A/N: this chapter is kinda short because it mostly follows Aang, who is not with Akira. But i hope you enjoy nontheless!
disclaimer: i dont own avatar *insert ugly sobbing here*
Responses from chapter 7:
Vapor23: Thank you for your review! I do have to agree that episode isn't the best, I used to skip over it everytime I rewatched ATLA loll. I'm glad you liked the extra moments with Aang and Akira, though, those are always fun for me to write. As always, I apprecaite your continued support, and I'm loving book 2 of your story!
We were flying over a forest, all spending our time in different ways. I liked times like these, when nobody was talking and we were all just enjoying each others company. Katara was laying on her stomach, looking at the clouds below. Sokka was looking at something in his hands, I wasn't sure what. Aang was just laying, his hands behind his head. He also had a piece of wheat in his mouth, which I thought was weird. I was looking at my collection of things from nature that I had recently started. I had ten pinecones, four nuts, and six dandelions. Suddenly, our peaceful silence stopped by Katara speaking.
"Those clouds look so soft, don't they?" She asked. I looked down at said clouds, noticing that they looked as if they were made of cotton candy.
"Mhm," I responded with a nod.
"Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big, soft cottony heap,"
"Maybe you should give it a try," Sokka said, looking up from the thing in his hands.
"You're hilarious," His sister responded dryly.
"I'll try it!" Aang exclaimed. I was so caught off guard from hearing how suddenly and loudly my brother had spoken, that I didn't notice that he had jumped down from Appa and descended into the clouds below. Katara, Sokka and I peaked over the edge of the saddle, watching as Aang jumped through a cloud. Sokka looked around, as if searching for where Aang could have gone. Then, my brother reappeared behind us on his glider, completely soaked.
"Turns out clouds are made of water," He said after landing on the saddle. He then proceeded to use airbending to dry himself off.
"Hey, what is that?" Katara asked, standing up to look at the forest below. There was a whole patch of charred trees.
"It's been burned," I stated.
"It looks like a scar," Sokka added.
When we dropped down into the burned patch of forest, I couldn't help but feel bad. Where there was once trees, bushes, flowers, animals, there was now nothing but ashes. We all hopped off of Appa and then began walking around the desolate patch of forest.
"Listen; it's so quiet," Sokka said quietly, "There's no life anywhere,"
"It's so abandoned…like the Southern Air Temple," I thought.
"Aang, are you okay?" Katara asked. My attention turned to my brother, who was standing silently farther away from the rest of us. Before Aang could answer, Sokka began to speak.
"Fire Nation!" He exclaimed, "Those evil savages make me sick, they have no respect for-" He was shushed by Katara, causing him to stop his rant.
"What, I'm not allowed to be angry?" He asked with a whisper. Katara then pointed to Aang, who was still standing there. With a sigh, my brother dropped to his knees, and I knew I had to go over there. I sprinted over to him, putting my hand on his shoulder once I got to him. I dropped to my knees as well.
"It's gonna be okay, the forest will grow back somehow," I said reassuringly. Except, I didn't know if the forest was going to grow back, I just wanted to make Aang feel better.
"Why would anyone do this?" My brother asked, "How could I let this happen?" He picked up ash, watching as it blew away with the wind.
"Aang, you didn't let this happen, it has nothing to do with you," Katara said.
"Yes it does," Aang protested, shifting his sitting position, "It's the avatar's job to protect nature, but I don't know how to do my job," He then proceed to move his hands to his face, slouching over.
"That's why we're going to the North Pole, to find you a teacher," Katara said.
"Yeah, a waterbending teacher," Aang replied, "But there's no one who can teach me how to be the avatar,"
"Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me," He added.
"The avatar before you?" Sokka asked, "He died over one hundred years ago, how are you supposed to talk to him?"
"I don't know," Aang admitted sadly. Suddenly, Momo came in and leaped into Aang's lap. My brother began to pet the lemur.
"We've all got your back, Aang," I said, "Although there might be nobody to teach you how to be the avatar, I'm sure that you'll learn it on your own," Aang looked up at me and smiled.
"Thanks, Kiri," He said.
A few minutes later…
"Hey, Aang, are you ready to be cheered up?" Katara asked. Aang was sitting glumly near a charred tree.
"No," he responded. Just then, Katara threw an acorn at him.
"Ow!" My brother exclaimed, "Hey, how is that cheering me up?" Sokka began to laugh.
"Cheered me up," He said. I grabbed the acorn from Katara's hand and chucked it at him.
"Ow!" The older boy exclaimed, "Yeah, I probably deserved that,"
"These acorns are everywhere, Aang," Katara exclaimed, walking up to my brother with an acorn in her hand, "That means the forest will grow back,"
"Every one of these will be a tall oak tree someday, and all the birds and animals that lived here will come back," She added, placing the acorn she was holding into Aang's hands.
"Thanks, Katara," Aang said, a smile on his face. Their moment was suddenly ended by Katara gasping. My attention turned to the direction she was gasping towards, and I saw an old man walking up to us.
"Hey, who are you?" Sokka asked.
"When I saw the flying bison, I thought it was impossible," The old man started, "But those markings…are you the avatar, child?" He turned to Aang. My brother turned to Katara, who nodded. Aang turned back to the old man and nodded.
"My village desperately needs your help," the old man said.
The sun was setting and we had finally made it to the old man's village. I noticed that all of the buildings in the village had been damaged badly. We walked into a large building that had tons of people inside. I scanned the room, wondering why there was no furniture.
"This young person is the avatar," the old man said.
"So the rumors of your return are true," A man said, walking up to Aang, "It is the greatest honor of a lifetime to be in your presence," He bowed as he finished his sentence. I cocked an eyebrow in confusion.
"Why is it such an honor to be in Aang's presence to this guy?" I thought, "I'm in his presence all the time, and I don't feel honored,"
"Nice to meet you too," Aang replied, "So, is there something I can help you with?"
"I'm not sure," The man replied.
"Our village is in crisis, he's our only hope," An older man said, walking up to our group, "For the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster comes and attacks our village, he is Hei Bai, the black and white spirit,"
"Why is it attacking you?" Sokka asked.
"We do not know," The first man who was talking to us responded, "But each of the last three nights, he has abducted one of our own, we are especially fearful because the winter solstice draws near,"
"What happens during the winter solstice?" I asked.
"As the solstice approaches, the natural world and the spirit world grow closer and closer, until the line between them is blurred completely," The man explained.
"Hei Bai is already causing devastation and destruction, once the solstice is here, there is no telling what will happen,"
"So, what do you want me to do exactly?" Aang asked.
"Who better to resolve a crisis between our world and the spirit world than the avatar himself?" The man asked, "You are the great bridge between man and spirits,"
"Right, that's me," Aang replied apprehensively.
"Uh, question," I said, walking up to Aang and the man, "How is Aang supposed to deal with that spirit? I've known him my whole life, and I can confirm that he knows nothing about the spirit world, let alone the spirits," Both of their heads turned to face me.
"You don't know anything about the spirit world, avatar?" The old man asked.
"Uh…well I-" Aang started.
"He's the avatar!" The other man exclaimed, "No matter if he knows about the spirits or not, he can still be great help to our village,"
"Hey, can I talk to you over here for a second?" Katara asked Aang. my brother nodded and they both walked over to a window, Sokka and I following close behind.
"You seriously don't know anything about the spirit world?" Katara asked.
"It's not like there's someone to teach me this stuff!" Aang exclaimed, his temper rising.
"So, can you help these people?" Katara replied.
"I have to try, don't I?" My brother asked, the anger in his tone dissipated, "Maybe whatever I have to do will just…come to me," Suddenly, Momo landed on Aang's shoulder.
"I think you can do it," Katara said.
"We believe in you," I added.
"Yeah," Sokka sighed, "We're all gonna get eaten by a spirit monster,"
Aang was walking around the desolate town, calling out for the spirit to emerge.
"Hello, Spirit? Can you hear me?" He called, "This is the avatar speaking, I'm here to try to help stuff,"
"This isn't right," Sokka stated, "We can't sit here and cower while Aang waits for some monster to show up," The rest of us were all sitting in the building, watching Aang call for the spirit.
"I agree, but what are we supposed to do? The spirit has already taken so much from this village, we don't want it to take more because someone interfered," I replied.
"He still shouldn't have to face this alone," He grumbled. I looked up at Sokka, admiring his features in the light of the sunset.
"The sun is set, where are you, Hei Bai?" Aang exclaimed later. After a few moments of silence, my brother spoke again.
"Well, spirit, uh," He said, "I hereby ask you to please leave this village in peace," Aang proceeded to stomp his staff onto the ground. I smacked my forehead.
"That spirit is going to kill him," I thought.
"Okay, well, I guess that's settled that's settled, then," Aang said before beginning to walk back to the building. Suddenly, I noticed an extremely large figure looming behind him, and I gasped in shock.
"Aang, behind you!" I shouted.
"Huh?" My brother asked, turning around. He noticed the giant spirit behind him.
"You must be the Hei Bai spirit, my name is-" He started. Aang was quickly interrupted by the spirit blasting blue light at him.
"That's the spirit that's been terrorizing your village?" Katara asked.
"Yes," A woman replied, "That is Hei Bai," I turned my attention back to Aang, who was being ignored by the spirit.
"My name is Aang, I'm the avatar and I would like to help," My brother said, "Hey, wait up!" The giant spirit monster began to destroy the village even more, leaving only ruins in its tracks.
"Uh…" Aang mumbled, obviously not knowing what to do.
"The avatar's methods are…unusual," a man said.
"It doesn't seem too interested in what he's saying, maybe we should go help him," Sokka responded.
"Y'know, I'm starting to agree with Sokka," I stated, "I think that Aang needs some help,"
"No, only the avatar stands a chance against the Hei Bai," An older man argued.
"Aang will figure out the right thing to do, guys," Katara said.
"Please, will you stop destroying things and listen?" Aang pleaded to no avail. The spirit continued to destroy the village's remains.
"I'm just trying to do my job as spirit bridge," My brother continued, "Excuse me, would you please turn around?" He was trying so hard to get the spirit to listen, but it just continued. Knowing Aang, I could tell that he was going to loose his cool and start being demanding.
"I command you to turn around now!" My brother shouted. Yep, guessed it. The spirit growled in response before pushing Aang off of the roof he was standing on, thrusting him into another roof.
"Ouch," I grimaced through gritted teeth.
"That's it, he needs help," Sokka said, running out of the building.
"Sokka, wait!" Katara exclaimed, running after her brother.
"It's not safe," The old man said, grabbing Katara's arm. I sprinted over to the pair.
"I wanna help too," I stated, starting to walk out of the door. Suddenly, the old man grabbed me by the arm.
"It is very dangerous for anyone other than the avatar to interfere," He said.
"Aang's my brother, I'll do whatever it takes to help him," I responded. The old man sighed.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you go," He said, pulling me by the arm back into the building.
"Sokka, go back!" I heard. I turned my attention to Aang, who was being approached by Sokka.
"We'll fight him together," Sokka said.
"I don't wanna fight him unless I-" Aang started. He was cut off by the spirit snatching Sokka. He quickly took off into the sky, disappearing along with the spirit and Sokka. Katara and I both began to run towards the entrance to the village.
"Sokka!" Katara called out. We both stopped in our tracks when we reached the front gate, not wanting to go any farther. The village began to gather around us, and Katara looked down somberly. I looked up toward the sky. The sun had completely set, and I was worried that Aang and Sokka wouldn't come back before morning. I looked back towards Katara, who was now quietly crying into her hands, and walked towards her. I put my hand on her shoulder, which was hard to do since she was standing and roughly seven inches taller than me.
"Hey, it's okay," I said reassuringly, trying to sound like Aang when he was comforting me, "I'm sure Aang and Sokka will be back soon," Katara looked over at me, her cheeks stained with tears.
"Thank you, Akira," She said quietly. I smiled softly.
"Any time," I replied.
"Will you wait with me out here?" She asked.
"Of course," I responded.
Later…
I yawned. It had been a while since Sokka was snatched by the Hei Bai and Aang had gone after him. Katara, who was sitting next to me, was staring blankly at the stars above us. Suddenly, a thought occurred in my mind.
"What if…they don't come back?" I asked.
"Don't say that, Akira," Katara said, "Like you said, Sokka and Aang are probably going to be back soon," I sighed. Suddenly, the old man approached us.
"I'm sure they'll be back," He said.
"I know," Katara replied, pulling her legs into her chest.
"You two should get some rest," the old man continued, putting blankets on us. As an airbender, I could regulate the temperature of my body and didn't need a blanket, but I decided to accept it anyway because it still felt nice.
"Everything's gonna be okay," Katara said. I knew she was talking to me, but part of me felt like she was also reassuring herself.
"Your brother is in good hands, I would be shocked if the avatar returned without him," The old man said, kneeling down to Katara's level. I smiled softly.
"Akira, are you worried about Aang?" Katara asked, lifting her head to look at me.
"I hate to admit it, but I am," I replied, "Aang doesn't know anything about the spirits, and I'm afraid that he's going to get hurt,"
"But there's a part of me that thinks that Aang's gonna come back with Sokka and everything will return to normal," I continued, "And that part is much larger than the worried one," Katara smiled.
"The sun is rising, perhaps they will return soon," The old man stated reassuringly. I looked up at the sky. The sun was in fact rising. The old man walked away, leaving Katara and I with each other again. She rested her head against the pillar next to her. Appa came up to us, sniffing to get Katara's attention. She lightly looked up, but Appa proceeded to let out a dull roar.
"It's okay, Appa, don't worry, I'm sure they're on their way back," Katara said, lightly patting the bisons nose.
"I bet they even found you a bunch of moon peaches for a treat," I added. I noticed that Katara was getting up, and I quickly followed her.
Hours later…
It had been almost a full day since Aang and Sokka had left, and the worried part of me was beginning to take over the hopeful part. Katara and I were standing outside, watching the beautiful sunset.
"Do you think they're gonna come back?" I asked.
"Of course they are, we just have to be patient," Katara replied. I continued looking up at the sky, noticing something that looked like a big bird in the distance.
"What is that?" I thought. As the thing came closer into view, I recognized it as my brother.
"AANG! KATARA, IT'S AANG!" I exclaimed. Katara's face lit up, and we quickly ran over to him.
"You're back!" Katara exclaimed as we pulled Aang into a hug. After she pulled out of the hug, Katara spoke.
"Where's Sokka?" She asked. I pulled out of the hug as well, noticing that Sokka wasn't there.
"I'm not sure," Aang admitted, looking down sadly. The sun began to set.
Aang stood outside of the gate to the village, and we were once again watching out of the window. After a few minutes, my brother began to turn back towards the building, but was stopped in his tracks by the spirit emerging out of a dilapidated home, breaking it completely. Aang shrieked before using an air sphere to shield himself from the falling debris.
"Aang! What are you doing!?" Katara called out, "Run!" The spirit began to roar, setting off for the building that we were in. I gasped. Aang quickly ran and front flipped to the spirit's face, touching his palm to its forehead.
"What's he doing?" I thought.
"You're the spirit of this forest," Aang stated, "Now I understand, your upset and angry because your home was burned down,"
"When I saw the first had burned, I was sad and upset, but my friend gave me hope that's the forest would grow back," He continued before showing the acorn Katara had thrown at him yesterday to Hei Bai. Aang set the acorn down onto the ground, and the spirit picked it up. It became this black and white bear creature and walked back into the forest. The townspeople, Katara, and I all walked outside, watching as the spirit trotted away. Bamboo spawned once it had left, and from the bamboo emerged all of the missing people, including Sokka. Katara's face lit up at the sight of her brother, and she quickly rushed over to him.
"Sokka!" She exclaimed.
"What happened?" Sokka asked groggily.
"You were trapped in the spirit world for nearly twenty-four hours, how are you feeling?" Katara asked.
"Like I seriously need to use the bathroom," Sokka replied, waddling away.
"Thank you, avatar," A man said, "if only there were a way to repay you for what you've done,"
"You could give us some supplies, and some money," Sokka replied.
"Sokka," Katara scolded.
"What? We need stuff," he replied.
"It would be an honor to help you prepare for your journey," The man stated, walking away.
"I'm so proud of you, Aang," Katara said, putting a hand on my brothers shoulder, "You figured out what to do all on your own,"
"Actually, I did have a little help," Aang admitted, "And there's something else,"
"What is it?" I asked.
"I need to talk to Roku, and I think I found a way to contact his spirit," My brother explained.
"That's great!" Katara exclaimed.
"Creepy, but great," Sokka added.
"There's this temple on a crescent shaped island, and if I got there on the solstice, I'll be able to speak with him," Aang explained.
"Isn't the solstice tomorrow, though?" I questioned.
"Yeah, and there's one more problem," Aang replied, "The island is in the Fire Nation,"
Katara, Sokka and I all exchanged worried glances. We were going to the Fire Nation.