Chapter 11 – a new Path

Tylee was piloting Appa as Aang was meditating, he felt that despite his feelings concerning Katara and Zuko rumored relationship, he still needed to find the more peaceful option and that was probably either talking King Kuei down, figuring out the Blue Spirit's position in all this and maybe… but he then decided to contact his past lives, so he grabbed his medallion of fire and called for Roku.

"I am here, Avatar Aang. What knowledge do you seek"

Aang just sat there across from Roku, he didn't know what to ask exactly

"I know you want me to be decisive as the Avatar in keeping my promise to Zuko but…"

Roku looked at him and knew his situation

"the situation is leading to an unstoppable war now weather or not you kill Zuko, now you are feeling that you may have to pick a side in this war…"

Roku looked over with a somber look in his eyes

"I'm sorry, that my indecisions has now lead you to this crossroad"

Aang then nodded

"if I side with Zuko, the Earth Kingdom will distain me and any avatar coming after me, if I side with the Earth King, the Fire Nation do the same… and if I kill Zuko or even take his bending away that will probably result in his death anyway, Toph, Sokka, Suki, Iroh, and Katara will never forgive me. I feel like I'm damned, how do I keep the balance between the four nations now?"

then Kioshi appeared next to Roku

"You shouldn't blame yourselves for the mess I made"

both Aang and Roku looked at her as she continued to confess

"the only reason there is four nations to their respective element is because I forced it to be that way. In helping the Earth King at the time, I crushed many groups of people who wanted to form their own nations and identities, the sand-benders of the dessert, the water-benders of the southeastern coast, and yes even the fire-benders of the area that is now the remaining fire nation colonies. I created the Dilee and Kiyoshi warriors to stabilize the Earth Kingdom, but in doing so I only seeded this conflict two have to endure now"

then Avatar Kuruk joined in

"and she had to over correct do to my actions or lack there of, all of the conflicts Kioshi had to resolve only came to be because I didn't address them while they were small and ignorable, then my loves face and life was taken by Kho until, and eventually in the desert I was killed by a sand-bender war lord and the seeds of the Earth Kingdom's civil wars were planted"

Aang, Roku, Kioshi, and Kuruk were in a circler pattern representing the Avatar Cycle and Roku spoke up again

"you shouldn't expect to make the perfect decisions, because we didn't either."

then Kioshi added

"but you do need to observe our mistakes, miss doings, and over correcting actions"

the Kuruk continued

"because our failures will be your best teacher, just as yours will be invaluable to the next generations of Avatars"

they in unison said

"take our wisdom with you"

and they vanished and Aang woke up from his meditation and he just looked up to the stars, there was one thing that he didn't get any advice on, and that was involving Katara.

A small army of earth kingdom soldiers was marching to a small village next to a river, the lieutenant then drew his axe because the came across what looked to be militia of the locals, and by the looks of them there were Fire-nation colonials among them.

"I have orders from the Earth King himself, all Fire-nation colonials are to depart for the Fire-nation immediately, Fire-Benders and non-benders alike"

one of the Molita men then shot a stone at them

"We will not comply, let them stay or you will have to kill us all, Earth Kingdom and Fire nation alike"

the lieutenant smugly lifted his axe

"if that is your desire"

and he pointed his axe at them and the Earth Kingdom army started to charge them.

as they charged at them the ground started to become muddy as waster was pouring over to the ground and before they realized it there were dozens of water benders dressed in leaves and strings attacking them, then a great beast made entirely of plants with a wooden mask came from the river and they were very quickly capturing the earth kingdom army, then the colonials joined in and the Earth kingdom army had to retreat but then their path was blocked by the Blue Spirit and he mounted army, the Blue Spirit on his ostrich-horse rode up to the Earth kingdom lieutenant and held his blade to him, seeing there was no way out of this he surrendered.

After the Earth Kingdom army was captured, Sokka then went to a local barn being used as a command post. And he along with the captains ,lutenists and a representative from the swamp benders plotted their next move.

"the Fire-fighters are just north of here, they are heading for a small unwalled town"

Sokka then came up with a battle plan

"ok, I will lead my mounted Boomerang Squad to intercept them before they get to that town, the Kioshi warriors along with the bulk of the army to cut off any escape rout. You are not to attack them unless I give the order or if you've been provoked"

he then talked with the Swamp water tribe representative

"keep an eye on the prisoners until we get back, and make sure to keep the earth benders on only wooden services like docks or boats, even if they are bound with cords. We'll return in about a day"

the Swamp water bender did a two-finger salute (because those were the only fingers he had on that hand)

"what evers yous sayz Blue Spirit Sir"

and he left.

just as things were wrapping up here, a messenger came and informed the Blue Spirit (Sokka) that the Fire nation was assembling a large armada, and an large army to retake the colonies. Between the Fire Nation and Earth kingdom, Sokka felt like he was between a rock, and a hard place and they had to make preparations immediately.

Zuko was now abord on the Fire Nation War Ship named 'the Agni', he didn't know how he found himself in this situation, on his way to the colonies to enforce the rule of the fire nation. This was truly a lesser of evils in his eyes, it was heart breaking that the war felt more like it had a year long pause than an actual end. though this time the Fire Nation didn't have Azula or Ozai to hinder the fire nation by any sort, weather it be by random banishments or incinerating all the already fire nation occupied territory.

one of the lieutenants approached him with a list

"ok, all protocols have been made. We only await your orders"

Zuko sighed and gave the orders and the ship started to move to meet up with the rest armada.

Zuko looked out the side of the ship to the docks and leaned on the railing, looking out to Caldera City and the prison, as he was about to head for the bridge of the ship when he heard splashing and he turned and saw Katara still in the prison guard armor, she was surfing on a sheet of ice like when they went looking for her mother's killer, ship was fast but she managed to catchup and freeze her ice board to the side then quickly ascended to Zuko and the two of them embraced and Zuko looked down at her with a somber look on his face.

"why did you come? You know we are heading for a warzone, right?"

Katara stroked his face and smiled

"yes, I'm aware… Ozai filled me in… he also filled me in on how he was planning this for the past year"

Zuko flinched a little but smiled

"yea… we could count on him to start a conflict in a place with an uneasy peace… that monster!"

but he then collected himself, and looked in the direction of the colonies

"either way, my people need me… I can't leave them stranded"

and Katara stood beside him

"and I'll be there for you… I'll do what ever I can to help"

he put his arm around her shoulder

"thank you Katara"

Aang was piloting Appa while Tylee and Momo were sleeping in the saddle, looking over the ocean to the south and the mountains, plains, and canyons. He wasn't flying at full speed (he had sleeping passengers after all) and he was franticly searching for the Earth King and his army, but then he heard that dreadful voice again and Aang looked to his side and there was Aung in a shadowy form.

"First you let him back out on the Harmony Restoration Movement… now he takes your girl… some avatar"

Aang then retorted to him

"she isn't anyone's GIRL…"

then Aung floats around him

"and look… you have her…" he points to Tylee

"and there is all those fan-girls in that avatar club… but I see there is only one Katara… an don't tell your self otherwise"

Aang looked at him frustrated and then asked

"what would have me do about it?"

then Aung without remorse of penitence just answered

"just do what you friend Zuko had you promise him, the Harmony Restoration movement will be completed, the fire nation colonials will go back and you can get the girl"

Aang chuckled at this

"you know, I thought temptation was supposed to be subtle, you know why I can't and won't do that!"

Aung then smiled

"In good time"

and he vanished… Aang wasn't sure if he was real, or some sort of hallucination conjured by his own subconscious from the dark corners of his mind. But his thoughts were interrupted by the rising of the sun, and when he blocked it with his hand, he could see Yu Dao on the horizon.

Tylee got up and peaked over the front rim of Appa's saddle, and Momo jumped off her shoulder onto Aang's shoulder causing Aang to look at him and turned around and saw Tylee.

"oh… your awake!"

and Tylee did a spiral stretch to wake up.

"Yea. It was better than I anticipated"

Momo then jumped up from Aang's shoulders and found his way to Tylee and climbed onto her shoulders

"so… what do you plan to do here?"

Aang looked at the recked town

"in all honesty… I have no Idea"

Sokka was in his blue spirit attire in the war room (that was once the mayor's dining room), he was with his other militia leaders discussing the current situation in the colonies. A messenger came in with a huff and told the blue spirit.

"Blue Spirit… the Avatar has come to talk… he is waiting for you in the main plaza"

Sokka got up, and looked at the maps

"we'll put this on hold… we need Toph anyway to continue this discussion"

and he left the room with a couple of guards for the main plaza

Aang and Tylee were sitting on some benches and Momo was playing some sort of game by leaping from one's lap to the other's, Tylee was looking around as this was going on and she could see the soldiers of both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom in origin and even some swap water benders. It was quite amazing how these colonists have formed them selves into a solid military, though not as numerous as either the two big nation's armies, they aren't no slouches either. Aang then looked at the gate and could see Toph along with a couple of dozen of soldiers who were greeted by their families, Toph smiled as she walked past them and Aang ran like the wind to embrace and Momo climbed all over her while Tylee followed behind.

"good to see you again Twinkletoes, you were desperately needed here" Toph said in an embrace

"yea… the Earth King's cabinet wasn't very helpful to our who'll talking plan"

Toph just stretched her arms back as a head rest and tooted a whistle

"what did I tell you Twinkie toes… Ba Sing Se is the worst town ever"

then she looked at Tylee

"so… what's your story?"

and Tylee just stood there at first then she ran up to Toph shaking her hand energetically

"oh it's so nice to meet you well meet you when we are not in battle that is"

Tylee let go of Toph's hand but it was still moving until Yasuaki grabbed it

"easy there Toph, you need to be ready for our students"

Aang then looked puzzled and Toph explained her whole metal bending school situation and her reluctant partnership with Yasuaki and now her devotion to protect both sets of the fire bender and metal bender students.

"Aaaaaawwwwwwweeeeeee you are like their metal-bending momma bear!"

Tylee squealed with very big sparkly eyes that caused both Aang and Yasuaki to back up a little though Toph was unphased by this action, she just replied

"yep, I got myself some metal cubs and fire cubs… and I'll earth-bend any dunderhead who tries to hurt them or take them from me."

Yasuaki laughed

"she has, and you can see them in the hospital right now"

then Yasuaki gathered his composure and turned to Toph

"ok, I'm going to HQ to talk with High command"

but then a voice came from behind him

"no need for that general Yasuaki"

and everyone turned around and could see the Blue Spirit standing there with his escort, he then proceeded to talk to Yasuaki

"yes, that initial northern army has been routed, we captured as many of their tanks as possible"

Togh then interjected

"you mean the both of them"

Aang then went up to the Blue Spirit and held his hand out

"it's good to meet you again"

the Blue Spirit took his hand and shook it

"Again?"

and Aang chuckled

"yea, don't you remember admiral Zhao?"

then the blue Spirit chuckled

"yea… Zhao… Great guy…"

then the blue spirit let go of Aang's arm

"come with me to my office, and we can talk on this further and see what plans you have to restore peace… again"

and the two of them left for the mayor's house that was now being used as some sort of command center.

Once Aang walked into the office, which looked to be a broom closet that was missing a wall (the EEE really roughed this place up) with a couple of chairs and a table.

"well we have no need to keep secrets from each other"

Aang didn't know what he was talking about but he had no time to react as the blue Spirit looked around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers then proceeded to take the mask off revealing Sokka.

Aang was overjoyed and rushed to hug him and Sokka returned the hug

"you, you are the blue spirit!"

Sokka shushed him

"Quiet, this need to stay a secret"

Aang took a step back and looked up and down Sokka in his armor

"now your are the leader this colonial militia"

Sokka nodded and had a sideways smile

"yea… life has through twist after twist at me, it just started with apprehending those Eternal Earth Enclave thugs then I was promoted and promoted again and after the initial leader passed on, and the other leaders voted for me and now here I am"

Aang looked at Sokka then had to ask

"what is your plan, involving the Harmony Restoration Movement"

Sokka eyes narrowed and he got a very serious face on

"I still have eternal regret for helping with the creation of that repulsive movement…"

Sokka leaned on a door mast and looked down and a stray tear left his eye

"do you remember Morishita's family… his young son"

Aang thought for a second then it clicked

"yes… um Han was it? What of him?"

Sokka then just laid it out

"thanks to those EEE thugs, he died along with many others"

Aang was stunned, saddened, and angery that he went into the avatar state and he asked him.

"where are those Thugs now?"

Sokka approached him and calmed him down

"don't worry about them, we routed the last of them. they have no operating bases, and all of their leaders have been apprehended"

Aang calmed down and took a couple of breaths then asked Sokka

"so you are not going to surrender to the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation?"

Sokka shook his head

"no, if I had to choose between the two I would choose the Fire Nation, because they are willing to let these people be together the Earth Kingdom doesn't. but don't get me wrong I would prefer that these people are able to govern themselves"

Aang then thought for a half a minute then something clicked in his head

"then what of the Earth kingdom?"

and Sokka just told him

"the same as the Fire Nation, they will need to treat us like our own independent nation and not a simple peace of territory"

Aang wasn't sure on how to react to this, he could even fell Kioshi urging him to annihilate Sokka but Aang then thought that this may be the answer he was looking for.

Zuko was standing at the bow of the Agni, the sun had set very rapidly, and he was on his way to restore rule of the Fire Nation on the colonies, the sun felt like it set 3 hours early, but Zuko knew his body-clock wasn't the most reliable, to pass the time Zuko was reading an updated genealogy scroll. Eventually Katara walked up from behind and eventually snuggled up beside him, and Zuko noticed her and placed his arm around her waist, but she didn't say anything she just looked out to the horizon. Her gaze turned to a scroll in Zuko's hand, she asked him she could take a look at it, and he gave it to her. She could see all the names on it and instantly recognized some of the names like Azula, Ozai, Iroh, Urssa and of course Zuko but there were some names she wasn't familiar like Azulon, Sozen, and Roku… Avatar Roku?

Katara looked at Zuko with a puzzled looked but he seemed to know what her question was

"you are probably wondering why there is an Avatar in my family tree"

Katara looked up to him

"that would be an interesting conversation starter… yes"

Zuko then went on a story, a similar story to the one Aang shared on Roku, but told from a different perspective, from Sozen's perspective, it went from the early days to Roku's training, the wedding, the initial conflict, then the Island leading to Roku's death.

Katara looked at Zuko, and Zuko continued

"Sozen is one of Ozai's grandfathers, but Roku is one of my mother's grandfathers. So yea I do have an Avatar ancestor"

Katara looked at the scroll again

"is this how you…"

Zuko gently took it and rolled it up

"yes, this is one of the keys to finding my mother… but as you can see the names of her parents have been removed and yes this was Ozai's doing"

Katara sat down with a little bit of frustration

"probably to keep you and Azula in line"

Zuko nodded

"yep, to keep us from figuring out who our extended is and where they are located"

Katara then spoke again

"and your mother potentially being among them"

Zuko looked over the horizon

"as soon as this who Yu Dao and Colony thing is over, I'm going to press him harder and give him little weaving room… I am going to find my mother!"

Katara stood up and stood beside him held his hand

"and I'm going to help you"

Zuko was stunned by this declaration and looked at her with a look of both astonishment and gratitude, but she continued

"I'll help you turn over every stone, every seaweed bed, every turtle crab… I will not abandon you to be alone"

the two of them leaned against each other and just looked up to the crescent moon, Katara swore she could see Yue in it, but her attention was more focused on Zuko now and her commitment to help him.

It was the next morning that Zuko was informed that they were approaching the port of Yu Dao, Zuko was once again in his full Fire lord Armor and Katara was with him and the two of them looked down the ramp of the ship and they were greeted by an interesting welcoming party, a mix of Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and even some swamp water benders (though they looked like they had actual cloths on)

one of the soldiers walked up to Zuko and Katara

"ah, Fire lord Zuko, and Master Katara. it is a delight to have you here"

and he motioned them to come with them

"come, come, our leader the Blue Spirit and the Avatar are waiting for you"

Zuko and Katara looked around, they could see the town was a mess, the people were fixing things as best as they could but it was clear that this town was a war zone, Katara felt her heart ache as she saw a mother (an earth-bender by the looks of her) took her two children (who looked to be mixed) to a half bucket made of stone filled with soapy water that was used for dishwashing and stripped them naked and bathed them in it (and of course they were crying).

Both Zuko and Katara looked to an area that was being used as some sort of school, but on closer inspection the area was what remained of the school, the children seemed to be happy to be out side and they were using rubble and stones as chairs while the teacher earth bent a large black flat faced stone and used as a black board. The main thing that Katara noticed about these people is they seemed quite happy, despite their current living conditions they were happy, the men, the women, their children, everyone… Katara couldn't entertain the idea of letting the Earth Kingdom expel their Fire Nation relatives, she couldn't let that happen in good conscious… even if that was to restore balance among the nations.

Katara, and Zuko met up with Aang, Tylee, Toph, Suki, Yasuaki and the blue Spirit. Katara looked at Zuko and his face was both intrigued and baffled at his meeting with the Blue Spirit, she of course knew of Zuko's ties to the blue spirit so having a another was amusing to witness.

the Blue Spirit escorted all of them to mayor Morishita's house and once in the dinning hall, the Blue Spirit looked around and once he saw that it was clear of any unwanted eyes, the Blue Spirit with his back facing them he took his mask off and placed it behind him and he turns around and took his helmet off revealing Sokka, astonishing both Zuko and Katara, everyone else looked like they already knew.

Katara ran up to him and hugged him, he hugged her back then Katara had to ask him

"when did you, how did you, why are you doing this"

Sokka after letting go of his sister placed a hand on her shoulder

"ok ill take that one at a time… about a week ago, through a series of complicated events, and I can not abandon those who need my help"

upon hearing this Katara hugged him again shouting

"you are the greatest warrior ever!"

Sokka looked at everyone else, and none of them had any clever remarks or they restrained themselves from saying them.

"I'm just doing what I can"