searching the area, "I don't know!"
Then Takai spotted something, pointing at it, "Look!"
"The helmsman!", Zuko yelled over the storm as he saw the man hanging down from the tower, that was apparently hit by lightning. Without thinking twice, Zuko ran over and climbed up the ladder, Jee close behind him and Takai at the end of their group. The banished prince managed to catch the man right before he fell. Carefully, he handed him to Jee, who slipped him down to Takai. Thankfully, the man was mostly unharmed. The three smiled at each other in relieve.
Through the storm, Zuko's eyes suddenly darted upwards, "The Avatar!"
Jee stood at his side, "What do you want to do, sir?"
Zuko thought about it for a split-second, then, "Let him go. We need to get this ship to safety."
"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm.", Iroh made himself known.
As the others spread out to fulfill their various tasks, Takai walked up to his brother, "Good decision, Sparky.", Zuko smiled, it sounded honest.
"Thank you, brother.", he replied, almost silently.
A few days later, Takai sat on the main deck, drinking tea alone. Zuko was discussing the Avatar's whereabouts with Jee and their uncle, and he wasn't really interested. Grimacing he looked at the bandages around his hands. They were less than before, but the burns on his palms had proven nastier than originally thought. The patch over one of his cheeks was also still there.
The engineer came up to him, a broad smile on his lips, "Morning, sir! Glad to see you alive and kicking again."
Takai smiled at him, "Thank you, Mr. Lee. Doctor Ye has done miraculous work on me."
"Will you join us on the upcoming music night? I've heard you play the zither before.", the man inquired bubbly.
Takai's smile turned into a friendly grin, "Sure, I'm also looking forward to it. Meanwhile, do you need help with your work?"
The engineer shook his head, "No, sir. Thanks for the offer though. I'll go back to it then.", he said as he waved his hand goodbye. Takai smiled to himself and drank another cup of tea, enjoying the afternoon sun.
Suddenly his silence was interrupted by a larger Fire Nation ship pulling up next to them. Takai raised his eyebrows, and stood up, curiously walking up behind his brother, who stormed out of the interiors of the ship.
A walkway was placed between the ships and a messenger, followed by two soldiers entered. He presented them a wanted poster showing Aang with his glider. "The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance. All information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao.", the man said before rolling up the poster again.
While both twins sported a similar grim expression, their uncle seemed delighted, "Zhao has been promoted? Well, good for him!"
Zuko looked down, angrily he hissed at the messenger, "I've got nothing to report to Zhao.", Takai remained his face as it was, not indicating that he knew what a bad liar his brother was. Said brother then glared at the messenger, "Now get off my ship and let us pass."
"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area.", the man said with his last bid of courage.
Takai stepped forward, now shooting the man a death glare, his voice low and grumbling, "Say, does he still limp?"
He could sense the sweat dropping off the man's skin, see it glisten in the sun, smell it, along with the fear and the nervousness as the messenger stood there, shivering, fidgeting with his hands. Zuko used that opportunity to snap at the man, "Off my ship!", and hastily, the man left.
A few hours later they had docked for the night at a small Earth Kingdom port. Takai had forgotten what it was called. Worriedly he watched his brother train firebending restlessly. Slowly and without Zuko noticing, he stood up and shook his head slightly, before turning towards the interior of the ship.
In the crew's common room, Iroh sat with a few others and played Pai Sho. He had done so for the whole day, and it looked like he won the pot over and over again. Silently, Takai walked over and poked his uncle's shoulder lightly with two fingers, catching the old man's attention. He bowed down and whispered in his ear, "Uncle, Zuko's still training frantically. I think, you should talk to him."
Iroh nodded and stood up, excusing himself. Takai stood in the background as Iroh talked to his twin. He could see the frustration and the desperation in Zuko's every move, hear it in the melody of his voice. Slowly he too walked up to the others.
Zuko had turned towards the ocean and whispered, "My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all.", Iroh sighed heavily and disappeared again below deck.
Takai laid a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder, "If those things mean so much to you, you should do something about it. If you sit here and sulk, you'll lose for sure."
Zuko looked at him surprisedly. "What are you talking about?"
The black clothed teen shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. I'm not concerned with something like honor or the Fire Nation or anything, so what do I know? I'm just going to enjoy music night; you should come too. It's going to be great.", Zuko's answer was just a disagreeing grunt before he too, disappeared in the interior of the ship.
Takai wasn't sure if that had been good advice from him. Maybe it would prompt Zuko to do something stupid. But then again, he would watch him, protect him, at least try.
At night, Takai and the crew sat around a fire on the main deck. Each of them played one or more songs, sang, two even danced. Takai played his zither, and his uncle sang the song of the four seasons. After a while he began to mix in more modern songs too. Of course, without the text. Nobody on this ship would understand any references anyway. As he played a variation of "Blue", he noticed a shadow moving far away from the fire, leaving the ship. His brother was definitely onto something. He stayed for about ten minutes or so without saying a word about it, then he excused himself, "I'd love to stay longer, but I'm incredibly tired.", his uncle exchanged a knowing look with him, before Takai went back to his room.
After he had made sure that the instrument was stored away safely, black symbiont skin engulfed him and he quietly went out of his window. He followed Zuko's footprints through a wood until a fortress came into sight. It seemed heavily guarded, so Takai disappeared into the shadows, the lit torches casted.
Quietly, he pressed himself against the wall and listened. A lot of heavy steps, but there was one that seemed lighter, sneakier. His brother was already somewhere inside, he realized, but also, no one had noticed him yet. That was good.
Being a spider-man definitely had its perks, for example, Takai didn't need to worry about how to get over that wall, he just crawled up on it. He estimated that Zuko was maybe five to seven minutes before him now.
In the courtyard, most of the soldiers had gathered to listen to Zhao giving a speech from a balcony. Takai didn't listen. He didn't care what that guy had to say. So, he stayed in the shadows, quickly making his way to an open doorway.
Inside, he deemed the red-lit floors too dangerous, so, he moved to the ceiling instead. Still, he saw no guards at all, which puzzled him. Then suddenly, he heard fighting noise, nothing big, but the distinct sound of firebending, although nothing more than a quick scuffle. He followed the noise and found some bound and unconscious soldiers, apparently his brothers victims. Takai grinned inwardly, he was getting closer to him.
Something distracted him, there was a sound, then more of it. Looking at the ground he saw about half a dozen frogs crawling and jumping around. He wondered what that meant, but and suddenly he heard someone gasp. A group of three soldiers stared at the animals, then at their unconscious comrades.
Quickly, Takai leapt into action, jumping down from the ceiling and right onto the first of the group. It was not really a fight, all of his opponents were too distracted by everything, so instead of doing anything, he knocked the remaining two out, his symbiont arms extending and ramming both into the walls of the floor. Then he neatly bound them with spider-webs and stuck them onto the walls, about a meter off the ground. The situation was already that surreal, he just would add to that.
He heard two pairs of footsteps running lightly through the floors, then a muffled, "My frogs! Come back! And stop thawing out!", some cloth was rumbling, "Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!", it was definitely Aang's voice. But what was that about those frogs? Takai thought about it for a moment, then, when he couldn't think of anything that made sense, he decided to ask the kid later and hurried behind the light footsteps. To his relieve, they ran towards the exit. Maybe, just maybe his brother's plan, whatever it was, would work.
Halfway down to the door that would let him outside again, he heard Zhao's booming voice, "The Avatar has escaped! Close all the gates immediately!", Takai rolled his eyes, of course, the plan had not worked.
He was not really prepared for the chaos that surrounded him the second he stepped out into the courtyard. Luckily, this meant that no one had noticed him yet, but he saw that Zuko, wearing the mask of the Blue Spirit from 'Love amongst Dragons', and Aang were in deep trouble, fighting against a whole fortress filled with soldiers. Currently they were using two ladders as stilts, trying to get over the second wall.
Takai sighed, before entering the fight. He attacked the soldiers from behind, catching them by surprise. Symbiont material extending in several directions, forming tentacle-like arms, swirling around and moving him through the mass of men.
From his heightened point of view, Aang saw several of the soldiers being attacked from behind and getting knocked out as something moved in the dark. It looked like a shadow, he stiffened as he could make out two white spots that apparently were the thing's eyes. Then the fight quickly distracted him again.
Takai stopped in his tracks when suddenly everything went silent. Zhao's voice cut through the night, "Open the gate.", surprised, he looked at what happened. The Blue Spirit had crossed his swords in front of Aang's throat, clearly threatening to kill the boy. All of them knew, Zhao needed the kid alive. Takai quietly disappeared into the shadows again, moving towards the last wall.
Just as he was climbing it, he heard a small noise, then a loud crack, followed by soldiers storming out of the gate. As he reached the top of the wall, he could only see a big cloud of dust, probably Aang's work, he thought. The soldiers were having trouble walking through it.
With his symbiont enhanced senses, he could make out two silhouettes in the dust, one laying flat on the ground, the other bowed above it. Panic and anger shot through his veins. The silhouette on the ground was his brother, he was sure of that. He noticed an archer next to him on the wall, and Zhao standing next to the archer.
With a grim expression, he grabbed the archer and lifted the man up, throwing him at the Admiral. Then he jumped down.
Aang was shocked to see that his savior was Prince Zuko. After a brief moment of hesitation, he lifted the unconscious teenager's arm over his shoulder and tried to drag him away, but he proved to be quite heavy. Panic shot through him as he saw the soldiers approaching. All of sudden though his eyes widened in shock as the shadow he had seen earlier appeared behind them, and a black mass seemed to grab the soldiers and throw them back. Aang stood there, stiff from the sight, the dusk cloud still around him.
The shadow approached him rapidly and he braced himself for the impact, an attack, something, but the figure slowed down a few meters away from him and took something off the ground. As it then hurriedly came closer, he could see that it was carrying Zuko's mask and the piece that the arrow had broken away.
Upon reaching him, the figure took Zuko's other arm over his shoulder and said, "Come on, Aang. Move it!", the airbender felt as if he knew the voice, but couldn't quite place it. Then he remembered how his muscles worked and together, they maneuvered the unconscious prince into the forest.
After a while of silent dragging, the black figure dropped the prince's arm. Quickly he jumped up a tree and a moment later returned with a few branches full of leaves. He arranged them to a makeshift cushion, and they placed Zuko on top of it. The figure bowed over the prince, turning his head a bit around, apparently checking if the teen was hurt.
Hesitantly, Aang spoke up, "Uhm, I hope you don't mind me asking, but who are you?"
The figure chuckled, then the blackness over his head began to retract as if it was a thick liquid. "Who do you think?", Takai asked amusedly.
Aang gasped, "But, what, what is that?", he pointed at Takai, who chuckled again.
"I'm just checking on my brother, so he doesn't run into his doom while following his foolish ideas.", he smiled at the Avatar, "I'm not here to catch you, so don't worry. This,", he gestured towards his body, which was still covered in symbiont skin, "Is a bit complicated to explain shortly. Let's say, uhm, I'm more special than even my twin realizes."
That actually made Aang smile at him. "Maybe we'll once have enough time that you can explain it."
Takai bowed shortly, "I would like that. I think that would be an interesting conversation.", he raised an eyebrow as the Avatar's expression changed from one second to another.
The boy slumped down and hid his head in his hands, "Oh no! I've lost all my frogs! Now Sokka and Katara are never going to be better!"
Takai went over to him and knelt in front of Aang, "I wanted to ask anyway, what's that about those frogs?", the look in his amber eyes was full of compassion, so Aang told him about the fever that had taken hold of his friends, and how the herbalist told him to gather frozen frogs for them to suck on. Takai then stood back up, sighing, "Okay, tell me where your friends are."
"We made camp amongst some ruins not far from here, in an old hall that was slightly raised above the city. But why want you to know that?", the Avatar asked, suddenly afraid that he told someone from the Fire Nation about his friends' whereabouts.
Takai chuckled as the black material grew over his face again, "Don't worry. I'll go get those frogs to your friends. Would you stay here and watch Sparky for me, so he's safe until he's awake again?"
Aang nodded, but couldn't suppress giggling, "Sparky?"
The black figure shrugged his shoulders and hurried towards the swamps. Aang could hear the trees rustling for a while, then the silence returned.
Takai ran the fastest he could to gather those frogs. It was important that they'd still be frozen after all. On his way, he could make out the silhouettes of two Yuyan-Archers, that apparently watched the place. A few arrows in a tree trunk told Takai that this was most likely where Aang had been captured in the first place. Quickly, he swung over their heads, attacking them from above. There was no fight. The two men just heard something, looked up and saw two white eyes coming towards them. The next moment they found themselves tied up with a white, sticky material that glued them to two trees. They heard sticks break as the creature, whatever it was, continued on its way. Later they would give a horrified account of what happened to the comrades that found them.
In his symbiont form, it was easier than he expected to collect the frogs. Okay, they were frozen, so they didn't move, and more arms certainly helped. He chose four that looked the coldest and turned back towards the place Aang had described. It was not exactly difficult to find, once he was in the ruined city. He could hear the bison snore quietly, the chattering of the lemur, and the two teens talking what he could only describe as fever-induced hallucinations.
Quietly he entered the old hall. First, he went over to Sokka. The boy seemed to be in a worse state than his sister. He was calling her 'Highness'. Takai shook his head, then he knelt down beside him. "Who are you?", the delirious boy asked, not unfriendly.
Takai smiled at him, "Don't worry, I'm a friend. Here, I need you to suck on this for a moment.", he said calmly, basically sticking the frog in Sokka's mouth. As he saw that the boy followed his instructions, he stood up and went to Katara.
For a moment, he stopped as he knelt next to her. She looked very beautiful, even though she was very clearly sick. He smiled at her, softly caressing her cheek. As she opened her eyes he said, "Hello Katara."
She smiled confusedly at him, "Oh, hello my hero.", she sounded delusional.
It still sounded nice, Takai thought, being called a hero. Then he remembered the frogs in his pockets and quickly held one before her mouth. "Here, Katara, open your mouth.", she followed without obstruction. Fascinated he watched as her eyes became clearer, more awake, after just a few moments. Her cheeks blushed wildly as she realized that he was really there. A second later she got aware what she was doing and spit the frog out.
Takai heard Sokka do something similar, but he couldn't care less. He was busy drowning in Katara's blue eyes. She whispered his name and he smiled at her brightly, saying, "Hello Katara.", to his relieve, she smiled back at him.
All of sudden her eyes widened in shock. Takai registered the movement behind him and his eyes widened as well, still staring at her. Someone, most likely Sokka, was going to hit him. Hit him with a club or something. If I evade, he'll hit her, he realized and closed his eyes, ready for the impact.
It knocked him out. With the last bit of his consciousness he realized that the boy had managed to crack his skull around where the club had hit. The last thing he remembered before he passed out was Katara screaming as he fell on top of her.