It took a bit time since the last chapter but hey, c'est la vie.
Sommer seems soon to be over, rain is falling and I just feel like cuddling up with a good book, hot chocolate and the sound of the stormy weather, but the job is calling and the world still seems to be run by money...
On the other hand, weather that keeps you inside makes it more attractive to write! I guess that's a plus for you all?
Simplelum: Thanks for the honest feedback, I appreciate it.
Leo 23: I hope you like it!
LAzHellRaiser: Right? But I felt it kept with her character.
malinkody: You're welcome
buterflypuss: I can always count on you
Puck627: I already had some written for another crossover that I just posten. It's just the first chapter though but I hope I'll have time to work on it too. Got some ideas. But the idea about Lilo and Stitch is great! Thank you for your trust in my abilities!
As Martha Wash put it so perfectly:
EVERYBODY DANCE NOW!
Chapter 3
Staring in disbelief at the Fire Nation flag hanging above the former open gate to Omashu, Aang was the first to speak.
"I can't believe it…" He said, "I know the War has spread far, but Omashu always seemed…" he turned to look away from the city, "untouchable…"
"Up until now it was." Sokka said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Now Ba Sing Se is the only great Earth Kingdom stronghold left."
"This is horrible," Katara said as she walked over to Aang, "but we have to move on."
"No, I'm going in to find Bumi." Aang said
"Aang, stop. We don't even know if Bumi's still-" Sokka said but Aang cut him off.
"What?! If he's still what?!" He said harshly.
"Alive." Harry said, making all three look at him.
"I know you had your heart set on Bumi," Katara tried, after giving Hari a disapproving look, "but there are other people who can teach you earthbending."
"This isn't about finding a teacher. This is about finding my friend." Aang said with steel in his voice.
"That I understand!" Harry said, "So let's find a way in!"
Aang smiled at Harry, while the siblings looked at them with uncertainty.
"Follow me." Aang said, as he started to walk.
.
.
.
Aang led them all far below the gates of Omashu, where they found a circular hole, covered by an iron gate.
"A secret passage, huh?" Sokka said, rubbing his chin, "Why didn't we just use this last time?"
Aang and Hari finally pried the iron gate off to the tunnel, revealing it to be filled with sewage that spilled out onto the ground in front of them.
Sokka and Katara took a step back, avoiding the spill.
"That answer your question?" Aang said cheekily as Sokka pinched his nose.
"Ew!" Sokka said, waving the smell away.
They entered the sewer one by one, Aang first, then Katara, Sokka and at the end Hari. There wasn't much space so they had to crouch down while finding their way through the sewer.
To avoid the sewage Aang bended an air ball with his staff to clear the path in front of him while Katara used waterbending to maneuver the sewage carefully around her. Hari, using the same technique as Aang, also avoided the sewage, which just left Sokka, trapped between the stuff moved by Katara and the blowback from Hari. Unfortunately for Sokka, it took a bit before Hari realized this and bended the air in front of Sokka to make sure he didn't drown in the stuff, earning him a very thankful nod from Sokka.
When they finally emerged from the sewer, they found themself in the middle of an empty alleyway that connected to a wide street, that Hari recognized as the shopping street from their last trip to Omashu.
"That wasn't as bad as I thought." Katara said, smoothing out her clothes.
Sokka stretched, looked down at himself and began to scream.
The others looked at him and found that three, purple, octopus-like creatures had attached themselves to his skin, one on each cheek and another on his arm and they didn't seem like they were letting go no matter how much Sokka pulled at them, jumped around and shook his arms.
Hari and Aang tackled him to the ground and pinned him down.
"Shh! Stop making so much noise." Hari said.
"Don't worry Sokka," Aang said cheerfully, "It's just a purple pentapus."
Sokka looks back and forth between the pentapuses on his cheeks in fear when Aang grabs one and lightly rubs its head, making it let go, leaving behind small circular welts.
Sokka looked at the little creature in Aang's hand as he reached up and did the same to the one of the other cheek, getting the second one off. Katara reached out and helped get the one off of his arm as they heard footsteps approach.
Turning the corner were three guards.
"Hey! What are you kids doing out past curfew?" One of the guards asked.
"Sorry. We were just on our way home." Katara said quickly.
The four turned and started to walk when they were stopped by the guard.
"Wait, what's the matter with him?" The guard asked, pointing at the small circular marks left behind from the pantapuses.
"Uh, he has pentapox, sir." Katara said as the guard approached, "It's highly contagious."
Sokka, catching on to what Katara was trying to do, started to moan loudly.
"Oh, it's so awful. I'm dying."
"And deadly!" Katara and Hari said at the same time.
"Hey, I think I heard of pentapox!" One of the other guards said to the first one, "Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?"
"We'd better go wash our hands," The first guard said as Sokka started to cough violently at them, spit flying everywhere.
"And burn our clothes!" Said the third one as they started to run.
"Thank you, sewer friends." Aang said as he rubbed the head of the pentapus in his hand, earning a happy squeak.
"Now, let's find Bumi and get out of here." Katara said.
"Where would they be keeping him?" Sokka asked.
"Somewhere he can't earthbend." Aang said.
"Somewhere made of metal." Hari answered as they all looked up at the palace. It was almost unrecognizable now as huge metal structures rose along the walls, reaching into the sky, giving it an ominous feeling.
.
.
.
Climbing up to the top of the palace was no issue, but there was no trace of Bumi.
Walking along one of the ramparts they suddenly heard a rumble. Looking up they saw rocks crumbling down one of the cutes. Aang looked down and saw a group of people, one of them clearly a mother carrying her child in her arms. Without thinking he raised his staff and sent a blast of air, pulverizing the rock before it passed them towards the destruction of the firebenders below. The small group looked up at the sound towards Aang and the others.
"The resistance!" The mother shouted in fright and pointed up at Aang.
"Better get out of here." Sokka said as they started to flee, but before they could get far, two soldiers climbed up to the rampart, but they were quickly blown back down by Aang.
Hearing the commotion Hari turned and saw a young woman around their age climb up after the soldiers went down.
The young woman threw out her arms and sent a handful of arrows at them that Hari sent off course with airbending.
The woman then threw a spinning knife at him which he also bended away, making the girl stop in her tracks.
"We got your back." Hari heard Aang say as Aang, Katara and Sokka stood behind him, ready to fight.
Nodding without looking at them he faced the girl who had an annoyed look on her face.
She was about to throw something else when our friends felt the ground below them disappear and they fell down, the ground closing above them.
Coming to, they looked up and found themselves surrounded by former Earth Nation soldiers.
"I guess you're the resistance?" Hari said as he stood dusting off his pants.
.
.
.
Following the soldiers they arrived at a big underground chamber filled with what looked like civilians.
"So…" Aang started, "is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?"
"Of course not!" Said the soldier who had introduced himself as Yung, "The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city! To fight for our lives and for our freedom! But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered."
Sokka and Hari looked at each other and shrugged while Katara looked at Aang in concern.
"The day of the invasion," Yung continued, "I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said 'I'm going to do… nothing!' and then started to laugh that laugh of his."
Sokka and Hari nodded along, easily imagining how that sounded like.
"It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for." He finished as he looked out over the people who had gathered to hear the conversation.
"Actually there's another path to freedom."
Yung turned to look at the young Avatar who had just spoken.
"You could leave Omashu." Aang said, "You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation. But you're outnumbered. You can't win. Now's the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day."
Yung looked down, his round Earth Nation helmet hiding his eyes.
"You don't understand. They've taken our home, and we have to fight them," He pulled his arms up in a fighting pose, "at any cost!"
"I don't know Yung," came from next to him, "living to fight another day is startin' to sound pretty good to me." Said one of his fellow fighters.
"Yeah, I'm with the kid!" Another one said, pointing his thumb at himself.
Looking around him at all the underground refugees, Yung sighed.
"Fine… But there's thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?"
Aang, Katara looked at Hari and Sokka who stood with his hand on his chin until he pointed at Yung.
"Suckers!" He exclaimed.
It took a second before it hit Hari who then hit Sokka on the shoulder.
"Great idea!" He said with a broad grin. The two looked around at the questioning faces, making Hari sighed, giving Sokka a look as he gestured with one hand at everyone else.
Sokka blinked, but then smiled widely.
"You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox.
.
.
.
The following hours was spent hunting for pentapuses, sticking them to people and removing them leaving everyone covered hand and head in pentapus sucker-spots.
By the time they were done the sun was high in the sky and everyone was gathered in one of the small hidden alleys of Omashu.
Standing in front of everyone was Hari and Sokka.
"Listen up everyone!" Hari said out loud.
"The marks make ya look sick, but you gotta act sick too." Sokka followed up.
"You gotta sell it!" Hari finished punching his palm in emphasis.
An old man hobbled by leaning heavily on his cane, while moaning in discomfort, shambling.
"That's what-" Sokka said, "we're talkin' about." Hari finished, both smiling.
"Years of practice." The old man said as he looked at them, smiling while tapping his wooden leg with his cane.
"Okay," Sokka said, followed by an "everyone!" from Hari, "Into sick formation!" they said as one.
"Is it just me or are they too much in sync?" Aang whispered to Katara, who shuddered.
.
.
.
A couple of Fire Nation guards were relaxing by the gate when they heard moaning in the distance.
Squinting to get a better look they noticed a huge group of people slumbering through the streets of Omashu, moaning as if they were in pain as they slowly, step by step came closer.
Sokka was in the lead looking truly possessed, scratching his arms, drooling while seemingly talking to himself and his eyes moving around while his head didn't move.
The guards turned white at the sight as some of the sick even fell over and tried to crawl as if possessed, reaching out for them.
Hari was in the middle of the group with leather bags filled with old meat and other rotting things using airbending to send the smell away from the refugees and into the Fire Nation soldiers around them.
They tried to keep the sick away with their spears as they moved backwards and when the smell hit them one of the soldiers shouted "Plague!" of the top of his lungs, making the alarm ring out through the city.
It didn't take long for word to spread as the orders from the new Fire Nation governor of Omashu declared that the sick should be driven out of the city to rid them of this horrible and deadly affliction.
Unbeknownst to anyone, a small Fire Nation child had, due to an unforeseen series of events, ended up following the "sick" out of Omashu.
.
.
.
As the refugees gathered at their rendezvous point Hari noticed that someone was missing.
"Where's Aang?" He asked Katara.
"He wanted to look for Bumi so he stayed behind. You think something's happened?" She asked.
Hari looked towards the city, seemingly lost in thought until he sighed and smiled.
"No, I think he'll be fine. Let's wait for him." He patted her on the shoulder and walked around the Earth Nation citizens, seeing if anyone needed help with setting up camp.
Katara found a spot with a good view overlooking Omashu where she sat down on a outcropping rock, sighing deeply as she did so.
So much had happened in a short time and she didn't feel like she had enough time to process it. Not just with getting people out of Omashu, but also the whole thing with the cave the day before.
She thought back to her moment with Tori… She didn't understand… It was obvious to her that she was attracted to Tori but what did it mean?
Normally it didn't happen, right? It wasn't normal. Girls were with boys and she had been in love with Hari so she liked boys, but why did she feel attracted to Tori enough to kiss her? Walk hand in hand with her?
She had so many questions and she felt like she had no answers and no one she could ask. She didn't know anyone or of anyone who had done anything like it, it just wasn't done. Her tribe would never approve and from what Tori told her, there was a chance that she would be thrown out. She started to feel anxious. Even though she had put up a brave front in front of Sokka.
Maybe it was just a one time thing? But she knew it wasn't. Back at the South Pole, she was the only girl her age so there wasn't anyone she had seen in a romantic light, but during their travels, she had noticed guys as well as girls but she had thought it was normal to appreciate how they looked. It wasn't like they made her heart skip a beat and she had had her eyes pretty much on Hari until Tori made her look around again.
Taking a deep breath she looked to the sky. Was there something wrong with her?
A memory entered her mind. "I love you and you'll always have me in your life." Hari had told her after seeing her kissing a girl.
She didn't know if she could be as free as Tori and laugh it off, but she knew Hari wouldn't leave her and she hoped that Sokka's acceptance was true, she truly hoped it was.
As she sat in her own thoughts she noticed Aang's glider approaching with the giant goat gorilla Flopsie running under him so she called for Hari and Sokka, who quickly came running.
Landing in front of them, Aang's demeanor was not a happy one.
"We looked everywhere. No Bumi." Aang said, not looking up.
Katara walked forward and hugged him while Sokka went over to give the sad Flopsie's face a hug as well.
Hari was standing behind them wondering where they might keep the king when Yung walked up to him.
"We've got a problem. We just did a head count." He told Hari.
"Did someone get left behind?" Hari asked him.
"No, we have an extra." Yung said as he pointed to the side.
Looking in the direction Hari saw Momo staggering to keep his balance as a small kid, looking around two years old, holding on to Momo's neck.
Hari, Katara, Aang, Sokka, Flopsie and Yung just looked at the poor Momo until Hari took mercy on his first pseudo-brother in this world and picked up the kid who giggled at being lifted up and reached out for his face.
It was obvious the kid was Fire Nation from the clothes.
"Bugger me sideways." Hari said, as he looked down at the kid.
.
.
.
Sitting around the bonfire, Hari was sitting with the kid sleeping in his lap.
"Guess he had an exhausting and interesting day." He said as he kept the kid close and warm.
Many women had awed at the sight and from the corner of his eyes he even saw one woman talking with her daughter while eyeing him, making him a bit worried but it seemed that his proximity to Katara seemed to be a deterrent.
"O~oh, he's so cute. Isn't he." She cood.
"Talking about him or Hari?" Sokka said while smirking.
"I don't see why it can't be both." Katara said back, making them both giggle at Hari's expense.
"Sure he's cute now," came from Yung, "but when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army. You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer."
"Are you talking about him or Hari?" Aang said, making everyone at the campfire laugh, brightening the mood.
A shriek pierced the night making everyone turn towards the sound, finding a messenger hawk sitting on a nearby rock.
Aang went over to retrieve the message. He gave the bird a snack as he took the scroll from the tube on its back.
Opening it he read the contents out loud.
"It's from the Fire Nation governor. He thinks we kidnapped his son!"
All eyes were on the two year old in Hari's lap.
"So…" Aang continued, "he wants to make a trade. His son for King Bumi."
"You do realize that it's probably a trap, right?"
"I don't think so." Aang said, "I'm sure the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi."
"Wait." The voice was so cold that it made ice run down everyone's spine, "You're not actually thinking about this trade?" Hari said not even looking up at his friends.
"Yes?" Aang, Sokka and Yung said in different stages of worrying. Yung, not at all, Sokka slightly and Aang very much so.
"Not happening." Hari said so matter-of-factly that it seemed like The Earth King himself had just made a decree.
"Why?" Yung asked, not seemingly worried at the tone of voice from the boy in front of him. Hari finally looked up, making Aang, Sokka and Katara draw back a bit. They knew that look.
"We. Don't. Trade. Children." Hari said, putting pressure on every word with such force that it would seem as if they were shouted even though his voice never changed a decibel.
Yung was about to voice his opinion when the fire suddenly died and the air around them turned so cold that it was hurting his skin.
"Any remarks?" Yung heard Hari ask, and as he looked at the young boy in front of him he took a quick breath of ice cold air that hurt his throat and lungs. It was as if a great spirit sat in front of him, eyes shining in the dark.
"No sir." Yung found himself saying as the temperature rose back and the fire returned seemingly on its own.
"Good." Hari said, "Then write a letter back that their son was found among the resistance by mistake and there will be no trade but their son will be delivered back at the northern second top platform in three hours."
Aang wanted to ask about King Bumi, but he knew Hari's no-nonsense voice so he kept quiet.
"I'll be delivering him myself since I have the highest chance of escaping. While I'm making the delivery, Aang and Momo will use the distraction to look for King Bumi." Hari said.
'Could he read my mind?' Aang thought to himself, and why Momo?
"Because Momo is actually an excellent tracker," Hari said as Momo jumped onto his shoulder, nuzzling into his hair, "and no, Aang, I can't read minds." He finished while winking at Aang, whose jaw dropped, before quickly shaking his head and narrowing his eyes at Hari who just laughed it off.
"What about us?" Sokka asked.
"The best you can do is prepare for when we come back and wait for the signal, since I have a feeling that we'll need a quick get-away and then leave immediately afterwards." Hari said, putting a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Can I count on you?"
Pushing the hand away, Sokka punched him lightly in the chest.
"You know it."
.
.
.
Waiting at the meeting point with the child in his arms, Hari was wondering how Aang was doing.
Hari had had a serious talk with Momo about who they were looking for and surprisingly for everyone else present, Momo seemed to understand and take his role seriously. Aang had then left earlier to look for King Bumi and Hari hoped they were doing well.
His line of thought was broken by the arrival of three girls around his own age.
He remembered the first one, being the dagger-happy goth, though happy might be a wrong description since he had a look that seemed to fit Lady Malfoy, ever scowling, but he hadn't seen the other two before.
On the left was a girl who wore a light smile, light clothes that was easy to move in, sandals and a top that showed a slim, toned midriff. She had brown, long hair, tied at the top and made into a long brain hanging down, over her shoulder and down to her side. The way she carried herself seemed both strong and skilled but it was the one on the right with red lips that made his Potter-sense ring warning-bells. She had dark hair tied in a top with a Fire Nation Symbol adorning it and wearing what looked like a uniform. Also how her eyes narrowed when she saw him.
"She smells dangerous." He heard Mul hiss from within.
"Thanks for the confirmation." Hari though back.
"You brought my brother?" The middle one asked in a monotone voice.
"Yes I did, but isn't it impolite to ask questions before introductions?" Hari asked as the little one was playing with Hari's own ponytail.
"Uh, I like him." The happy one on the left said.
"It is true it is impolite, so Mai, why don't you introduce us?" The dangerous one on the right said.
"Ugh," The middle one exclaimed.
"I'm Mai, the daughter of the Governor of New Ozai, once known as Omashu. She," she said as she pointed to the happy girl on the left, "is Ty Lee, former circus acrobat." Hari blinked at this and looked at the girl who just smiled and waved at him, making him instinctively wave back, making her smile even more.
"And this is Princess Azula, daughter of Fire Lord Ozai." Mai finished.
Before Hari could say anything, Azula stepped forward.
"And you need no introduction, Hari of the Southern Air Temple, traveler and companion of the Avatar."
Hari froze at this and it took him a couple of seconds to regroup his thoughts.
"I guess my reputation precedes me?" He shrugged, trying and managing pretty well to hide his surprise.
"It truly does." The princess said with a smile that seemed sadistic. "I have a little northern bird sing songs of, well not praise, but about your abilities. Hate can be such a wonderful motivator." She studied her nails, as if what she said was the most natural thing in the world.
There's something somewhat Bellatrixy about her, Hari thought to himself, as if under the sadistic playful demeanor was something wicked and dangerous. She hoped for a reaction, he realized, but he wasn't going to give her one, especially since he didn't have any idea what she was talking about; northern bird.
Shrugging his shoulders as he put the kid down, facing his sister, Hari took a step back as the kid started to waddle towards the three girls.
As he reached them he pulled on Mai's dress to get her attention.
As Mai picked him up Hari turned to leave when Azula spoke up.
"It seems like such a loss to let go of someone who's a companion of the Avatar. Keeping you here seems to me like a sure way to make the Avatar come to us instead of having to look for him ourselves."
Hari felt a shiver run down his neck.
.
.
.
Aang was surprised.
You might think that having survived in ice for a 100 years would make it harder to surprise you but that wasn't the case.
Flying lemurs had always been playful and sometimes downright troublesome. They had a reputation for being troublemakers and messy back at the Southern Air Temple.
Aang thought they were funny and free and that was basically his knowledge about them and so far Momo hadn't changed his opinion… well until today.
Momo had found Bumi.
He was hidden in a part of the city that had been fully converted into metal and Bumi himself was stuck in a coffin looking metal prison container with only his head visible inside what seemed like an open dome of metal.
Landing in front of Bumi, Aang looked at its construction to find a way to break it.
"Aang, is that you? Where did you come from?" Bumi asked.
"It doesn't matter right now, Bumi." Aang said, "I'm gonna get you out of here."
Aang raised his staff to hit Bumi's prison, but as he swung, Bumi lifted his chin and a rock wall came up and blocked Aang's swing.
"Wait, what?" Aang said confused, "You could earthbend? All along?"
"Well, they didn't cover my face." Bumi said smiling.
" I don't understand?!" Aang said angrily, "Why didn't you free yourself? Why did you surrender when Omashu was invaded? What's the matter with you, Bumi?"
"Listen to me, Aang. There are options in fighting, called jing. It's a choice of how you direct your energy." Bumi told him calmly.
"I know that!" Aang said in an annoyed voice, "There's positive jing when you're attacking, and negative jing when you're retreating."
"And neutral jing when you do nothing!" Bumi added happily.
Aang's eyes widened and he counted it on his fingers.
"There are three jings?" He asked confused.
"Well, technically there are eighty-five, but let's just focus on the third. Neutral jing is the key to earthbending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike."
"Oh, like Hari sometimes does when he feels the wind and like the time with Jet and during the ice dodging! That's why you surrendered, isn't it?" Aang said in realization.
"Yes, I can see that Hari would be good at that and also it's why I can't leave now." Bumi said softly.
Aang sighed in understanding.
"Neutral jing takes a lot of trust, doesn't it?" Aang said.
Bumi's eyes widened in surprise. It seemed that Aang had grown a lot in the short time since they last met.
"Yes, Aang. It takes a lot of trust. Trust in yourself to be able to see the moment, to know what to do, but also to trust those around you and for them to trust in you." Bumi felt proud of his friend. He looked at the young Avatar. It was sometimes easy to forget that he still was just a young boy.
"Sorry I didn't trust you, Bumi. I guess I need to find someone else to teach me earthbending." Aang said, disappointment coloring his voice.
"Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jing." Bumi told him in a kind voice, "You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking."
Aang nodded as he opened his glider.
"Thanks for the advice, Bumi. I hope I'll see you soon."
"Goodbye, Aang. I'll see you when the time is right." Bumi answered as Aang took off.
.
.
.
Ducking under a spinning blade, Hari turned to face the three girls only to realize that they were running towards him.
Quick scan showed that the kid was nowhere to be seen so he guessed that they had stashed him somewhere safe, but he didn't have that much time to think as the feeling of heated air made him spin out of the way of a blue, BLUE fireball.
From the two times he had met Mai he guessed that she wasn't a bender but from the looks of it, Azula definitely was, and a strong one at that. Her moves were refined and polished.
Doing a back handspring to avoid another fireball, he found himself in the line of a small arrow.
These girls are good, he thought as he used airbending to spin in place, making the arrow go under him.
As a crescent shaped flame shot at him he slapped his hands together, sending a sharp air-bust into it, and at contact he spread his hands, making the flame blow apart.
He noticed more arrows behind the flame, but his bending had been strong enough to send them off course.
Quickly kicking he sent an air-blast at Mai who was blown back and just as he wondered about Ty Lee, when a small fist reached out for his chest.
He wasn't fast enough to block and tensed up in preparation for the hit but he was surprised by the quick taps he felt.
Spinning low he tried to drop her, but she copied his earlier movement and did a back handspring to avoid his sweep kick.
Hari quickly got up as a smirking Azula jumped and kicked out with both legs sending a huge concentrated blast his way.
Striking upwards with his open palm Hari blew the blast out of his way… or not!
Spinning out of the way, he landed on his side, his shoulder singed.
Pushing hard up didn't send him anywhere, but he scrambled out of the way from two knives that embedded themselves into the spot he just was.
"More blocks." He heard hissing from within.
"Mul! What happened?" Hari asked in his mind.
"More blocks!" Mul hissed loudly.
Mul sounded angry.
Hari adopted a fighting stance and did his best to avoid every blade and flame, but the girl's teamwork was overpowering and in his struggle his shoulder got hit by Ty Lee, making him unable to move it.
"More! Blocks!"
It felt as if Mul screamed in frustration inside him.
Hari didn't have time to talk with Mul or flee from the situation he found himself in and it didn't look good. Even though he understood what the girls were doing, how their teamwork worked. The girls were good on their own but together? One making dangerous obvious attacks, second making smaller sharp ones, attacking from afar while one disabling up close and it worked incredibly well.
"How are you gonna defend without your bending?" Mai said tauntingly.
Brought out of his thoughts by a knife slashing his leg superficially as he narrowly avoided another blast, time slowed down as he saw Ty Lee's smirking face closing in.
"Don't! Touch! My! Papa!"
Hari felt as if every vein in his body lit up as he was filled with energy. It felt as the first time he held his wand as the energy surged his arm into the focus, except this time his body was the focus itself. A flash of light and air blasted outwards with him in the center, blowing the girls back, landing haphazardly on the landing they were on.
They looked towards where Hari has been when Azula shouted "Move!"
Ty Lee jumped to the side hearing a slam into the ground where she just had been. Not stopping she back flipped and cartwheeled away narrowly escaping something she couldn't see.
As she landed next to Mai and Azula she looked towards the dust.
The dust seemed to be moving in a uniform way, left and right in a pattern and it was as if the air became so condensed that it seemed to hiss and it was then she saw it and awed. The dust seemed to coalesce into a giant snake with a closed eyed Hari in the middle. His veins seemed to be glowing a white silver color as if lightning ran through them and when he slowly opened his eyes his green irises were glowing brightly.
"Didn't you block his chi?" Azula asked Ty Lee.
"I did!" She said as the wind picked up.
The giant snake hissed at them as Hari swung his arms in a wide circle and threw his hands forward, the snake launching at them.
Azula spun her hands, making a flaming disc sending it at the snake, but the fire evaporated in the winds that made up the snake.
"This doesn't look good." Mai said in a bored voice as the snake hit them, blowing them far back and nearly off the platform.
Gathering themselves they looked towards where Hari had been and found him gone.
"Girls, we just got another target to capture." Azula said as she walked away.
"Finally I'm getting out of here." Mai said in her monotone voice following Azula.
Ty Lee looked down at her hands. She knew she had done it correctly and for a while it seemed like everything was normal but then, puff! It didn't anymore. She didn't understand why it hadn't worked, but on the other hand she couldn't wait to find out.
"Hari, huh?" She said to no-one as she turned around and skipped after Azula and Mai.
.
.
.
Hari was laying back in Appa's saddle after being picked up by Aang, Sokka and Katara.
They had seen the flash of light and taken it as the signal to get him. On the way they picked up Aang riding on his glider with Momo flying along.
When they got to Hari he was slumped over, brushed and bleeding so they quickly got him in the saddle and left Omashu behind.
As they took off Hari told them briefly what had happened.
Katara was fussing over him, using waterbending to heal him while Aang told of his meeting with Bumi.
"So yeah, I guess I have to find someone else than Bumi to teach me earthbending." Aang finished.
Sokka patted Aang on the shoulder.
"I'm sure we'll find someone. The Earth Kingdom is a big place!" Sokka said, emphasizing it by waving his arms above his head.
Hari tried to sit up but was pushed back by Katara.
"Get some sleep Hari." She said with a smile.
Laying back down and mouthing a 'thanks' he closed his eyes but he didn't sleep.
.
.
.
Opening his eyes in his inner world he met face to face with Mul.
He was about to say something when Mul shot forward, curled around him and nuzzled his cheek.
"I'm okay, Mul." He hissed in comfort as he stretched her under her chin.
"I know…" She hissed back.
After realizing that she wasn't gonna let him go he accepted his situation.
"Mul?" He asked.
"Yes Papa?"
"What happened?"
"The girl that hit you was blocking your flow so you couldn't use the energy, but I am that river and I wasn't going to let her trap me or constrain me. Because your connection to the Spirit World has gotten stronger I overflowed your inner pathways and broke through the blocks. She will not be able to do it again!" Mul said with determination.
"You broke through the blocks?" Hari asked.
"Yes!" Mul said happily, but immediately looked down, "Except one… Sorry Papa."
Hari hugged her giant head.
"It's okay Mul. We'll figure it out."
When Hari opened his eyes he saw that the sun was setting and his friends were dozing off as Appa flew into the darkening sky.
Turning his head slightly his heart clenched as the moon came into view.