Katara is the first to wake up. She wakes up earlier, not only because of curiosity and wonder, but because of her excitement. A bender. He might not be a waterbender, but he was a bender! Someone Katara could relate too. But most importantly, someone she could learn from. Something she has dreamed about for so long. Katara immediately gets up and puts on her coat, and goes to Aang's igloo to wake him up. She notices the rest of the villagers already awake, staring at Aang's igloo.
'Gran-Gran must have told them about our guest' Katara thought to herself.
She entered Aang's igloo. The first thing she noticed was how he wasn't freezing to death despite little clothing, yet, he did seem tense in Katara's eyes.
"Aang" she whispered softly
She shook his shoulder gently.
"Aang" she whispered again
He grew tenser, which worried Katara.
"Aang? Aang! Wake up" Katara shook his shoulder.
Finally, with a loud gasp, Aang shot open his eyes. Katara perches beside him and stands up as she sees that Aang is awake.
'He must have been having a bad dream' she thinks to herself
"It's okay, we're in the village now! Come on, get ready." She says, pointing to the door of the tent.
"Everyone's waiting to meet you."
Aang happily gets out of bed and starts to dress himself while Katara takes a step toward the door. Before she exits, however, she glances back at Aang and gasps, staring in wonder at the blue, arrow-shaped tattoos that trace his arms and legs and reach up his back and to his head. 'Woah. So cool.' she thinks to herself, in awe. Before Aang is able to get up, Katara pulls him along by his arm to meet the rest of the village. Aang is dragged out the tent toward a small congregation of villagers. He passes Sokka, who is sitting at the side of the tent, sharpening his boomerang.
"Aang, this is the entire village." Katara says, pointing to the line of villagers in front of them. "Entire village, Aang." She introduces Aang to them.
Aang bows respectfully toward the villagers, but they cower away in fear, bringing a surprised look to Katara and Aang's faces. Sokka just watches from a distance. 'What the hell?' Aang thinks to himself, raising his eyebrows.
"Uh, why are they all looking at me like that?" Aang asks, feeling uncomfortable.
"Well, no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you" said Gran-Gran, as she approached Aang.
"Extinct?!" Aang said in shock and disbelief.
'What is going on?' Aang thinks to himself
"Aang, this is my grandmother." Katara gestured towards Kanna.
"Call me Gran-Gran." she replied flatly.
Sokka walks toward Aang and abruptly snatches his staff out of his hands and starts to examine it.
"What is this, a weapon? You can't stab anything with this!" Sokka said annoyed as he examined the staff.
"It's not for stabbing! It's for airbending." Aang explains as he uses a small air current to get his staff back. He then opens his staff into a glider, making Sokka gasp in fright and cover his head with his hands.
"Magic trick! Do it again!" said a village girl excitedly.
"Not magic, airbending. It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly." explains Aang as he visually demonstrates what he's talking about
'Wow' Katara said to herself. She wondered just how far her own waterbending may be able to go.
"Bullsh*t. Ya know, last time I checked, humans can't fly!" Sokka mocks.
"Check again!" Aang challenges. He grabs hold of his glider and pushes himself off the ground, leaving Katara and Sokka to cover their faces against the sudden wind. The village stares in awe as Aang makes some loops and turns in the sky.
"He's flying!" the village girl says in admiration.
Aang's shadow passes over Katara, who is smiling broadly at him. Aang, intending to further impress the villagers, flies sideways and closes his eyes while grinning broadly. He promptly flies head-on into the village's watchtower, causing his head to be stuck in its side. Katara covers her mouth as she watches Aang struggle to extricate his head from the icy watchtower. Succeeding, he tumbles downward onto a pile of snow at the base of the tower that crumbled from the building. Katara immediately rushes to his side while Sokka stares in shock at the damage inflicted on his watchtower.
"My watchtower!" Sokka says shocked
Aang lies covered in snow at the base of the partially collapsed tower. Katara and some other girls of the tribe run toward Aang, smiling.
"That was amazing!" says Katara as she offers her hand to pull him off the snow.
Sokka runs toward his watchtower and starts to pat it in the hope that he can save it from collapsing any further. While Aang spins his staff around to retract its wings, Sokka is being knocked down by a large pack of snow that falls down.
"Great. You're an airbender, Katara's a waterbender. Together you can just waste time all day long." Sokka says annoyed, also with a hint of jealousy. 'I don't need cool powers' he thinks to himself. He wedges himself free from underneath the weight of the snow and stalks off.
"You're a waterbender?" Aang asks, surprised.
Katara begins to blush a bit.
"Well, sort of. Not yet." she replies nervously.
"All right, no more playing. Come on, Katara, you have chores." said Gran-Gran, leading her away from Aang.
"I told you, he's the real thing Gran-Gran! I finally found a bender to teach me!" Katara says excitedly.
"Katara, try not to put all your hopes in this boy." Gran-Gran says calmly.
"But he's special! I can tell! I sense he's filled with much wisdom." she replies hopeful.
They both glance to where Aang is. He's surrounded by a bunch of kids and smiles while his tongue is stuck to his staff.
A few hours later…..
Sokka is busy giving a speech to the kids of the village, about the importance of staying alert, although, no one's taking him too seriously, considering they're little kids after all. Sokka is just trying to pass the time, and trying to be that leader he needs to be. He gets annoyed and rolls his eyes when they all suddenly need to go to the bathroom. Katara approaches Sokka, asking for Aang whom she hasn't seen for a while since she was busy with chores. They both notice Aang letting kids ride Appa's tail, using Sokka's spear as a mark to get over. Sokka grunts in frustration and annoyance. 'That damn kid!'. Sokka then approaches the kids having fun angrily.
"Stop! Stop it right now!" Sokka orders.
The laughter of the children is stifled immediately and Appa turns his head to look at Sokka, who accusingly directs his anger to Aang.
"What's wrong with you?! We don't have time for fun and games with the War going on!" Sokka says angrily.
Aang raises his eyebrows and is immediately confused. 'First they say Airbenders are extinct, now there's a war? What the hell is going on? Aang thinks to himself. He remembers his conversation with the monks, who wanted him to start training as soon as possible because war seemed imminent. 'Was I frozen for like a few months? How?' Aang thinks to himself.
"What war? What are you talking about?" Aang asks, sliding off Appa's head.
"You're kidding, right?" Sokka raises an eyebrow in disbelief.
Aang looks questioningly at Sokka, and is still lost in thought but the expression on his face changes to enthusiasm when he catches sight of an otter-penguin.
"Penguin!" Aang in a zip, goes after the penguin, using his airbending.
'Wow, he's so fast!' Katara thinks to herself.
"He's kidding, right?" Sokka repeats himself.
The siblings glance at each other, not sure what they need to think of Aang's reaction. Katara decides to walk in the direction of where Aang went, the deep trail he left behind should make it easy enough to find him. 'He's pretty funny' Katara thinks to herself and giggles, and also blushes. 'Why am I feeling so giddy?' she questions herself. She pouts and gives her cheeks a few gentle smacks to snap herself out of it. She then smiles and goes back to looking for Aang. She spots him, where hundreds of otter-penguins are walking or sliding down icebergs. Aang unsuccessfully tries to catch them so he could ride them. Katara giggles again but doesn't berate herself for it. She approaches Aang, and Aang lifts himself up with Airbending.
"Heh heh. I have a way with animals." Aang says
Katara just smirks. 'Should I?' Katara thinks to herself, but decides to go for it.
"Aang, I'll help you catch a penguin if you teach me waterbending." she finally spits out.
Having grabbed the tail of a penguin, he holds on as it pulls him through the snow for a short way before letting go and looking up at Katara.
"You got a deal! Just one little problem…. I'm an airbender, not a waterbender. Isn't there someone in your tribe who can teach you?" Aang asks Katara curiously.
"No. You're looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole." she replies sadly.
"This isn't right. A waterbender needs to master water." He thinks for a moment. 'Why aren't there Waterbenders here at the South Pole? Everything is so weird.' He snaps out of his thoughts and continues. "What about the North Pole? There's another Water Tribe up there, right? Maybe they have waterbenders who could teach you."
"Maybe, but we haven't had contact with our sister tribe in a long time. It's not exactly "turn right at the second glacier". It's on the other side of the world." she replies.
"But you forget, I have a flying bison. Appa and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, we're going to find you a master!" says Aang excitedly.
Katara felt unsure, but also, excited. Not only at the possibility of fulfilling her dream of learning waterbending, but for the freedom she has so longed for. Not only that, being able to go on an adventure, traveling the world, with a Giant Bison and an Airbender. Who would've thought? But, she was still conflicted.
"That's ... I mean, I don't know. I've never left home before." she says, feeling unsure.
"Well, you think about it, but in the meantime, can you teach me to catch one of these penguins?" Aang replies.
"Okay, listen closely my young pupil. Catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art." Katara says, mockingly imitating a teacher. She pulls a fish out her sleeve. "Observe!"
She tosses Aang the fish. As he catches it with an uncomprehending look on his face, the penguins immediately begin crowding him. He laughs as the penguins swarm over him, pulling him down amidst their ranks.
"Hi hi hi! Ha, ha, ha!" Aang laughs as the cute penguins all swarm him.
Seconds later, Aang and Katara are sliding down a protruding iceberg, each sitting atop a penguin. They soar through the air for a moment before landing on the slope and continuing their journey downward. They race down and Aang uses another iceberg as a ramp to propel him into the air and to soar over and past Katara. She in turn uses the next jump to land next to Aang again. The two laugh and shout out as they gleefully ride over snowy bumps.
"I haven't done this since I was a kid!" Katara exclaims happily.
"You still are a kid!" Aang replies
Katara opens her eyes a bit, and then smiles. Turning 14 yesterday, she's reflected on everything so far. The war, her mom dying, her dad leaving to go fight, having to take care of the village, doing chores, and dealing with her annoying older brother, Katara's felt like she needed to mature quicker than other people her age, but this young airbender that mysteriously sprung into her life, has made her realized that amongst this darkness, there are still bright points in life to enjoy. He's made her realize there is no need to rush growing up. He's made her realize that she should have more fun! Katara was starting to lean towards leaving for the North with Aang. For some reason, she felt…...free, and this exciting adventure she would want to embark on would be mesmerizing, especially with Aang by her side.
The two ride through a tunnel of ice. Katara is in the lead and tries to hold Aang back by constantly changing her direction when he wants to pass her. Aang solves this problem by increasing his speed with airbending, enabling him to race over the ceiling past Katara. The tunnel levels out on an open plain of ice where the two get off their rides. The plain itself is dominated by a large metal ship, elevated and held in place by a large protrusion of ice with the bow pointing toward the sky. Curious, Aang gazes at it.
"Whoa! What is that?" Aang says in awe.
"A Fire Navy ship. And a very bad memory for my people." says Katara seriously.
She closes her eyes and looks away. She hears Aang's footsteps in the snow and she glances back at him as Aang begins to approach the wreckage.
"Aang, stop! We're not allowed to go near it! The ship could be booby-trapped!" Katara says, reaching out for him.
"If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear." he replies.
Katara stops dead in her tracks and ponders. 'I guess he's right,' she thinks to herself. She remembers her mothers and fathers words about the ship, but…..
'Damn it!' she berates herself in her head. She walks toward Aang with a scared look upon her face. The two venture closer toward the ship. Aang helps Katara to climb some of the blocks of ice that lay beside the ship and they crawl through a hole in the hull of the ship. The two walk through the silent rooms of the shipwreck. Some white hamsters roam the otherwise deserted ship. Aang enters a room stocked with weapons in various places.
"This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran-Gran was a little girl…" Katara says, glancing around, her voice echoing around the room.
"...It was part of the Fire Nation's first attacks."
Aang stops in his tracks and raises an eyebrow. 'There it is again. That damn weird stuff everyone's talking about' he thinks to himself.
"Okay, hold up. I have friends all over the world, even in the Fire Nation. I've never seen any war." Aang responds.
Katara's face falls a bit, and she thinks for a moment until she begins to realize something. 'No, no, no, no. There's no way. It can't be' she denies at first, marveling at what she might have just realized.
"Aang, how long were you in that iceberg?" Katara asks
Aang feels a shiver go down his spine. "I don't know. A few days, maybe? Weeks? Maybe a month even." he responds, uncertain.
Katara takes a deep breath before revealing her thoughts. "I think it was more like a hundred years!"
Aang's eyes widen and he's in complete disbelief. "What?! That's impossible! Do I look like a hundred-twelve-year-old man to you?"
"Think about it. The War is a century old. You don't know about it because, somehow, you were in there the whole time! It's the only explanation." Katara explains.
Aang backs away and slumps to the floor in shock. "A hundred years! I can't believe it" Aang says, saddened by this discovery. 'Gyatso, my friends, the monks…..they're all probably gone. A a century long war? It must be the same war the monks were warning me about' Aang gulps, and feels immense guilt at running away and not preventing it. 'But still, why did her grandmother say she thought Airbenders were extinct?' Aang questioned
'This must be really hard for him' she thinks to herself. Katara squats behind him. "I'm sorry, Aang. Maybe somehow there's a bright side to all this …"
"I did get to meet you." Aang says cheerfully.
Katara smiles warmly and slightly blushes. She gets up and offers her hand to him. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Katara smiles and pulls him to his feet and the two exit the room. They continue to walk, looking around the ship.
"Aang, let's head back, this place is creepy." Katara says softly.
Aang ventures down yet another room with Katara on his trail. There, he trips over a thin rope; as he stumbles, metal bars slide downward over the entrance, barring it and trapping them inside. "Huh?" they both say cluelessly.
They both run toward the bars and peek through them. "What's that you said about booby traps?" Aang mentions tediously.
The gears and engines of the shipwreck suddenly power up, beginning to function. In shock, Katara and Aang follow the movements of the machines until suddenly, a flare is fired and explodes high in the sky.
"Uh oh…." Aang says. He notices a hole in the roof of the ship and takes a surprised Katara into his arms.
'Oh my….!' Katara thinks to herself and she blushes as Aang sweeps her suddenly.
"...Hold on tight!" Aang yells. Aang enhances the power of his jump with his airbending to jump several feet into the air through the hole.
Unbeknownst to them, Prince Zuko, is peering through a telescope. He follows every movement the duo makes as Aang, still holding Katara, jumps down the side of the ship.
"The Last Airbender" Zuko says angrily as he looks through the telescope.
Aang and Katara reach the ground again and Aang sets Katara down. They start to walk away. "Quite agile for his old age." Zuko mentions.
He turns and angrily yells to a soldier behind him. "Wake my uncle! Tell him I found the Avatar."
Zuko peeks through his telescope again to see that Katara and Aang are running now. Zuko follows the direction they are running in with his telescope and discovers that they must be headed for the village he spots. "As well as his hiding place…"
Aang and Katara awkwardly walk back to the village. Katara, a little because she was just suddenly swept and carried by Aang out of nowhere, but also because she had disobeyed her mother, father, and grandmother's warnings. The flare Aang had activated soars lazily through the air in the distance. Aang and Katara approach the village, and the gathered villagers that stand outside the village walls. The children become overjoyed upon seeing Aang.
"Yay! Aang's back!" the Village kids cheer joyfully
Some of them run over to him while the others remain cheerful in the crowd. On the other hand, the adults among them revealed more 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. 'This bastard!' Sokka thinks to himself.
"I knew it! You signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?" shouted Sokka angrily, pointing an accusatory finger at Aang.
"Aang didn't do anything! It was an accident." said Katara, defending Aang.
"Yeah. We were on the ship and there was this booby trap, and, well….we booby-ed right into it." Aang says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
"Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship! Now we could all be in danger!" says Katara's Grandmother
"Don't blame Katara. I brought her there. It's my fault." said Aang, this time, defending Katara.
"Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy…" said Sokka angry and triumphant having found an excuse. The children begin to sadly walk away.
"...The foreigner is banished from our village."
Katara irritably clenches her fists. "Sokka, you're making a mistake."
"No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad. I'm protecting you from threats like him!" said Sokka, pointing at Aang.
"Aang is not our enemy! Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time: fun." Katara says calmly.
"Fun?! We can't f*cking fight firebenders with fun!" replied Sokka angrily.
"You should try it sometime," said Aang optimistically. He smiled as he remembered his fun sparring matches with Kuzon.
Sokka thought Aang was mocking him, which made him angrier. "Get out of our village! Now!"
Katara worriedly glanced at her Grandmother. "Gran-Gran, please. Don't let Sokka do this!"
She sighs. "Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender leaves."
Katara huffs in annoyance. "Fine! Then I'm banished, too!" She grabs Aang by the hand and pulls him away. She had come to her decision. "Come on Aang, let's go."
"Where do you think you're going?" asked Sokka demandingly.
"To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole." Katara replied defiantly.
Aang raised his eyebrows. "I am?...Great!"
"Katara! Would you really choose him over your tribe? Your family?" Sokka asks
Katara glances back at the village. She looks at her Gran-Gran in the eyes, and she sees Sokka. She sees the children, the lonely wives with their husbands out at war. How can she abandon her people like that out of rage? How can she not think rationally? Of course, Aang was an amazing guy, but still…she can't just abandon them like that, yet for some reason, she still wanted to.
"Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family." says Aang, understanding.
"So, you're leaving the South Pole? This is goodbye?" replies Katara sadly.
"Thanks for penguin sledding with me." Aang responds cheerfully.
"Where will you go?" Katara asks with the same sad tone.
"Guess I'll go back home and look for the airbenders." replies Aang. 'No way in hell they're extinct' he thinks to himself.
"Wow, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that." Aang continues out loud. He uses his airbending to hop onto Appa's head. "It was nice meeting everyone."
"Let's see your bison fly now, air boy." Sokka mocks Aang
"Come on Appa, you can do it. Yip-yip!" Aang encourages his bison. He flicks the reins, but Appa merely rises and growls.
"Yeah, I thought so!" Sokka continued to mock Aang.
A little girl from the tribe runs from the crowd to stand next to Katara with tears in her eyes. "Ahhh! Aang, don't go! I'll miss you!"
"I'll miss you, too." Aang replies, saddened. He frowns and looks at Katara who frowns back. Katara knew those words were especially meant for her, because over this little amount of time, they had become friends.
Appa turns and plods away, disappearing over the hill. The young girl sighs and trudges back to the village, while Katara remains standing in the snow. Kanna walks up to her granddaughter. Katara stares over the distance to where Aang is going. In this lonely place, at the end of the world, for the first time in ages, she had felt free again, she had fun again, and she made a wonderful friend, yet just as quickly as he came into her life, he was gone.
Kanna places her hand on Katara's shoulder. "Katara, you'll feel better after you-"
Katara cuts her off angrily, saying, "There goes my one chance at becoming a waterbender!"
She marches away furiously, leaving Kanna looking saddened. Meanwhile, Sokka coaches the young boys to prepare for battle just outside the village. In her mind Katara is extremely sad. Not only by the fact that she might not fulfill her dream of learning waterbending after all, but that her only friend in this village after many years, was gone so quickly. Such a kind soul like him did not deserve such treatment on behalf of her village. She felt free around him and she felt like she could've learned a lot more than just waterbending with him.
Meanwhile, Aang and Appa were already far from the village. They are on a snowy landscape, both resting, Appa lying lazily, while Aang is sitting on Appa, staring into the horizon.
Appa grunts, and Aang responds, "Yeah, I liked her too. She was so interesting, and kind, and pretty…" Aang went on, until he noticed a Fire Nation ship. He realized it was heading towards the village. "Appa, wait here" Aang gets up and immediately begins to head towards the village. Appa grunts lazily in response.
Back at the village, there is lots of tension, and anticipation. Clear silence, yet the silence was almost deafening. On the Fire Nation Ship, servants aid Prince Zuko in putting on his uniform, while Sokka back at the village finishes putting on his face-paint, and grabbing his club. He heads towards the fixed watchtower. The villagers are all huddled together, fearful for what's about to transpire. A loud noise shakes the villagers out of their thoughts, and the ground begins to shake slightly. Sokka is right in front of where the ice is cracking and Katara yells at him to get out of the way, which is able to do. The ship decimates the front of the village simply by harboring, and all the villagers are paying attention to the scene, now that the ship has stopped. It began to steam and the point in front of the ship began to lower. On it, these lowly villagers were face-to-face with the crown prince of the Fire Nation. Sokka lets out a battle cry and charges with his weapon towards Prince Zuko. Zuko easily dispatches him, effortlessly kicking Sokka to the right, sending him into the snow. The villagers are shocked as they witness how easily their best warrior at the moment was easily defeated. Zuko approaches the villagers, seemingly looking for something, and passes right when he doesn't find what he's looking for.
"Where the hell are you hiding him?" he asks impatiently.
Zuko 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.
"He'd be about this age, master of all elements?" he shakes Kanna, annoyed, and then forcefully shoves her back into the crowd.
Zuko regretfully sighs, after receiving no response, he 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. "I know you're hiding him!"
Sokka gets out of the snow, and grabs his club that was on the snow, and charges again towards Zuko, letting out another battle cry. Zuko 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 villager tells Sokka.
Sokka handily catches the weapon and charges at Zuko once more. Zuko breaks off pieces of the spear with his forearms, 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. 'Stay down you scrub' Zuko thinks in his mind. Sokka looks beyond Zuko, where 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 to fire daggers.
Out of nowhere, Aang is 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. Aang takes his feet out from underneath him, tossing Zuko off his feet; speeding past, Aang soars into the air as the prince lands on his face, his legs in the air. He spins around a few times before coming to a halt in front of his men, his helmet landing on his rear as they watch. The villagers cheer at Aang, despite being covered in snow because of Aang. Aang then approaches Katara, Sokka, and their Grandmother. Aang comes to a halt before them. The penguin crawls out from under him, 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." Aang says cheerfully.
"Hi, Aang. Thanks for coming." Sokka responds. 'Damn, looks like I owe him big time' He thinks in the back of his mind.
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 assumed a fighting stance. Aang follows suit, 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 asks Zuko
"You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" Zuko responds in a state of shock.
Aang resumes his fighting stance, while the entire village is in a state of shock.
"Aang?" Katara says aloud, being so surprised, and Sokka is bewildered. "No way!"
Zuko and Aang are both moving about in a circular pattern, both awaiting the attack of the other.
"I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating. You're just a child!" Zuko says angrily.
"Well, you're just a teenager." Aang says, tilting his head to the side in confusion.
Zuko launches a series of fire blasts at Aang in anger at the remark, who defends himself by twirling his staff, dissipating the flames with the villagers watching directly behind him. Zuko fires another blast at Aang, who twirls his staff once again to ward off the attack. The villagers cower as the flames stream through the air over their heads. Aang widens his eyes in horror at the sight of the frightened villagers and immediately ceases to defend himself.
"If I go with you, will you promise to leave everyone alone?" Aang firmly asks, putting his staff in front of him.
Zuko calmly nods in agreement. He was honorable after all. Aang is apprehended by Zuko's men, who take his staff. Katara runs forward as they lead Aang away. "No! Aang, don't do this!"
"Don't worry, Katara. It'll be okay." he responds calmly. "Take care of Appa for me until I get back."
Zuko smirks. 'Hmph. Brat things he'll see the light of day again.' He thinks to himself. He boards the ship up the walkway determinedly. "Head a course for the Fire Nation. I'm going home."
The villagers watch as Aang gives a weak smile to them as the walkway begins to close up. Katara is staring with tears in her eyes, which causes Aang to frown. 'Please don't cry over me. I promise I'll be back' he says in his mind. With that, Prince Zuko's ship leaves the village, after he finally claims what he had been looking for, after over 3 years of searching. The villagers watch as the ship fades into the distance, while Katara is crying, feeling devastated at the sacrifice her new friend had just made.
To Be Continued
Author's Notes:
Okay, okay, please don't be mad at me. I know I took WAY, and I mean WAY too long with this chapter, but I promise, I have a good explanation. I'm kidding, I really don't. I had my graduation to worry about, and then vacation, and then organizing as I got ready for college. Now I feel like I'm adapted to college life. I also gained a little of writer's block since this first is so, so tedious. Having to copy and paste most of the same dialogue was tiring, and I also, the ideas and my vision for the story, I feel like I wouldn't be able to do a good job if I only wrote it. If I knew how to draw, I'd make a comic series, similar to a manga. Thankfully, I got the writer's block out of the way, and now, the story will finally have incorporated my unique ideas I want for it, rather than basically being the same story you guys already know. If you're still here, I thank you for being patient, and I'll do my best to update it. It'll become more of a hobby now, and I'll have less on my plate to worry about. Thank You and See you in the next one :)
