(Originally posted January 10, 2023 on AO3)
At long last, after a little over two weeks of careful zigzagging across the southeastern Earth Kingdom to ensure they kept Zhao off their trail, the trio had arrived at Chameleon Bay. They were going to camp there for the night, and Aang had assured Zuko and Iroh that they should be able to make the flight to the Eastern Air Temple before sunset the following day.
The incident that had occurred on Kyoshi Island had been quite the wake-up call for Aang, and he had not been able to stop thinking about it since the day they had left. He hoped that his trick with the unagi last-minute had been enough to save the village from completely being destroyed.
No more goofing off, he thought to himself with a huff as they descended towards the beach. He had to stay focused on what was important, even if the process was painful: finding evidence that his people were still out there.
While Iroh and Zuko were scoping out the cave that they had picked out to be their camping spot, Aang took off on his glider to survey the area one last time, Momo gliding along beside him. He spotted a few Earth Kingdom ships, but thankfully saw no sign of any Fire Nation ships.
When he landed back in front of the mouth of the cave, he snapped his glider closed and made his way over to where Appa was laying. He gave the beast a few scratches on his muzzle, while Momo hopped off his shoulder and curled up onto Appa's head. "We're almost to the Eastern Air Temple, buddy. That's where we first met, remember?" The bison grunted affectionately in response.
"How are you feeling, Aang?"
He turned to see that Iroh was standing behind him. "Honestly, I'm not sure," he replied. "I'm still hopeful, despite what we found at the Southern Air Temple..." He furrowed his brows and closed his eyes. "I promise I won't let what happened then happen again. I'll make sure to keep my emotions under control, and I'll stay focused this time."
Iroh nodded. "I believe you. And I sincerely hope you find what you're looking for."
Aang smiled at these kind words. For whatever reason, Iroh had continued to be unwavering in his support of him this past month, despite how frequently this seemed to irk his nephew. He still didn't know a lot about the old man, and Iroh did not appear keen to reveal his secrets anytime soon. While he wasn't going to complain about having an ally in his current situation, he often couldn't help but wonder why Iroh was clearly so different from his Fire Lord brother, and from Zuko. Aang also couldn't shake the feeling that, if he wanted to, the former general could very easily incapacitate him and find a way for himself and Zuko to easily return to the Fire Nation with their prize in tow, Zhao or no Zhao. Because of this, Aang decided it was probably best not to question Iroh's support too much. He didn't want to push his luck.
"Thanks, Iroh. I'm glad you believe me. I'm still not sure if Zuko does, though," Aang replied. He looked back into the cave at the Fire Prince, who was sitting with his legs pulled up to his chest, staring intently at the dancing flames of the small campfire in front of him.
His relationship with Zuko, surprisingly, had actually improved somewhat since leaving Kyoshi Island. The Fire Prince had not been quite as grumpy as usual, and Aang was pretty sure that he had even managed to make him smile once or twice this past week, though he always did his best to hide it. Unfortunately, he could tell that Zuko was overall still distrustful of him, and some days he refused to lighten up no matter how hard Aang tried to get through to him. Today had been one of those days.
Iroh sighed. "My nephew... he has a complicated past. He's truly not an angry person at heart. In fact, I'd say he's quite the opposite. He has just been through so much for a child his age." He paused, seeming unsure of what he wanted to say next. "I will not relay the details to you now, as it is not my story to tell. But I do believe that, with time, Zuko will heal. When, I do not know, but I have seen glimpses of the kind, shining young Prince I once knew. He is still there, just buried."
Aang nodded, knowing that Iroh was speaking truthfully. He had a hard time believing that Zuko had saved his life on Kyoshi Island simply because he had to bring him back to his father alive, though this was the common excuse the Fire Prince used anytime the incident was brought up. He remembered seeing the genuine concern in Zuko's eyes that day. It couldn't have been fake.
He didn't know what had happened to the Fire Prince, but Aang could guess that fear played a large role in influencing his thoughts and emotions. I wish I could help him, he thought sadly. I guess all I can do is keep trying my best to show him that I'm not who or what he's been taught to believe I am.
"Thanks for checking in," Aang said. "We should probably get some sleep. I'd like to make an early start tomorrow, if that's alright."
Iroh nodded, and the two headed back into the cave.
Despite initially feeling quite irritable due to their very early start the next morning, Zuko began to relax when they finally arrived at the Eastern Air Temple around midday. Thankfully, due to the temple's location being closer to the equator, the weather was much less frigid than it had been at the Southern Air Temple, despite it currently being late autumn. Zuko was beginning to get sick of the cold-it just wasn't something a firebender could ever get used to, even with the use of fire breath.
Aang landed Appa at the temple stables, and the trio dismounted. The airbender was clearly eager to begin exploring the temple, and as Iroh was going to stay behind and start setting up camp, Zuko decided he would accompany him. He still didn't like letting the Avatar out of his sight, especially after he had almost gotten himself eaten by the unagi. Somebody had to be around to save his skin.
"What are we supposed to be looking for, anyway?" Zuko asked as they began their ascent, curiosity now having fully replaced his earlier crabbiness.
"I don't really know, to be honest," Aang replied with a sigh. "Just... some evidence that my people are still out there somewhere."
Just like at the Southern Air Temple, Zuko once again found himself thinking back to what he had been taught about his great-grandfather's "battle" with the Air Nation. Aang's words echoed in his mind again: The Air Nomads don't even have a formal military, we are a peaceful people! We've never gone to war with anyone!
In the days since they had left Kyoshi, annoyingly, Zuko had unintentionally kept finding himself letting his guard down around the Avatar. From what he had seen this past month, while the airbender was definitely an immature kid, he was also a person who cared deeply about others, almost to a fault. His stunt with the unagi even proved that he was willing to risk his life for people he barely knew. He was also staunchly pacifist, refusing to hurt any living creature or eat meat.
Learning all of this made Zuko's feelings toward the boy much more complicated. Aang was just a nice person, and that was disarming. He was beginning to genuinely like spending time with him. He even found himself questioning things he had never dared question previously. For example: why did his family want the Avatar? What threat could a goofy twelve-year-old monk possibly be to the most powerful nation in the world?
No, Zuko thought, shaking his head. You need to stop thinking like this. He's not helpless. You've seen how dangerous he can be when his tattoos glow. If he somehow learns to control himself when he's in that state, he would be a huge threat to the Fire Nation.
He really was delving into dangerous territory by daring to question his nation, and by extension, his family, which was even worse. It was dishonorable.
"Well, I really hope this doesn't take long. This temple is even bigger than the last one," Zuko muttered, rubbing his forehead with the back of his hand to soothe the headache he could feel coming on as a result of his overthinking.
"I see you still need to learn the ancient art of patience, hotman." Aang teased, and Zuko did his best to suppress a slight smirk. "Hotman" was practically his nickname now.
Ugh, what is the matter with me? he groaned internally. It's just his old man lingo! Get it together.
"The Eastern Air Temple was one of my favorites to visit as a kid," Aang continued. Thankfully, he hadn't seemed to have noticed Zuko's reaction. "It's where I chose Appa as my sky bison!"
"Oh. Well no wonder he seemed so giddy when we landed," Zuko said, recalling how the bison had immediately bounded over to a structure of metal bars inside the stables and began chewing on them.
Aang chuckled. "That was probably the last time I came here. It was a lot different back then..." he trailed off, expression returning to its former, more serious state. Zuko tried to ignore the now all-too-familiar sting of guilt in his stomach.
As they continued to explore the easternmost mountain of the temple complex for the rest of the day, Zuko began to notice the clear evidence of burn damage, much more so than what he had seen at either the Western or Southern Air Temples. Beautiful wall paintings had been scorched, statues had been damaged, and many of the buildings had partially collapsed.
He had to admit that it was disheartening to see such a beautiful place destroyed in such a way. He glanced over at Aang, and guessed that he was feeling similarly based upon the look in his gray eyes.
That's just the price of war. Things get damaged, Zuko thought to himself, though it didn't really help him feel better.
Over the course of the next few days, Aang, Zuko, and Iroh took their time exploring a new part of the temple complex. Unfortunately, no matter how much they looked, they did not find much more than empty, dusty, or scorched rooms.
Despite their lack of success in finding anything of use, Aang clearly wasn't allowing himself to become discouraged. In every part of the temple they explored, he would explain to Zuko and Iroh the history of the place, revealing more information about the culture and customs of his people in the process.
"The four Air Temples were separated by gender," Aang explained as the three of them entered a large, rectangular stone room whose walls were lined with statues that looked to have been carved from the stone walls themselves.
In the center of the room, bathed in the sunlight pouring in through the open roof, sat a large stone statue of a woman with arrow tattoos and a necklace that Zuko recognized as being similar to the one Aang's mentor wore. Her eyes were closed and she was sitting in lotus pose, fists pressed together. He had seen Aang do the very same pose every so often-the Avatar had explained that this was something called "meditation." Zuko didn't really understand it.
Aang stopped in front of the giant statue and gazed up at it, a transfixed expression on his face, similar to when he had looked at the statue of Avatar Roku in the sanctuary at the Southern Air Temple. Zuko snapped his fingers in front of the Avatar's face repeatedly, and he blinked several times, returning to the present moment.
"You were talking about the four temples?" Zuko honestly couldn't believe that he was genuinely invested in learning about this stuff, but strangely, he was.
"Oh, sorry!" Aang apologized. "So the Northern and Southern Temples were where monks lived and where male airbenders were raised, if their parents wanted them receive formal airbending training. The Western and Eastern temples were basically the same, but for female airbenders and nuns. The temple life wasn't for all of us though, especially for airbenders who fell outside of the gender binary, though all four temples were welcoming to all genders. Lots of us were nomads."
Zuko's brow furrowed in confusion at the latter half of that statement. First, he finds out that a Fire National was in a same-gender romantic relationship with Avatar Kyoshi, and now Aang was talking about "all genders"? What other genders were there besides male and female? And how differently did the world view gender and romance outside of the Fire Nation?
"This was another Avatar, I presume?" Zuko's thoughts were interrupted by his uncle, who was looking up at the giant statue of the nun.
Aang nodded. "That's Avatar Yangchen, the last Air Nomad Avatar before me. She was revered across all nations, and lots of people worshiped her as a religious figure after she died. She did a lot of great things in her lifetime, from what I was told."
"Fascinating," Iroh said, stroking his beard as he studied the statue.
Zuko didn't want to admit it, but he was also finding a lot of this information fascinating, though not necessarily in a positive way. How much more of the world outside of his home country did he not know about? And why would the Fire Nation want to keep all of this information a secret from its citizens?
Come to think of it, we really didn't learn anything about the rest of the world in class growing up, Zuko thought. The only times the other nations were mentioned were when it was in relation to a battle we had with them, or the useful resources they were supposedly unwilling to share with us.
There was that uncomfortable feeling again, the one that arose every time he started questioning the validity of the things he had been taught growing up.
He wondered if Aang's history lessons were having the same effect on his uncle. He glanced over at Iroh and attempted to guess how he was feeling by studying his facial expressions. The only thing that seemed clear was that the retired general was in deep thought, though he didn't appear troubled.
"Uncle," Zuko decided to ask.
"Hm?" Iroh replied, eyes still glued to the statue.
"Why weren't we taught about the cultures of the rest of the world, and about the other Avatars, especially our own?"
Iroh blinked at him in surprise, then looked away. He almost appeared... Guilty? Sad? Zuko couldn't quite tell. "There are very specific reasons why this information has been omitted from the Fire Nation educational curriculum, Prince Zuko, and I'm afraid none of them are good."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Hey, guys!" Aang interrupted from the other side of the room. "Come check this out!"
Iroh sighed. "I will explain more at a later time, nephew. Just know that the true nature of the world is not as black and white as you have been taught."
That did not make things any clearer. Irritated, Zuko opened his mouth to protest, but his uncle was already walking away, leaving the Fire Prince alone with his thoughts.
By the late afternoon of their fifth day at the Eastern Air Temple, Aang's optimism was clearly waning, and he now looked as though he was feeling rather dejected.
"Nothing." Aang sighed as they exited yet another dilapidated building. "I was hoping that we could at least find one clue to point us to where my people might have fled to."
"Maybe it's best to call it a day while we still have some sunlight left," Iroh said. "Why don't I go back down to the camp and start on dinner?"
"We're so close to the top of this part of the temple, though," Aang protested.
"Alright," Iroh sighed. "If you two would like to finish the trek, go ahead. Just make sure you return to camp before sunset. I can imagine it would be easy to get lost in the dark up here."
"I'm sure we'll be fine. Zuko will have us covered if that happens, right hotman?" Aang said, nudging him with his elbow, and Zuko rolled his eyes.
Iroh chuckled, bid them farewell, and made his way back towards the bridge connecting this mountain temple to the others, while Zuko followed the Avatar up to the topmost tower of the mountain they were currently on, which was the westernmost portion of the temple complex.
They each surveyed opposite ends of the large, empty room, Zuko finding nothing of interest. Suddenly, he heard Aang gasp, and whipped around to see the Avatar run out the open doorway at the front of the room.
He ran after him onto the large stone balcony outside, and it was then that he saw the form of a person, laying on their back on the ground, arms and legs splayed out. For one horrible moment, Zuko thought he was looking at a corpse, though if it was a corpse, it appeared to not yet be in a state of decay. The "corpse" looked like a very old man with a long white beard and a bald head similar to Aang's, though he bore no arrow tattoos.
Aang darted over to where the elderly man was lying and crouched down next to him, using his staff for balance. "Are you alright?"
To Zuko's immense relief, the man slowly opened his eyes to stare back at Aang. His bushy white eyebrows rose and his eyes widened the longer he stared. Eventually, he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"You're an airbender," the old man finally said.
"Yes," Aang replied, suddenly ecstatic. "Yes, I am!"
The man smiled. "Ah. It is nice to finally meet you, Avatar Aang."
"Wait, you know who I am?" Aang exclaimed, jumping back. While this old man clearly was no Air Nomad, Aang had at the very least been hoping that he might know where the remnants of his people might have fled to. He certainly hadn't expected to actually be recognized by him!
Suddenly, Zuko rushed in front of him and assumed a defensive stance, flame daggers ignited. "Who are you, and how did you obtain this information?" the Fire Prince demanded.
Aang didn't know why, but something deep within him was telling him that this old man was trustworthy. "Zuko, it's fine. Let me talk to him."
The Fire Prince glanced back at him, clearly reluctant to stand down, but eventually did as Aang asked and stepped to the side.
The old man simply chuckled, and gracefully hopped to his feet, causing Zuko to flinch. "I am Guru Pathik. Please, I have no intention of harming you or your friend," he replied calmly to Zuko, then turned to Aang. "I was a spiritual brother to your people, and a personal friend of Monk Gyatso."
Aang's eyes widened even further upon hearing this. "You knew Monk Gyatso?!"
"That's impossible!" Zuko exclaimed. "You'd have to be over a hundred years old!"
"One hundred forty-seven, to be exact."
Aang and Zuko stared at one another in astonishment. "Well, technically I'm..." Aang paused to do the math in his head, counting his fingers. "About one hundred nine-ish," he finished with a shrug. "So I guess it's not that weird."
"He could be lying," Zuko said, still suspicious. "What if he's a spy sent by Zhao? He tracked us to the Southern Temple, he could have beaten us here!"
Aang shook his head. "You're gonna have to trust me, Zuko. He's telling the truth. I don't know how I know, but I do."
Zuko did not appear convinced.
"The Avatar is correct. I am no Fire Nation spy," Pathik replied. "In fact, I've been expecting you, young Avatar, for quite a long time. I had a vision many years ago of helping you. That's why I came to the Eastern Air Temple."
"You've been living here, waiting for me?" Aang replied, flabbergasted. "What exactly are you supposed to help me with?"
"I can teach you to control the Avatar State."
"The Avatar State?" Aang repeated, having no idea what the guru was referring to.
"Yes. You have already entered it several times before; it is how I sensed you had returned. You lose consciousness, your eyes and tattoos glow, and you are capable of incredible feats of power," Pathik explained.
Aang's eyes widened in realization. "So that's what happened before when I lost control of my emotions at the Southern Air Temple and created that hurricane?" He only had vague memories of what happened during that time一all he could remember was the feeling of overwhelming rage and sadness, at least until Iroh's words broke through and snapped him out of it.
Pathik nodded. "It is also what kept you alive in that iceberg for the past century. If not for the Avatar State, you would not be standing here right now."
"So you can teach me to control it? That's great!" Aang exclaimed, feeling both excited and relieved. If he could learn to control this Avatar State, then he wouldn't run the risk of hurting anyone in the future. "I'm ready to begin my training right away!"
"Hang on!" Zuko quickly chimed in. "You said we wouldn't be here for more than a few days. You know we can't stay any longer. If we do, we might as well go turn ourselves in to Zhao right now, because he will find us."
"But didn't you hear what he said? If I learn to control the Avatar State, I won't risk hurting you or Iroh again!" Aang countered. "And this could also be our best chance at beating Zhao, I'll actually be able to fight with the other elements!"
Pathik's eyes moved back and forth between the two boys as they argued. He stroked his beard with a concerned look on his face, and finally sighed. "Unfortunately, young Avatar, your companion may be correct."
"Huh?" both Aang and Zuko replied mid-argument in unison.
"I'm afraid it seems you may have come to me too soon. You have not yet mastered the other elements, correct? Have you even managed to consciously bend any element aside from air outside of the Avatar State?"
"Well, no..." Aang replied sheepishly, folding his arms and looking off to the side. "But I've already mastered airbending. My tattoos are proof of that." He turned to Zuko. "And I bet your uncle can teach me firebending! So that's at least one other element."
Pathik shook his head. "It is not wise to begin your firebending training prematurely, young Avatar. It is important that you learn each element in the order of the Avatar Cycle: air, water, earth, and fire, in that order."
Aang was now beginning to grow irritated. Why did he have to follow these dumb Avatar rules? "You don't understand how dangerous it is for the people around me right now! I could hardly do anything to stop the Fire Nation from burning down an innocent village, and I almost lost control at the Southern Air Temple when I saw what happened to..." Images of Gyatso's skeleton flashed in his mind, and he squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath in through his nose in an attempt to calm himself.
"I know, Aang. I'm sorry you had to find out that way. The world is not the same one you knew." Pathik sighed again and walked to the edge of the balcony, arms folded behind his back. "For now, I would advise leaving this temple. It is too dangerous for you to remain here for long, especially since the Fire Nation clearly knows you are alive," he motioned to Zuko. "And it seems they are tracking you. The majority are not at all as friendly as your companion here appears to be. And you are not yet powerful enough to fight them."
Aang stared at the ground. He had to admit that Pathik was right. He didn't want a repeat of what happened on Kyoshi. "But wouldn't it be best to just try and teach me now, while I'm already here? If you could teach me to control the Avatar State, couldn't I fight?"
"It is too risky. Even if I did agree, your training will take time. Once you start, you cannot stop until your training is complete, and we do not know how soon the Fire Nation may arrive," Pathik replied, shaking his head. "You must continue your element training. Travel to Agna Q'ela and find a waterbending master to teach you. You will be safe there."
Aang knew that he should probably just do what the guru was telling him to, but his frustration refused to wane. Pathik was currently reminding him a bit too much of head monks Tashi and Pasang, who had wanted to send him away for Avatar training. Away from his home, from his people, from Gyatso...
"You said you knew Gyatso, and that you were a spiritual brother to my people," Aang said, wiping a stray tear with his sleeve. "Please, tell me. Do you know what happened to the rest of them? That's the reason I came here, to find some sort of clue, anything to give me an idea as to where the survivors went. They can't all be... gone."
Genuine sympathy was evident in Pathik's dark eyes. "I'm sorry, Aang, but I personally have not seen an airbender since Sozin attacked the temples nearly a century ago."
No. I can't be the last one. "But surely some of them escaped to the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribes!"
"Perhaps. I would like to hope so."
"Then I'll find them," Aang replied determinedly. He didn't want to give up on the search for his people. He couldn't. Not until he had definitive proof that he truly was the last airbender. "I'm sorry, but I can't give up. We'll head to the Northern Air Temple next. I need to check all of them."
"Caution, young Avatar. I know you want answers, but you may not be happy with what you find. The Fire Nation will be expecting you to be drawn to the abandoned Air Temples, and they will most likely search all of them soon." He placed a gentle hand on Aang's shoulder. "And you cannot ignore your Avatar destiny forever. Remember, you must return to me once you have mastered the other three elements. I will be here."
"But if the Fire Nation comes here, and they find you..."
Pathik shook his head. "I've evaded the Fire Nation for the last ninety-six years. I will be alright."
"But couldn't you come with us?"
The guru chuckled. "A kind offer, young Avatar. But I'm afraid I'm too old to travel anymore. I will remain here."
Aang sighed. It looked like there was no changing the old man's mind. "I'll come back. I promise."
"Safe journeys to you both," Pathik replied with a bow. Aang bowed in return, and he and Zuko turned to head back down to camp.
Zuko did not know how to feel after their interaction with the so-called guru. He did have to admit he was glad that Pathik, for one, was not a spy sent by Zhao, and for another, was keen on Aang leaving the abandoned temple.
The guru had definitely confirmed one thing that Zuko had been afraid of, however-that Aang could learn to control the Avatar State. Thankfully, he seemed to have quite some time before that could possibly happen, which lessened his anxiety.
When they returned to camp, Iroh was sitting next to the fire, a warm cup of tea in hand. He must have noticed the unusual expressions on their faces. "Did you find something?"
Before Zuko could speak, Aang quickly informed Iroh about their encounter with the guru. However, he left out the parts in which Pathik revealed he could teach him to control the Avatar State once he had mastered all four elements, and that he had advised him to go to the Northern Water Tribe to begin his waterbending training instead of continuing his quest to find his people. Essentially, Aang ended up describing Pathik as a simple nonbending spiritualist who was living at the abandoned temple.
While it did strike him as odd that Aang would want to keep the guru's true nature a secret from his uncle, this didn't really bother Zuko. He was not at all keen to go into the heart of a Water Tribe city as a firebender, whether in disguise or not. He didn't have a choice about where they were going next anyway, so he wasn't about to protest Aang's decision about where they would go next when it was the less risky option.
"So first thing tomorrow morning we'll start heading towards the Northern Air Temple," Aang finished. "It's technically in Earth Kingdom territory, so there will probably be villages nearby where we can ask about what happened to my people."
Zuko sighed internally. He definitely was growing tired of the deja vu that came with visiting abandoned Air Temples, and he doubted they would find anything new at the Northern one. Also, being in them provoked uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, thoughts and feelings that he was still afraid to look too deeply into.
On top of all this, going into Earth Kingdom territory as a Fire National was always dangerous. The islanders on Kyoshi may not have recognized which nation he and his uncle truly hailed from, but the mainland was a different story, which is why they had persuaded Aang to stay away from any populated areas while traveling through the southern Earth Kingdom. But again, the Earth Kingdom was a better option than the north pole.
Iroh's eyes moved back and forth between the two of them, expression skeptical. "You are certain you want to leave? There are still areas of the temple we have not yet covered."
Aang nodded vigorously. "Zuko's right about it not being a good idea for us to stay in one place for too long with Zhao looking for us. And I really don't think there's anything more we can find here. We'll be safer in Earth Kingdom territory anyway."
"Hm. Well, in that case, if we are going to be interacting with the locals in the Earth Kingdom, my nephew and I will need a change of clothes."
Aang grinned. "Disguises! Of course! And I know the perfect place to get them."
Zuko let out a small groan. What was the Avatar going to get them into this time?