"Wait a minute, Fire Lord Sozin gave Avatar Roku the necklace that's now fused with Aang?!" Katara cried, remembering she was in Uncle Iroh's tea shop.
"It looks like it, yes," Uncle Iroh responded calmly, but still looking rather serious.
"Then that has to be why this thing is fused to him," Sokka pointed out, "It's not Avatar Roku that's done this to him, it's Fire Lord Sozin."
Aang's onyx eyes widened, suddenly feeling that overwhelming heat swirling all around him.
"What do we do, Iroh? You said there's another necklace on this island," Toph said to him.
"Yes. Actually, it's a necklace that Avatar Roku gave to Fire Lord Sozin," Uncle Iroh explained, "They exchanged these necklaces to represent their friendship once Avatar Roku found out that he's the Avatar."
"That friendship didn't turn out so well," Sokka said under his breath, Katara sending him a glare.
It felt like Aang had been surrounded by a raging fire. Something about it gave him such an uneasy feeling.
"After everything that happened between them, Fire Lord Sozin started tossing all of Avatar Roku's possessions and treasures onto that island. Everything he ever gave to him. Some dragons even tried to get back something that Sozin took from them. No one has been on that island since the dragons showed up and took what was rightfully theirs. Everyone around the Palace calls it Sozin's Island."
Aang remembered the island looking burned down when he was walking around, looking for Avatar Roku.
"That must've been the dragons," Aang thought.
"Oh great!" Sokka cried out, "First Sozin's Comet, and now this?!"
The marking felt like it was burning him once again.
"So, how you know so much about Avatar Roku?" Aang asked him, trying to ignore the burning feeling, "He was friends with Fire Lord Sozin, but that's about it. They stopped being friends some time during his training."
Uncle Iroh looked from Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko. Aang could tell he was contemplating on what to tell him next. He knew it must've been something serious, or else he wouldn't pull back on it so hesitantly.
"It's okay, Uncle. You don't have to tell them anything else," Zuko said to him.
"But there is one other thing you should know about Sozin's Island," Uncle Iroh said to them, "He put a lot of boobie traps all around the treasures. Unfortunately, only firebenders are allowed inside the cave where he keeps all of the treasures. I've been there once a long time ago, that might've been where I found Avatar Roku's necklace."
"What?! Seriously?" Toph cried, almost about to flip the table," I really wanted to find some treasure. Especially if it's just sitting there, not doing anything."
"I'm just as upset as you are," Sokka said, crossing his arms in disappointment.
"Bu-But, Aang needs me," Katara said, very worried to leave him, "I need to make sure that marking doesn't get worse. His healing sessions are only subsiding the heat and stopping it from spreading."
Aang couldn't stay in The Jasmine Dragon anymore when the nice, cool air felt so good right about now. Even flying with Appa, the wind blowing all around him sounded absolutely amazing.
"All I came here for was to find a way to get this necklace off. And now that I know where the island is, we should probably head over there now," Aang said as he grabbed his staff.
His hands were shaking from sweating so much. Katara noticed right away and ran over to stop him.
"Aang, you can't go right now. You're sweating so much that you won't even make it to Appa. You need to stay here so I can heal you," Katara explained as she pulled his glider away from him.
"But... I need to go now..." Aang said, feeling really lightheaded, "The connection to Avatar Roku and possibly the others will be lost if I don't get there in time."
"Which is why I need to heal you, at least enough so that make it to the island," Katara said to him.
"You know, a certain friend is staying close by," Uncle Iroh whispered with a sly smile, "Someone that might be able to help with Aang's healing sessions if you know what I mean. I can send that friend over to you. Until then, you can stay at my place. You just need to know a certain password in order to get what you need."
Katara didn't quite understand right away, but Zuko knew what his Uncle was getting at.
"Katara, trust me when I think we should take his offer," Zuko told her.
Katara noticed that Uncle Iroh's friend, might be someone she's already thinking of. If so, she had to take the offer. She turned around to support Aang back over to Appa, but he was already almost out the door.
"Aang! Wait up!" Katara cried as she ran after him, "You can't go right now! Please, let's take Iroh's offer!"
Katara and the others ran ahead of him since he wasn't looking too good and stopped him before he could climb onto Appa.
"I need... to go... now..." Aang said as he tried to airbend his way up, but could barely twirl.
"Aang! Stop!" Katara cried, tearing up.
"I have to go! The Avatar State is in danger!" Aang cried out as he waved his arm to stop her.
"Aang, you're in danger if you don't stop and just rest!" Zuko cried out as well, "You shouldn't be leaving right now, not when you're clearly not feeling very good."
The Avatar State looked like it was beginning to kick in, but Aang pushed Katara away from him just in time. His eyes and tattoos were now glowing very brightly as the wind picked up all around him. Everyone could feel the wind heat up as if they were in a fireplace. There were even embers, dancing along the wind. Katara noticed the embers weren't coming from any firebending, it was coming from the marking.
The Fire Emblem was starting to burn him.
Katara's eyes widened at the sudden look on his face. It didn't look terrifying like it usually did when the Avatar State kicked in.
He looked terrified.
She'd never seen such a look on the Avatar's face before. It looked like all of the Avatars were trying to fight off this Fire Emblem marking. It didn't even seem like Aang could float above the ground in defense.
Katara's tears were blown away as she made her way towards Aang.
"Katara?! What're you doing?!" Sokka cried out, trying not to get blown away.
"The Avatar State... It's in trouble!" Katara cried out as she pushed her way towards him, "I need to calm him down!"
Zuko wanted to help Aang somehow. When he looked at Aang for a moment, he thought he saw Avatar Roku crying for help. His golden eyes widened from the shock, and he grabbed Katara's hand.
"What're you doing?!" Katara cried as Zuko dragged her towards Aang.
"Helping you save Avatar Ro-- Aang!" Zuko said, stumbling a little on his words.
Zuko grabbed onto Aang's robe, catching his attention instantly. He tried to get away from him, but his head was pounding from the heat and stumbled into Zuko.
"Zuko?" Avatar Roku's voice came through, all of the other Avatar's voices echoing around it.
Aang's eyes glowed, but Zuko could tell that he saw him. Another flash of Avatar Roku took over his mind.
"Aang, you've gotta calm down," Zuko said with a sad look on his face.
Zuko shook off the thought of Avatar Roku and pulled Katara towards him. Katara had to hold onto Zuko or else she'd be blown away. The embers were still falling off of Aang, causing her to move quicker.
The moment Katara gripped onto Aang, he held her tightly. He gave her an embrace, and she didn't expect it. Katara could feel how hot he was as his chest laid against her. She looked around for some water since she was out of it in her canteen. In the corner of her eye, Katara spotted a water fountain near Uncle Iroh's tea shop.
Waving her arms ever so subtly, the water began to rise out of the fountain. She bended the water over to Aang behind his back and surrounded both of them. The water began to glow as Katara started her healing session as it slowly closed in on them. Soon enough, it looked like they were in a glowing ball of water.
The rest of Team Avatar stood in the distance, watching Katara try to heal Aang in the Avatar State. They knew it wouldn't do much, but they hoped it would at least help Aang leave the Avatar State.
Slowly, Aang's eyes and tattoos began to go back to normal. The wind died down, and the embers all around them fell to the ground. The marking was still spreading, but it was back to just his shoulders. Aang soon collapsed into Katara from pure exhaustion. She held onto him, hoping that Uncle Iroh's friend will come by very soon.
As Team Avatar joined her, she held Aang very close to her as he again breathed pretty heavily from the heat.
"We need to get to your Uncle's place. Now."
Another chapter!
Avatar Aang and his friends found out they have to go to Sozin's Island to find the other necklace! It looks like Sozin and Roku exchanged necklaces before he left to train as the Avatar! Sozin's Island seems to be full of treasures and boogie traps! Only Firebenders can enter the cave it seems. The Avatar State seems to be in trouble! Zuko could tell that Avatar Roku was trying to reach to him, but him and Katara were able to get through to Aang. Uncle Iroh's friend better get here fast.
More to come soon!