Chapter 22: Worries and concerns
"You're scared. That's why your fire is so weak."
Aang sulked. "Sorry…"
"No, I get it. Firebending requires both intense emotions and utmost confidence on yourself, so finding the source for your inner fire might be harder than regular firebenders."
"If I may ask, what is your source, Sifu Hotman?"
Zuko groaned. "Will you stop calling me that?!"
"Oh, come on sweetie! I think it describes you pretty well!" Katara said teasingly as she and Ty Lee were sitting nearby.
He sighed. Ever since Ty Lee joined them, she has managed to uplift the overall mood of their team, which sort of encouraged Katara's open flirting.
He doesn't really mind it, but he often wished she wouldn't do it around the others…
"Sifu Hotman?"
And it seemed Aang wouldn't stop calling him that no matter what.
He sighed. "My source has always been my desire to prove myself. First to my father, then to Kaze and Azula, and now to you guys. That's all it is."
"Well, I also want to prove myself to you guys!" He said with frustration. "So why is can't I get my fire to come out like I want it to?"
"Because you're scared, like I said."
"But I'm not!" He rebutted. "I've fought a bunch of firebenders without issue, including you…"
"I'm not talking about other people's fire. I'm talking about yours… you're not confident about you being able to handle it."
Aang remained quiet for some time, as sadness started riding his face. "You're right… The first time I firebent I managed to hurt Katara, and I—" He sighed while shaking his head. "And I vowed to never firebend again…"
Hm… well that pretty much explained everything.
"Listen, fire will always be capable of hurting others more than the other elements. But that's only a part of what makes it powerful. Kaze told me a long time ago that fire represents not only power, but life itself… And you're going to need to accept that if you want to master firebending."
But Aang didn't look convinced. "I just… don't know if I can ever let go of what I did…"
"Then maybe what you need is a change of perspective."
He would've been proud of his advise if someone hadn't decided to interrupt him.
"Hey! You stole that from Kaze!" Ty Lee shouted. "He's going to love hearing about this!" She laughed cheerfully.
Okay, maybe letting watch wasn't a good idea after all.
"Ignoring that… what I'm saying is that you might need to learn of the original source of firebending."
"The original? You mean the dragons?" Aang asked curiously. "I've never met one in my life! Only the one from my visions with Roku!"
"No… the dragons are all gone, the Fire Nation made sure of that." And his uncle was the one who finished the job…
Even if it was before Lu Ten's death, he still had a hard time believing that he was the one to kill the last of the dragons…
"Then what are you saying we should do?"
"The first people to ever learn from the dragons were the Sun Warriors, the first civilization of the Fire Nation."
Aang looked at him skeptically.
"How come I've never heard of them… Not even a hundred years ago?"
"Well, they've been gone for a long time as well. Way more than a hundred years… But their ruins still stand somewhere up north. Perhaps if we poked around, we might learn something."
By this point Katara and Ty Lee had stood up to join them.
"Wait, you're not really planning on going there now, are you?" Katara asked looking worried.
"Yeah! Besides, aren't their ruins like, way too close to the boiling rock? Isn't that risky?" Ty Lee added.
"It should be fine. We can avoid most scouting ships if we fly on Appa, and the ruins themselves should be deserted."
He then looked at Aang, who somehow still remained skeptical. "This might be the only way to unlock your true inner fire… I don't think we have a choice."
And they didn't. The invasion was only getting closer and closer.
He needed to become at least decently powerful with fire in case something went wrong, and the eclipse plan failed…
Aang thought for a moment, considering his words. It took a while of him contorting his face and scratching his head, which by now had a pretty thick layer of hair…
It was a strange sight, to say the least.
He then took on a resolved look as he met his eyes. "Okay. If you think it'd be for the best, then I'll trust your judgement, Sifu Hotman." He bowed respectfully, to which only managed to bring out a laugh from the two girls.
And so, he sighed in defeat.
"We better get ready to leave by sundown, then. The more we fly in the dark, the easier it'll be to get there."
"How long will it take?" Katara asked as she put a hand on his arm and gave him a concerned look.
"A day to get there and a day to get back… So somewhere along three days..."
If everything went right that is.
"I still don't like it… But I guess we have no choice if we want Aang to be at his strongest…" She then leaned up to give him a longing kiss, which drew out a dreamy sigh from Ty Lee. "Just promise to be careful, okay?"
"Yeah, I promise."
But as soon as he said those words, a loud shout startled them from the road to the town.
"Hey guys! We're back!" Toph said as her and Sokka were carrying a bunch of baskets filled with… food?
How did they even get the money to buy all that?
He sighed. He needed to focus on the trip…
As suspicious as this was, he was sure Katara could handle it.
"We might have a problem…"
Azula looked up from where she was lying on her bed.
"What do you mean?"
"One of the Dai Li posted around the palace just reported that your father hired a bounty hunter…"
"What?!" She jumped up. "Why would he—"
"They couldn't find out…" He answered quickly, as to quiet down her outburst.
Silence overtook them, as they both arrived at a similar conclusion. "Is it possible that he might've found out about…"
"Aang?" He thought for a moment. "I don't think that's possible with how careful they were being… But there's a chance he might've grown suspicious…"
Azula's eyes widened at his words. "Suspicious of us, is what you're saying…"
She shook her head.
"But why? We've played our roles in the palace to perfection… why now?"
"Well, you did say he was as paranoid as they come…" He then sat down next to her on the bed. "But we still don't know exactly why he hired the bounty hunter, so we can't jump to conclusions."
"What was his name? The bounty hunter's I mean?"
"They didn't catch one… But they did catch a glimpse of him."
And it was a pretty worrying glimpse.
"He had a metal claw and two metal legs… and an eye tattoo on his forehead." He explained, as Azula stiffened. "Ring any bells?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Yes. That's the 'Unnamed', a man capable of creating explosions from his mind."
Explosions?
"How is that possible?"
But she shook her head once more. "Nobody knows. He's just able to. And he's become notorious for how effective he is at eliminating any target."
She then met his eyes with concern. "Whoever his target is, my father wants them dead quickly and definitely."
And if he decided to hire him instead of the other bunch of assassins in his disposal, then this target had to be particularly powerful…
It only seemed to point at one possible person.
"We need to warn them somehow…"
"I know. But there's no way to contact them without raising more suspicion… The only time we could possibly be able to meet them safely would be on the invasion's rendezvous point in the Black Cliffs."
"And a messenger hawk would just get intercepted midway…"
He sighed. "So, we can only trust that they remain safe until the day of the Eclipse…"
She grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly. "They'll be fine. They haven't gotten this far by being careless. So, let's believe in them." She smiled reassuringly.
Yeah, she was right. They had to believe in their friends, just like they believe in them to handle things here.
Things were never going to be easy anyway.
"Thanks, Zula." He said as he leaned in to kiss her. "Sorry for waking you up."
"It's fine, I just got into bed anyway…" She smirked. "Besides, I think I know how you can make it up to me."
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "What if one of the servants catch on to us?" He said playfully.
Not like most of them weren't at least suspicious of them anyway…
"Since when were you such a stickler to the rules?" She asked as she started pulling him into the bed.
He laughed.
"You're right. I'm not."
"Ugh, she's driving me crazy!" Katara groaned in frustration. "I can't believe she said I act motherly!"
"Well, you sorta do." Ty Lee said as she decided to join her after Sokka sent that stupid letter to her. "Especially now that Zuko is gone."
"What?! That's not true at all!" She retorted angrily.
But Ty Lee wasn't fazed. "See, that's exactly what Toph was talking about silly!" She said while laughing. "I mean, you get all bossy and defensive, and you always need to be right… Trust me, I would know."
"What do you mean?" She grumbled.
"You try being best friends with Azula! She's basically all that except with the backdrop of a painful lightning death." She said while eerily cheerful. "Although she did calm down after Kaze came into our lives."
Katara sulked at her words. "So you're saying that even you think I act motherly…"
"Oh no! I'm just saying that sometimes you worry so much for us that you forget to really listen to what others are telling you. You should maybe try and talk with Toph and get to see her point of view… And none of that whole she misses her parents stuff." She said sternly. "No matter how true you think it is, that was just plain mean."
Katara remained quiet but eventually gave a resigned sigh. "You're right… maybe I went too far. But I just want them to see how risky it is to keep up with their whole scamming thing. I mean, she's pretty much a fugitive now…"
"Then maybe you should tell her that, but without causing another screaming match."
Katara took a deep breath before giving her a smile and a nod. "Thanks, Ty Lee."
"Any time!" She wrapped her up in a tight hug. "That's what friends are for!"
"How are you so good at this anyway?" Katara asked as she returned the hug.
Ty Lee laughed brightly. "Just imagine what it was dealing with Azula's temper, and Mai's rants about Zuko! I'm basically an expert by now!"
She then leveled her with a playful smile. "Besides, don't think that being bossy is a bad thing. If you play it right, it can be very attractive!"
"W-What do you mean play it right?!" She could feel her cheeks burn as she dropped her gaze to the ground.
Ty Lee shrugged. "Sometimes guys like it when you take control… And Zuko strikes me as the type. I mean, he did like Mai after all."
Well, that made enough sense… But she had to change the topic before she turned redder than she already was.
"A-Anyway!" She stammered. "What about you? Anyone special in your life?"
Ty Lee looked surprised by the question, but quickly composed herself. "No, no one like that…" She said with a sad smile.
Really? She would've thought someone with her personality wouldn't have a problem finding someone…
"Sorry—Just forget I said anythi—"
"No, it's okay! It's just—" She sighed. "For as much as I've tried to find someone… It seems no one's really interested on getting to know the real me, you know."
She wasn't really the most knowledgeable about romance and relationships, but she could sort of understand. Being the only girl in Master Pakku's class definitely got her some unwanted attention…
"And the only ones that did were Kaze, Azula and Mai. Which for as attractive as they are, they can be just a little too scary for me sometimes…"
She could see that. Azula and Mai were obvious, but Kaze could be so perceptive that for the few conversations she's had with him it felt like he could see right through her…
"So, what's your type then? Other than the whole getting to know you, which in my opinion should be the bare minimum for anyone."
Ty Lee laughed at her comment before once again turning serious.
"Well… someone sweet and kind… The 'wouldn't hurt a fly, unless they had no choice' type."
Huh…
Wait, isn't that—
"I know what you're thinking." Ty Lee interrupted her train of thought. "But he has the world to worry about… now and for the rest of his life most likely." She sighed. "And who knows, I may meet someone just as special in the future!"
Just as special sounded like a stretch if she was being honest…
"Well, no one knows what the future holds. Besides, were all still young anyway."
She then gave her a playful smile of her own. "And you shouldn't worry too much about that whole duty to the world… knowing him, he would always put the ones he loves before anything else."
Her mind then perked up with a thought.
"Or if you want, I can introduce you to one of the Kyoshi Warriors! They're all kind and strong. So who knows, you might just find who you're looking for!"
Ty Lee turned to look at her but didn't answer.
She just smiled and reached out to give her a tight hug while whispering a 'thank you'.
It was the Full Moon again, meaning another restless night.
He wouldn't be too mad about it if he at least had something to let loose, but he had no such luck once again… It was funny to think that he's never really fought anyone with the moon empowering him since the night he met Azula. Unless he counted Ba Sing Se…
And the worst part, the nagging in his head from the night Ty Lee passed out came back with a vengeance. And while he had an inkling as to who it was, there was no real way of knowing unless he headed down to the harbor and see if he decided to appear.
That time it had been a warning that something was happening to his friend, and he had no reason to believe this one isn't for some similar reason.
He had to find out.
Now that he thought about it, he didn't have to go all the way to the harbor. He realized that he hasn't been back to his hideout ever since way before that fateful night.
For all he knew, his secret spot might not be as secret anymore… But there was only way to find out.
So, he grabbed a cloak, sneaked his way out of the palace, and headed down to Harbor City.
The city itself hadn't changed one bit during the time he was gone, so finding his way throughout was as easy as it always had been. The wrecked building on the eastern edge of the city holding the small opening he used to crawl under was just as he remembered. Although fitting through the tiny hole did take three times the effort than when he was ten years old.
But after a painstaking effort, he was able to reach the small cave on the side of the Caldera which led all the way to a small, secluded inlet. Looking at it, he relieved to find out that his fears had been unfounded, and the place looked completely undisturbed as the day he had left it. The sand reflected the white light of the moon, while the ocean waters sparkled like the stars above.
But for as beautiful as it was, the nagging on his head stabbed his mind relentlessly as his feet dragged him towards the edge of the water.
It wouldn't take long for his hunch to be proven right, as the dark figure of his good old friend La started appearing on top of waves in front of him. But it wasn't like before. His image was faint, transparent… and it wasn't as imposing as it was during his attempt at his soul.
Only on thing to do now.
"So… what do you want now?"
"It's not about what I want… but about what you want. As a part of my spirit resides within you, the call of the ocean will seek you, and only you…"
"Are you saying that"—he reached for his forehead—"you're not responsible for this…"
"No… just like the time with your friend on the shores of Ember Island, the warnings that disturb your mind aren't mine, but the ocean's itself."
"But how is that possible?" He asked with frustration.
Would it hurt him to not speak so cryptically…
But La simply shook his head and started fading away once more.
"The will of the ocean is relentless and unstoppable… I'm only the spirit that resides over it, but I do not control it. If you want to know what it wants to tell you, then perhaps a visit into the spirit world would be the only way to give answers to your questions."
The spirit world? But how would he possibly get to a place like that on his own…
Only one person would be able to somehow guide him into it, and he sure as hell had more important things to worry about. He wanted to ask La about it, but his image was quickly fading away.
"Wait—" He ran towards his almost completely transparent form. "Why are you here then? Why did you appear?"
"It's as I said… A part of me will always reside on you, just like your father… But I no longer have the strength to pursue your heart or your soul. I just am."
But what did that even mean? He couldn't tell at all if it was a good or a bad thing that he suddenly had a spirit living inside him…
But before he could ask any more questions, he was gone. He was left alone with his own thoughts and the roaring of the crashing waves along the rocky sides of the massive volcano he's called home for many years.
He sighed. He couldn't let himself be distracted by anything with the eclipse being just a few weeks away…
He had to focus on what mattered, and that was defeating the Fire Lord… and yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that the ocean's warnings had to do with the invasion itself…
And he couldn't even ask Aang for help until the very day.
He had to discuss this with Azula. They couldn't afford anything to go wrong at this stage.
"Don't you think this scam of theirs has taken a little to long by now?"
Sokka thought for a moment, concern rising quickly on his face. "You're right. We need to check out what's going on—"
But a loud roar quickly interrupted anything he was going to say, as the ever-approaching form of a flying bison made its way towards them.
"Hey look! They're back!" He shouted as Appa swiftly made to land in front of them.
Not able to hold her excitement, Ty Lee boosted herself into Appa's saddle and gave both of her friends a tight hug.
"I missed you guys so much!" She squealed. "How were the ruins?"
"They were great!" Aang jumped with his own excitement. "You won't believe the things we saw! But more importantly—" He jumped down into the ground. "Look at this!" He said as he bent a wave of fire into the air. "I can firebend now!"
She was starstruck for a moment before jumping down to celebrate with him. "That's awesome, Aang! I knew you could do it!"
Aang's cheeks turned red from the praise, as he rubbed his neck nervously.
But before anything else could be said, Zuko spoke up.
"Wait, where's Katara and Toph?"
Her eyes widened, as she was brought back to reality.
"You're right!" She gasped. "We were supposed to go look for them!"
"Wait, what do you mean?" Aang asked with worry. "Did something happen?"
"It's a long story." Sokka answered. "But they went into town on their own to scam the guards there, but they haven't come back…"
Zuko jumped down with urgency. "Scam the guards?! What does that even mean?!"
"Listen, I'll explain later. What we need to do now is head into town and look for them—"
But a crackle echoed from somewhere, shifting the air ever so slightly. But it was enough for both airbenders to react and blow everyone away.
And then a terrible explosion destroyed the ground they were standing on.
"Ha! I told you it would work!"
"Yeah, that was awesome, Katara! Guess you can really be fun when you try!" Toph said as she strutted happily on the way back to the others.
She smiled fondly. She really was glad they were able to make up after everything they fought about.
Although there was still one thing left to do.
"Hey, Toph… I just wanted to say sorry for what I said about your parents."
Because she knows just how complicated relationships with parents can really be…
But Toph simply shrugged and fixed her with a smile. "Nah, it's okay… You weren't wrong anyway." But then she dropped her gaze to the ground.
"It's just—I got mad because every time someone mentions my parents, I just start thinking about how much I must've hurt them by leaving…"
As much as Toph was trying to hide it, she noticed the slight tremble of her shoulders along with a quiet sniffle.
She didn't know what to say, so she just wrapped her in a hug.
They stayed like that for a while, until her tears let up slowly.
"I want to write to my parents…" She said shyly. "Can you help me?"
"Of course I will—"
"Wait!" Toph startled her suddenly. "Something's going on ahead!"
"W-What?" She stammered. "What do you mean?!"
Up ahead could only mean one thing.
"Is it the others?!"
"I-I don't know, they were all talking normally and then a huge explosion happened! We need to hurry!" Toph said with urgency as she broke into a run, with her close behind.
An explosion… how would that be possible so suddenly…
The ran as fast as they could, as the path they've gone through multiple times eventually broke into their temporary hideout. Except the hideout itself was gone, and instead, it was a barraged in dust and debris, along a huge crater in the middle.
Dread crawled into her chest as the dust cloud was too thick to see anyone.
"Sokka! Ty Lee!" She shouted but no one responded.
"Katara!" Toph called out. "They're all alive, but they're unconscious! Aang and Zuko are here too! They must've come back when we were gone… We have to help them, and fast!"
"Right!" She said as she rushed inside while Toph bended the dust and rocks out of the way.
They had no time to lose.
Whatever did this was probably still out there.
He was dazed…
He was laying on the ground surrounded by rubble, while his entire body ached. But he had to find everyone, and quickly.
Whoever shot that explosion had meant to kill them instantly. And he would've succeeded if it wasn't for him and Ty Lee.
His heart was hammering in his chest and his head was flooded with panic, so he focused all of his efforts in calming himself. He couldn't see past the dust, so he had to rely on his earthbending, and that required him remain tranquil and concentrated.
It took him a while but he eventually managed to find… Ty Lee!
"Ty Lee!" He called out, as her slim figure was kneeling on the ground while she struggled back to her feet.
"A-Aang?" She said weakly. "A-Are you okay?"
"H-Huh?" That caught him off guard. She was clearly worse off than him and she still would put others before herself.
But as much as he wanted to be amazed by it, they couldn't waste any more time.
"Yeah, don't worry!" He rushed to her side. "Can you walk?"
"I-I think so—" But as she made to put weight on her left leg, she cried in pain and would've fell to the ground if he hadn't caught her.
"Your leg's hurt." He said without trying to hide his concern.
But she shook her head before once again trying to stand on her two feet, which ended the same as the last time.
"Stop! You can't walk!" He tried to reason but she just bit her lip and was about to try again if he hadn't stopped her by picking her up from the ground.
She turned bright red as she stared at him wide lidded. "W-What are you doing?!"
"It's only going to get worse if you keep going!" He shouted louder than he expected.
"But I can't just let myself become a burden to you guys! I have to help out!" She said frustratingly, clenching her fists on her sides.
"And you will! But I can't let you keep hurting yourself like that!" He then smiled at her through his worry. "Please, just trust me on this one."
Ty Lee looked skeptical but eventually nodded. "Okay… sorry…"
He sighed in relief. "Thanks. Now I need your help blowing all of this dust away, but the second we do, we need to locate everyone and get out of here as fast as we can… So far the only thing preventing whoever attacked us from striking again is this massive dust cloud. And without it we'll just be sitting ducks."
"B-But—Are you sure I'm ready?" She stammered nervously. "I still haven't been able to bend strong winds like you…"
"Of course I'm sure!" He said confidently, as he fixed her with determined eyes. "You're stronger than you think, especially when it comes to your friends! So don't worry!"
"And besides! I'll be right next to you to support you!"
She remained quiet, staring at him with an unreadable expression, before breaking into a resolved look.
"Okay. I won't let you down!"
"Awesome! Now—" He put her down on her good leg while holding on to her. "Remember what we went through. Feel the air around you, and take hold of it."
And so, they both concentrated. "Now on my mark, use your arms to push it away from us."
She nodded at him.
He took a deep breath. "Ready?" He moved his arms in circular motion, prompting Ty Lee to do the same.
"Now push!"
She followed his lead, as the dust around them was blown away into the sky.
It worked!
He looked around, an to his surprise, all of his friends were on their feet and alert.
Toph was with Zuko, while Katara was with Sokka.
Now with clear vision of each other, they all arrived at a silent understanding and bolted back into Appa's saddle.
He swiftly boosted himself along Ty Lee, while Toph launched the others.
Soon enough, they were back in the air. Not letting their assailant get another shot at the—
But a crackle once again filled their ears, as what seemed like a massive man with metal limbs and three eyes shot another one of his explosions.
Without thinking, he leapt off Appa's head and managed to stop the explosion before it could reach them by bending a massive slice of air towards it.
And although it worked, he was sent flying with so much force, he almost felt himself pass out midair.
Thankfully, Katara managed to catch him with a water tentacle, guiding him back into Appa.
"Who the hell was that?!" Sokka shouted angrily. "And why did he attack us?!"
He looked around, everyone sharing in his concern and confusion…
Everyone except Zuko, who looked frozen in shock.
"Zuko? Are you okay?" Katara reached to grab his hand.
But he just shook his head in despair.
"…No, this is worse than you guys could imagine…"