A/N: I edited one thing in the last chapter. If you read the chapter before the edit I apologize. I don't know why I called Amara's pouch a water moccasin. Probably not wise to carry a snake by her side. I think I was talking to someone about snakes while writing the chapter. Water Skin. Not Water Moccasin!

Also, I'm breaking this into two parts. I was at 9,000 words for this chapter and still writing, so I decided it would be better in two parts. Part two will hopefully be coming by the end of this week.

-Faith

Chapter 23: Dark Tunnel Part 1

(Amara POV)

After we left General Fong and his base, we continued east. Katara let me know we had to be careful not to be spotted because there were a lot of Fire Nation camps spread through the region. We'd be stopping quite a bit rather than flying straight. I let her know I was just along for the ride and happy to be with them. I honestly had no clue where else I would go besides the South Pole… I had no clue where Zuko and Iroh were… staying with my family was my best option.

Our first evening camping in the woods, Katara offered to train some with Aang and I in waterbending. They were excited to check out the scrolls that Master Pakku had given Aang. As Sokka chilled by the campfire with Momo and Appa, we headed downhill to a pond. Aang did his own thing, looking at the scrolls for guidance, while Katara taught me some basics. She was definitely a master waterbender from the way she connected so quickly to the element. I was amazed as I watched her do basic moves like they were as easy as breathing. She could create massive waves, freeze water and break it to pieces in mid-air, snap water whips with ease, and form massive walls of ice. After she demonstrated some moves, I did my best to copy her actions. My waves were nothing compared to hers, and my ice walls were barely a foot taller than me. Katara promised me that if I kept practicing and stayed determined then it would become second nature.

"I just don't understand why I'm not as strong as I am when I'm in battle… When I fought Zhao, it all just came to me…"

She explained. "You were in survival mode, Amara… when you're in danger, your connection is only stronger. That's why it's important you build this connection when you're not in a life or death situation."

Having Katara as my teacher was a lot different than Iroh. While Iroh could show me proper stances and movements, he couldn't actually tell me if I was bending the water correctly. Katara was able to help me modify the movements and show me how to direct the water better. She was so kind and patient with me. Even Aang would take a break from his more advanced moves to come over and help me train. It was nice to get to practice waterbending with others.

After two more days of flying, taking breaks, flying some more, and then stopping for camp, we were only a day away from the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu. After we packed up camp at sunrise, Katara asked Aang and I if we wanted to try and get another training session in. I let her know that I was really interested in that. Aang was excited too.

Sokka wandered off with Momo on his shoulder as we started training at a river at the bottom of some large cliffs. Appa sat to the side in the cliff's shade to take a nap.

I practiced some moves Katara wanted me to work on, while she taught Aang more advanced sets. Katara had shed her outer clothing and was wearing her underwrappings. I kept my outer clothing on. I knew that my family had already seen the many scars on my back, but I really didn't want to show them again quite yet. I hated them feeling sorry for me. I wanted them to help me move on and forget the past. With each passing day I was with my family, the good memories were starting to push away the bad.

As I let the water flow around me, letting my hands be my guide, I felt so at peace. When I used my waterbending, I felt connected to my mom more than ever. It felt like a part of her was still with me. I thought back to a small memory I had of my mom. It was a few days after I had learned I was a waterbender. Tu Lan had snuck us a tiny bowl of water to play with in our attic prison.

My mom swirled the water in the air, and I watched her with excitement. She then put the water in the bowl and helped me move my wrist so I could get used to my connection to the element. I created small waves in the bowl and giggled.

"I'm doing it, mommy," my five year old self chimed. "I'm just like you now!"

She brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, smiling tenderly at me. "Just remember… only Tu Lan and I can know about this."

I looked at her with confusion. "Daddy will be mad?"

She frowned. "It's not him I'm worried about… It's Xi and Zhao… I don't want them to hurt you… Just be careful, my little polar-pup."

I nodded. "I will, mommy. Our secret."

I dropped the water back in the river. I stared down at the moving stream, getting lost in my thoughts. Finally being able to bend fire and water so freely was liberating, and I could not begin to fathom how hard it was for my mom to not be able to bend. After learning so much about waterbending, she was forbidden to do so during her enslavement. While she was able to move around the attic prison, she had been punished so much the first few years of her captivity for waterbending. She had scars on her back similar to my own; I knew they were due to her defiance during the early stages of her being a prisoner to my father. She had tried to escape. She had attacked him. But she was alone and never strong enough to escape my father or his men. After so much hurt and failure to get away, she became hesitant about bending her element… fearful… Her fear made me fearful for so long too…

However, after Iroh saved me, he helped me a lot with my anxiety toward my bending. He had truly been a wonderful father figure in the brief time we were together. I hoped he was staying well wherever he was. Zuko needed him…

Sokka suddenly appeared in my line of sight, bringing me out of my thoughts. I was stunned by what I saw. I blinked a few times to convince myself I was awake. He was drifting down the river on a huge leaf (I was not sure where he even got such a large piece of plant). Momo was stretched out over his shirtless body. Sokka was wearing nothing but his lower under-wrapping. His hair was down and covering his face slightly. As he drifted by, I just stared. I had never seen such a weird thing before in my life: a half dressed teenage guy on a giant green leaf floating down the river with a flying-lemur.

Sokka spoke as he drifted by. "You guys are gonna be done soon, right? We've got a lot of ground to cover if we wanna make it to Omashu today."

Katara stood straight from her stance and looked at him with a smirk. "What, like you're ready to go right now, naked guy?"

Sokka shrugged. "I can be ready in two minutes. Seriously. Whenever."

He continued to drift away. I watched in amazement. My cousin was floating on a leaf down the river… I shook my head… This group was very different from Zuko and Iroh.

"Welcome to team crazy," Katara muttered.

I smiled slightly over at her. "I'm enjoying it."

She smiled back.

"So, you were showing me the octopus form," Aang stated, trying to get back into training.

I glanced over to watch, curious to see the move. Katara looked back at Aang. "Right. Let me see your stance." Aang got into a stance, ready to do the technique. Katara stepped behind him and touched his arms to correct his posture. "Your arms are too far apart. See, if you move them closer together you protect your center. You got it?"

Aang's cheeks turned red. I was surprised by this. I wasn't even sure if Katara noticed she had flustered him as she made contact with him. Aang had feelings for my cousin. Did his heart flutter from her touch like mine did with Zuko?

Aang spoke shakily, "Oh... yeah. Thanks."

As I saw Aang and Katara's interaction, my heart twisted slightly. My thoughts went to Zuko again. I recalled the first time my heart fluttered for him, when he handed me the bowl of stew my first full day on his ship. I was so broken back at that time. I was scared of everything. Zuko had helped me so much. He and Iroh had brought me out of the darkest pit. They helped me heal. And in the end, they found my family like they promised me they would. I wouldn't be where I was without them…

They were my heroes…

"Okay, let's see what you got," Katara spoke again, bringing me out of my thoughts once more. I watched as Aang, who was standing in the water, raised some water into a blob right below him. Then with a smooth motion, he caused the blob to form eight long arms, each moving up and down in fluid movements.

Katara then began to rapidly fire icicles at him. He grabbed the first one with one of his watery arms and threw it to the side. Then he smacked the other ones with the other wavy streams of water. After deflecting a few more, he wrapped one of his octopus arms around Katara's leg. She stopped her projectiles and placed her hands on her hips. She was pleased.

"You make a fine octopus, Pupil Aang."

Aang grinned and encased his whole body in the blob then, forming what I assumed was an actual octopus shape. I couldn't contain my amusement. I laughed at his silly actions. Katara turned to me with relief. She was glad to see I was finally becoming more outgoing with the group.

Once Aang dropped his octopus form, we all used our waterbending to dry off. As I put my boots back on and the other two got their clothes back on, Sokka drifted by again.

"We're ready Sokka," Katara stated. "Your two minutes start now."

Sokka sighed as he floated on his green leaf. Momo lifted an ear and chirped. His noise made us all start to hear what sounded like music in the distance. We looked over at the tree line near the bottom of the cliff and saw a group of men and women emerge.

I was stunned. They were dressed in clothing I had never seen before. None of them looked alike. Each carried an instrument and seemed to be dancing as they moved along the river.

There was one carrying a pipa a little smaller than Lieutenant Jee's and wearing a wreath of flowers. He had shaggy hair and his blue robe with yellow seams only covered half his chest and one shoulder. He was singing a tune. "Don't fall in love with a traveling girl. She'll leave you broke and broken hearted…"

There was another woman on his left in a black and pink outfit, and she was playing a long wooden instrument by her mouth. There was another heavier set man playing a drum. Another man and woman, both with really long hair, followed the group, dancing and playing their own instruments too.

I had a feeling my cousins and Aang were as surprised as I was by the way they stared with wide eyes. Sokka was so shocked that his leaf boat capsized and he shouted as he fell in the river. Momo jumped just in time to avoid getting wet.

As Momo landed on my shoulder, the group of traveling singers noticed us. The leader of the group pointed over at us so the rest of his group saw. "Heh-hey! River people!"

Katara quickly argued, "We're not river people."

Sokka came out onto land, soaked. I kindly took the water off of him and put it back in the river. He smiled with gratitude.

The man responded to Katara. "You're not? Well then what kind of people are ya?"

Aang shrugged. "Just... people."

He grinned. "Aren't we all, brother? Whoo."

Sokka pointed at the man with suspicion. "Who are you?"

He answered, "I'm Chong, and this is my wife Lily." He pointed back at the lady in black and pink as he introduced her. "We're nomads, happy to go wherever the wind takes us!" He played his pipa wildly to demonstrate this. I was amazed.

Aang was excited by this info. "You guys are nomads! That's great! I'm a nomad."

Chong grinned. "Hey, me too!"

I shook my head in disbelief. I had never met such odd people in my months of freedom. I felt like I had stepped into a strange new world.

Aang was confused by the man's response. "I know... you just said that."

Chong blinked. "Oh." He then glanced over at Sokka who was still not dressed. "Nice underwear."

Sokka yelped, grabbed Momo off of my shoulder to cover himself, and rushed off back in the trees to find his clothes. As the others started chatting with the group of nomads, I just continued to stare at everything occurring with astonishment. I didn't know how to react to the strange sights before me.

"Amara? You okay?" Katara came over as Aang chatted with the group, having noticed I was standing away from them all with uncertainty. Appa had stepped over at this point to get a closer view of the strangers. They were excited by the giant flying sky-bison and started to look him over.

I stared at Katara for a moment, not sure how to respond. Finally, I found my voice. "I… I'm just not sure… if this is all normal? Are there a lot of groups like this?"

She was surprised. Then she smiled. "Oh. No… this is actually pretty strange. I've never met a group like this one before. You're not crazy."

I pointed back to the river. "Sokka was floating on a leaf… was that normal?"

Katara giggled. "No. That was odd too. You're definitely seeing some weird stuff today." She took my hand and gave it a squeeze. "But just go with the flow and enjoy it. I hate seeing you so tense and alert all the time. Our group isn't stiff and rigid like Zuko and his crew. We're just kids most days… Relax."

Her desire for me to calm down did get me to loosen the tension inside a little. I let out a heavy breath and nodded. "I'll try."

She pulled me over to the group then. The woman named Lily stepped over as we approached. "You both are so pretty! Let me braid your hair! You would look wonderful with some flowers!" She grabbed Katara and pulled her over to Appa. I saw the other woman from the group had climbed onto Appa's head and was braiding his fur. Chong was strumming on his guitar some more as he spoke to Aang. I was a bit overwhelmed by everything. As Aang and Katara smiled, music played, and stories were told, I felt uncertain what I was supposed to do.

Sokka appeared suddenly, dressed in his short sleeve Water Tribe shirt and blue pants again. Momo ran past him to hop on Aang's lap. My oldest cousin stepped up beside me, staring at the group with disbelief.

Aang waved at him. "Hey, Sokka, you should hear some of these stories. These guys have been everywhere!"

Chong, who was strumming some keys as he laid back against Appa, stopped playing. "Well, not everywhere, Little Arrowhead. But where we haven't been we've heard about through stories and songs."

Aang nodded. "They said they'll take us to see a giant nightcrawler!"

I was horrified. Zuko had helped me read about those from one of my books back on the ship. They were giant bugs. I shivered. The bugs in my attic prison and cell at the harbor were big enough. I really had no desire to see a giant worm.

The man named Moku spoke in a daze. "On the way there's a waterfall that creates a never-ending rainbow."

Sokka stepped up to the group. "Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but since Katara is busy I guess it's up to me." He gestured to Katara who was still getting her hair braided by Lily. "We need to get to Omashu. No sidetracks, no worms, and definitely no rainbows."

Chong spoke up. "Whoa... sounds like someone's got a case of 'destination fever,' heh. You're worried too much about where you're going."

Lily agreed, standing from where she'd been sitting behind Katara. "You've gotta focus less on the 'where' and more on the 'going.'"

Sokka spoke with emphasis. "O. Ma. Shu."

Katara let out a heavy sigh and stood. "Sokka's right. We need to find King Bumi so Aang can learn earthbending somewhere safe."

Chong grinned. "Well, sounds like you're headed to Omashu."

Sokka groaned and then smacked his head with his palm. I smiled slightly at him. His action reminded me of something Zuko did when Iroh drove him crazy. Before I could get lost in worry again about my recent guardian and the young man I loved, Chong brought me back.

"There's an old story about a secret pass...right through the mountains."

Katara was uncertain. "Is this real or a legend?"

Chong nodded. "Oh, it's a real legend. And it's as old as earthbending itself." He strummed his instrument and started to sing. "Two lovers, forbidden from one another... a war divides their people... and a mountain divides them apart. Built a path to be together..." He stopped for a moment and shrugged. "Yeah, and I forget the next couple of lines, but then it goes…" His whole group started to dance and play their instruments again. "Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel! Through the mountain! Secret, secret, secret, secret tunnel! Yeah!"

Everyone clapped at the end of the song. I just continued to stare in silent disbelief. I still felt like I was in a weird dream. Katara and Aang, who were clapping as well, seemed to handle strange things so much better than me. However, Sokka was irritated.

Sokka argued against Chong's advice. He took my hand to pull me over to Appa's tail so we could climb on. "I think we'll just stick with flying. We've dealt with the Fire Nation before. We'll be fine."

Aang spoke as Sokka helped me climb on Appa. "Yeah. Thanks for the help, but Appa hates going underground and we need to do whatever makes Appa most comfortable."

Katara sighed. "Yeah… we'll get there faster flying too."

A few moments later we were on Appa's saddle. Katara and Aang waved goodbye to the group below, while Sokka sat back beside me against the saddle looking over a map.

Since things were finally calm, I asked while the others got ready to fly, "Sokka… Where did you get that leaf earlier?"

He was surprised by my question, but then he smirked over at me. "Would you believe me if I said I just found it by the river?"

I smiled slightly. "Honestly… after this crazy last hour I would believe that."

He looked back at the map. "Sounds like you didn't have many adventures with Zuko and his uncle," Sokka muttered. "They must've been boring."

I crossed my arms. Thinking about them made me miss them again. "Well… we didn't have crazy adventures like this… but I still saw a lot of the world with them. Everyday I was free and not in a cell was an adventure…"

He frowned when I said this. His eyes met my own with sadness. "I guess I don't see them as anything but evil guys with fire… sorry…"

"Don't be… It's okay," I whispered. "I know they caused you all a lot of trouble. I never agreed with Zuko chasing after Aang, especially once I realized how nice the Avatar was... By the end of my journey with Zuko and Iroh, I was really conflicted because I loved them both so much, but I was against Zuko's mission." I let out a heavy breath. "I miss them every day. That won't change... But I'm happy being with you all… I'm having… fun… I may not look like I am, but that's just because I'm taking everything in and don't know how to react. I'm learning… Just be patient with me."

He smiled. "I know... And we're really happy you're with us."

Katara had turned in the saddle from saying goodbye to the group and noticed our soft conversation. "What are you two talking about?"

Sokka put an arm around my shoulders. "Just how excited we are to get to Omashu and not see giant worms."

I smiled at this. At least Sokka and I agreed seeing a giant worm was not a fun idea.

Appa took flight then. I was kind of glad to be moving on. I felt a bit guilty that I didn't know how to enjoy things that were fun to others. Katara and Aang chatted as we flew about how exciting and interesting Chong and his group had been. While they chatted about it, all I could think in my head was that they were very strange people.

We seemed to have only been flying for five minutes, when suddenly the air became tense.

"Uh… Aang," Katara suddenly said. "Is that… a fireball!"

Aang yelped. Appa suddenly jerked to the right, and I was shocked as I saw a flaming orb shoot past us.

Sokka turned and gripped the side of the saddle to see what was the cause. "Crap! Fire Nation troop! And a big one! They've got tanks!"

Immediately I gathered that this was one of the Fire Nation camps we'd been trying to avoid.

More flaming balls shot at us. Shouts from the Fire Nation soldiers were heard below. As we dodged, and the others screamed, I gripped onto the saddle with horror. Was this what my family and Aang had gone through when Zuko and Zhao had fired at them in the past? If so, I was relieved they hadn't been hit!

"Okay! I say flying is a terrible idea!" Aang cried. Appa groaned in agreement.

Momo, who had rushed over to grab on to Katara so he didn't fly off, chattered in agreement.

Katara yelled, "All in favor of the tunnels?!"

Sokka shouted, "Okay! Fine! Let's get out of here!"

Aang yanked on Appa's reins. We turned quickly and flew back the way we came. Once we got distance, and the balls of fire no longer flew past us, we all let out sighs of relief. We were safe again. My heart was racing though as I tried to calm from our terrifying flight. The others seemed to recover faster. Sokka noticed I was still gripping the saddle tightly. He helped me pry my hand off. I calmed from his touch.

"Sorry, Amara… Sometimes being with the Avatar isn't that easy," Aang said once the tension had calmed. "I'm a flying target."

I met his gaze with a frown. "Is this what it was like when Zuko and Zhao were constantly chasing you?"

Aang frowned. He looked away from me, focusing on directing Appa. He answered though. "They definitely did not make our journey easy…"

Katara sighed. "Yeah… There were definitely a few moments when we were almost shot out of the sky by Zuko…"

My heart ached. My cousins had been in danger… and I just sat below deck and let it happen. "I'm sorry… You could've been hurt so much… Even killed. If I had known-"

Sokka sighed and cut me off. "Amara… don't apologize for Prince Zuko or Zhao. Nothing they did was in your control."

I grimaced. "I know… but I still feel like I could've done something… When Zuko tried to pursue you into the Fire Nation that day, I just sat in my room on the ship and did nothing… I heard everything..."

Katara moved beside me. She hugged me suddenly to offer me comfort. "You didn't know your family was with the Avatar at that point… Don't feel that way. None of that matters anymore. You escaped Zhao at the North Pole and found us. That was all you needed to do. The past is the past."

Her comfort was enough to bring my smile back.

Eventually we landed back by the river. Chong and his group were still lazing around. We all got off Appa once we had landed and made our way over. We were relieved to be on land again after almost being shot out of the sky.

Sokka sucked up his pride and said to Chong, "Okay… Secret love cave. Let's go."

Chong and his group were thrilled. They started to play their instruments again and dance as they led us away from the river and through the forest. Appa followed behind, seeming much happier to not be dodging fireballs. After about a mile of walking, we arrived at an area of what seemed to be ruins from some ancient city. Stone cliffs surrounded us as we left the forest behind us and reached the mountains in front of us.

Sokka asked the nomad leader, starting to get impatient, "How far are we from the tunnel?"

Chong, who was in the lead with Aang and Momo, answered, "Actually, it's not just one tunnel. The lovers didn't want anyone to find out about their love, so they built a whole labyrinth."

Sokka was horrified. "Labyrinth!"

I did not know what that was, but from the way Sokka reacted I assumed it was not what he was hoping for.

Chong shrugged, "I'm sure we'll figure it out."

Lily agreed. "All you need to do is trust in love. According to the curse."

I froze. Sokka did too. The group continued as if it was no big deal. Curse?

I did know about curses from stories Tu Lan told me growing up. He would sit with me some days and go on and on about ancient Fire Nation tribes, cursed objects, and heroes who had to save the day. Curses were definitely not good from the stories I had heard.

Sokka felt the same. He shouted with horror, "Curse!"

I realized we had arrived at the mouth of the tunnel just as Sokka shouted this. I could see the tunnel was indeed built into the side of the mountain and ran deep within. Someone had carved creepy statues on both sides of what I assumed were spirits.

Chong grinned, "Hey-hey, we're here!"

Sokka asked as the whole group stopped, "What exactly is this curse?"

Chong answered, "The curse says that only those who trust in love can make it through the caves. Otherwise you'll be trapped in them forever."

Lily added calmly, "And die."

Chong nodded. "Oh, yeah, and die." Then he grinned. "Hey, I just remembered the rest of that song!" He strummed a few chords. "And die!"

Sokka held his hands up in disbelief. "That's it! There's no way we're going through some cursed hole!"

During my time with my family, I had tried to find my courage with a lot of things. However, I was aware that curses were not something to be played with. A curse was one thing I was not willing to challenge. I was wholeheartedly with Sokka.

Katara rushed over and grabbed my arm to stop me when she saw me turn away to leave the tunnel. "Sokka! WIll you please calm down! You're going to freak Amara out!"

I muttered as she pulled me back, "Too late."

Katara tried to reassure me. "You'll be perfectly fine. I promise. There is no such thing as curses!"

Sokka argued. "How do you know?!"

Katara let me go and faced her brother. "Sokka! You know that that's all a bunch of ridiculous superstition! Don't tell me you believed elder Hoka about that cursed pipe growing up?"

Sokka shrugged. "Hey. It could've been true! Do you know anyone who smoked that pipe and lived to tell the tale?"

"No! Because no one wanted to smoke from that old moldy pipe!"

Chong and his group watched the argument with intrigue. Aang stepped over to intervene. "Guys! Calm down!" Aang sighed. "I agree with Katara… there's no way there's a curse. It's all just part of the story." He looked over at me. "I promise, Amara… as long as you're with me I'll keep you safe. Avatar's word!"

His reassurance did calm me slightly. Aang had saved my life twice in the last few months... If there was anyone I definitely wanted to trust then it was him.

I let out a heavy breath. "Okay… Let's just go in and get out quickly…"

"Or… we could go around," Sokka argued.

My heart jumped. That was an option? I nodded quickly. "Actually, that does sound better than a dark tunnel."

The man Moku suddenly spoke with delight, pointing back the way we had come. "Hey, someone's making a big campfire!"

We looked over to see what he was talking about. I was horrified when I saw smoke in the sky. A lot of smoke… The smoke was coming our way, which told me there were indeed tanks like the ones I had seen at Zhao's harbor. The Fire Nation camp we ran into earlier was following us…

Katara spoke with frustration, "That's no campfire, Moku."

Sokka agreed, "That's the Fire Nation. They're tracking us."

Aang was suddenly anxious to move along. He looked over at Chong, eager to get going. "So all you need is to trust in love to get through these caves?"

Chong grinned. "That is correct, Master Arrowhead."

Aang suddenly glanced over at Katara with adoration. He looked determined as his feelings towards my cousin filled him with confidence. "We can make it!"

I caught his action and thoughts. I was stunned. Wait! What?! He was joking right?! He didn't honestly believe love was really the answer to get through this dark tunnel did he?

Sokka must've decided he would take the tunnel over the Fire Nation army behind us. "Everyone into the hole!"

Appa groaned in protest as the group moved forward. I was with Appa. "If they're behind us, then can't we fly over?" No one seemed to hear me as they rushed into the tunnel. I let out a deep sigh. There was no way out of this. I looked over at Appa with uncertainty. "I guess we're going in."

Appa groaned again. We both followed the group with defeat. As we stepped into the cave, I realized the further we stepped into the dark space that there was no light before us. The group continued on, but I stopped. I looked back towards the entrance with agony. I really hated dark places. When the moon vanished back at the North Pole, there were still torches to light the area. This tunnel was cold, dark, and damp. It reminded me of-

I shook my head. No Amara! Don't think of that!

Shouts rang from outside the tunnel as the Fire Nation caught up. We kept moving forward quickly. I tried to follow the others as they stepped further into the dark open space. However, a sudden rumble echoed through the area causing me to stop. I was horrified as I turned back toward the mouth of the tunnel. I watched the entrance that was once full of light start to crumble. The rocks above the tunnel's opening collapsed as the Fire Nation caved us in, and darkness surrounded us.

We were trapped. Everyone shouted around us in shock as we were stuck inside the tunnel with no clue where to go. None of us could see either. Darkness surrounded us…"