(Originally posted December 17, 2022 on AO3)
After they had flown for two more days, only taking breaks every so often to camp for the night in caves on the islands to the northeast of the Southern Air Temple, Zuko had begun to notice that their food rations were thinning.
Frustratingly, he did not have a good idea as to how they were going to go about replenishing them. It was far too risky to attempt to venture into of the Fire Nation colonial cities, towns, or villages, lest he and his uncle be recognized and arrested. That would absolutely spell trouble if Zhao had actually declared them criminals guilty of aiding the Avatar. Zuko was slightly less uncomfortable with venturing into Earth Kingdom territory, though not by much. It wasn't exactly like he had a choice.
Aang, to Zuko's annoyance, did not seem to harbor the same anxiety that he did about their current situation. He kept reassuring them that there was a "place on the way" that he knew of where they could rest and obtain more rations. Apparently, the only thing that Aang knew for certain about this place was that it was in Earth Kingdom territory. The fact that he didn't even know the name of the place didn't help Zuko feel any better.
At around midday on their third day of flying, Zuko was beginning to feel like he was going to go out of his mind after having stared at the seemingly never-ending expanse of the ocean for several hours. Feeling that he could no longer contain his impatience, he broke his long-held silence. "Do you even have any idea where we're going?" he snapped at Aang, who was sitting on Appa's head, reins in hand.
Aang turned his head back towards Zuko. "Well... I know it's near water!" he replied cheerily.
Zuko glowered back at him, then turned to Iroh. "Uncle, can't you do something? Who knows where he's taking us!"
Iroh, to Zuko's additional annoyance, did not appear to be concerned. "Patience, nephew. I'm certain we are not far," he said, and Zuko shot him an angry look.
"If you're bored, Zuko, I've got something that I think you'll find entertaining!" Aang said, turning around to face him. "Momo, marbles please." The lemur dove into his shirt, and handed him two marbles. "Check this out!" He held the marbles between his hands, then used airbending to make them spin between his palms with a toothy grin on his face.
Zuko was not amused. He stated at the trick for about five seconds, then sighed exasperatedly and turned back around to look out over the ocean to continue looking for any sign of land.
"Man, that trick usually kills with non-airbenders," he heard Aang mumble behind him. Then, his tune abruptly changed as he exclaimed, "Yes! There it is!"
Zuko quickly turned back around and moved to the other edge of the saddle to look up at the horizon in front of them. He sighed in relief as he spotted a small island in the distance.
When they finally descended onto the island's beach inside of a half-moon-shaped bay, Zuko grew frustrated again as he took notice of the fact that there were no buildings in sight - all he could see was a mass of golden-leafed trees behind them. "I'm not seeing anywhere we can obtain food," he grumbled.
"Patience, hotman. Like your uncle said," Aang replied, playfully knocking his fist into Zuko's shoulder. Zuko made an irritated sound in response, but Aang continued on. "I wanna show you something!" He pointed at the calm water of the bay.
Zuko squinted, looking in the same direction, but seeing nothing. He was getting fed up with Aang's ambiguity about this "place on the way".
Suddenly, what looked to be a giant koi fish breached the surface, jumping high out of the water with a huge splash, and Zuko's jaw dropped. Aang, however, laughed in excitement.
"That's why we're here!" Aang exclaimed. "Elephant koi, and I'm gonna ride it. Zuko, you've gotta watch me!" He quickly disrobed and dove into the water before Zuko could say another word.
Aang's heartbeat pulsed with excitement as he swam in the chilly ocean water towards where he had seen the elephant koi. It had been too long since he had gotten to ride these magnificent creatures. The islands directly north of the Southern Air Temple where the elephant koi were abundant were a popular field trip spot for the monks of the Southern Air Temple to take their pupils to on special occasions. Gyatso himself had been the one to show Aang how to ride the koi.
In the back of his mind, he knew that Zuko was right about food rations being a priority. But in his defense, he really needed a distraction after everything that had happened a few days ago at the Southern Air Temple. And he was sure there had to be an Earth Kingdom village nearby on one of these islands - he'd definitely remembered visiting some when he was younger.
At last, with one final dive, he had made it close enough to the koi to grab hold of its fin, and it breached the surface once more. Aang laughed heartily and grinned back towards the shore as he rode the magnificent beast. Zuko may be a grumpy guy, but he's still a kid, and it would be pretty hard for any kid to ignore how cool this looks!
Unfortunately, it seemed that Zuko was no longer even looking in his direction, and was instead speaking angrily to his uncle.
"Aw man," Aang said aloud to himself. So much for that.
Suddenly, before he had time to react, he was flung forward into the water. Resurfacing with a gasp, he turned around to see the shadow of an eel-like creature far larger than the elephant khoi towering over him. He screamed, and flipped himself back around, using airbending to propel himself as he ran across the water back to shore, where he collided into Zuko. The Fire Prince grunted due to the impact as the two boys slammed into a tree, causing several golden leaves to sprinkle down atop them.
Aang quickly hopped back up and jogged to where he had left his clothes, pulling them back on. If Zuko was mad at him before, he was probably livid now.
"What in the name of the Spirits was that?" Zuko demanded, infuriated and clearly shaken. "We are supposed to be here for food!"
"I don't know," Aang replied. "But maybe we shouldn't stick around to find ou-"
Before he could even finish his sentence, he felt himself being pushed down to the ground onto his stomach, something heavy pressed against his back, and a blindfold was tied around his eyes. From the grunts behind him, it sounded like Zuko and Iroh had been taken down as well. This isn't good, Aang thought. He was beginning to regret his decision to come to this island.
When Aang's blindfold was finally removed, he found that he, Zuko, and Iroh had been bound and tied to large a wooden pole of some sort. They now appeared to be in a small village, and in front of them stood a gathering of people dressed in blue robes, some with blue scarfs tied around their heads. At the front of the group stood several young women clad in green armor with gold headpieces. Their faces were painted stark white, with red paint applied to their eyelids and lips.
The girl in the center of the armored group appeared to be their leader, though she was rather young - in fact, she appeared to be around the same age as Aang and Zuko.
Aang's brow furrowed as he studied the warriors, wondering why they looked strangely familiar. They soon parted to let a middle-aged man with a bushy gray beard dressed in blue robes through. "You three have some explaining to do," the man said, frowning at the trio.
The lead warrior girl stepped forward. "And if you don't answer all our questions, we're throwing you back into the water with the unagi," she said coldly.
Before Aang could respond, he heard Zuko retort, "How dare you treat us this way! Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"
"No. And who might you be?" The girl asked, folding her arms.
"Zuko... " Aang heard Iroh warn under his breath. Thankfully, this must have gotten through to the Fire Prince, because he did not respond to the girl's inquiry. "I apologize for my nephew's rash response," Iroh said, now speaking politely to the man and the girl. "We were... not expecting to be greeted in such a way."
The man, who appeared to be the village chief, narrowed his eyes.
"It's my fault!" Aang blurted. "I'm sorry we came here. I wanted to ride the elephant koi."
The chief's brow furrowed in anger. "How do we know you're not Fire Nation spies? Kyoshi has stayed out of the war so far, and we intend to keep it that way!"
Upon hearing the name "Kyoshi", Aang's head popped up. "This island is named for Kyoshi?" He glanced up at the pole they were tied to and noticed for the first time an extremely worn wooden statue of his past life perched on top. She was dressed very similarly to the warriors who had captured them, expression stoic. "I know Kyoshi!"
The chief was not amused. "Ha! How could you possibly know her? Avatar Kyoshi was born here four hundred years ago. She's been dead for centuries."
"I know her because I'm the Avatar," Aang replied, matter-of-factly.
Neither the girl nor the chief appeared at all convinced. "That's impossible!" she retorted. "The last Avatar was an airbender who disappeared nearly a hundred years ago."
"That's me!" Aang replied with a grin.
Unfortunately, this seemed to have been the final straw for both the girl and the chief. "Throw the impostor to the unagi!" the chief ordered, and the girl nodded, motioning for her fellow warriors to join her in an attack formation as they pulled golden metal fans from their belts and slid them open. As they approached the trio slowly, he could feel heat radiating from Zuko's fist next to his, and realized that if he didn't do something soon, the reckless Fire Prince might just accidentally burn down the whole village.
Aang racked his brain, trying to think of a peaceful way out of this situation. Think. If sightings of my people are so rare that these people have never seen an airbender in their lifetime, just like with the Fire Nation - he was still refusing to entertain the idea that he was the last of his people - then maybe all I need to do is show them my bending! Even if they still don't believe I'm the Avatar, they'd at least know I'm telling the truth about being an airbender.
He curled his body forward, and used a blast of air to break the ropes tying him to the pole and shoot himself up off the ground up into the air. He used one of the Kyoshi statue's outstretched hands to cut the rope tying his wrists together and gracefully tumbled back to the ground.
The villagers, including the warriors and the chief, were visibly flabbergasted. "It's true!" the chief exclaimed in awe. "You are the Avatar!"
Aang internally breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that nobody had asked him to attempt to bend any other elements to prove himself further. Or asked why he was a 12 year old boy and not a 109 year old man.
Now that he was no longer in danger of being fed to a giant water serpent, his confidence had suddenly been boosted. "Now... check this out!" he said, pulling out the two marbles from his shirt. The trick may not have impressed Zuko, but perhaps it would be a hit here.
Whipping his hands out to his side, he began to spin the marbles between his them using airbending. He grinned, glancing out towards the crowd of clapping villagers, and heard Zuko groan behind him.
Well, they had finally gotten their food and replenished their supplies as Zuko had wanted. But he wasn't going to be happy about it. He didn't even feel the least bit hungry.
Aang practically had the entire village wrapped around his finger now that they knew he was the Avatar. Because of this, the villagers were also now completely trustworthy of Zuko and Iroh simply because Aang had said they were his friends. Additionally, due to Aang's newfound popularity, they had been given the nicest room at the local inn, though Zuko wouldn't exactly call it "nice" by his own standards. It didn't hold a candle to his old room at the palace back in Royal Caldera City.
Unsurprisingly, his uncle seemed to be having quite the pleasant time. He was currently stuffing his face with the food that had been laid out upon the table in the center of the room. Aang was sitting right next to him, doing very much the same. "These people really know how to treat an Avatar!" he said happily, words muffled by the food in his mouth.
Zuko did have to admit that it would probably be nice to sleep with a real roof over his head for the first time in a week. He never realized how much he had taken his cold metal room on his old ship for granted.
These villagers must have extremely limited contact with the outside world if they don't recognize our Fire Nation uniforms, he thought in annoyance, looking down at his new attire of bright blue robes. While he hated the way they looked, he had to admit that it was probably best to blend in with the locals for now to avoid anyone asking too many questions about their usual attire.
The more he thought about it, Zuko supposed that maybe it wasn't actually so difficult for foreigners to assume that he wasn't a Fire National, or even a firebender after taking one look at his face. After all, what Fire National would allow themself to be burnt in such an intentional way by their own kin?
He suddenly winced slightly, pressing his fingertips to his freshly healed scar as the memory of the day he had received it flashed in his mind, and felt himself begin to break out into a cold sweat. No, no. I can't think about that now, he thought to himself, squeezing his eyes shut. It was my mistake. It was what I deserved. He shook his head violently and forced the memory down.
"We should leave now that we've replenished our supplies," he said, standing up quickly. "Zhao tracked us to the Temple. He could track us here."
Aang and Iroh looked at him as if they had only just now realized he had been in the room with them.
"Come, nephew. It won't hurt to take a break for just a little bit and accept some of the kindness these villagers have bestowed upon us," Iroh said, gesturing to the food in front of him on the table.
Zuko sneered at the food, huffed, and sat back down in the corner of the room. "Not hungry," he muttered, folding his arms.
Aang hadn't ever really wanted to be the Avatar, but he did have to admit that he was enjoying having a group of adoring fans to impress. For the past few days they had been on the island, they had followed him everywhere he went.
However, by the morning of their fifth day on Kyoshi Island, he found that the group of young girls who had previously been stuck to him like glue had now grown unimpressed with all of his usual airbending moves. When the last girl yawned and walked away after Aang had tried to woo her with his classic marble trick, he sighed and slumped his shoulders.
He heard a chirp from Momo on the ground below him, and smiled slightly. "At least you still like my tricks, don't you Momo?" Aang asked the lemur, who climbed up onto his shoulder. He scratched little creature behind his ears affectionately. He then leapt off his shoulder to fly off to inspect a nearby fruit stand.
"Seems they've gotten tired of you," he heard an amused voice say from behind him. He turned to see the young leader of the warriors who had captured them, though he nearly didn't recognize her at first without her armor and makeup on. She was dressed just like any other villager, with blue silk robes and a blue scarf tied around her head.
Aang rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah... I guess it's because I haven't learned any of the other elements yet. I'm not really much of an Avatar if I can only bend one."
The girl shook her head and chuckled to herself. "That particular group of girls is known to be pretty fickle. I think they'd still get tired of you eventually, even if you bent all four elements at once in front of them in the most mind-blowing way possible."
"Oh," Aang replied, dejected.
"Hey, it's nothing to do with you personally - that's just how they are," she said with a kind smile, patting his shoulder. "I'm Suki, by the way. Leader of the Kyoshi Warriors."
"Nice to finally meet you, Suki! I'm Aang," he replied, putting his hands together and politely bowing towards her in greeting.
"Well, since it looks like you don't seem to have anything else planned for the day... Would you like to come see our dojo?" Suki asked, pointing to the structure on the hill behind her. "It would be an honor to give the Avatar himself a tour."
Aang nodded eagerly, curiosity piqued, and followed Suki up the hill.
When they arrived at the dojo, they removed their shoes and made their way inside. Several warriors clad in full uniform and makeup were practicing a routine with their golden metal fans in perfect unison. Most of them appeared to be Suki's age and older, with the eldest looking to be no older than 19. As they concluded the routine, they saw Suki enter, and bowed respectfully to their leader. Suki bowed back to them.
"I know it may seem a little odd to see someone as young as I am leading our little group of warriors," Suki said.
"I don't think it's odd at all," Aang replied, shaking his head. "As far as I know, I'm one of the youngest Air Nomads to have gotten my tattoos - they're the mark of an airbending master."
Suki smiled, almost seeming relieved. "Then I bet you understand how often people underestimate me, or assume that I got my position unfairly, simply due to my age," she said.
"Oh yeah. Several of the monks at my temple used to treat me like I was just an immature kid, even after I had gotten my tattoos," Aang said, folding his arms with a pout. "I mean, they were kind of right, but still."
Suki laughed, then sighed. "I'm just thankful for how much respect my sisters have for me. I didn't expect to be elected leader, especially not at such a young age, but I intend to fulfill my duty just as well as my predecessors," she said with a determined look on her face.
"Well, you already seem to be doing a great job," Aang replied. "I mean, you literally captured the Avatar! That's pretty impressive."
Suki laughed again. "Thanks, Aang." She was then silent for a moment, seeming conflicted about what she wanted to say next. "I hope this isn't rude for me to ask - but how exactly are you here, now, looking the same age as me, and yet you lived at the Air Temples nearly a century ago?" she said at last. "I assumed that it has to do with some sort of Avatar magic? Avatar Kyoshi lived to be over 200, so it wouldn't be surprising."
Honestly, Aang was surprised that this was the first time someone had asked this question in the whole five days that he had been here. "Well, you're not exactly wrong," he replied. "I wouldn't be here right now if I wasn't the Avatar. I know this may sound hard to believe, but my bison and I were frozen in an iceberg in the South Sea for the past century. I didn't even realize it had happened - I must have done it unconsciously. It was actually Zu- I mean, my friend and his uncle who found me a few days ago." I probably shouldn't risk telling her Zuko and Iroh's real names, he thought.
Suki stared at him, eyes wide. "So you were completely frozen in time?" she asked.
"Pretty much. When I woke up after being freed from the iceberg, I didn't even know that so much time had passed. For me, it felt like I had just been at the Southern Air Temple earlier that morning."
Suki's brows knotted in concern. "So you had no idea..."
"About the war? Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise," Aang replied with a weak chuckle.
"Well, we're all glad you're here now, safe and sound," Suki said kindly. "So, are you ready to learn about some of the things you accomplished in your past life?" she asked, changing the subject, to Aang's relief.
Aang nodded vigorously. Just a week ago, he had wanted nothing to do with being the Avatar, and yet now here he was, hungry for knowledge about his past lives. Something had changed after he had seen the sanctuary at the Southern Air Temple.
"Avatar Kyoshi began the practice of training the first Kyoshi Warriors after she saw how the nonbender women of this island were being oppressed and mistreated by local men," Suki explained as the other warriors started a new routine. "So, she took it upon herself to teach a small group of them how to defend themselves, and others. Eventually, we became the protectors of this island."
Aang watched in awe as they moved gracefully across the dojo floor. He wasn't certain, but the martial arts style of the warriors almost seemed to be an amalgamation of the four different bending styles. Fitting, he supposed, considering the first of their ranks had been trained by an Avatar.
"What's unique about our technique is that it's not about strength. It's about using your opponents' force against them," Suki said, gazing proudly at her fellow warriors as their routine came to an end.
"That's like airbending!" Aang replied excitedly, and a thought popped into his head. "Could I see one of those?" he asked, pointing to a pair of closed golden fans that were tucked into one of the warriors' belts.
"Of course," Suki replied, motioning for the warrior to hand her her pair.
He took the fan from her and studied it for a moment, opening and closing it. Then, he flipped it open, held it to his chest, then flicked his arm towards the open doorway, sending a blast of air through his hand and into the fan. The air blast was amplified by the fan, and hit the tree outside with such force that all of the remaining autumn leaves were blown off at once. Aang grinned.
He turned back towards Suki and the warriors, who were staring at him, eyes wide.
"Heh," Aang chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck again. "That's why I aimed out the door."
Zuko was growing increasingly more restless with each passing day they spent on Kyoshi Island. The longer they dawdled, the more opportunity Zhao had to find them. He paced back and forth inside their room at the inn, Iroh seated at the table in the center of the room, a cup of jasmine tea in hand.
"Prince Zuko," Iroh said. "Perhaps you should go outside, get some air and cool off. I can feel the heat radiating from you. It's a fire hazard in a wooden structure like this."
Zuko stopped abruptly and turned to his uncle. "You have to know as well as I do that with each moment we continue to stay on this Spirits-forsaken island, the closer Zhao is to finding us! Why aren't you doing anything?"
Iroh took a sip from his tea. "This island is incredibly small and secluded, nephew," he replied. "It is no more than a speck on Fire Nation maps. And it is unlikely that Zhao would think to look for us here."
"You don't know that!" Zuko shot back. "For all we know, he's scouring every island in the area for us. And if he's branded us traitors, it's not just Zhao we'll need to worry about - it'll be the entire Fire Navy!"
"Prince Zuko-" Iroh started again, but Zuko was done with the conversation. He stomped his way downstairs, put his boots on, and made his way out into the currently quiet village, picking a random direction to walk in.
Maybe I can somehow find a boat, and uncle and I can get out of here. And... and maybe we can hire some mercenaries to come back with us and help capture the Avatar, he thought to himself as he made his way outside of the village and eventually into a patch of woods. Of course, we don't exactly have enough money to pay for mercenaries... And I can't risk leaving the Avatar on this island. He might just fly away. And he's the only chance I have of regaining my honor.
"Rrgh!" Zuko shouted in frustration, punching the trunk of a nearby tree with the side of his closed fist. It was infuriating having so little control over his current situation. Because of the Avatar, he was now in a worse position than he had been before he had discovered him. At least before that, he hadn't had to worry about possibly being branded a traitor on top of being banished.
Eventually, Zuko found himself exiting the wooded area, and at last came to a stop in front of a small building with an open doorway on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Maybe there's someone in there who can tell me where to find a boat, Zuko thought. At this point, he was desperate.
He cautiously poked his head into the doorway, scanning his surroundings. Upon the wall to his right was displayed a large kimono of varying green and gold colors, a pair of very large brown boots displayed on a small platform on the ground in front of it. Directly in front of him, a large golden headdress sat upon a carved wooden head. On a table to his left, two large, open golden metal fans were displayed.
It was then that Zuko caught sight of a man with familiar bushy grey hair dressed in blue robes. He quickly recognized him as the chief of the village they had been staying in for the past week. He seemed to be admiring a painting that depicted Avatar Kyoshi addressing a group of villagers in blue robes, the very same building they were standing in depicted in the painting's background.
Great, I can't ask this guy for a boat without seeming suspicious. He knows I came here with the Avatar, Zuko thought in annoyance. Hoping the chief had not spotted him yet, he spun around to leave.
"Welcome, friend of Avatar Aang!" Zuko suddenly heard the man's voice say from behind him, and quickly turned back around. "I apologize for our harsh treatment of you when you first arrived, but I'm sure you understand why we must take precautions with outsiders," the man continued, walking towards him. "I am Oyaji, chief of Kyoshi. I believe we have not formally met," he said with a polite bow.
"Zuk- I mean, I'm... Lee," Zuko replied quickly, bowing back. He cursed himself internally for almost revealing his true, very Fire Nation name.
"Good to meet you, Lee. Have you come to pay your respects to the shrine of Avatar Kyoshi?" Oyaji asked.
"Oh, uh... yes!" Zuko replied. Why did I just say yes? He bemoaned internally.
Oyaji smiled warmly. "Come, come!" he said, gesturing for Zuko to come further inside.
As he did not want to arouse further suspicion, Zuko decided he should do as he was told.
"The clerics tell us these relics are still connected to her spirit," Oyaji explained as Zuko followed him. "On this wall is displayed Avatar Kyoshi's kimono and boots. Fun fact! Not only was she one of the tallest Avatars, but Kyoshi also had the biggest feet of any Avatar." The chief folded his arms proudly.
Zuko did not know how to respond to this statement, and thus remained silent.
Oyaji cleared his throat, appearing slightly disappointed that Zuko had not found that particular bit of information as interesting as he did, and continued his relic tour. "Avatar Kyoshi's golden headdress and fans, both of which she inherited from her parents." He then led Zuko to the back of the shrine to the painting Zuko had noticed on the wall. "The Birth of Kyoshi," Oyaji said, reverence and pride both evident in his voice. "Our home."
Beginning to grow bored and restless, Zuko folded his arms and tapped his foot on the ground, tuning out the chief's voice as his eyes scanned the rest of the room. Eventually, he took notice of a small object that was displayed on a table in the back right corner of the shrine, and his brow furrowed in confusion. That can't be...
He approached the table slowly, and his eyes widened as his suspicions were confirmed. It was unmistakably a Fire Nation topknot headpiece, and by the looks of it, it was from a noble family, despite not being extremely ornate. Zuko could make out the Fire Nation insignia clearly displayed on the front of the band, and a long pin was threaded through the back of it.
"What is this doing here?" Zuko asked aloud before he could stop himself. In the Fire Nation, topknot bands and headpieces were considered to be an extremely important possession, as the topknot itself was a symbol of a Fire National's honor. In noble families, topknot headpieces were typically passed down with each generation.
"Ah, I see you have found the headpiece of Rangi of Sei'naka. She was Avatar Kyoshi's bodyguard, firebending instructor, and love of her life," Oyaji replied. "Yes, she may have hailed from the Fire Nation, but this was long before the current war. She lived on this island with Kyoshi until her death, and even helped the Avatar train the first of our Kyoshi Warriors."
The love of Avatar Kyoshi's life was a Fire Nation woman?! Zuko thought, completely astonished. Romantic relationships between two people of the same gender were illegal in the Fire Nation. On top of that, an inter-nation couple? That was also absolutely frowned upon in Fire Nation culture. Whoever this Rangi woman was, she clearly had to have been traitor to her nation!
All of this information was too much for Zuko, and he felt himself growing more and more irritated as the chief continued to rattle on beside him. Without thinking about the consequences of his actions, he abruptly turned and ran out of the shrine.
After he'd had enough of watching the Kyoshi Warriors practice, Aang decided he would try one last time to regain the attention of his fan club. Presently, he had gathered them all together at the shore of the bay where he had first landed on the island. He was hoping to impress them with a hefty promise - that he was going to ride the unagi.
Unfortunately, despite having sat in the water for upwards of ten minutes, the unagi was surprisingly nowhere to be seen. There weren't even any elephant koi to ride. In fact, the water was unnaturally still.
"What's taking so long?" one of the girls complained.
"I'm sure it will be here any second!" Aang replied in an attempt to reassure her. "What about this?" he asked, pulling out his marbles and spinning them with airbending again.
"Not that again," another girl sighed. "Boring!"
"Where's the unagi? It's getting late," the first girl asked as the others began to leave.
"Where are you going? Don't leave!" Aang pleaded.
"Sorry Aang! Maybe next time!" the girl yelled, cupping her hands over her mouth, and followed her friends back towards the village.
Aang sank down into the water dejectedly and was about to begin making his way back to shore when he saw Zuko burst out of the woods, looking out of breath. Elated at the possibility that the Fire Prince may have finally shown an interest in something fun that he was doing, Aang's spirits were lifted. "Zuko! Did you come to watch me ride the unagi?"
This seemed to startled Zuko, who appeared to have not been expecting to hear Aang's voice. When he spotted the Avatar in the water, his bewildered expression turned to a familiar one of irritation as his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing now? I've been trying to tell you and uncle for the past week that we need to leave this island if we don't want Zhao to find us. And all you've been doing is entertaining your little fangirl brigade. Did they finally get tired of you?" he scoffed.
Aang sighed. "You're right, Zuko. I'm sorry. I let all the attention go to my head. It's probably time we moved on."
Zuko seemed to soften slightly upon hearing this. "Finally, you listen. Just... get back here so we can go tell uncle we're leaving," he replied with less harshness in his voice, though he did not meet Aang's eye.
"On my way!" Aang replied with a smile, and began swimming towards the shore. However, when Zuko turned his gaze back towards him, the firebender gasped.
Suddenly, Aang felt himself being lifted out of the water, and began to scream in panic. He whipped his head around wildly, and realized that he was now sitting on the back of the unagi! The monstrous eel-like creature opened its mouth, spraying a powerful jet of water directly towards him. He quickly grabbed on tight to one of its smaller dorsal fins, which thankfully allowed him to withstand the water blast. Upon seeing that he was still clinging to its back, the unagi charged at Aang, jaw gaping. Thinking fast, Aang grabbed one of the beast's large whiskers, dangling from side to side in front of the unagi's giant green eyes.
"Aang!" he heard Zuko yell from the shore in the distance. He had no idea what to do in this situation. He didn't even know how to waterbend yet - at least not consciously!
Eventually, Aang lost his grip on the unagi's whisker, and was flung towards the shore. He hit the water with a smack, and everything went black.
Zuko stared wide-eyed in panic at the unmoving form of Aang, who had been flung close to shore. The unagi shrieked, and dived underwater, making a beeline towards the Avatar.
Without thinking, he rushed into the water, wading as quickly as possible towards the unconscious boy. When he had grabbed a hold of him, he began pulling him back to the shore as quickly as possible, the unagi closing in. It gnashed its teeth, just barely missing them, but the impact the beast had made while diving into the water created a large wave, which slammed the boys back onto the rocks on the shore. Clearly angered at having lost its prey, the unagi sprayed the rocks several times, then submerged once more.
When Zuko peered over the rocks back out into the bay to ensure the creature had given up, he felt a pit of dread take root in his stomach as he noticed a massive Fire Navy ship making its way towards the shore, smoke billowing from the top. Once it had docked, the front of the ship opened into a platform, revealing none other than commander Zhao, with several soldiers following close behind.
"Zhao," Zuko seethed.
He looked back down at the Avatar, the feeling of panic worsening as he realized that he was not regaining consciousness. "Come on Aang, you need to wake up!" he begged, gently shaking the Avatar's shoulders. No response.
Zuko only knew of one thing he could do in this situation. Having frequented Ember Island as a child, his mother had ensured that he and his sister knew exactly what to do in the event of an emergency such as this while swimming at the beach. It was worth a try - he didn't have any other options. He couldn't let Aang die.
He pinched Aang's nose, and placed his lips onto the Avatar's, repeatedly breathing air into the unconscious boy's lungs until at last he began to cough up water, much to Zuko's relief.
"Zuko?" Aang rasped weakly. "Don't ride unagi... Not fun."
Thankfully, Aang had managed to regain most of his strength rather quickly. Which was fortunate, considering Zuko had told him that Zhao was here and headed straight for the village.
Once he was sure he was able to stand and walk, he put his clothes back on, grabbed his staff, and he and Zuko began running back towards the village as fast as they could. Aang desperately hoped they weren't too far behind.
They both briefly stopped in their tracks when they heard the sounds of screaming villagers and saw smoke beginning to rise coming from the direction of the village. Aang could also hear sounds of a conflict. Hopefully the Kyoshi Warriors were able to protect the village, at least until he got there.
They quickly picked their pace back up, and finally made it back to the entrance of the village.
Deviating to the side to hide behind a hut to survey the village and get an idea of what was happening, Aang saw that the Kyoshi Warriors were engaged in combat in the main street with Zhao and his soldiers, some of which were firebenders, others carrying swords and spears. One of the village buildings was already burning.
"We know the Avatar is here," Zhao said. "We received a tip that he's on this island. It seems to be common knowledge around these parts. If you hand him over, maybe we won't burn your little village to the ground."
Aang could see that he was addressing chief Oyaji, who was currently being protected by Suki. She was now back in full uniform and face paint, fans extended.
"We have no idea what you are talking about," Oyaji replied. "Please, we are just a peaceful village. Your information was incorrect."
Zhao scoffed. "So be it." He moved into an attack stance as Suki began to charge at him in a zigzag motion. To Aang's horror, Zhao's blast knocked her back, slamming her into a wooden poll, and she collapsed in pain.
It seemed that many of the other warriors had been defeated as well, though there were thankfully still several remaining who had refused to give up fighting.
Aang turned to Zuko. "If we work together, we might have a chance of beating him," he whispered.
"It's about time Zhao got taken down a peg," the Fire Prince replied, fists tightening.
"I'm gonna go this way and confront him from this side, you go around and get Iroh so you can approach him from the other side," Aang directed. Zuko nodded, and they split off.
"Hey! Over here," Zuko heard Aang shout from behind him. The Avatar was now standing at the village entrance, staff held out in front of him as a signal of challenge.
Zhao turned around to face him. "At last, the Avatar appears. Was that so hard?" he said condescendingly, and without hesitation, shot a blast of fire directly at him.
Aang ducked to avoid the first blast, then used his staff to decimate the next. He then began rapidly spinning his staff over his head, using airbending to propel himself upwards until he landed directly in front of Zhao. Before he had the chance to evade, Zhao kicked the staff from his hands, but the airbender managed to jump haphazardly to evade his next attack.
Zuko didn't have time to dawdle - he had to trust that Aang wouldn't get himself burnt to a crisp while he fetched his uncle. He reluctantly pulled his eyes away from the fight and ran towards the inn. Thankfully, Iroh stepped outside as he approached the building. "Uncle, it's Zhao! I told you this would happen if we didn't leave soon!" he admonished.
Iroh's expression was serious, and he nodded. "Come, Prince Zuko. We must try to stop them before they burn down the whole village."
They both rushed out into the main street, arms raised in an attack stance. It seemed to be lucky timing, as it looked as though Aang was becoming overwhelmed by Zhao's onslaught of attacks.
"Stop this, Zhao!" Iroh shouted. "These people are innocent!"
Zhao turned around and sneered. "Interesting words coming from you, general. How many villages just like this one did you burn during your campaigns in the Earth Kingdom?" he replied tauntingly. "To think the Fire Lord's own brother and son would stoop so low to protect a village of Earth Kingdom peasants. How traitorous. You're even dressed like them!" He laughed cruelly.
"Fire Lord's brother and son?" the disbelieving voice of Oyaji repeated from behind them.
Zhao's words triggered something in Zuko, and he felt a spike of overwhelming rage. "We are not traitors!" he roared, and immediately began shooting fire blasts at the commander as hard as he could.
"Zuko, restrain yourself!" he heard Iroh yell behind him. But why should he? Was he just supposed to sit back and let Zhao get away with treating members of the royal family this way?
Much to Zuko's frustration and dismay, Zhao effortlessly evaded every blast, each of which flew past him.
Abruptly, before he could send another blast, Zuko felt a hand grab his wrist. "Prince Zuko, stop," Iroh ordered, his voice firm and deadly serious. Zuko was taken aback - he had not been expecting to hear his uncle speak to him in such a way. "Look at what you are doing!"
Rage fading, Zuko's eyesight began to clear. Several of the houses behind Zhao were now on fire due to his blasts. He heard the sound of the distressed cries from behind him, and turned to see Oyaji and several of the villagers glaring at him. "I didn't mean to..." he murmured, feeling the familiar hot sting of guilt.
Zhao, infuriatingly, was still unscathed - nobody had even been able to touch him yet. He smirked maliciously as he turned back towards the Avatar, who was crouching on the ground several yards away from him. "Now, Avatar. I'm tired of playing games. I'm supposed to bring you back alive, but the Fire Lord did not specify that you had to be brought unharmed," he said, holding a flame in his open palm.
Suddenly, Aang stood up, using his airbending to pick up two golden fans that had been lying on the ground next to him, and slammed a fan-amplified airbending blast directly at Zhao. Zuko just barely managed to catch the look of surprise on the commander's face before he was blasted into a nearby house.
Wincing at the damage he had just caused to the house that he had slammed Zhao into, Aang dropped the fans and ran back down the main street, picking up his staff on the way. He tossed the object into the air, where it snapped open, and jumped on.
As he glided over the village, he witnessed the true scale of the damage that had been done. Multiple buildings were on fire, some of them close to being completely burnt down. He could see various villagers as well as his posse of fangirls huddled inside the few buildings close to the chief's house that had not been burnt yet. This is all my fault, he thought. He turned his head back to see that the statue of Kyoshi, which had just recently been repainted, was burning as well. A few remaining Kyoshi warriors were still fighting the soldiers below, including Suki, who had thankfully not been too injured from Zhao's earlier attack.
He landed next to Zuko and Iroh. "Look at what I brought to this place," he said sorrowfully.
"It is not your fault, Aang," Iroh said.
"Yes, it is," Aang replied, growing more upset by the minute. "These people got their town destroyed trying to protect me."
"Then it is also my fault," Iroh said, bowing his head, and turned to his nephew. "You were right, Zuko. I should have listened to you." Zuko's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this apology, while Iroh turned back towards Aang. "We must leave this island. Zhao will surely follow."
"But I can't just abandon these people!" Aang replied. It felt wrong to just walk away.
"It is the only way. There are too many soldiers for us to fight. Even if we try, we will only cause more damage," Iroh said.
Aang had to admit he was right. "I'll call Appa," he said dejectedly, and pulled out his bison whistle, blowing into it hard.
A few moments later, the trio was back on the bison on the outskirts of the village. "Appa, yip yip!" Aang commanded, whipping the reins, and Appa groaned as they began to ascend.
Aang couldn't stop himself from looking back down over the burning village. "Back to the ship! Don't lose sight of them!" he heard Zhao order from below.
Iroh placed a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "You're doing the right thing, Aang. We are preventing the village from being destroyed completely. They will be alright."
No, Aang thought. The village could still burn down if I don't do something. When his eyes caught sight of the bay below them, an idea suddenly occurred to him. Standing up abruptly, he jumped off Appa, plunging into the water below.
Zuko and Iroh gaped in horror as they stared down into the water below where Aang had just jumped. The surface of the water began to bubble where he had disappeared - a sure sign that the unagi was near. What on earth is he thinking?! Zuko thought with anger and worry. I went through all that trouble earlier today to save his life, and now he goes and throws himself back to the unagi?
As expected, the giant serpentine form of the unagi burst out of the water. However, Zuko had to do a double take as he spotted Aang atop the creature's head. He was holding onto two of its large whiskers and was pulling hard, which forced the unagi to keep its mouth open. The powerful spray of water shot out of the creature's mouth, which sprayed over the forest and onto the distant burning village, putting out the flames.
Zuko suddenly felt Appa lurch as he flew down towards the unagi, and grabbed tight onto the saddle for dear life. The unagi suddenly ceased its water gushing and threw its head back, launching Aang into the air, where he landed in the saddle next to Zuko.
The Fire Prince couldn't help but stare at the Avatar in awe at what he had just witnessed. Aang caught Zuko's eye and grinned. "I know, I know, that was stupid and dangerous," he said.
Zuko felt his cheeks grow hot and quickly looked away. "Yes, it was," he grumbled, folding his arms. "Now can we please keep moving? Zhao won't be far behind."
"Flameo, hotman," Aang replied, and hopped back onto Appa's head to fly them to their next destination.