Greetings, avid readers!

I'd like to start with thanking all the reads, favs and follows in this story. Even if silent, your support means a lot. As for the ones that took their time to write a review, thank you as well!

I swear I had everything ready to upload. I forgot. I apologize.

I am currently exhausted out of my mind, but this time it is not Dommie's fault. I just... need a break. Anxiety is reaching its limits and I feel ready to physically fight a lumberjack. And I am a 5'1ft person. You need not bitch anymore Dom, the therapist is scheduled for tomorrow, and so are my days off. Now get off my ass.

Dommie, you know me too well, I swear. We might as well get married at this point. Let me know if you like her name!

Brain Fart, thank you! I'm glad you like her.

This is my first try at a Avatar fanfiction. Go easy on me. Reviews and flames are always welcomed, for they keep my cat and I warm at night.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar nor any of the characters. Such credit should go to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. I do own a... certain amount of characters that will be recognized further into the story.

Thank you, and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter IV: The Air Dome

X—X

He turned around to see, just like she had told him, six elders looking at him. The room was large, white, and with a lot of natural light streaming from the windows. Aang pulled his staff from behind him and stepped up to the pillow in front of him, sitting down. He placed his hands in a cup on his lap and straightened his back.

"Master Airbender." one of the elders spoke. "Speak, please."

"My name is Aang. I was born in the Southern Air Temple."

"That is impossible, child. The Air Temples have been empty for a hundred years now."

"Well..." he looked to the side. "If we're being honest, I was born a hundred and eighteen years ago."

"You're the Avatar."

"Yes." Aang nodded. "I've been looking for you for years now."

There was a whisper among them, and Aang waited patiently. He remembered that the elders were known to mull over their words. One of them spoke up. "Is the war over like our scouts say, Avatar Aang?"

"Yes, has been for five years now. Fire Lord Ozai was defeated by me, and the current leader of the Fire Nation is working tirelessly to mend the bridges that Ozai burned."

"The Fire Nation is apologizing?"

"Not only that, they are rebuilding. Helping the world heal." Aang licked his lips. "The Water Tribes are working together, and The Southern Water Tribe leader is trying to unify the Tribes."

"And the Earth Kingdom?" another asked.

"The first to side with me, my masters, and the Fire Nation to unify the world once more. Just like Avatar Roku wanted."

"What is your purpose here, Avatar Aang?"

"At first, it was to discover if any part of my culture, of my home, still lived." he took a deep breath. "But now, with your support, I would like to help the Air Nation return to their homes, the Air Temples."

"We are secure in our city."

"You are not secure; you are in hiding." Aang's right hand's arrow glowed for a moment. "The war is over. Please... let me help you return the Air Nation to its true glory."

"We will consider your request." one of them spoke. "In the meantime, how did you find us?"

"I... followed one of you here. I saw her bend and I recognized some of the advanced techniques, so I followed her. She heard my plea and agreed to bring me inside, and then brought me here."

"Would you happen to know a name, Avatar Aang?"

"Rea." he smiled.

The elders all turned to the one with the long beard. Aang immediately recognized the description and fought a smile. "Hum, short, curly hair, bright eyes, wide-!"

"We know who she is." the one with the beard replied. "Ahria."

"Ahria?" Aang slowly smiled. "Yes. She was the one that accompanied me here."

"And you say you saw her bend with... advanced techniques?" the bearded elder raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Rather beautifully."

"Ahria is not a skilled bender."

"I-I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. She is. I've seen her."

"Avatar Aang." another elder spoke up. "Ahria cannot perform advanced bending. We are sure. We do not know what you've seen, but surely it was basic techniques."

Aang frowned. He knew what he had seen. Regardless, he chose not to respond and preferred to leave his questions to Ahria herself. "Will you consider my request?"

"We will. In the meantime, we will have someone show you around our city, and arrange for your stay."

"Ahria should do the trick, right Boqin?"

The elder with the long beard frowned. "Yes. Li Mei will advise her to behave."

One of the elders chuckled, and Boqin glared at them. "Avatar Aang. We will now be pondering on your proposal."

"Thank you. If I may be excused." he got up and bowed.

"You may."

Aang bowed again and grabbed his staff, exiting the room with a quiet step. When the door closed behind him, he looked ahead to see Ahria talking quietly with Li Mei. He grinned and walked up to her. She smiled at him and nodded to Li Mei, who bowed deeply and left.

"Why do they think you're not a skilled bender? I've seen you bend before!"

"Woah, easy there." she raised one hand. "Questions... not here. Now, Li Mei instructed me to take you on a tour around the city. I know Droplet-"

"Her name is Katara."

"-Droplet told you to return in two days' time, so... let's take you out to a spin, okay?"

"And you'll answer my questions?"

"Yes." she smiled. "All of them."

"No lies?"

"No lies. Omissions, maybe, but no lies." Aang frowned, but she simply giggled. "Come on, you."

–X–

"And this is the recreational park, where the elderly come to spend their time." Ahria nonchalantly waved around the green area.

Aang frowned. Ahria was acting rather bored with the tour she was giving him. He found it strange, given that she had been excited prior to his conversation with the elders. So far, he had seen the tower, the park, the training grounds, and the flashiest areas of the city. He felt like he was being given a tourist tour, to impress him on the mightiness of the city. He turned to face her and frowned.

"Ahria."

Her head snapped to the side, eyes wide. Her mouth parted, and her lips formed a pretty 'o' shape. He smiled gently and stepped closer to her. "You... you called me..."

"Ahria?" she nodded. "That's your name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but..." she gulped. "Everyone calls me Rea."

"What do you prefer I call you?"

"...whatever you want."

"Alright." he nodded. "I like Ahria. Song."

She licked her lips and looked away. "Yeah, exactly."

"Ahria... why are you showing me this?" Aang cocked his head to the side.

"Because I was asked to show you around the city."

"Ahria, I'm not a tourist." her eyes jumped to his. "Show me the real Air Dome."

She smirked and reached out a hand. "Come with me."

He took her hand and Ahria was quick to take him away from the brightness of the city. She tugged him down the streets, away from the Tower and into the streets walked by the people. Aang almost tripped on the uneven ground and Ahria smiled at him. She pulled him under the stone arch and the Avatar gasped.

The streets were well-walked, the buildings were not as pristine and the adults walked around, either on business or ushering the children inside for their meal. Aang bowed to some elders that greeted them from the benches on the side of the road and watched as everyone greeted Ahria with a smile or a wave. She kicked a ball back to a couple of young teenagers and twirled a dancing airbender.

"Rea!" an older man called, and the young woman smiled.

"Give me a moment." she walked to him and pulled the satchel from her back, giving it to the man.

"Ah, you're the best, Rea." The man ruffled her curls and she shied away.

"You're welcome. I heard Huiyin needed a handful of seeds to start cultivating for the winter. And Feng needs bark for the soles." she smiled.

"Thank you, Rea." the man bowed his head. "Won't you get me some spices from the Fire Nation the next time you go there?"

"Anything in specific?"

"To make fire cakes."

"Certainly." she bowed once more and walked back to Aang. "Come on, we still have a lot to see."

The Avatar let himself be led through the small streets, but he was deep in thought. If he was not wrong, Ahria had just... "That satchel."

"What about it?" She frowned. "He'll give it back eventually."

"The money the people from the Earth Kingdom gave you was in there."

"Yes, and?"

"And you gave it to him."

"I did." she stopped walking. "Aang?"

"Why? You didn't keep anything to yourself."

"What use do I have for it? We exchange here in the Air Dome. Food for clothes, clothes for shoes." she explained. "We don't have use for it here."

"Then why give it away?"

"That was Nian Zhen. He is our merchant. He, alongside his wife, leaves the Air Dome every month to buy things that we don't have nor can we produce here, like seeds, fabric, and bark. Alongside other kids here, I go out there, work or perform, get coin so that Nian Zhen can go and buy what we need." she explained. "Did you... really think I'd keep everything?"

"I... I didn't know what to think," he admitted.

"Aang. I'm an Air Nomad. I have no use for money, other than for the fabric it buys to put the clothes on our back." Ahria smiled gently. "You understand."

"Perfectly." he smiled.

"Now come. It will be sundown soon, and I still have to show you the common grounds."

"Common grounds?" Aang frowned.

"What, you think we all train in the tower?" she raised an eyebrow. "No. You want to see real airbending? You go to the common grounds."

"What are we waiting for then?"

She smiled wildly and took his hand, pulling him along. She pointed him to a number of locations, like the dining pavilion, the public library, the school, the common bathhouses, the clinic, among many others. Aang made her promise to revisit some of the locations again, like the school and the clinic. She rolled her eyes with an affectionate smile but agreed.

When they got to the common grounds, Aang stood a bit to the side as he watched airbenders train with each other. Most greeted Ahria, a few even turned red when she smiled. Aang couldn't fault him, her smile was nothing short of beautiful. Some tried to convince her into a sparring match, but she politely denied them, claiming she was on tour duty. When the sun finally began to set, she tugged him back to the tower.

"So, here's the thing." she declared once they got there. "Li Mei asked me to bring you back here because the elders want to dine with you. But, if you want, you can come to the pavilion. We all gather there to eat at dinner, the whole village. The food is not as fancy, and it will be very noisy, but... think about it, okay?"

Aang nodded. "The Elders also spoke about sleeping quarters?"

"Yeah, I was actually going to see to that during dinner. At least for tonight." she shuffled her feet. "So... think about it, okay?"

"I will."

"Great. I should be going now. Mako always needs help with bringing the children home from school." Ahria took a step back, "So see you at dinner! Or not? I'll come to pick you up when I'm done. I promise."

"Thank you, Ahria." Aang smiled and noticed how a tingle of pink appeared over her cheeks.

"Sure, Aang." she bowed her head. "See you around."

He watched as she turned around and left, beautiful curls bouncing down her back. She walked with a spring in her step, almost as if the wind carried her. Someone cleared their throat behind him and Aang turned around to see Li Mei smiling kindly at him. "Are you ready for dinner, Avatar Aang?"

"Yes, Please lead the way."

Li Mei took him upstairs so that he could wash up and afterward led him to a very regal-looking dining room. The elders were already there, waiting for him. A few more masters looked at him and straightened up. Aang bowed and took a seat at the table.

Food was quick to be served: everything looked beautiful, expensive, and pristine. Quiet conversation ensued, two lines over politics, three over the villagers, and a few words around promising students. It was all splendid, a meal worthy of the glory and fame that came with the title of Avatar.

But Aang found himself quiet. Shy, almost. Answering in cordial, wise lines to the questions placed. Nodding along with whatever Elder Shiro was saying, or listening to the curt affirmations of Elder Boqin, who he was starting to like even less. He found himself wondering how was the community dinner, what were they eating. Would he serve himself, would he flinch from the cries of the playing children, would he see Ahria laugh and joke as she ate and passed around the food?

And he suddenly realized he was not where he wanted to be.

"If you'll excuse me..." Aang slowly stood up. "There is a matter that I must attend to."

Without waiting for as much as a goodbye, the young man bowed and left the room. He saw Li Mei, who smiled secretively and pointed him in the right direction. He all but flew and it was not long before he was standing in front of the opened doors, gasping for breath.

"Hey there, sweetie." his head snapped to look at a middle-aged woman with a kind smile. "Won't you come in? The food will get cold."

"Oh, hum... are you sure you'd have room? It seems pretty crowded."

"Nonsense, the hand that feeds one, feeds two. Now come, Aang." at his wild look, she explained. "Rea said you could come. She wasn't sure but asked us to save you a seat. You must be hungry. Those elders don't know how to feed a growing boy!"

Aang happily followed to one of the long tables that stretched all through the length of the pavilion. If he was not wrong, the entire village was there. Children ran around, moving from table to table to sit with their friends, and others simply played around, having finished their meals. Rea had not been joking when she had said it was loud, but Aang found it more relaxing than the meal with the elders: this was a community, a happy and celebrating community, brimming with life.

He sat down and looked around. He saw people passing food, others sharing, and a lot of stories flowing through the air. He noticed Rea, sitting about six seats down from him, smiling widely as she ate and joked around with the people next to her. She looked a bit different, though. Her skin was marked with two streaks of ash on her left cheek, her syrup-brown hair up in a fluffy topknot. He let his eyes wander over her figure. There was something about her, alright.

"She's a very special one, isn't she?"

Aang's eyes snapped back to the middle-aged woman. "I... I wouldn't know. She wraps herself in mystery."

"Rea was always like that. Even when her mother was still alive, she kept to herself. She was everything to everyone, but if you asked someone something as basic as her favorite color, they wouldn't know. Rea is the kind of person that knows everything about everyone; she's a well of people's secrets... but no one knows her own."

"Yeah, and I already found a few. The elders told me Ahria was not a skilled bender, but I beg to differ. I know what I saw."

"They don't know because no one told them." she filled his plate and helped a young child grab a piece of bread. "Rea was kicked out of the tower's academy when she didn't produce the results they were expecting from someone of her ascendency. That is one grudge she will never get over, so when she did become a master airbender on her own terms, she made a deal with the entire village that no one would ever tell the academy or the elders of how powerful she was."

"Why not?"

"Because the one that kicked her out was her own father." Aang froze. "He was Headmaster, and after she left, he became an Elder. She is right to not want to go back, but she paved her own way. By doing so, she irked the elders. One little ant finds a better way..."

"Many others follow."

"Rea is adored by everyone, Aang. But the elders can't seem to look past her defiance. And if they do, they do so in secret, never before the council."

"Where does she live then? If not with her father?"

"With Mako."

"Tenna's older brother?"

"Oh, no." she giggled. "Mako is an elder man that lives on the outskirts of the village. Ever since his wife died and his son... left, he exiled himself from the community. Rea found her way into his house one stormy night, told him off the next morning when he rudely tried to kick her out, and they've been living together ever since."

"She gets what she wants."

"She's loved. She gets what she asks for because people love her." the woman looked down. "But there will come a time when we will have to choose between our love for her and our duty towards our village... and I assure you it will be the dealbreaker."

"You think people will follow her out of love?"

"I think people will follow her because they know she's right. Even if that means thread a whole new path." she smiled sadly. "But knowing the elders as I do, they will put the power in her hands by simply stripping her of everything she has."

"She's the kind to move legions by faith." Aang let out, watching her laugh.

"Much like yourself then, Avatar Aang."

He smiled and looked away. "Have you... ever thought about leaving?"

"The Air Dome?"

"Yes."

"Plenty of times. But the elders keep us all secure in here, and we do not know what goes on the other side of these walls."

"Surely you've been told that the war is over. By Ahria. By other scouts. By Nian Zhen and his wife." Aang frowned.

"We have. But we can't pronounce ourselves on that matter, for the Elders still believe the Fire Nation is still trying to kill the Air Nomads."

"That's not true. The Fire Lord is my friend. He has been helping me look for you. To rebuild the temples, to restore the Air Nation to its glory." Aang frowned. "I've asked the elders that much, to break apart these walls and move back to the temples. But they are content in their hiding."

"They are." she nodded slowly. "And most likely, your proposal will be shot down. But... do you want to know how every drastic change in a country really happens?"

"How?"

"People start a revolution. And I know just the person to side with you." she smiled, and Aang's eyes immediately found Ahria.

"Yeah."

"You know, it's funny... you're the only person that calls her 'Ahria'."

"I am?"

"It was a special name. Her mother gave it to her. At first, it meant love, when her mother called her name. Then, it was contempt and disapproval by her father. I wonder what it is now..."

"Yeah... I wonder." he gulped.

"I know Rea is taking you to stay with Mako and her tomorrow, but would you like to rest in my home tonight, Aang? It would be an honor to have you. My son Chao is a great fan of yours." she suggested.

"It would be my honor." Aang bowed his head.

"Perfect. I will show you to my house after dinner, and then you can go and take a bath in the common bathhouse, is that okay?"

"Sounds absolutely marvelous. Thank you."

A/N: Okay, I have something *spicy* for next chapter I hope you're ready for it. Keep in mind, I'll keep this story up or drop it depending on your feedback.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to review if you want, or if you don't, I hope you liked it!

First to review gets a cookie!

Lots of love from this weirdo,

LoneeWolf :)