Harry sighed as he looked out of the window. Rolling mountains were rushing past him. With Voldemort back fully now, he knew that sixth year would be hard. Raids on homes had already started, and nobody was safe anymore. A laugh interrupted his musing, and he couldn't help but smile as he looked back at his friends. They'd been playing exploding snap, and he did have to admit that Ron's face looked hilarious.
It had been hard on everyone, knowing that there was a war coming. The mood had really been down, but those moments made him smile. Sirius had also managed to convince Dumbledore to let him visit Harry for some time during the holidays. He'd have to stay in his animagus form, but Harry didn't mind. At least he wouldn't be stuck with the Dursleys alone.
"Hey Harry, want to play with us?" asked Ron, a silly smile on his face. Hermione shook her head, nose buried in a thick tome. Neville and Luna were talking amongst themselves, waiting for the next round. "Yeah, sure." He said, scooting over. He startled when explosions resounded, before the game had even begun. "Did someone start the game already?" he asked, as the roar of fire became louder in his ears. "No, we're just about to get started…" trailed off Neville, "you, okay?" he asked, face full of concern. Harry smiled, "Yeah, don't worr—"
Harry gasped awake, a fireball grazing his cheek. He blearily looked around, confused. Fire Nation men seemed to be sitting on … rhino-lizards? He yelped in surprise as one of the men shot at him. He stumbled out of his beanbag, grabbing it under his armpit as he ran towards Appa, where the others were getting their stuff. He tripped on Sokka's bag, cursing while he went. A fireball hit his side, making him cry out, whirling around in anger. He brandished his wand from his pocket, "Aqua Eructo!" he shouted, dousing the man in powerful jets of water. He knew he was supposed to do this wordlessly, but he couldn't care less right now.
He quickly jumped on Appa, picking up Sokka's bag, as Aang ordered the sky bison to rise. "My boomerang!" cried out Sokka, hand outstretched. "There's no time." Said Katara sympathetically. "Oh so there was time for your scrolls but not my boomerang?" shouted Sokka at her, shoulders drooping. Harry rolled his eyes, before handing him his bag. Sokka's face lit up, as he clutched his possession to his chest "You're my favourite, you know that right?" he asked, hugging the wizard's arm. Harry rolled his eyes again, but patted him on the shoulder.
His thought turned back on his dream, as the siblings bickered on the importance of their stuff. Maybe this is what would've happened if neither of them had fallen into the veil. He'd be with his friends, and Sirius and the Weasley. He wrapped his arms around his legs, sadness rising in his chest. They hadn't made progress towards getting him home either. They'd been so focused on just finding an earthbender teacher that it seemed to have been put out of their minds. With the constant running, it was to be expected, but still. Just thinking of his friends left an ache in his chest. He loved his new friends, and loved the adventures they had been going on, but nothing could replace his friends.
His musings were cut short as they dropped down to a stall, Sokka heading in to get some food. "Here's your produce, boomerang guy." Said the merchant, nodding in amusement to the weapon that he still had in his arms. Sokka smiled smugly at his sister, grabbing the box, "See Katara, someone recognizes the importance and value of a boomerang." She only rolled her eyes, before giving the merchant his money. "Happy Avatar Day!" he said, as he closed his shop. "What?" asked Aang, attention snapping to him. "You guys are going to the festival, right?" he said, walking down towards the city in the distance. Aang and Katara looked at each other with smiles on their faces, and Harry had to admit he was curious.
When they arrived at the city, Harry was surprised to see two giant statues of a pale-faced woman and an old woman. "Who knew I had a holiday!" exclaimed Aang with excitement. "Are we sure we have the right holiday? These are statues of other people, though." Harry said, looking around to see who they were. The three stared at him, embarrassment rolling through him as they didn't say anything. "What? What did I say?"
"I forgot we hadn't told you about the avatar cycle." Muttered Aang, as he dragged him towards the statues. "These are my previous incarnations. That's Avatar Kyoshi," he said, pointing at the pale lady, "and that's Avatar Roku. They were me until I was Aang." He said. Harry blinked for a few seconds, looking between the statues and his friend. "You looked like that before? Wait, you were these people?" he asked bewildered. A giant Aang statue rolled in behind them, lining all the avatars together. "Also, how do they know what you look like? I thought you guys didn't have cameras?"
"Well, a lot of people met me! And—" Aang didn't have time to finish, as he drew in a gasp, as the villages lit the statues on fire. The crowd cheered, as the avatars started to burn down. Harry was very confused, so he looked at his friends who were looking at the statues in horror. "OK … so this is not normal?" He asked. "Nope. Definitely not." Replied Sokka, as he sighed, his shoulders hunching, "Why can't we have one normal town?"
Katara scowled, as she took out her water out of her pouch, putting out the fire on the statues. The citizens all booed at her. "She's ruining the festival!" cried out the woman next to him. Harry rolled his eyes. Seriously, what was up with these people? This strangely reminded him of Umbridge and the ministry and couldn't be too upset when Aang revealed himself. Hermione would have been disappointed, but then again, she wasn't here, was she?
"It's the avatar! He'll kill us with his awesome powers!" yelled a citizen in fear. Did he just … accuse him and compliment him at the same time? Thought Harry incredulously as Aang jumped down from where he'd been perched on his giant self's shoulders. He quickly jogged to meet the other two, dragging a reluctant Sokka behind him.
"You are not welcome here Avatar!" yelled a man, who seemed to be the leader of the village. He had a haughty smile on his face and seemed to think himself above everyone else. Aang frowned, tilting his head to the side, "Why not? I'm not going to hurt you!" The man scoffed, as the villagers muttered behind him. "I sincerely doubt that. You are after all the one who killed our great leader Chin the Great, in your past life as Avatar Kyoshi!"
Harry couldn't help but snort. The attention of the group focused on him. "Come on, this is Aang we're talking about. He would never kill anyone!" argued the wizard. "Yeah, don't question his honour like that!" added Katara. "We'll show him what we think of his honour!" yelled a man, showing his butt to them. Harry stared, this is so ridiculous, he thought as the rest of the group started cheering. "Let me prove my name." Aang walked forward, determination on his face.
The leader scoffed again, crossing his arm over his chest, "To do that, you would have to stand trial. You would have to listen to all our rules, including paying bail." Aang nodded, "I will gladly stand trial, and pay bail." The man stared at him, before he huffed, "Fine, we will hold trial." The villages seemed to grumble, as they started to disperse. Guards joined the leader, holding out his hand, clearly waiting for the money. Aang turned to Katara, who took out Water Tribe money from her purse.
"Wait! We will not accept any currency other than our own." The guard said, a grumble in his voice. "But we only have Water Tribe money!" protested the avatar. The guards looked at each other before laughing amongst themselves. "Well, I guess you're going to jail." They said gleefully. Harry tensed, wand at the ready, but Aang shook his head at him.
The three looked at each other, before they quietly followed them to the village's jail. He could tell Sokka just wanted to fight them, but he put his hand on his shoulder. "Aang told me not to." He whispered to the teen who huffed. "Yeah well, sometimes Aang is not the smartest."
They quickly arrived at the jail, where the guards left them there, evidently happy to see their supposed enemy in their jail. "Why Aang?" asked Katara, her head in her hand. "Yeah, let's get you out of here!" said Sokka, Harry nodding at his side. "I can't." he replied. "Sure you can, just do your swoosh! Swish! Yash!" he demonstrated, fighting an imaginary enemy. Harry snorted, before looking back at the avatar "You're supposed to be saving the world. You can't do that in here." You can't get me home in here.
"But I can't save anyone who believes me to be a murderer. You have to prove that I didn't do it." Argues Aang. "How are we even supposed to do that? It happened 300 years ago." Said Sokka, sceptically. Harry couldn't help but agree. What would be left after 300 years as evidence?
"That's fine, I thought you were a great detective, Sokka?" Aang asked slyly. Harry rolled his eyes, like that was going to work. "Yeah, I am a great detective." Replied Sokka, puffing his chest. Well, never mind, he thought as Katara retailed the mystery of the missing jerky. "So you're going to help?" asked Aang hopefully. The boomerang wielder stared at him, before shrugging. "Fine, I'm going to need more gear, though." He said, searching around the room. He came out with a weird helmet, and lenses attached to it, presumably to allow him to see things better. The wizard snorted, at the look on his face, Katara joining him. "What?" asked Sokka to the three giggling people around him. Katara shook her head, heading out the door with him.
"Are you coming with?" asked the siblings to him. "Uh, I might stay here. I'm not exactly the best detective." He said, wincing at the memory of his first year. "If you really need me, though, I'll be here." He said with a smile. They looked at each other, shrugging, before heading out.
"You were a detective?" asked Aang, trying to rotate his shoulders in their confinements. Harry sat down on his side of the gate. "Not really? We thought one of our teachers at my school was trying to steal something and wanted to catch him. Turns out it was another one." Aang was looking at him with wide eyes. "You have magic school?" Harry startled, before realizing that he'd never actually talked about Hogwarts. Unknown to him, a small smile crept upon his face.
"Yeah, it was called Hogwarts. I went there when I was eleven. That's where I met my friends." He said, ignoring the pang in his heart, clearing his throat to get rid of the clog that logged there. Aang stared at him, and the wizard looked away. "You miss them, don't you?" he said, sympathy written on his face. "Of course, they were-are my home." He said roughly, almost snapping. They fell silent, the avatar staring at him, while Harry looked at his water tribe clothing.
"I'm sorry." His head snapped up, looking at his friend behind the bars. He scoffed. "Why are you sorry? It's not your fault." Aang stared, before wriggling out his confinements, leaning on the wooden board. "Did I tell you how I met Sokka and Katara?" he asked, staring at his hands. Harry shook his head.
"100 years ago, when I was with the Air Nomads, I learned that I would have to undergo training, and I'd be taken away from my mentor, Gyatso." Tears welled in Aang's eyes, but he quickly forced them down. "I… I ran away. I didn't want to be taken away from him. But I was caught in a storm. If I hadn't used the avatar state, I would not have survived. I was stuck in an iceberg for 100 years until Katara and Sokka found me." Harry stared at him, his eyes wide. He'd known that the war had lasted 100 years, but he hadn't realized that Aang had been alive at the start of it. "I ran away. I ran away, and my people perished because of it. If I hadn't, you wouldn't need to be here. So, I'm sorry." He said, bowing slightly, his head down.
Harry stared at him. At his friend who didn't deserve all this burden. Who felt guilty for being scared. Who felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and he couldn't help but look at himself. He saw a scared 11-year-old who didn't know anything about magic. He saw a kid who everyone expected something out of. He saw a kid with no one to properly call family, no blood binding love. "Evanesco." He muttered, vanishing the bars. Aang stared wide-eyed, tears still present in his eyes. He climbed through the hole and sat in front of him. He'd never been good with physical attention, the Dursleys had ruined that for him. So he did what Sirius had done to him when he'd first seen him last summer. He opened his arms and waited. Aang didn't even hesitate before he leaped into his arms, just like Harry had done.
And there they sat, the prisoners around them respectfully giving them a wide berth. He inhaled, resting his chin on the shaven head, and tried to keep the tears in. "It's not your fault Aang." He muttered, the airbender's fingers clinging to his back, his head buried in the crook of Harry's neck. "You couldn't have known what the Fire Nation would do. You couldn't have known that you'd get stuck in that storm. And maybe if you'd stayed, it could have been worse." He said, thinking of Cedric and Sirius. "And it's Lily, who decided to send me here. Not you. If we're blaming anyone, it's her." The familiar anger at the spirit's name rose, but he pushed it down to focus on his friend. "But now you're stuck. And I don't even know how to get you home!" tearfully whispered Aang in his shirt.
"We'll figure it out. It's okay." Honestly, he didn't even know how he was supposed to get home. Lily had sacrificed part of the parasite's soul to get him here. Aang didn't have that kind of power. He didn't wish for anyone to die for him to get home. At least now that he was here, Voldemort wouldn't come after his friends if he wasn't there. He hoped.
Aang pulled back, looking at him, determination in his eyes. "I'll get you home, I swear. I won't keep you from your family any longer than I have to." Harry looked away, at the prisoners who were trying very hard not to eavesdrop. "I'd love to go home. But what about the war? You can't just stop everything for me." He said, though it pained him to admit it. He knew that he wasn't doing … too well. Seeing Sirius in the mist had only reopened the floodgates of emotions that he usually kept tightly locked away. While he was glad that the emotional outbursts from Voldemort were gone, he knew the anger hadn't left him. It was still there, mixed with the general sadness that seemed to occupy his days.
Having found friends here really did help. They made him smile and think about other things than the people he lost. It was far better than the Dursleys, and he could do something instead of rotting away in the heat of the summer. Having friends who didn't know about his Boy-Who-Lived status also made their friendship so much faster and genuine than the ones back home. Ron and Hermione were an exception … but then again fourth year had not been fun with his best friend.
And he didn't owe them anything. He didn't have to stay and help fight a war that had nothing to do with him. Except, it kind of did now. He was a fire bender. He knew that he was never going to be as strong as General Zhao or Zuko, but he still had bending. And apart from that, he didn't want to leave his friends to fight alone. It felt like abandoning them.
He knew that this was going to be hard. Every waking moment, he wanted to go home. He wanted to hang out at the Gryffindor Tower, learn spells, sit by the Black Lake, to laugh as he played Wizard's chess, even being lectured by Hermione. But could he abandon them? The people who had taken him with them, treating him as family. He knew he couldn't.
So he stared in the eyes of the avatar, his only hope to get him home, and decided. Before Aang could answer, he said with determination, "I want to go home. I want to go help my friends, and see them again. But I also want to help you. I want to see you at peace. I want to spend time with you, and see you defeat the Fire Nation." Aang stared at him, hiccupping as the tears faded from his eyes. Harry felt his own tears go on his cheeks, feeling as if he was betraying his friends back home. But looking at the avatar's face, he knew he had made the right choice. "So we'll try to find a way for me to go back home, but we won't stop our adventure. We'll find a way home while we try and find you a teacher."
The airbender looked at his face, the tears that stained his cheeks. "Are you sure?" he whispered, looking so much more like a child than he'd ever been. The wizard teen smiled, and with a whispered word, determined his future. "Yes."
XxX: Hi guys! This last conversation between Aang and Harry really made me hesitate, but I liked how it turned out! I was trying to fit that whole episode in the chapter, but it would've been too long, so it'll embark on next chapter instead. Hope you guys like it!
