Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Child of Two Nations
Book 1 - Water
Chapter 2 – The Avatar Returns
As the flare was still burning through the sky, Aang and Katara walked down the road towards the Southern Water Tribe village. All the villagers were gathered waiting for them, with Appa nearby.
"Yay! Aang's back!" The children cheered.
Some of them run over to him while the others remain cheerful in the crowd. The adults, on the other hand, had stern and offended expressions. The children reach Aang and Katara, crowding around him gleefully, and Aang responds kindly. Sokka breaks from the line of villagers and steps forward toward Aang.
"I knew it! You signalled the Fire Navy with that flare!" Sokka angrily accused, accusingly pointing a finger at Aang as he and Katara approach "You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?"
"Sokka, don't jump to conclusions." Sorin told him off, trying to keep things calm.
"Aang didn't do anything. It was an accident." Katara defended.
"Yeah, we were on the ship and there was this booby trap and well... we... we 'boobied' right into it." Aang admitted, scratching the back of his head.
Kanna shook her head at them, speaking in a worried tone "Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship. Now we could all be in danger!"
"Don't blame Katara! I brought her there." Aang told them sorrowfully "It's my fault."
Angry and triumphant, Sokka speaks up "Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy." The children begin to sadly walk away "The foreigner is banished from our village"
"Sokka, you're making a mistake." Katara believed irritably, clenching her fists.
"No! I'm keeping my promise to Dad." Sokka reminded, pointing at Aang as he spoke "I'm protecting you from threats like him!"
"Sokka, do you honestly believe that Aang is a threat?" Sorin asked incredulously.
Sokka turned to him "Sorin, he shot that flare up in the sky! Now the Fire Nation is on their way!"
"Aang is not our enemy!" Katara argued, pointing to the boy beside her then continues in a calm, soothing voice "Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time: fun. "Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time. Fun."
"Fun? We can't fight firebenders with fun!" Sokka retorted.
"You should try it sometime." Aang suggested.
"Get out of our village. Now!" Sokka ordered strongly.
"Grandmother, please, don't let Sokka do this." Katara pleaded.
"Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender leaves." Kanna decided gravely.
"Then I'm banished too!" Katara began to drag Aang over to Appa "C'mon, Aang, let's go!"
"Where do you think you're going?" Sokka demanded.
"To find a waterbender! Aang is taking me to the North Pole!" Katara snapped back.
"I am?" Aang looked confused, then brightened up "Great!"
"Katara!" Sokka called out, which made Katara stops her movements "Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your own family?" Katara looks down sorrowfully.
Aang approaches her with a sad look upon his face "Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family." He then walked towards Appa.
"So, you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?" Katara asked in a sad tone.
"Thanks for penguin sledding with me." Aang smiled, turning to her.
"Where will you go?" Katara further asked him.
"Guess I'll go back home and look for the airbenders." Aang answered, placing a hand on the bison as a thought occured to him. "Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that." He airbended up onto the saddle.
"Let's see your bison fly now, air boy." Sokka mocked sarcastically with his arms crossed.
Sorin lightly smacked him in the back of the head "Knock it off."
"Come on, Appa, you can do it! Yip! Yip!" Aang exclaimed, moving the reins but Appa just rumbles getting to his feet.
"Yeh, I thought so." Sokka continued to mock, just as a little girl with pigtails rushes from the crowd with a cry and stands next to Katara.
"Aang! Don't go! We'll miss you!" The little girl cried out with tears in her eyes.
"I'll miss you too." Aang replied sadly, then looked at Katara, who frowns back at him, her eyes saddened while her hair loopies sway in the wind.
"Aang, wait!" Sorin walked over, carrying a wrapped square package "I've packed some provisions for you. I know you airbenders are vegetarians, so I hope you like seaweed varieties."
Aang smiled at the dualbender, accepting the food "Thank you, Sorin. See you one day." Sorin nods once with a sad smile "Come on, boy." Appa begins to walk off, Sorin, Katara and the little girl watch on with everyone else behind them. The little girl runs off crying back to the village while Kanna comes up behind Katara.
"Katara, you'll feel better after you-" Kanna tried reasoning with her but she is cut off.
"You happy now? There goes my one chance of becoming a waterbender!" Katara cuts her off angrily shouting at her before storming off, leaving a saddened Kanna alone with Sorin, who placed a comforting hand on the elderly woman's shoulder. Meanwhile, Sokka coaches the young boys to prepare for battle just outside the village.
"All right! Ready our defences! The Fire Nation could be on our shores any moment now!" Sokka warned them.
One of the little boys stops, raised his hand and dances around "But, I gotta-" He began to plead.
"And no potty breaks!" Sokka interjected authoritatively, a twinge of annoyance in his voice as he points onward, ushering the boy in that direction.
Back in the village, Sorin prepares himself as he grabbed his late father's waterskin pouch, putting it on his waist and then looked over at his late mother's sword and attached it to his belt. He closed his eyes and let out a deep exhale, breathing out small flames before gaining a determined expression. He joins up with Sokka, who is now wearing war paint and war garb. The two boys share a nod before facing forward.
The two boys are standing atop the ice wall of the village, scanning the mist for any sign of the enemy. Suddenly, a rumbling noise was then heard and the ground begins to shake. Parts of the wall on which Sokka and Sorin are currently standing on begin to break apart. The villagers look around in alarm of what is to come. Sokka stands as his watchtower in the background collapses in a heap of snow and ice.
"Oh man!" Sokka complained in disappointment as he saw his watchtower has collapsed.
"Uh... Sokka..." Sorin muttered, gesturing forward.
The Southern Tribe villagers begin to run every direction. Katara, in the midst of the panic, sees something in the mist as a massive shadow suddenly emerges from the mist, dwarfing Sokka and Sorin. It is the bow of a Fire Navy Ship
"Ohhh, man!" Both Sokka and Sorin yelled out as the ship approaches.
The ship cuts through the ice all the way to the village wall itself. As the ship continues to break through the ice towards the wall, Katara puts her grandmother into one of the tents at the back of the village when she hears a frightened scream. She gasps in terror when she realizes that the sound came from a small boy, kneeling on the ground. The fissure is rapidly approaching him, but Katara quickly runs over and scoops up the child before the ground splinters underneath. She sets the child down again in front of a tent which he quickly enters, and Katara turns back to view her brother and friend as the ship reaches the wall.
"Sokka, Sorin, get out of the way!" Katara shouted out at them.
The bow of the ship plows through the snow. While Sorin gripped his sword, Sokka raises his club in defense, ready to strike. Before either of them could make their move however, the bow crumbles a large portion of the wall into snowy ruins. The snow slides downward, pushing Sokka several feet back before he lands to a halt while Sorin jumps away at a very safe distance. With a loud hiss of steam, the ship has come to a halt as well. The villagers, Katara in front, emerge from their shelter and are staring in complete shock at the large vessel. Katara draws a deep breath in suspense, Sokka looks up at the ship, who also draws breath while Sorin was looking up at it, keeping a firm gaze on it.
Sokka also gasps when he catches sight of the bow of the ship opening and creaking forward in a burst of steam, forming a walkway. He backs up and falls to the ground once the bow hits the ground with a loud thud. The villagers gather closer around for support and several people even cover their eyes. Katara takes a step back upon noticing the shape of three figures cloaked in the mist. As the steam cleared Fire Nation soldiers walked down. Sorin narrowed his eyes at the teenage boy leading them and the large scar taking up the majority of the left side of his face.
"Zuko, the Banished Prince of the Fire Nation..." Sorin muttered firmly.
Sokka lets out a battle cry and charges at the prince with his club to the ready, but Zuko merely kicks the club to his left and, without ever resting his leg on the ground, kicks Sokka over to his right, sending him into the snow, where his head becomes trapped. The warrior desperately tries to free himself as Zuko continues on his way to the village, followed by six more men. Katara covers her mouth in shock upon witnessing her brother's quick defeat. The Fire Nation troops arrive at the village border in front of them stand the villagers, Zuko walks towards them to address the village. He looks over the crowd, then walks over to Katara and Kanna, the former holding onto the latter.
"Where are you hiding him?" Zuko demanded in anger as he surveys the crowd of villagers, who fall completely silent. Without warning, he extends his arm out into the crowd and grabs Kanna, holding her by the hood of her parka and shaking her as he spoke "He'd be about this age? Master of all elements?" He asks them but again no one responds.
After a brief pause, he shoves Kanna forcefully back into the crowd. The elderly woman shudders in fear and embraces Katara, who shoots an angry glare at Zuko. Receiving no response, Zuko swings his arm out and releases an arc of fire that passes just over the heads of the people, causing them to cover their heads and cry out in fear, Sorin jumps in front of the villagers, redirects the flames back to Zuko, sending him back.
"That was a mistake!" Sorin growled angrily.
Zuko widened his eyes in disbelief, then glared at the new interruption "Who are you?!"
"I'm someone you shouldn't cross!" Sorin snapped as he unleashes multiple fire blasts at Zuko, who barely avoids them.
Behind the fire prince, Sokka picks his club up, Sokka runs over and picks it up, most of his war paint having come off at this point. He lets out another battle cry as he charges toward the prince. Cut to a shot of Zuko, his back facing the camera. He swiftly turns around just as Sokka approaches. He ducks under Sokka's wide swing and hurls the warrior forward. Sokka lands on his rear in the snow and is quickly forced to dart from his spot when Zuko fires a blast at him. He spins to the side and tosses his boomerang at the enemy who barely manages to miss getting hit by the weapon. Zuko growls and glares at Sokka in anger at the near hit; he follows the course of the weapon until it vanishes before looking back at Sokka in anger. One of the village boys tosses Sokka a spear.
"Show no fear!" The little boy shouts out. Sokka handily catches the weapon and charges at Zuko once more.
"Sokka, stop!" Sorin tried to warn him.
But it was too late as Zuko breaks off pieces of the spear shaft with just his wrist guard, pulls the remains of the weapon out of Sokka's hands and pokes him thrice in the head with the blunt end. Sokka falls to the ground as Zuko snaps the spear in two and tosses the pieces to the ground on both of his sides. Sokka, after getting hit, sinks to the ground, rubbing his head.
A sparkle of light shines briefly in the distance and Sokka's boomerang spins into view, unnoticed by Zuko. The weapon strikes Zuko on the back of his helmet with a loud cling; he is momentarily pushed forward by the unexpected blow. Zuko rearranges his helmet and growls at Sokka. The boomerang has plummeted into the ground in front of Sokka's feet. Enraged, Zuko readies two fire daggers. Sorin slammed his palm into the snow, causing it to envelop his hand and turn into a claw made of ice and leaps in front of Sokka.
"Just go ahead and try it." Sorin snarled as he readied a fire dagger on his other hand.
Zuko glared at him, and glanced at the ice claw and fire dagger "You're a dualbender."
Sorin noticed something and smirked "And you're about to go flying, scarface."
Aang is seen rapidly riding on a penguin toward the battle scene. He holds his glider horizontal on the animal and he has a determined look on his face. His tongue is out of his mouth in pure concentration. He flies right under Zuko, sweeping his legs out from under him, Aang soars into the air as the prince lands on his face, his legs in the air. Zuko spins around a few times before coming to a halt in front of his men, his helmet landing on his rear as they watch.
As Aang and the penguin make a turn, the cheering children are showered in snow as Aang rides past, however, after giving each other silent, unamused looks for a few seconds, they begin cheering once again, shaking the snow off. The penguin slides to a halt, then crawls out from under Aang, tossing him off. Aang falls on his rear, blinking stupidly. Aang smiles at the penguin when the animal quacks at him before waddling away.
"Hey Katara. Hey Sokka. Hey Sorin." Aang greeted cheerfully, despite the current situation.
"Hi... Aang. Thanks for comin'." Sokka responded moodily.
"Glad you could join the party." Sorin remarked.
Aang looks back at the Fire Nation soldiers, where Zuko just got back on his feet again. Upon his signal, his men spread out, surrounding Aang while Zuko assumes a fighting stance, which Aang does the same, his staff held firmly in front of him as he is being surrounded by the soldiers. He sweeps the ground side-to-side with his staff, showering the men with snow. He subsequently slams the ground, sending a rush of snow at Zuko who braces for the impact. After being sprayed with snow, and heating it up so it would melt off, Zuko looks up angrily.
"Looking for me?" Aang asked.
"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" Zuko asked, looking at him in shock and disbelief.
"Aang?" Katara said in surprise.
"No way." Sokka said also in disbelief.
"What...?!" Sorin voiced his own disbelief as Zuko and Aang move about in a circular position in the middle of the village.
"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training. Meditating. You're just a child!" Zuko angrily spat.
"Well, you're just a teenager." Aang calmly retorted, tilting his head to one side with a somewhat confused expression.
Zuko grits his teeth and launches a series of fire blasts at Aang in anger at the remark, who defends himself by twirling his staff, dissipating the flames. Zuko fires another blast at Aang, who twirls his staff once again to ward the attack off. but the embers blew past him and the water tribe villagers cower as the flames stream through the air over their heads until Sorin brushed the embers away. Aang widens his eyes in horror at the sight of the frightened villagers and immediately ceases to defend himself.
"If I go with you." Aang holds his staff in front of him as an offer, making sure Zuko understands that he does not wish to continue fighting. "Will you promise to leave everyone alone?"
Zuko relaxed his stance and nodded, then pointed at Sorin "And him as well!" Three of the soldiers walked up behind Aang and began to push him towards the ship. Two more grabbed Sorin by the arms with mild resistance.
Katara ran forward "No, Aang! Sorin! Don't do this!"
"Don't worry, Katara, it'll be okay." Aang assured, then gasps when he and Sorin are shoved on the walkway. Katara's face contorts with sadness and fright. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back."
"Head a course to the Fire Nation. I'm going home." Zuko ordered as they board the ship and the bowsprit rises back up. Aang looks back with a weak smile at the tribe as the ship bowsprit closes. Katara's eyes tear as Aang leaves her sight. Aang's smile drops to a frown as he sees Katara in pain and the bow rises and closes.
A little later, the Fire Nation Navy ship prows cutting through the ice packed water. On the foredeck, Aang and Sorin have their hands bound behind them, facing Zuko, his Uncle named Iroh and a bunch of guards. The prince was holding Aang's staff and Sorin's sword.
"This staff will make an excellent gift for my father." Zuko inspects the staff as he spoke "I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks." He then looked to the sword as he recognised it, before speaking to Sorin "And you chose to keep your mother's sword."
Sorin growled with a glare "You don't get to speak about my mother! Your nation murdered her and my father!"
Zuko ignored what he said as he spoke to the soldiers "Take the Avatar and the Dualbender to the prison hold." He shoves the staff and sword in Iroh's direction. "And take these to my quarters."
"Hey, you mind taking this to his quarters for me?" Iroh asked the guard, who takes the staff from him while he kept the sword as Aang gets escorted down some stairs into the ship while Sorin was taken to the upper decks. The ship steams through a narrow strip of water between walls of ice.
In one of the corridors, Sorin is walking through a corridor on the lower deck, one soldier before him, one following after him. With a small smirk, Sorin suddenly spins and flips, knocking down the guard behind him before unleashing a fire blast with his feet to take the second guard out.
"Heh, too easy." Sorin remarked as he burned away his bindings, and rushed down the corridor. When he turned the corner, he saw his sword resting against the wall "Huh... who left this here?" He saw a piece of paper and reads it "'Not many still cling to the ancient ways, young Sorin'." He tilted his head in confusion "I wonder what that means... It must've been that guy..."
With a shake of his head, Sorin rushed his way through the ship until he finally reaches the foredeck. Then, he notices Aang leaping out of the main control room of the ship, on his glider. Zuko suddenly manages to grab hold of Aang's ankle. Both plummet down to the lower deck of the ship and land with a crash. They bounce a few times before coming to a halt. Aang's glider closes again to a staff. Both lie on the deck for a moment.
Zuko begins rising, a look of persistence on his face. Aang rises and assumes a fighting stance, looking very unsure of himself until he sees Sorin standing beside him, also taking a fighting stance. Before the fight could begin, Appa's growl distracts all fighters. Aang averts his gaze and catches sight of Appa heading toward the ship.
"What is that?" Zuko questioned in shock as Appa approaches the ship.
"Appa!" Aang cried out estatically.
"Aang, watch out!" Sorin warned.
He turns around to face Zuko and manages to deflect a firebending attack by spinning his glider around like a baton. However, he propels himself by accident into the air and lands on the ledge of the deck. He leans precariously over the side, unsteadily balancing himself, but manages to regain his balance only for Zuko to fire another blast at him. He twirls his glider again to deflect the attack. Two more blasts are fired his way before he loses his grip on his glider and the object spins away. The staff falls several feet away. Sorin throws a multiple ice discs at Zuko, who immediately melts them with his fire before unleashing a blast that made Sorin leap back, which was enough for Zuko to continue on the offensive towards Aang, who ducks, spins and leaps out of the way of blasts and lands on the very ledge, struggling to keep his balance. Zuko hurls more fire blasts his way while also attacking Sorin, who is forced on the defensive despite using both water and fire to retaliate. Aang holds up his hands in defense, but the last blast seemingly knocks him out cold and he falls backward off the ship into the water, where he slowly sinks.
"Aang! No!" Katara shouted hysterically as he sinks into the water.
"Aang!" Sorin exclaimed in horror.
"Aang! Aang! AANG!" Katara screamed as suddenly Aang's eyes open, glowing a bright white, along with his arrow tattoos, and he frowns angrily. He steadies himself in the water and begins swiveling around, a waterspout forming around him. He rockets upward and erupts from the surface, riding a humongous spinning water vortex. Zuko looks up at the swirling column of water in horror.
Aang lands on the deck of the ship, his eyes still aglow as he brings his hands around behind his head. The water swirls around him, forming a protective circle, before spreading outward, knocking Zuko and several soldiers overboard while Sorin leaped in the air to avoid it. Sokka and Katara witness the scene from above on Appa's saddle.
"Whoa..." Sorin muttered in amazement.
"Did you see what he just did?" Katara asked her brother, still in complete shock.
"Now that was some waterbending!" Sokka replied, looking impressed at what he saw.
Aang began to collapse from exhaustion, his eyes and tattoos ceasing to glow, but Sorin catches him before he could hit the floor. Appa growls and lands on the deck. Katara and Sokka slide down and quickly run toward the unconscious Avatar.
"Aang! Are you okay?" Katara asked as she kneels down with Sokka beside her.
"Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Thanks for coming." Aang said weakly.
"Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory." Sokka replied.
"I dropped my staff." Aang pointed out.
"Got it!" Sokka runs over, grabs a hold of the glider and lifts it only to see Zuko's hand firmly gripping the other end. Sokka appears horrified as Zuko attempts to pull himself upward onto the deck. The two struggle for a bit before Sokka pokes Zuko repeatedly in the head with the end of the staff the way Zuko did earlier with him. Zuko grunts and falls backward as he lets go of the staff. He falls off the side of the ship, but manages to grasp the anchor chain. "Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!"
Appa rises from a puddle of water after Katara helped Aang to climb atop his head. Katara still stands beside the large beast while Aang lies on top of his head. Cut to three soldiers, who rise after being knocked down by Aang's water attack and menacingly approach her. Katara takes a step back and slowly and precariously bends a stream of water from the puddle, causing the men to slow down and gasp in surprise. She swings her arms around in an attempt to whip them, however, only succeeds in freezing a channel of water behind her on the deck, encasing Sokka's legs in ice in the process.
"Katara!" Sokka complained.
"Hold on, Sokka!" Sorin ran over and creates a small flame in his hand and pressed it on the ice, causing Sokka to freak out "Oh, quit your whining!"
The soldiers resume their approach. Katara turns around, her back facing them and draws another stream of water. She closes her eyes tightly, swings her arms behind her and turns around to see one of the soldiers completely frozen in a casing of ice, his arm extended outward to her, still twitching in effort to grab her. She backs away slowly, but turns around and quickly runs toward Appa.
Katara begins mounting Appa "Hurry up, guys!"
"I'm just a guy with a boomerang; I didn't ask for all this flying and magic." Sokka complained to himself as Sorin finally melts away the ice. Sokka grabs the staff and run towards the bison, running up it's tail with the Dualbender "Yip, yip! Yip, yip!" He jumped into the saddle. Appa rumbled and lifted his tail before he shot up into the air.
Iroh, who'd just walked out on deck, looked up surprised while rubbing his eyes as he'd clearly been asleep until now. Appa flew around and turned to head back the way they'd came as Iroh helped Zuko up from the anchor's chain.
"Shoot them down!" Zuko ordered and Sorin turned having heard. He watched as the two, Zuko and Iroh, moved together and shot a heap of fire at the bison.
"Incoming!" Sorin shouted as Sokka and Katara stare at the incoming attack in horror, while Aang leaps onto the saddle. He opens the small tail wing of his staff and swings his glider around, using a powerful swipe of air to redirect the fireball into a nearby cliff side. The impact causes an avalanche of snow and ice to begin falling.
Sokka laughed and Aang chuckled as they watched the avalanche, the young avatar waving goodbye as Sorin sighed with relief. Appa flew through the air with Aang sitting on the front of Appa's saddle cross legged, Sorin at the front with the reins in his hands and the water tribe siblings at the back of the saddle.
"How did you do that? With the water?" Katara asked, still bewildered "It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen."
"I don't know. I just sort of... did it." Aang responded quietly, slightly downcast, as he was sitting on the edge of the saddle.
"Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?" Katara wondered softly.
"Because..." Aang turns away, slightly saddened. "I never wanted to be." A cloud passes over them blocking out the fading sun. Once it passes, they enter a shaft of sunlight.
"But Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar to return and finally put an end to this war." Katara said.
"And how am I going to do that?" Aang asked, looking downcast.
"According to legend, you need to first master water, then earth, then fire, right?" Katara inquired.
"That's what the monks told me." Aang replied.
"Well, if we go to the North Pole you can master waterbending." Katara stated.
"We can learn it together!" Aang said, turning to face her, smiling and brightening up completely.
"And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way." Katara said to her brother.
"I'd like that. I'd really like that." Sokka grinned, looking content.
"And when the time comes, I can help Aang in teaching him firebending after he learns and masters water and earth." Sorin reminded.
Aang smiled "And I'll be honored for you to be my firebending teacher, Sorin."
"Then we're in this together." Katara said optimistically.
Aang cheerfully pulled out a rolled up scroll "All right, but before I learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to." He uses airbending to situate himself onto the saddle and unrolls the scroll, revealing a map of the Avatar World "Here, here and here." While stating this, he points to three locations, two in the Earth Kingdom, one in Air Nomad territory.
"What's there?" Katara asked curiously, pointing to one of the locations.
"Here." Aang pointed to a location at the Earth Kingdom. "We'll ride the hopping llamas. Then waaaay over here." He now pointed to a spot at the Air Nomad islands "We'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here we'll ride the hog-monkeys." The siblings glance at each other, while Sorin rolled his eyes with a small smirk "They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!" He finishes while smiling enthusiastically, his eyes widened with excitement while Appa flies peacefully in the sky, sunbeams breaking through the clouds behind him.
End of Chapter 2
A/N: Another Chapter done, and dusted. Now, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Sorin have begun their adventure together. Look forward to see where it takes them! Enjoy the chapter and look forward to the next one!
Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA or the story image, just the OC
Next Chapter: The Southern Air Temple