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!

Look at me, uploading on the right day! God damn, looking like she has her shit together!

I feel cute, better now that I have had my mental health time off, my boss is fkg hilarious, a 60yo man squaring up to *fight* a customer. I am curently attempting to binge watch the shit out of The Mandalorian again and ya'll can fight me but Luke had absolutely no business just spawning smack in the middle of it and taking Grogu.

Dommie, yeah I'm not gonna push it because I know you're man enough to actually do it. Get some goodness! PS: Are we down for a Cpt. Jack Sparrow marathon this weekend or you gotta work?

Brain Fart, his arrow glowed because he got angry. But don't worry, you'll see more instances of that happening!

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 V: The Conflict

X—X

Dinner had been absolutely hectic, but Aang had been all too glad to participate. He had loved the wild but familiar environment; it brought him back to his own traveling days with the gaang. The loud cries, the jokes, the pranks, the talking, the passing around food, it was all part of it, and he loved it. The middle-aged woman – Aiguo – that taken him to her house, a small and simple two-bedroom house, and gave him necessities and a fresh change of clothes.

And now, stomach deep in a hot spring in an empty bathhouse room, he sighed in relief. He looked around. The walls were thick and sturdy with the exception of the one on his right, which was made of bamboo. It was a clean sheet but went over the spring. And Aang could see that the pool structure extended beneath the bamboo wall, so that meant there was another room on the other side.

He was nude, save for the short underpants that kept his decency at bay. Both his arms rested on the cool floor behind him, and he let his body relax. It had been some time since he had this kind of relaxation, uninterrupted and heated. He closed his eyes and thought about his predicament. Tonight was the first of the two nights he could spend in the Air Dome before risking Katara's wrath.

And he didn't want to risk it.

But there was still so much to see, there was still so much to learn. Maybe he could ask the elders for a free pass. Maybe he could, in Toph's words 'exert some of that Avatar influence to get his way'. He wanted to be part of the Air Nation community that lived there. He wanted to meet them, see to their needs, and help them become what they once were. He wanted to see Ahria again.

That thought jostled him out of his thoughts. He shouldn't think like that about her. She was a beauty, yes, she was captivating for sure, she was a force to be reckoned with, definitely, but he was with Katara. She was his forever girl. Aang brushed off the voice in the back of his head that told him that one, he had not thought of Katara during the entirety of his time in the Air Dome, and two, that was the second time he needed to vividly remind himself of that.

"Hey there."

He looked up to see no other than the one plaguing his thoughts, twisting them into something Aang was not entirely sure how he felt about it just yet. And she stood in a silky pale-yellow kimono, that reached the middle of her thighs and left her bare legs for the world – in this case just him – to see. His eyes trailed up her body until they locked with hers, and her smile turned sweet.

"Mind if I join you?"

Aang's eyes widened, and he looked down at himself. Sure, he was not naked, but there was nothing left to the imagination, given that the water did its job soaking his underpants. But still, he gulped and nodded shakily, and her smile grew. He watched as she walked to the bamboo wall, opened the almost invisible door on the wall, and stepped to the other side.

He heard the whisper of silk falling down to the floor and the splashing of water. There was a little sigh that made him swallow hard, and Aang adjusted his seating. He did not know why he was divided between relief and disappointment, but he was. But he took the relief because, for the third time, he had to remind himself of Katara.

"How are you liking it so far?" Ahria asked. "I know the village is not all that impressive compared to the central, but-!"

"I love it. It's amazing, truly." he declared. "I much prefer to be with the people than to spend my time cooped up inside a tower trying to please old minds and older ways of thinking. The world changed, Ahria. People need to change with it."

"Hey, I'm with you there, Aang. But you need to get the elders on board because if the people don't agree, the elders will simply cast them out," she replied, and Aang saw her legs stepping closer to the bamboo barrier.

"It's not right to cast someone out simply because they don't meet certain expectations." he shook his head and noticed how his right-hand arrow glowed for a moment.

"Old ways of thinking and casting judgment sometimes win over the most forward minds." she sighed.

"How... how did this even happen?" he frowned.

"The... ways of thinking? Or the bathhouse?"

"The second one. We're in a valley, and there's no natural heat source around."

"Well... because it was unfit to have a miniature version of this in every house given the limited space we have; the community created a common place for people to bathe," she explained.

"But... how does it work?" Aang eyed the small spring-like dragon head that poured hot water from his mouth.

"Well, okay. So, Mako and I found this thing during one of our trips to the Fire Nation." Aang heard splashing and noticed she was coming closer to the barrier. "It was a system to heat up the water in this metal-like structure. They basically had this compartment full of coal and they burned it, and that would heat the water inside that same structure. And, in a pump-like system, that structure was attached to pipes that led to the pools, where the water would be deposited. Everyone was done with washing themselves with cold water, so when Mako and I brought back one of those designs, it was immediately implemented."

"And the water itself? Wouldn't that need to be cleaned?"

"Yes, and that was what Kai and Syaoran found when they went to the Earth Kingdom. They saw how they took care of their waters after a flood, how they used these... grid-like filters to purify the water. So they brought that idea, and we've used it since." she explained.

"This is... my dream."

"What do you mean?"

"I've dreamed of this. A place where technology and ideas from different worlds and cultures could be joined to create one singular goal. Where we don't shy away from good ideas just because they come from a different culture."

"Wel... these changes didn't come from ideology, Aang. They came out of necessity. There was a problem, we solved it." he heard her sigh. "I wish it could always be that easy."

"Ahria," he called and gasped when he saw her swim under the barrier and emerge on his side.

She brushed her face and her hair back. Her skin was flawless and rosy from the heat of the water, but Aang could see a few random places on her shoulders where the sun had kissed her skin. He stood up in the water, reaching now the top of his stomach, and walked to her. She grabbed his forearms when he reached out to her and smiled.

Her eyes reflected the glow of the water, and her lips were wet from swimming under. He grabbed her elbows to keep her close and watched her carefully. She was down to her under wrappings, and her curls had been sleeked back by the water, floating behind her. She gulped, and he saw her tongue come out to wet her lips further, as one hand left his arm to press against the middle of his chest.

Aang simply looked at her. At that moment, he was too entranced by her to even think about feeling self-conscious. He was not as tall as Zuko, nor his shoulders were as wide. He was not as strong as Sokka, his arms thinner. But he was a growing young man, and he was lean and agile. And when her small hand on his chest raised to his left pectoral, collarbone, shoulder, and finally to the side of his neck, Aang could do little more than wrap his hands around her petite waist.

"You could save us," she whispered. "Free us from the prison walls we built around ourselves. The people want to know what they missed in the last hundred years. They want to see the New World. But the Elders keep us here like glorified pets. Or worse, slaves."

"I'll convince them, Ahria. I promise." Aang gulped.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Avatar." her nails dug into his forearm, but Aang did not even flinch.

"You've grown so much inside these walls. I didn't even know these many escaped."

"They didn't." she sighed. "The ones in the Air Temples, even the ones that ran away... they all died. But a few Air Nomads were down here, and they escaped. So they built a haven for themselves."

"But there are so many of you now."

"They took on non-bending wives to ensure the legacy of the airbending. And they... created their people again. A hundred years is a long time to bring a people back to life, Aang." she huffed out a laugh. "For holy priests, they sure know how to procreate."

Aang flushed but laughed alongside her. "I really want to take you to the Air Temples. To my home. Show you what it's like to live there."

"I... want that, Aang, I really do, but..."

"But what?" when she looked away, Aang moved on instinct. He cupped her face with one hand and stepped closer to her. "Why can't I show you my home?"

"... you really don't know?" she whispered.

"Tell me, Ahria, please." he gulped.

"... because of Katara, Aang." she looked into his eyes and smiled sadly, before pulling away from him. "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow if you still want my company."

"Ahria-!"

"Goodnight, Aang."

–X–

The morning came, and Aang sat outside the tower. He would be lying if he said he had gotten a full night's sleep. Ahria had kept him up most of the night, her words not clear enough for him to make sense of them. What did Katara have to do with him flying her to the Air Temples? With showing her how the Air Nomads used to live? And why did the hurt in her eyes cause him so much distress?

"Good morning." He looked up to see Ahria smiling down at him.

"Hey." He immediately stood up, watching as she raised her head to keep looking into his eyes. "I thought you wouldn't..."

"I promised I'd show you around. I don't break my promises, Avatar," she smirked. "We're going to the school and then to the clinic. Then, half an afternoon off, because I need to sleep, given that I'm going to the ring tonight."

"Can I come?" his smile grew.

"Yeah, sure. If you still hope to consider yourself an airbending master after we're done." Ahria wiggled her eyebrows.

"You're on."

A/N: Hope you liked the spicy! Might give it a shot at fight scenes in the next one... what do you think? 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 :)