It had taken several hours to reach the Southern Air Temple. Aang had of course been ecstatic about showing them his home. Kallik and her siblings just kept bracing themselves for the worst. Or at Sokka and Kallik did while Katara just tried to soften the blow that she knew was coming. Aang quickly lead them to a statue of a monk that he'd called Gyatso and was close to. Kallik could see the pain and loss in his eyes as he spoke about his clearly beloved mentor and father figure.
Now Kallik wasn't one for sentimentality. She usually left that to her brother in her old life and Katara currently but his earnest nature and cheerful attitude made her at least give him some boon. But how was she to do that when she herself felt immensely guilty this was the legacy of her nation and more to the point her family. They'd instigated this slaughter and genocide while orphaning Aang...it made her sick with guilt and shame.
"And this is the Airball Arena!" Aang gestured to large area with wooden poles with metal at the top and rim. He'd been taking them on a tour on the behest of Katara. They'd seen most of the Temple including a shrine to the Avatar seeing Aang's predecessor Roku. Now they were in the courtyard. Looking over she could see that at both ends were two wooden pedestals with a carved in door. "I used to play it all the time when I was here."
"Oh? How good were you?" Kallik asked legitimately interested trying to distract herself.
"Pretty good," Aang smirked.
"So how do you play it?"
"You wanna get a crash course in it?" Aang said his eyes glimmering with something that Kallik was intimately familiar with. Competition. Now that would be a good distraction for both of them. True hiding the truth wasn't good but then again she had no room to talk. She hadn't told her own siblings the entirety of her past life. Mom, Gran-Gran, Bato and Dad knew but that was all. At the time it seemed prudent to let them know. Sokka and Katara didn't have to worry about the baggage of being ex royalty. Mom and Dad been instrumental in helping her open up but...well she wasn't sure how they'd react to the situation. To be frank she was...if she was honest with herself...terrified of their reaction and how'd it affect their relationship. She'd built on on trust and love whereas before she would've used fear and coercion. And to be frank she didn't want to go back to it.
Something about it made her feel as if she was on the brink and want to run to Mom and have her hold her tightly and never let go. She now looked back on it and loathed it. It was no way to live.
"Hey Kallik are you okay?" Katara cut into her thoughts. Sokka was looking at her worriedly. Kallik shook her head clearing her head. Now wasn't the time for her own troubles.
"I'm fine," she said to Katara signing flippantly to give the impression that she was just drifting off in thought and not drowning in shame and regrets.
"Hey Aang how do you play Airball?" Sokka said taking attention away from Kallik and allowing Aang to get out his steam.
"Kallik..." Katara said with an admonishing tone once Sokka was away with Aang. "What is it?"
"I'm-"
"No you're not. I've seen that look in your face before and it doesn't bode well. Come on talk to me I'm your sister," Katara said pleadingly. "I'm a big girl I can handle whatever you have to say."
"Can you?" Kallik asked pointedly her signs becoming sharper.
"Of course I can I've been living with you for the past seven years," Katara assured her. "I can handle you and your past. Come on Kallik."
"I...I...I'm..." Screw it I'll say it aloud.
"I'm the Fire Nation princess!" Kallik said aloud with her raspy voice cutting through what sounded happy whooping from a distance. It was deadly silent. "My family ordered this genocide! The Air Nomads the entire civilization is destroyed and they're dead because of my family!"
"Genocide?" A small sad voice asked. Kallik pulled herself away from Katara to see Aang looking heartbroken and hurt. Kallik couldn't blame him. She wouldn't blame him if he threw her off the mountain.
"Aang..." Katara started saying before Aang ran into the temple with a gust of air. Katara ran behind with Kallik and Sokka following. It was difficult to keep up with the twists and turns that they took and Kallik could hear Sokka falling behind and screaming her and Katara's names but she didn't slow down. She couldn't leave her sister no matter what her guilt said. She didn't leave those she loved. Finally she reached a courtyard that had the skeletal remains of a monk surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers. Aang was kneeling in front of the monk clearly distressed. Katara gasping for air still walked forward and put her hand on his shoulder.
Aang turned revealing no pupils and his tattoos glowing with ethereal power. The air around them picked up around them becoming a maelstrom lifting Aang from the ground and raising him into the air. Sokka finally catching up grabbed both Kallik back as various bits of debris flew in the air picking up power as Aang went up.
"AANG!" Katara screamed as she walked towards the maelstrom. Sokka cried out and Kallik reached for her hand but was batted away by the winds. She continued forward going in deeper into the storm. "I KNOW THIS HURTS! SOKKA, KALLIK AND I CANNOT BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND YOUR PAIN! BUT WE WANT TO TRY! YOU MIGHT HAVE LOST YOUR FAMILY BUT WE CAN BE YOUR FAMILY TOO! AANG!"
For a moment Kallik thought that Katara was going to be blown away and could barely see her. It worried her sick since she didn't want to lose her sister. But soon the air began to die down and the dust and debris settled and both Kallik and Sokka saw Aang being embraced by Katara as he was crying his eyes out. Sokka ran up to Katara and hugged her tightly. Kallik stayed on the outside out shame and fear looking at the grounds. What was gonna happen now? They knew which meant...
"Kallik?" Sokka called breathlessly over to her. She looked to see his kind eyes gesturing her forward. "Come on you're part of this too."
"You're not a monster," Katara said lift up her head to meet Kallik's eyes. Kallik let out a sob and ran towards them embracing them hard. They stayed this way for what felt like an eternity as if the world had stopped in its tracks.
"Hey," Aang said softly opening his tear filled eyes at her. "It's going to be okay."
"You're not mad?"
"I...I feel sad right now and as for you...I just I don't know but I'm willing to find with all of you," Aang replied to Kallik. "Um... do you think we could you know...put their bodies to rest? They've been here for so long, and I just want to give them a final rest all of them even the Fire Nation soldiers that did it... The monks wouldn't want their bodies disrespected...and...I want to say goodbye to Monk Gyatso..."
"I'll cremate them," Kallik said. No, she wasn't willing to forgive them just yet but out of respect for Aang's request as the last of his people she could honor that...
"Thank you," Aang bowed now free from the hug with tears still coming down his cheeks.
"Let's get started we can clear out the worst of it...we...won't be able to get them all but..."
"I'll be fine if we get what we can before we have to leave tomorrow," Aang assured Sokka. "Let's do this."
It took several hours to find what bodies they could find and respectfully laid them to rest or cremated them. It was approaching midnight when they decided to stop and rest before heading out elsewhere..Aang offhandedly had mentioned something about Omashu and Kyoshi Island...
"Hey who ate my blubber seal jerky?" Sokka snapped a bit grouchy and clearly hungry shaking a bag of one of the supplies.
"Oops that was food? I used it to start the campfire last night sorry," Aang ducked his head shamefully as he pulled out some firewood.
"What?! No wonder the flames smelled so good," Sokka grumbled.
"We're fine for now just no snacks until we can forage or hunt," Katara said unrolling a sleeping bag.
"Fine I'll be the one to suffer then."
"You're such a baby," Kallik teased her hands playfully waving as she exaggerated her signs.
"Ashy girl."
"Sokka!"
"What?"
"Don't be rude," Katara scolded him. "she can't help that she's a Firebender more than I can help being a Waterbender."
"Hey she's a big girl and she knows I'm teasing her," Sokka rebuffed her.
"Well maybe it's time to make you fear the volcano," Kallik said flames dancing around her fingers.
"Um...Kallik...You said your family ordered this...what did that mean?" Aang asked hesitantly as he fiddled with his glider as he leaned against Appa. "I mean if you don't wanna answer it now I totally understand but it's just weird thing to say I mean I know you're probably Fire Nation or at least half Fire Nation, but..."
Kallik sighed her flame extinguishing. so it was coming out in the open now. Well fair was fair Aang just learned a very horrible secret.
"I'm the fifth in line for the throne," she said sadly.
"Fifth? You mean you're a cousin of the Fire Lord?" Aang looked confused.
"No the second child of the second son to boot."
"Wait the guy who caught me said he was the heir," Aang protested.
That didn't make sense. That guy didn't look a thing like Lu-Ten. Uncle was the heir and she didn't doubt that Azulon had passed on but it was supposed to be Uncle then Lu-Ten. That person was far too young.
"Wait so who was that guy?"
"Oh he said his name was Prince Zuko son of-"
"What?!" Kallik's hoarse voice interrupted Aang's answer to Sokka. That was Zuko?! What in the name of spirits had happened?! He was fourth in line. Also how on earth did he get a burn scar like that? Was one of his instructors feeling particularly sadistic? And that hurt. Yes, her cousin was a full decade or so older than her but he was still there. Before he got shipped off to war, he was still a pretty nice guy by Fire Nation standards at least. Uncle... well, she wasn't very close to him. He came across as well, eccentric to be polite about it. And he never really showed an interest in her. As a result, she just didn't feel the need to engage with him. She wouldn't mind minded though, but he never really gave her a chance.
Sokka is right the Fire Nation does have awful families.
"You know him?" Katara leaned forward looking inquisitive.
"He's...," Kallik trailed off softly her signing a bit subdued. "Look all I know that if he's there that means that the firstborn is dead and so is his son..."
"Wait...But he had an Uncle with him," Aang shook his head.
"Okay something is going on...wait second child of the second son? Wait a second, La's fin you're his sister?!" Sokka looked shocked at the revelation.
"Yes," her signs were hesitant.
"Tui's gills how'd that happen?!"
"I was born after him," Kallik said with a yawn.
"Ha ha ha, you know what I mean. You're royalty I mean Kallik, how'd you end up at Wolf's Cove?" Sokka stared at her.
"Sokka I know you want answers and believe me I do too but not now. We've been busy all day," Katara said tiredly. "Let's get some sleep we've got some traveling to do. Aang, you said something about Kyoshi Island?"
"Oh yeah," Aang nodded looking a little relieved that Kallik wasn't being grilled for information. "In fact let's have a deal. You can tell us about your adventures when you're ready and...I can tell you mine since that's fair."
"You don't have to," Katara said sympathetically.
"Well it's only fair...besides it'll take a lot off of us," Aang said.
"Fine but I'm getting the story out of both of you, Sokka said as he laid back into his sleeping bag. "And I reserve the right to call Kallik princess."
"And I still reserve the right to torch you," Kallik sleepily replied as she turned in her sleeping bag. Around her she heard her siblings and Aang settle into sleep. She turned again to get more comfortable and soon asleep...only to be abruptly waken up by a nose sniffing her. Kallik slowly opened her eyes to see a huge face covered with black fur and huge expressive eyes. It froze with its sniffing and stared back at her. She carefully lifted herself to sitting position. It was an odd creature with white and brown fur. It had ginormous triangle ears and a long eel like tail. Its feet resembled hands and it had long membrane between the hand and the armpit that seemed to cling closely to its body.
Kallik slowly moved away from the sleeping bag and made her way to Aang. She gently shook him awake only covering his mouth since he almost shouted. She gestured over to the beast that had quietly followed her staring at her. Aang perked up and said in the Waves: "It's a flying lemur! My people had them as pets!"
His excitement was strong that his signs started producing air with them. Kallik raised her eyebrows at him as she removed her hand from his mouth. Aang smiled apologetically.
"He can come with us," Aang said quietly signing this time.
"I see, will he have a name?"
"Um..." Aang looked about only to see as Kallik did that the lemur had brought some food with him. "Momo. He's Momo."
"Alright, well let's get some sleep, we need it for tomorrow," Kallik said wearily signing as she turned back to her sleeping bag. The newly named Momo cooed and curled up near Aang. Aang accepted him with a soft smile. Kallik too smiled as she settled back into her bag and went to sleep. Looks like the day hadn't ended so badly after all...