Wow, this chapter got done WAY faster than normal, please do not expect all chapters to be like this, okay? Two weeks, that's my normal minimum. Enjoy.

Ayaan couldn't see what was happening, and it was causing him great anxiety. The cone-like shape in which his prison of an encasement had grown amplified the sounds coming from outside of it. Was Aang okay? What was happening?! He could clearly hear the sound of yells and the crushing of rocks and stone, he could just barely feel the wind.

That had to be Aang attacking.

How was he attacking?

Was he using what he'd taught him?

Did he get hurt?

How were Sokka and Katara? He could hear them cheering, but what about their jennamite prisons? How far along were they?

How was the king battling? How strong was he? How did he fight?

Ayaan could do nothing but stand on the sidelines worrying like this.

'Useless. I'm useless.'

His mind was spiraling. He was suppressing his panic at the fact he could not move his arms no matter how much he struggled. No weapon, no water, no sight, can't speak, can't move, can't help.

He can't help.

He struggled more. But the crystal proved tougher than he could handle.

'Why is this stuff so hard...!'

The jennamite was harder than a normal rock. The stone from before was softer compared to it. While it was nowhere near metal, it was thick and firmer than the rock prison he encountered in the dining hall. Only an earthbender could handle this stuff, he was sure.

What the heck was this jennamite made from?!

He continued to struggle while his demons whispered in his mind about his worthlessness. He ignored them, continuing to drown them out with his anger at their situation.

"Ayaan?" He heard Sokka call him. Aang was doing well in his duel so far, even though the king was a beast. So, Sokka tore his eyes away from the battle for a moment, finally noticing that their eldest was... he was trembling.

How hadn't he noticed before?

"Are you okay?"

'No! When I get out of here I swear I'm gonna—'

All Sokka could hear were muffled words, irritated huffs, and growls as if Ayaan was asking a bunch of rapid-fire questions. But, the jennamite had grown over his mouth and eyes like a gag and blindfold.

When Ayaan realized that those were all Sokka or anyone else was hearing, he got even rowdier.

'Damn you! Damn this! Just wait until I'm free, you crazy, irritating, rock-loving, son of a—'

The younger boy wasn't able to put a hand on his shoulder, what Ayaan usually did for them as a show of support and comfort. But, he did nudge his brother a bit, trying to replicate it.

Ayaan needed someone to support him too sometimes. Sokka wanted to do that, even if only a small bit.

The contact made a light click sound, and Ayaan halted enough to hear Sokka's voice, "It's okay, Ayaan Bro." He said, "Aang is doing awesome out there. His airbending skills are top-notch. That King is no joke though, he's lifting up whole boulders! He made quicksand, bro! And killer spikes! He's a total beast! You can't see it, but his armpit hairs have hairs, bro. It's crazy."

Ayaan began struggling again, his muffled questions even more rapid than before.

Sokka realized his commentary definitely did not help the problem.

Katara, noticing the commotion and understanding the situation just as Sokka had, was the one to soothe her brother's worries this time, "It's okay! Aang's got it covered—Whoa! Aang! Dodge! Dodge! Why are you running around li—" Sokka and Katara's eyes widened. "What?!" They exclaimed as if what they were seeing was incredulous.

The next moment Ayaan could practically hear Sokka's smile, "Yeah! That's it! Get him!"

"Go Aang!" Katara cheered, just as enthusiastic as Sokka was.

Ayaan stood there, patiently waiting for someone to explain. It was like they forgot he couldn't see anything. He was sure they did.

Sokka noticed immediately and fought back his embarrassment. He could feel Ayaan's deadpan expression through the crystal. "Oh, I'm sorry, Big Bro, you feel that wind? Aang just made a whole tornado! Now he's hurling a giant town-sized boulder at that Crazy King! It's amazing! Our boy's got this in the bag!" Sokka said with confidence.

"Hey guys, I think it's over!" Katara said, and they returned their attention to the arena. Well, Sokka did, Ayaan just stood there. Remember, he can't see or speak at the moment. It was actually getting hard to balance because the heavy jennamite had grown uneven. He could feel himself tilting as Sokka had earlier, but he was able to brace his leg, keeping himself from falling over.

'I hate this place. Without question, I hate this place.'

The end of the battle had finally come. Sokka explained that while Aang had gotten to the King with his staff, the King had another house-sized rock waiting above them. It was a draw, sort of, and the battle ended with no one getting seriously hurt aside from a few scratches, amazingly.

"Well done, Avatar. You fight with much fire in your heart." The King complimented. "You've passed all my tests."

Ayaan wanted to congratulate Aang, but he could not. He huffed in annoyance. His irritation couldn't get any worse, could it?

'I feel like I jinxed it...'

Indeed, he had.

"Now, you must answer one question." Everyone looked at the King in disbelief.

'Damn it!'

"That's not fair! You said you would release my friends if I finished your tests." Aang said angrily. The King only smiled.

"Oh, but what's the point of tests if you don't learn anything?"

"Oh, come on!" Sokka said it for them, all four of them exasperated with this king. But they didn't have much choice here, so they waited for him to speak up.

"Answer this one question and I will set your friends free." He said, pausing for effect, "What," another pause, for greater effect, "is my name?"

'What the hell kind of question is that?!'

"From the looks of your friends I'd say you only have a few minutes. Well, maybe less than that, poor Ayaan over there is almost fully encased in jennamite. One of my favorite colors, too."

'...If I kill him, will I be tried for homicide or regicide?'

The King apparently walks out, and Aang makes his way to them. "How am I supposed to know his name?"

"Think about the challenges. Maybe it's some kind of riddle."

'Nice, Katara.'

"I got it!" Sokka exclaims, causing the others to look at him. Well, Ayaan just turned in his general direction.

"Yeah?" Aang said, hope in his voice.

"He's an earthbender, right? Rocky. You know, because of all the rocks."

'...No, Sokka. Just, no.'

"We're going to keep trying, but that is a good backup," Katara said.

'No, it is not, stop lying to him.'

"Okay. So back to the challenges." Aang said, restarting the conversation, "I got a key from the waterfall, I saved his pet, and I had a duel."

'All of them were weird, but they were from that king so that isn't very surprising.'

"And what did you learn?" Katara asked.

'What the hell could he learn from any of that, Katara?'

"Well, everything was different than I expected," Aang says, deep in thought.

The jennamite creeps some more. At this point, Ayaan is pretty much covered in it. It makes all of them anxious, "And?"

"Well, they weren't straightforward. To solve each test, I had to think differently than I usually would." With that sentence, Aang's face lights up, "I know his name."

'How the hell did that solve the problem?'

The guards that were with them quickly used their earth bending to take them back to the throne room. Within minutes, they were before the king just like they had been before. Only this time, there was a lighter atmosphere thanks to their extremely happy airbender. Aang speaks up with a smile on his face.

"I solved the question the same way I solved the challenges. As you said a long time ago, I had to open my brain to the possibilities." Aang smiles, "Bumi, you're a mad genius."

All of Ayaan's thoughts halted at that reveal.

'...The fuck did I just hear?'

While Sokka and Katara made little gasps of surprise, their brother was eerily silent and still.

'I know he didn't say that's Bumi.'

The King, now known as Bumi, the friend that Aang hadn't stopped talking about since being in Omashu, laughs in glee, snorting as he does. It made Aang's smile widen further, and he rushes the old man in a hug.

"Oh Aang, it's good to see you. You haven't changed a bit. Literally."

'Bumi? This crazy, irritating, rocks-for-brains king is his old friend Bumi?'

"Uh, over here!" Katara yelled, reminding the duo that there was still a pressing problem needing a fix.

"Little help?" Sokka added, jennamite beginning to encase his head.

"..." Ayaan was silent and still. Eerily so.

Bumi, with a skilled movement of his hand, breaks the jennamite effortlessly. The siblings sag in relief at their freedom, only Ayaan having no emotion present on his face as he watches the king catch one of the purple pieces of the rock.

"Jennamite is made of rock candy." He takes a bite out of the rock, undaunted by the hardness of it. Biting into something like this was nothing for the old king, "Delicious."

Ayaan, as calmly as he could manage, began to speak, "This old man is your friend Bumi?" He said, very slowly and calmly towards Aang.

"Yep! No doubt about it!" Aang replies, not noticing the atmosphere shifting in the room.

"Hey! Who are you calling old?" Bumi retorts, but upon further thought retracts it, "Okay, I'm old." He too didn't notice the atmosphere's gradual shift.

"Why did you do all of this instead of just telling Aang who you were?" Sokka asks a meaningful, beautiful question; all of them waited for the king's answer.

"First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people—"

The King was cut off at that sentence.

That... that was the last straw.

"My spear and everything else except Aang's staff was taken, we were arrested, paraded through the streets like criminals," Ayaan states, looking down at the floor.

His siblings take a step back from him. Something... something was off. Something wasn't right.

"Um..." Aang says, now noticing the shifting atmosphere. Ayaan continues to list things, not bothering to look at the kid or the king. His voice drops lower with every add-on, "Ayaan?"

"Made hostages against Aang, were trapped in candy, put through weird, dangerous, and irritating tests," One could almost picture the angry aura surfacing around the boy, dark and vicious like the scowl growing on his face every second.

"Maybe... you should calm yourself a bit, my boy... I-I did have a good reason for it..." Bumi was also sweating a bit, just like Aang as they steadily backed away.

"And you mean to tell me... that all of that... is because messing with people is fun, and for a damn reunion?"

"...Yes and no?" Bumi squeaked, "I may not have thought about how all of this may seem from your perspective, especially given that you weren't brought in on any real charges." He turns to his men, "Guards, their things, please."

Within moments, the kids saw their stuff returned. Ayaan's spear was placed carefully in his hand by the old sentry from before. The senior gave the boy an endearing nod, as the spear was returned in the condition it was taken in. He'd kept his promise. It made Ayaan feel better holding his weapon.

Yes, he had a weapon now.

He immediately makes his way for Bumi.

'Regicide?'

The children could hear something 'snap' in the distance.

'So be it.'

It was Ayaan's rationality.

"No! Don't do it!" Sokka and Katara latched onto his waist, using the soles of their boots to dig into the floor as they halted their brother's march.

"Let. Go," Ayaan growled, the sound almost rumbling through his crest at how deep it went.

'Well, R.I.P. me, I guess...'

"Calm down! Just breathe, Ayaan, breathe! " Katara yells, holding on tighter.

"Calming breaths! In and out, Ayaan. Innnn. Aaaaand. Oooout!" Sokka added, grunting as their brother fought against them for every step he took closer.

A demon from the pits of hell, that's what he looked like.

Aang joined in at that point, trying to pacify his very upset older brother figure. He held his hands out in front of him, as if trying to soothe a wild beast, "E-everything's okay now! Look, Bumi is a friend! Didn't you want to have powerful allies to help us? Now we have an ally in Omashu! Right, Bumi?!"

"Yes! That's right!" Bumi agreed readily.

"C-come on, let's get you outside! Fresh air! Away from the palace!" Sokka said, turning his brother around towards the entrance with great effort.

"Yes! Far away! Miles Away!" Katara added, needing to use just as much strength to move their brother in the opposite direction.

"I'll catch up with you, okay?" Aang said, still trying to pacify the angry giant. He wanted to catch up with Bumi more, and now that everything was cleared up he thought of staying just a few hours more. That's when a genius thought came to him, "Momo, go with them."

Momo didn't need to be told twice. His human was upset, he could sense it. Momo landed on Ayaan's neck, wrapping around it while he cuddled closer. Everyone could see the crease in the boy's brow and the frown on his face easing with every purr from the cute creature.

'Nice, Momo!' Aang cheered mentally.

'Great job, Momo!' Katara praised silently.

'Momo, you're the best!' Sokka practically cried.

'I knew Momo would be needed!' Bumi thought, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Aang gets his bit of wisdom from Bumi and converses with his old friend, while Katara and Sokka prevented Ayaan from committing murder. They were able to lead Ayaan out of the palace. The further away he got, the calmer he became until he finally spoke to the siblings pushing him down the street.

"Let go, now." He said.

Instantly, they released him.

"A-are your okay, now?" Katara asks, huffing from the strenuous work.

"C-c-calm?" Sokka asks. He was in even worse shape than his sister. How was getting him to leave that difficult?!

They had underestimated how angry Ayaan actually was.

Ayaan didn't answer either of them. It made them anxious, his silence.

They remembered when he hardly spoke to them after their mother's death. They remembered when he never smiled or laughed, when his expressions were either blank or a scowl, like now. They remembered going days without seeing him after his scars healed enough to move.

They remembered being scared he would never come back.

Ayaan knocked them out of those dark thoughts when he sighed heavily. He was still frowning, but it was more irritated than I'm ready to murder somebody.

He... he wasn't actually about to stab the king with his spear... right?

RIGHT?

Ayaan didn't care for their anxious and slightly relieved expression at the fact that he didn't get the chance to. Instead, he took the liberty of checking through the satchel of things he'd bought at the market before... this incident occurred. Everything was there, untouched and well-kept. He pulled out the presents he'd gotten them too, not bothering to hide them as he checked them over.

The two siblings' eyes shined.

"Was that for me?" Katara asked hopefully. It was a beautiful blue dress, but her breath almost stops when she realizes what shade of blue it was: Sapphire.

Hers, and her mother's, favorite shade of blue.

It was the reason Ayaan instantly bought the nice dress; he knew it was her favorite color. She always spoke about how pretty their mother's parka had been when she was a child. He never forgot.

Sokka's sparkling eyes stayed on the boomerang care kits, as well as the heavenly smell of the dried meats carefully stored in the other bags. "Are those mine?" He drooled.

The eldest knew that Sokka wanted to keep his prized boomerang in pristine condition, as well as his love for food, meat in particular. There were many stalls selling the dried meats that lasted longest, as well as local cuisines Sokka would have adored.

He had been planning to have them eat in their lovely room, rest, and then leave.

But then they decided to be idiots, and now his mood was shot dead.

"...No," Ayaan put everything back carefully. He returned his gaze to them, only to frown and walk in the direction of the inn. "I'm not giving them to you."

"...Huh?"

"You can buy your own food with your money, though I feel like I should take that back, too."

"Huh?"

"Don't 'Huh' me," He chastised, "Your training begins at the break of dawn tomorrow. I might get a little serious this time."

They swallowed thickly, they forgot that he was also upset with them.

Do they want these gifts? They're gonna have to earn them back. He paid for this with his money. They have allowances, they can use those for food for the rest of the week.

He ain't giving them a thing until then, except hell, that is.

"Be prepared."

One could hear the sound of something cracking.

It was the sound of their hopes shattering.

...

..

.

After Aang said his goodbyes, they met up again at the inn. Receiving the same news that Katara and Sokka received, Aang wasn't in very high spirits either.

On the other hand, Shiko and the other people Ayaan had encountered were ecstatic to hear the wonderful news of his cleared name, as well as who was in his little group. Now, not only was he a little lord, he was friends with the Avatar, and on speaking terms with their king!

And his family were his siblings. Not a wife and child.

He was single.

That meant chaos. Absolute chaos. The Ayaan Cult—EHEM—Fan Club, no, RELIGION, surrounding this man was in chaos. It was only furthered when they realized he was such an innocent bean.

They had to protect this. His chastity, his mind, they had to protect all of it from the vultures and wolves that would surely aim for their lord. He was too wonderful, and until the moment he was ready to give those up to whoever he chose (none of them felt worthy) they would shoo away any who tried to worm their way towards him.

'That silver hair, how lovely!'

'Keep Lord Ayaan safe from those little devils!'

'Protect the saint!'

"Welcome back, my boy!" The weapons-shop owner, Mr. Reeds, said. He patted Ayaan on his back, almost completely ignoring his family watching the spectacle behind him. "I'm glad the misunderstanding has been cleared! We were worried."

"Yes, everything is fine now," Ayaan said, though if one paid close attention, there was an edge in his voice that hadn't been there before.

He still hates Bumi.

"Wonderful news!" He bellowed. "I knew you were something special, but I had no idea you were friends with the Avatar. Come on, my boy, Shiko's waiting for you at the inn. She kept your room for you while all of that was happening."

This surprised Ayaan. He thought they would sell the room to another because they got arrested. "That's... nice."

Mr. Reeds only smiled, before turning his attention to the three troublemakers. "Now, Little Avatar, Lord Ayaan's siblings, please try not to make life hard for your older brother in the future, alright?"

"R-right..."

"Yeah..."

That was... odd.

As the three of them walked behind Ayaan, interactions like that one kept happening. The people were amicable towards their brother, inviting him to their shops and giving him well wishes and hellos. It brought their minds back to when they were first brought to Bumi after being arrested, how the people in the city had done their best to defend him.

He hasn't done anything but be helpful!

He helped me load my cart!

H-he gave me enough money to feed my family for the next month! Please don't take the nice big brother away, sir!

Lord Ayaan saved me from your disgusting officers!

He even played with my rowdy children for a bit! They absolutely love him!

Then they remembered what the guard that read their charges said after getting all of the information.

The guards have been informed very thoroughly that aside from this, he has been a law-abiding traveler with a strikingly good reputation among Omashu's people.

While Ayaan had been making such a positive impression on these people, they went on a destructive joy ride on a stolen mail cart. Even though now they weren't in trouble for it, they were sure that the ones whose homes and businesses received damage because of it weren't very fond of them right now. They could tell by the narrow looks they were given by those people in particular.

In this situation, they were the troublemakers.

The boy in question, who was thanking Shiko for keeping his room, still hadn't said a word to them since earlier. He had more pressing matters to deal with, getting their things ready for their journey. When all of that was done, that was when he addressed them:

The three idiots sitting in the room with him right now.

"We're done here. Tomorrow, we're leaving."

"But," Aang tried, "We didn't even get to see the sights!"

"No," He denied firmly, "you saw plenty while collectively being stupid," Ayaan said bluntly. They all winced at the honesty.

"I-it wasn't that bad!" Katara argued, "Everything led up to us getting a powerful ally. Isn't that what you wanted?!"

"And what if that insane king hadn't been Aang's friend, Katara?" He shot back.

The girl went silent.

"Exactly."

Sokka argued this time, "But he was. We're okay, nothing really bad happened, and we got a strong ally in our fight against the fire nation! Why are you still this upset?!"

"You act like nothing could possibly go wrong!" He retorted, the raise in his voice making all of their eyes widen.

He turned away from them, "None of you seem to understand how easily things could have gone wrong. You didn't even care to think about it. Of course, I want you to have fun, you deserve to see the world and smile and laugh without worries. I would want nothing more for you three. But we are in a war, every day losing more and more ground."

He looked over his shoulder, his narrowed eyes cold in their brighter blue hue, "Did you even listen to the people whispering about other earth kingdom towns being subjugated and oppressed? The only reason that Omashu is peaceful is that they have such strong defenses; they are surrounded by a ravine with only a single bridge in or out of the city, impossibly thick walls, and strong warriors including their king."

Ayaan looked away, sighing heavily. "This journey is going to be dangerous. Impossibly dangerous. While you were learning the name of your friend, Aang, I realized just how useless I am."

He halted, taking in a steady breath of air as he continued, "I couldn't protect you in there. So much could have gone wrong, and none of you understand that."

"Ayaan..." Sokka and the other's mood was effectively somber. He had been right. Because of the reveal that Bumi was Aang's friend, things went well. Because Aang was the Avatar, things went well.

But what if Bumi hadn't known Aang?

What would have happened to them?

The fact that they didn't know scared them.

"We have to get stronger. I have to get stronger. So, we need to make our way to the North Pole, as quickly as we can manage. So tomorrow, we leave." Ayaan didn't look back at them, going into a different room.

Although there were enough beds for all of them to sleep in, he wanted to be alone. Whatever expression they were making, he didn't want to see it right now. "...Good night." He whispered, closing the door behind him.

He had good reason to want to be alone. He could tell that his sleep would be filled with nothing but nightmares.

But that wasn't anything new.

Momo found his way inside, Ayaan welcomed his presence. "I'm proud of you, Momo. You earned this." He made sure to give the animal some of the fruit he bought. The little lemur dug in readily, eating until it was all gone. He began to pet him, rubbing gently from his head to his back soothingly. The animal couldn't resist the urge to sleep, and so he did, right on Ayaan's lap.

Ayaan didn't get to sleep until much later, after he heard his family sleeping soundly in the other room.