My People
Oh look, another 'Aang has a friend with him in the iceberg' story. Hopefully I can bring something unique to the table with this one. This story is going to follow cannon... ish. I'll likely divert quickly, depending on how the story flows. Also some sequences, especially in the first couple chapters, will likely be moved around in their order for the sake of flow.
There will also be likely graphic depictions of violence, war, genocide, and varying kinds of abuse in this story. If anything particularly graphic is going to appear in a chapter, I'll try to remember to tag it at the beginning of the chapter, but consider this a preliminary warning for the whole story. Also I'm not sure what pairings I'm going to go with, if any. I might stick to cannon, or I might do something different. We'll see.
Chapter 1- Awakening
awakening (noun): an arousing from what is like sleep; a revival of interest in, or attention to, what has been neglected
Tao: Chinese name meaning "great waves."
"Please, father! I'll get it right this time, I swear it!"
"Shut your insolent mouth you useless half-breed rat. This is why your mother left you."
"I'm sorry! I'll do better, I promise, father!"
oOo
"Again!"
"Again!"
"Again!"
"I will accept nothing but perfection from you, rat!"
oOo
"And where are you going at this hour?"
"I'm leaving. I don't know where I'm going to go... but I can't stay here."
"I'm coming with you."
oOo
"Will you go penguin sledding with me?"
Golden-amber eyes crack open, itchy and dry, and Tao pushes himself up off the padded leather of the bison's saddle. A shard shiver passes through him, a frigid breeze cutting through his thin layers of clothing like they were made of rice paper. Arms shaking, he pushes himself to his knees, hearing voices nearby, but he can't focus. His head felt fuzzy, like he had been asleep for a long time and had been woken abruptly, but the last thing he remembered was the storm. The most violent and horrible hurricane that he had ever experienced, and then the knife-sharp agony of the freezing water throwing him and his companions about. Rubbing at his face, even his palms cold, he's surprised that his dark hair is dry as he cards his fingers through them and down his face, pausing instinctively as he reaches the wrinkled, puckered burn scar that marred a streak under his right cheek bone, along part of his nose, and across part of his mouth, remnants of a harsh, burning slap. A punishment for not being good enough.
Another cold gust ruffles his clothes and he looks up, seeing his friend leaping over the lip of the remnants of the ice berg and slide down the snow, and the bison in who's saddle Tao knelt jerks a little as Aang flops against Appa's huge nose, a moment later giving a cry of joy. "You're ok! Tao! Are you up there?" the young airbender calls, and Tao forces his jelly filled legs to cooperate, and he uses the wooden edge of the saddle to push himself to his feet. Leaning over, fighting vertigo, he waves limply to Aang, who gives him a blinding smile before turning. A pair of teens came around the corner of the snow bank, dressed all in blue with dark tan complexions, one carrying a spear, the other carrying nothing. They stay well back, and as Tao clambers clumsily down from Appa's saddle, he vaguely pays attention to the introductions going around, then he hears Aang sneeze, flinching as powdery snow buffets him, ruffling his hair and clothes, some going down his shirt, which he quickly shakes out. Then a different kind of chill goes up his spine, and he turns, golden-amber eyes meeting icy blue, and the elder of the teens, Sokka he thought he had heard, was gripping his spear, seeming ready to charge.
"I knew it! This was a Fire Nation trick! You've got a firebender with you." the boy growls, and Tao was sure that his grip was white knuckled under his thick mittens. Brow furrowing in confusion and annoyance, Tao looks Sokka over, scarred mouth twitching a little as his facial muscles work into a scowl. Aang meanwhile looked rather alarmed, putting himself between Tao and Sokka, hands up in a placating gesture.
"He's my friend! He was visiting me at the Southern Air Temple and I-... I was taking a trip... so I offered to take him back home. He isn't a threat at all I promise!" the little airbender nearly squeaks, gray eyes wide as Sokka continues to glare at the two of them, his sister, Katara, Tao thinks she was called, cutting her eyes warily between all three of them, not sure who to side with. Her brother or these two strangers. She seemed to be leaning towards her brother though, rightfully so. In fact, the look she kept giving Tao was downright frigid.
"How can you be friends with a firebender? They're nothing but treacherous, murderous ash-makers, burning everything in their path." Sokka grits out through his teeth, entire body as rigid as a shard of ice. Tao and Aang for their part exchange a confused look, not sure where all this hatred was coming from.
"What are you talking about?" Tao rasps, voice rough and throat dry. How long had he been unconscious? It felt like seconds, maybe minutes. Now it was Sokka and Katara's turn to look at each other, and the young girl now takes a step forward, ignoring her brother's snapped warning to stay back.
"The Fire Nation has been waging war for the last hundred years. They leave nothing but death and destruction in their path. There hasn't been anyone untouched by them in some way." she says, voice tight as she reaches up and touches a small, simple pendant on a blue dyed leather strap around her neck, blue gaze becoming more and more hard the longer she talked, staring Tao right in the eye, who to his credit, holds her gaze. Just barely.
Aang meanwhile was tense beside him, gray eyes wide, staring off into the middle distance as he tried to make sense of what they had just been told, mouth half open, breath starting to become short and fast. Gently laying a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, Tao gives him a squeeze, trying to be comforting. "We have no idea what you're talking about. There was no war when we left the Southern Air Temple. Everyone was at peace." he says, looking Sokka and Katara over, who exchange a suspicious look.
There's a pregnant pause between all of them, the tension palpable as the siblings try and figure out what they were going to do. Sokka eventually growls and turns, stalking to the edge of the iceberg, shoulders stiff as he glares out over the water. "Katara get over here. We need to figure out how to get home." he eventually says, voice sharp, and he scowls over his shoulder at Tao hard, his expression relaxing only marginally as his narrowed eyes slide over Aang as well, who takes this as a good opportunity for a distraction.
"Well... if you guys are stuck, Appa and I can give you a ride." he says, voice small, looking like a kicked polar dog puppy as he looks at Katara with wide, gray eyes. She hesitates for a moment before sighing and nodding, smiling at the young boy a little despite herself. Aang brightens immediately, showing her where she can climb up into Appa's saddle, Tao following at a distance. However, this makes Sokka bristle and he stalks a little closer.
"Oh no, I'm not riding on the fluffy snot monster. Especially not with an ash-maker." he states, scowling hard.
Tao stops, turning to face him and giving him a severe look, which looked even more aggressive with the burn scar that twisted his mouth. "Look, I don't know what war you're talking about, but I have nothing to do with it. So unless you want to stay here until you freeze, or swim back to your village, I suggest you relax and climb on." he grits out, dry throat almost making him cough. With those last scathing words, he climbs up Appa's tail, keeping a respectful distance from Katara, who watches him, back stiff, joining Aang on Appa's head. The... attempted take off is jarring, and he nearly falls into the polar water as they splash down into it, Aang's quick reflexes saving him with a quick grab. He huffs out a breathless thanks, eyes focusing on the endless expanse of deep blue water and icebergs that stretched ahead of them, brow furrowing as he absently fingered the wrinkled skin of his scar, the cold air making it ache somewhat. His expression was troubled though, and his thoughts muddled, barely hearing Aang and Katara talking, even right beside him. A war... started by his nation. A hundred years? Surely, that was impossible. There's no feasible, realistic way that he and Aang and Appa were frozen in that iceberg for a hundred years. But... the last thing he remembered was the storm, the icy water, pure terror as his lungs burned and he fought the current dragging them down, and then a blinding flash of light. Then he was waking up, hearing Aang asking about penguins. Sighing, Tao massages his temples, his head aching.
Aang at that point turns around from taking to Katara, seeing his friend's expression and giving him a light nudge with his elbow. "Hey-... it'll be ok. This has got to be some kind of prank right? I mean- it can't be true." he says, though the optimism in his voice was fragile, and Tao could hear a slight tremble in it.
Tao doesn't answer for a long, long time before sighing, speaking quietly. "I don't know Aang... the hatred in their eyes towards me was pretty real. We'll just have to find out..." this doesn't console Aang at all, though it wasn't really meant to. The truth was rarely comforting. Tao knew that about as well as anyone sixteen years of age. Aang had the advantage of naive youth, being only twelve. Both of them were still children, but for all his travels, Aang had seen less of the harshness of the world. And Tao had seen too much. And now it seemed the world had become even more harsh.
oOo
Its hours before they see land. Or at least an ice shelf more substantial than the small icebergs Appa had been paddling them by. Sokka had hardly taken his eyes off Tao once, narrowed in hard, mistrustful glare. And Tao did his best to be absolutely still, deciding to meditate so he had an excuse to not think about their situation. When he feels Aang nudge him, he opens his golden eyes and stretches a little, exhaling deeply, more warmed than before since he had been concentrating on his inner fire, stoking it gently against the utter cold of the air around them. He was wearing about as much protective clothing as Aang, and much like airbenders, firebenders could regulate their temperature to a degree with their bending and chi. Until he could find a coat of some sort, keeping his inner fire at a certain level was his only hope of not freezing to death.
"I don't want the ash-maker in the village." Sokka eventually bites out as Appa pulls himself up onto the ice outside a rather... small village. Tao was pretty sure the Southern Water Tribe had been bigger than this, with tall igloos and ice complexes. This was a loosely gathered cluster of small hide tents and tiny igloos with a large central bonfire that provided very little heat if the thick snow piled up at the edges of the main paths around the village were any indication. The state of it didn't give Tao much hope about this story about a hundred year war being false.
"What am I supposed to do? Sit in a snow bank all night and freeze?" Tao states, turning and frowning at Sokka, who glares right back.
"Yes, you are. I'm not going to let one of the people responsible for the destruction of my home in the village. Its my job to protect it."
"You? You're my age. Why are you in charge of protecting anything? Where is your father?" Tao huffs, noticing the mood of the siblings shift immediately, a melancholy settling over them. Katara speaks next, voice small and quiet.
"He's been gone for two years fighting in the war. Him, and all the men." she says, to which Sokka hisses at her to not give too much away. Tao just frowns, looking at Aang, who looked increasingly distressed. Standing, the small airbender faces the two Water Tribe siblings, expression pleasing as well as placating.
"Please, I promise Tao isn't dangerous. He won't hurt anyone, you have my word." he begs, gray eyes huge, and Tao can see its an effort for him to not fidget nervously, wanting to at least appear some measure of strong.
"He's so obviously Fire Nation though. No one is going to trust him. He's dressed in Fire Nation clothes, and he has those spirits cursed yellow eyes. And I'm not going to take the word of a stranger we know nothing about." Sokka snaps, voice rising in volume as frustration takes over. He stands quickly now that they're on solid ground, getting off Appa's back in a hurry, but Katara hesitates. She still looked at Tao with ice in her eyes, but she was quickly being swayed by Aang's polar dog puppy eyes. After a few tense moments, she sighs and motions to the both of them, allowing them to follow her. And she doesn't stop Tao when he steps through the village... gates beside Aang. They're quickly led along the wall and ushered into a small snow and ice hut, heated by a single makeshift heater and stove against the back wall, and some thick layers of furs were spread out on the ground to insulate it.
Katara looks between them and lets out a quiet sigh. "Here. You two can rest in here. We'll introduce you to everyone in the morning. I don't know how they'll respond to your... friend Aang. It might not be pleasant." she says, her compassion outweighing her suspicion, at least for now. Tao supposed it was in his best interest to appear as harmless as he could. Aang nods with a wide grin, though it falls the moment she's gone, closing the hide flap that served as a door securely behind her.
He stares down at the ground for a few long moments while Tao goes over to the heater, taking some kindling and piling it inside, lighting it with a flick of his fingers and holding his hands out towards it, shoulders relaxing as the familiar, comforting warmth of the fire spreads across his skin. Aang's weight shifts the furs beside his crouched form, and the small airbender leans against him, voice shaking "What have I done, Tao? What if... what if they're telling the truth? What if there has been a war going on for a hundred years? I shouldn't have run away. I should have-"
"You can dwell all day on the should haves, Aang. What could you have done? You're a child, and while you're a stellar airbender, just one kid couldn't stand up to the might of the Fire Nation." Tao says, cutting off Aang's anxious fretting. His chest ached. Had his countrymen really started a war against the other three nations? Had he heard Katara right during his half aware musings? Were the Air Nomads... really gone? It was a hard thing to fathom, that amount of death. Thousands just... gone.
Aang shudders against him and Tao sighs, sitting fully and wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulders, sitting silently, waiting for the other to speak if he wanted to. Silence stretches between them for a very long time, at least half an hour, and Tao almost thinks that he had fallen asleep. It startles him a little when Aang speaks, even though his small voice was barely more than a whisper. "Its the Avatar's job to protect people. I haven't protected anyone."
"You've known you're the Avatar for a month Aang. And you shouldn't even know to begin with. Traditionally, the Avatar isn't revealed until they turn sixteen, you know this as well as I do. The monks jumped the line because they were afraid. And even if they were right, and war was right on the horizon, what did they expect to happen by telling you early? All it did was mess everything up for you." Tao states evenly, staring into the crackling fire, mind spinning, thinking about all the people he knew. A century was a long time. How many of his friends were still alive, just very old. How many of his family? A strange, cold relief washes over him for a moment, making his scar itch, which makes his mouth twitch a little before he pushes it away. No, now wasn't the time to think of him and feel sorry for himself. "I'm just glad that I'm here with you, so you're not going through this alone. I'll be honest, I won't fully believe this hundred year story until I see some evidence of it but... I'll remain at least skeptically optimistic that maybe its an exaggeration."
"Katara asked me if I knew what happened to the Avatar. I lied."
"That's probably for the best. Who knows what their reaction would be if you told the truth. They hate me just for where I'm from, even though I haven't done anything to them. They might blame you for this war." Tao says, perhaps a bit too honestly, which makes Aang flinch with a whimper. Sighing, Tao gives him a gentle squeeze. "Sorry, I know I can be no fun sometimes. Why don't you lay down and try and rest. You look tired." he hums, looking down at his friend, who's eyes were wet and his expression was drawn with worry and fear. But, he nods, pulling off his top and crawling under some of the furs, curling up in a ball and closing his eyes.
Tao adds some more wood to the fire and lifts some furs against the snowy wall of the hut, leaning against it, looking at the hide flap, listening to the tiny village bustling outside. He forces himself to relax and slowly his eyes shut and he's yanked into a nightmare. A dark shadow stood over him, and he can feel cold, hateful eyes boring into his head as he knelt on the ground, sweating and shaking, muscles burning from the endless drills and katas that he had been going over and over and over since before the sun had come up. It was well past noon, the sun hot on his back, but he felt cold. The shadow growls at him to get up and do it all over again, to keep doing it until he did it perfectly. He pushes himself to stand, but one knee buckles and he falls, hearing a low, angry growl from the shadow. When he looks up, white hot pain erupts across his cheek and mouth and he shrieks in pain, but the only sound he makes when his eyes snap open to reality was a harsh gasp, a moment before Aang also sits up quickly with a gasp, Katara calling his name from the doorway. She looks between the two of them before beckoning them, Aang more than Tao, outside to meet the village. The two exchange a look for a moment before Aang pulls his top back on while Tao stands up and stretches his muscles out, and they step out together.
The reception Aang gets is hesitance, but its laced with curiosity, especially from the children. But when Tao is introduced and attention is drawn to him, most of the older villagers gather their children closer with a gasp and take several steps back. Except for one elderly woman, who Tao felt was staring into his very soul, her wrinkled face difficult to read. Tao does his best to look harmless, bowing his head and avoiding eye contact. He had practice avoiding the wrath of people who hated him, so he supposed he should employ those tactics now, starting with looking submissive. Snow crunches, and the elderly woman moves towards him slowly, stopping within arm's reach, and he can still feel her eyes on him. He flinches when a gloved hand touches his face, opposite the scar that slashed across his left cheek, grimacing hard, golden eyes flicking up to look at the woman despite himself. He was taller than her, but he felt about two feet tall right now. Her expression was... surprisingly gentle. "You can call me Gran Gran." she states simply, lowering her hand and also looking over at Aang, nodding to him. This seemed to be an unspoken signal to the rest of the village that everything was alright, though Sokka remained skeptical.
Tao's shoulders slowly relax and he looks over at Aang, smiling a little as the airbender beams happily at him, glad his friend had at least been tentatively accepted. It wasn't long before Aang had run off to go find some otter-penguins to try and catch to go sledding on, Katara trailing not far behind him, determined to see if Aang could show her anything about waterbending, having never met another bender before. Tao didn't expect her to ever ask him anything about bending, despite the many similarities between the forms found in fire and waterbending. The young firebender finds himself on his own in the village, helping some women keep the central bonfire stoked up, though for their comfort he uses spark rocks rather than his bending. Sokka's voice draws him away eventually though, and he finds the teen at the edge of the village standing before a group of... children. The oldest was probably seven. And it seemed like he was trying to teach them how to be little warriors. Tao couldn't imagine the position that Sokka was in, being the oldest boy in the village, tasked with its protection. He was the only one in fighting form, of fighting age, especially if Katara didn't know anything about controlling her bending like she said. A total novice wasn't exactly useful in a fight.
When Sokka feels his gaze, he turns and scowls hard at Tao, who keeps a respectful distance, but was visibly curious. "What are you looking at?" the warrior teen grits out.
"You. Trying to get young children to focus on anything but their next snowball fight." Tao says seeing Sokka flush with indignation. "I'm sure things are... rough for you and this village. Things certainly appear rough. And I can't imagine how you're feeling with all the responsibility you're under. But... children?"
"Well what other choice do I have? Your people forced all our warriors to sail away to fight in this spirits damned war. I wouldn't have to teach children if your people weren't such monsters." Sokka grits out, the children using the distraction as a chance to get up and sneak away. Especially before this turned into a fist fight as the two sixteen year olds stare each other down.
"My people? My people live in a peaceful and prosperous nation. They have nothing to do with this supposed war. I don't know what Fire Nation you keep talking about, but its not the Fire Nation that I know." Tao retorts as he crosses his arms, jaw tight. Sokka opens his mouth to shout a response but a bright flash grabs both of their attention and they look over, seeing a bright flare arcing through the sky a couple miles away. From Sokka's paling expression, Tao had a feeling the young warrior knew exactly what that flare meant. With one last hard glare at Tao, the other scrambles away, going to grab his club and spear.
oOo
Its about half an hour before Aang and Katara appear over the horizon, Appa trailing behind them a little. The flare still hung in the sky, though it was slowly descending, and as the kids rush out to meet Aang with joyous squeals of excitement to see their new friend and playmate, Tao follows a little more slowly, seeing the worry in Aang's eyes even as he happily greets the children. Sokka shouts shrill, angry, and scared accusations at Aang, accusing him of being a Fire Nation spy, of leaving Tao behind to distract him so he could signal the Fire Navy, an accusation that outrages even Katara. The whole thing had been an accident, but the point remained that Aang's carelessness had put the village in danger. They weren't welcome anymore. "Get out of here, and take your ash-maker with you, traitor." the young warrior snarls, which his sister protests to. At first, it seemed she was going to come with them as Tao climbed up Appa's tail and into his saddle, but Aang soon changes her mind, not wanting to take her from her family. Soon, the two boys and the bison are making their way over the snow banks, looking for somewhere they could rest before they decided to go back to the Southern Air Temple.
It doesn't last long though, for Aang spots a small Fire Navy steamer chugging right for the village. The flare had alerted someone, and the airbender couldn't just leave them to face the consequences of his mistake. He and Tao take off through the snow while Appa stays where he was lounging comfortably, sprinting as quickly as they could back to the village. Aang quickly pulls ahead, then diverts east, seeming to be heading back towards the penguin colony for... some reason, but Tao continues forward, lungs burning painfully in the freezing air, puffing out in billowing clouds of fog. The Fire Navy ship that was crashed now into the makeshift snow wall of the village dwarfed the whole village, and looked like something that Tao was used to seeing, though it showed clear signs of age. Weathering, scratches and rust on the corners of some panels, some portions of it showing clear signs of having been sloppily repaired with rudimentary methods and materials. The soldiers that stood in the village were wearing different uniforms than what Tao was used to seeing, seeming more streamlined and intimidating, function more than form.
He leaps the snow wall, reaching out with his chi as the soldier in the front of the group lashes out at the villagers, fire exploding out in an arc from his fist, that Tao quickly takes control of, pulling it towards him, spinning with it, and redirecting it back at the soldiers, who block it in a hasty scramble. In a defensive stance that looked unlike anything the firebenders had seen before, Tao makes his way between the soldiers and the villagers, body tense. "Who are you, traitor?" the lead soldier growls as Tao takes in his appearance. He was young, likely around Tao's age, with an expression twisted with deep set anger and frustration, his eyes just as golden as Tao's. It was the massive scar over his left eye that was the most attention grabbing though, huge and an angry red, wrinkled and puckered in a few places, burning away the eyebrow and eye lashes, pulling and tightening and thickening the eyelids into a permanent squint, and the left ear was just a mangled stub, a thick shell of what was once a normal ear.
Jaw tight, Tao adjusts his stance into something that looked more like something a waterbender would take up, though his shoulders were tense. "Who are you?" he repeats, seeing the quality in this soldier's armor. The intruding teen growls, frustrated and impatient, but he huffs out an answer, voice clipped.
"I am Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. I'm here for the Avatar. Turn him over to me, and I may just pretend that I didn't see an obvious defector here." the teen grits, and his narrowed eyes kept flicking from Tao's eyes down to his scar, a barely concealed melancholy and curiosity in them.
"Prince Zuko? What happened to Prince Azulon?" Tao hisses, seeing that this... Zuko was clearly taken off guard. And that response did nothing to comfort Tao in regards to this hundred year war story that he was still having a hard time coming to grips with. Before he can ask further questions though, Zuko moves, punching his fist forward and sending a broad flare of fire towards Tao, who grunts and redirects it again, flowing through the motion smoothly, slamming the bolt of fire towards one of the soldiers beside Zuko, knocking them down. Its about then that Sokka also joins the fray, targeting Zuko from behind, though he wasn't exactly subtle about it, charging him with his club raised, then throwing and missing with his boomerang, and then attacking with a spear. He's quickly bested though, clearly having no combat experience, but the lucky thing about boomerangs was that they came back. And this boomerang slammed right into the back of Zuko's head, the only thing protecting his skull from being sliced open by the metal blade being the helmet he was wearing. Other than stunning Zuko though, all it seemed to do was make him mad.
Aang comes out of nowhere, slamming into Zuko from behind riding on a penguin, knocking him over and hopping off, joining Tao in standing between the firebenders and the village. "Looking for me?"
"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" Zuko bites out, skeptical and still very angry as he gathers himself, a collective gasp ringing out from behind them at the revelation that this spunky little airbender the Water Tribe had known for a day was the Avatar. A skirmish breaks out between Zuko and Aang, while Tao does damage control, doing his best to keep any stray fires from burning anyone. He can't do it all though, and the terrified screams of the village children make Aang stop.
"If I go with you, do you promise to leave these people alone?" he asks, holding his staff out for peace. Zuko hesitates for only a moment before sliding out of his fighting stance and nodding solemnly, seeming honest. A pair of soldiers take Aang's spear from him and bind the boy's hands behind his back, leading him towards the ship as Katara shouts protests. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back!" he shouts, looking at Tao, and he can see that all too familiar mischievous twinkle in the boy's gray eyes. Tao is gone and running back towards Appa before the ship is even fully closed up, knowing he needed to get on the ship's trail as quickly as possible. He's about to follow it directly, but something makes him hesitate as he takes Appa's reigns, his mind going to the two Water Tribe siblings. Katara was the last waterbending in the South Pole. She had no master to teach her. And Sokka was a young warrior out of his depth. Plus, Katara at least had become friends with Aang very quickly, not that it was ever hard for Aang to make friends. Cursing under his breath, hating how soft the airbender's influence had made him through their friendship, he pulls Appa's reigns in the direction of the village.
"C'mon boy, let's go back to the village. We have some people to pick up, then we have to go get Aang out of a pickle." he says softly, getting an almost put upon sounding groan from Appa, who starts lumbering his way across the snow. What he sees when they crest a hill is almost comical. Sokka, Katara, and Gran Gran were standing beside a tiny canoe, clearly ready to go out and search for Aang as well. When Appa sees them, he lets out a bellow to bet their attention, and at least Katara seems excited to see the bison. Tao isn't sure if she sees him or not, but as the pair climb on with their supplies, she at least doesn't look hostile. And Sokka doesn't say anything, sitting at the far back of the saddle, while Katara sits more towards the front. Appa still refused to fly, instead slipping into the water and starting to paddle his way in the direction of the Fire Navy ship. Things are thickly silent for a long time before Tao hears Katara shift and move closer towards him, turning and looking up at her, where she was leaning against the wooden edge of the saddle, looking at him curiously.
"You protected us." she says, more as a statement of fact than a question. Tao nods, not sure where she was going to go with this. "I didn't expect a firebender to ever be someone who would protect a Water Tribe village. I-... thank you." she says, and Tao is surprised at how much it doesn't sound like thanking him hurt her. It came out easy, if awkwardly, and he offers her a small smile.
"I couldn't just do nothing. If nothing else than because Aang would pout at me for days if I just watched." he says teasingly, tugging Appa's reigns to direct him a little more precisely, facing the front again. Katara is quiet for several minutes before she speaks up again.
"How did you meet Aang?"
Tao pauses, shoulders stiffening for a moment as memories of scathing rebuttals and harsh intonations bombard him from all sides before giving his head a shake. "I'm... not comfortable going into details but... Aang is an Air Nomad, so even as a very young child he traveled a lot. He and a couple other Nomads made a stop over at the island I grew up on a- well... for me a couple years ago and we became fast friends. It was shortly after I got this." motioning at the burn scar that slashed across his face, he shrugs, though it was more to loosen his muscles than seem casual. "His relentless positivity and energy was a breath of fresh air, pun fully intended, compared to what I was used to. I stuck to him like glue, and he visited frequently over the next couple years before finally asking me if I wanted to visit the Southern Air Temple. That's a high honor, being invited to one of the Nomad temples, and I was eager to... take a vacation. So, I agreed. I stayed there for a couple months, and it was amazing. All the Nomads had a unique love of life and living it that I had never seen anywhere else, and I never wanted to leave but... eventually I did need to return home."
"Is that how you and Aang wound up in that ice berg?" Katara hums, having been listening with rapt attention to his story, whether because she was truly curious, or because she was searching for lies. Tao presses his lips together and sighs quietly, shaking his head.
"That's for Aang to tell you, not me. Its... a complicated situation."
"Your firebending was also... different. Different from that Prince Zuko guy's anyway. His was all... punchy. Yours was more... flowy."
"That's also complicated. If... if we travel together for a while I'll tell you all about my tragic backstory, I promise. But right now, we need to focus on rescuing Aang."
"What was it that kid said again?" Sokka muses from the back of the saddle, arms crossed as he stared up into the sky. "Yippee? Wahoo? Uh... Yip yip?" he hums, and Tao feels Appa come to life beneath him. Something in the bison's very energy changed and he lets out a grunt, entire form shaking as he picks up speed in the water. And then with a mighty heave and a slap of his thick tail, they're suddenly air born, and Tao has to hold on to the reins tight so he doesn't go flying off him. Sokka's elated cheering was quickly cut off when Katara and Tao both turn and give him knowing, amused smirks and he sits back, trying to seem casual. "I-I mean... big deal, he's flying." he says, though he can't quite keep the smile off his face.
The air was as freezing as ever, something commonplace to flying this far south, but they were making much quicker time. Within minutes, the Fire Navy ship appears in the distance, and as they close in, and they can see a skirmish happening on the deck. A skirmish that was quickly overwhelming Aang. Zuko attacked relentlessly, something Aang, who had no combat experience outside training and practice, had no experience in. This was totally different to what he was used to dealing with, and its not long before he's falling over the side of the deck into the water. "Aang!" Tao yells reflexively, heart seizing, panic making his already freezing body feel even colder. Katara was shouting behind him, and for what felt like an eternity, nothing happens.
Then, in a flurry of water and motion, Aang appears from the water being carried aloft in a massive water spout. Something was different though, as Tao brings Appa around to prepare for landing. Aang's eyes and tattoos were glowing a bright white, and his expression was all wrong as they drew closer. It was almost blank in its seriousness, as he whips the water around in a halo, shoving the firebenders and spearmen back, sending Zuko right over the edge. Once the threat was cleared and the bison lands, the strange glow fades, and Aang falls to his knees, and then on his face on the deck. Katara rushes to him, while Tao stays on Appa's head, tensing as some of the soldiers start to get back up. He takes the airbender from Katara as she hoists him up, setting him on Appa's head beside him, shouting a warning to her as the soldiers approach. They get lucky, and are able to avoid a second fight, making it away with a final blow to the ship, that half buries it in snow and ice.
All is silent for a long time as Tao checks Aang over, and then satisfied that he wasn't hurt, takes the reigns again while Aang sits on the horn of the saddle, pensive, with his head bowed. "Aang..." Katara says softly, moving closer to the airbender. "Why didn't you tell us you were the Avatar?"
"Because... because I never wanted to be."