A/N: So, it's been just over a year of me posting this story! I'd just love to say thank you to everyone for all your support and interest in this story! It's definitely not going anywhere, and I hope you all enjoy where I take it. As always, let me know what you think of this chapter!

Word Count: 3236

20. The Black Cliffs (Love and War or Something Like That)

Aang didn't know how to start. He'd been both hoping and overly worried about the conversation he wanted to have with Percy. The man who'd literally brought him back from the dead.

How could I ever repay him?

The airbender had already gone out of his way to thank Katara, but she'd made it abundantly clear that without Percy, he wouldn't be there anymore.

The boy trailed the waterbender after the arm had slipped off his shoulder when walking past his other waterbending friend, who was introducing Toph to Haru and his father. He saw Percy gesture to the top of the Black Cliffs and he just nodded mutely in reply.

They were passing one of the ships when there was an explosion on deck. Aang noticed the waterbender's immediate flinching reaction to the explosion, along with a few other ticks that made the Avatar curious as to his experience with things blowing up on ships. But he knew better than to ask. He already had enough trouble in his own past that he wouldn't want brought up.

They both stood silently as the situation was sorted out. It seemed as though they were peanut sauce bombs. Even in his detached state of mind, he did recognise Teo and the Mechanist from the Northern Air Temple. He was very appreciative when the boy in the wheelchair handed him a staff.

The airbender immediately recognised it as a glider, tapping it to the ground and watching the blue fabric open up.

"A new glider, thank you so much. This is amazing." He said.

He felt tears begin to try and push their way out. It wasn't helped when the inventor came up to talk to him about the glider.

"And as a special feature, I added the snack compartment."

The man twisted a little handle thing and it opened up a small slit in the wood. Some snacks came falling out.

"Oh… well I'm sure that'll come in handy." He said awkwardly.

Percy moved beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder once more.

"Never underappreciate the importance of snacking." He patted him slightly. "Although it'd definitely be better with some blue candy."

Aang did a double take at the older boy as he turned to continue their walk to the cliffs. The waterbender walked past his ostrich horse, scratching her behind her head. The Avatar jumped to catch up.

Blue? Why blue? And candy?

Percy began making his way up the side of the cliffs and the airbender looked to follow, before remembering his new staff.

No better way to test out if it works.

He popped it against the ground, bringing out the blue glider in its full majesty. The boy leapt up into the air and began to spiral upwards. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Percy shake his head while he continued climbing.

Once he reached the top, he sat cross-legged meditatively. It was a position he'd found comfort in since his days back in the air temple. After a couple minutes, he heard Percy walk up to him and sit. The satchel he'd seen around the boy's shoulder was placed down on his other side. The waterbender sat with his legs dangling over the edge. Apparently Aang's look of minor worry was obvious because the boy chuckled.

"It's not the tallest nor the most dangerous cliff I've stood near."

The boy also swore he heard the waterbender say something about there being no drama queens in the sky. Again, the airbender had so many questions about this man's life before he'd made his entrance with their group. But there was a much more important thing he wanted to talk about.

"Katara told me what you did." Aang started.

"Oh? And what did she say?"

"She said you saved my life, brought me back from the dead, helped heal my back."

Percy just sat there, as though it was just something he was supposed to do. Aang didn't get an arrogant affect from him either, it was just the norm. He realised he'd have to say something.

"Thank you. I don't think I could ever thank you enough for it, and if you ever need anything, just let me know-"

The man in front of him held his hand up, stopping the airbender from continuing.

"No, really don't worry about it. You don't owe me anything."

Aang looked at him, disbelievingly. Not only was that completely inaccurate, but it made him question just how many lives this boy had saved. It made this 'prophecy' that the earthbending waterbender had told him about seem quite real and believable.

He knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with convincing Percy to owe him. He knew, or hoped, if he was in the same position as Percy, he'd do the same thing. What he did want to know, was about the spirit water. Or… Percy's relation to the spirits.

The Avatar looked over to him, just staring out at the morning horizon, sitting on the edge of a sheer cliff face and prepared himself to ask the question.

"How did you do it?" He asked.

In his infinite wisdom, he'd been thinking about the spirit water and therefore decided not to even mention it as a part of his question. Though he was slightly suspicious that Percy knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Do what?" The boy asked, only a little evasively.

"The spirit water. Katara had used up hers, and yet you still managed to heal me with some. She said you created your own."

Percy didn't stop looking out at the ocean, but he did at least look slightly sheepish.

"It's complicated…"

He trailed off towards the end.

"You don't have to tell me, but I was just curious."

"No, it's okay. I probably owe you, and Katara, some kind of explanation." He said, slowly.

"You don't owe either of us anything." Aang interjected, slightly entertained at his choice of words.

"No." He chuckled lowly, looking back at the airbender for a quick moment. "I guess I don't. But I'll give you one anyway."

He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they seemed to swirl in a reflection of the sea.

"You know how I told you that I got my… bending from my father." Aang nodded, remembering. "That was all true. It's just he… or I, am a descendant of a spirit."

The airbender noticed Percy catch himself on his wording, but chose to not look too deep into it. There was still a lot he seemed unwilling to share and Aang appreciated even just that much. What he didn't know, was when a spirit had ever come together to have a human child.

"What type of spirit was it?" He asked, before even thinking.

Immediately, the Avatar regretted saying it, but it seemed the waterbender didn't mind.

"I guess you'd call him a water spirit." He said with a wry smile that Aang was sure he didn't understand.

It was odd, as the only water spirits he knew were Tui and La up in the Northern Water Tribe.

"You're descended from a fish?"

Aang was getting really frustrated with himself and how he kept blurting out questions, but the story just seemed too ridiculous to him that it was difficult to keep quiet. Thankfully, Percy seemed to take it well. He burst out laughing, and the airbender was sure that his reaction was not just because of the insanity of his question. He knew there must be some kind of inside joke that he wasn't getting, but he was just happy the boy wasn't mad.

"I mean… no. But I know… never mind." He said, in between laughs. "But no, I'm not descended from a fish, although I've been called similar to that. I'm certain you haven't heard of the spirit before, so it won't be the water spirits you know."

"So, when you use waterbending, you can create your own spirit water."

"Yeah, it's draining, but I can do it."

"Huh. That makes sense." Aang said.

"Yeah, right?" Percy replied, with a cheeky grin that confirmed to the young kid that he wasn't being given anywhere near the whole truth. His questioning 'right?' sounded like he was just happy to have explained it the way he had.

They both looked out to the horizon.

"I'm worried." The Avatar admitted, after a long silence.

He looked down at the all the people below them. They all bustled about, meeting new people, talking and preparing for their invasion.

"I can't fail like I did in Ba Sing Se." He continued. "I can't let all these people down. Not again."

He felt a strong hand grip his shoulder and turned to see Percy looking directly at him.

"Hey, everyone here," he gestured out to the people Aang had been looking down at, "they're all here to help. We win together and lose together. Even though a lot of the responsibility falls on you, it doesn't mean that things not going your way is you failing. There are always things we can't control, but stick together, trust each other, and who knows. We all might just find a way to get through it."

The Avatar felt a little piece of the weight on his shoulders fall away as he looking up at the older boy.

"Thanks, Percy. I'm glad you're here."

"Me too." He patted Aang on the back.

Sokka's breaths were laboured as he clambered up the steep incline to where he'd seen Percy and Aang head off to. He'd noticed his sister looking nervously up the cliffs and following where she thought they might've gone, but Sokka had other reasons for going to meet them.

His moment was coming, the invasion plans he'd spent so long on, and he was definitely not overthinking it all. Not to mention they needed to get his speech going to get underway. He needed some advice desperately.

As soon as he reached the top, he saw them, peacefully looking at each other while Percy patted the Avatar's shoulder. Sokka was a bit awkward about interrupting, but he was saved by the waterbender immediately looking over to him. Whether he heard the Water Tribe boy, sensed he was there or by pure chance looked over, he didn't know.

"Do you need something, Sokka?" He asked over Aang's shoulder.

The airbender's head whipped around, following Percy's eyeline.

"Ahhh, yeah. Could I speak to you for a second?" He asked, uncomfortably.

"Sure." He said with a genuine smile.

It put Sokka at ease. Aang turned back around to the waterbender and nodded, before his glider came out and the boy leapt off the cliff. The Water Tribe boy walked over to Percy and they both watched as the airbender floated down towards everyone else. The whole group had begun to migrate towards sitting in front of the platform that he was supposed to speak on in just a few minutes.

"So, what's up?" He asked, as open and forward as ever.

"I'm just worried about the specifics for the invasion plan." Sokka started. "Could you take a look at them?"

He handed over a bunch of scrolls of paper and Percy grabbed them, before moving to sit away from the edge.

I didn't even think about the fact that I might drop them.

"Sure, it'd be my pleasure."

He began poring over the papers and Sokka sat down, silently. Sokka noticed how the boy didn't really take note of any of the writings, just looking at his sketches and diagrams. Even then, the waterbender started to rub his temples as he went on.

The Water Tribe boy didn't realise how worried he felt about Percy's approval of them, even in the short time he'd known him. He got to the drawings of the plans he'd sent off to the Mechanist and paused.

"A submarine?" He heard the waterbender mumble.

"A what?" Sokka asked, completely confused.

"Oh, um, nothing. Did you come up with this?"

"Yeah." He replied proudly.

"Nice." Percy gave back, with a smile.

The mumbling was forgotten as he went through all of them. Sokka fidgeted with the guard of his sword as Percy finished up the papers.

"Seems pretty comprehensive." The boy said, impressed.

"Thanks."

Sokka took back his scrolls but the waterbender still had his hand subtly massaging the side of his head.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just… reading. I don't like it. And I don't really understand the language you guys all write in."

It was the first time Percy had seemed in any way self-conscious to Sokka and he didn't know what to do.

"Oh. That sucks." He said, awkwardly. "Well, if there's anything you need help reading…?"

He trailed off and didn't quite know what to continue with. The boy sitting down seemed to appreciate it nonetheless. Sokka got a nod and smile in return.

"I'm much better at that anyway."

His head gestured to Sokka's sword in its sheath.

"Is it new?" Percy asked, with a great deal of interest.

"Yeah! I met a sword master on our travels. He trained me and helped me make this."

"Well maybe we can have a rematch and see how good you are- woahhh."

The waterbender was interrupted by Sokka pulling out his pitch-black sword.

"That is gorgeous. Can I see that?"

He handed over the sword and Percy ran his fingers along the flat of the blade. The boy swung his legs up and pushed himself up to stand with his off hand. The jian blade scythed through the air with a few practice swings and Sokka fought to hold back winces as his brain decided to place the soldier he'd stabbed back on the boat right where Percy swung.

"What is it made of?" He asked.

"Meteorite." Sokka said, desperately trying to push out the memory.

Percy laughed and looked at him as though he was joking. After a few seconds of Sokka seriousness, it seemed the waterbender believed him.

I'm willing to bet it's not the most insane thing he's ever heard.

"Huh, impressive."

He went back to swinging, clearly weighing the blade in his hands, but Sokka needed to change the subject and get him to stop. He then remembered what Fat had given him, the message for Percy.

The Water Tribe boy fished out of his own satchel the little pouch with the two Pai Sho tiles.

"The sword master, Piandao, said he wanted to give you something."

Percy immediately stopped swinging and turned suspiciously.

"Me? But he hasn't ever met me?"

The waterbender seemed extremely on edge and gripped the sword tightly. His eyes scanned the area as though something was going to pop out at him.

"He only wanted to give you this."

Sokka handed one of the White Lotus tiles to the boy. Percy took it cautiously, as though it was going to explode or turn into some crazy spirit.

"Why?"

"I don't know. The only thing he said to us was that it was something to remember him by."

Percy held the coin up to the rising sun, studying it. After he seemed mostly satisfied, he went to put it in his pocket. The waterbender hesitated. He went over and put it into his satchel. Sokka watched as after he dropped it in, before pulling out a couple scrolls of his own.

The Water Tribe boy saw a reluctance to show him the rolled-up papers, but finally, Percy turned around to him.

"You said you could help me with anything in your language?"

Sokka just nodded in reply, happy to help but curious as to why he was slightly unwilling to show him.

"Could you read these for me, please?"

"Sure, no problem." Sokka said.

He accepted the first letter, which looked a lot less fancy than the second. As he read it over to see what it was about, he noticed Percy twirling a metal cylinder and tapping it against the other paper nervously.

"Ok, it says, Dear Percy, thank you so much for your company when you were here and keeping me safe. My family and I hope you're doing okay. We left a few things in your bag for you, in appreciation for all that you did. Love, Jin and all of us in the home."

Percy smiled, although his attention was still firmly on the letter still in his hands. Sokka handed him back the letter, leaving his hand extended for the second one. Finally, after some obvious mental deliberation, the waterbender passed over the letter.

"Okay, this one…"

Sokka trailed off, reading the letter as it went. His eyebrows raised and he looked at Percy. It was now very obvious why he'd been hesitant to hand over this letter.

It couldn't be from THAT Ty Lee. Although who else could it be? Especially talking about Mai and Azula.

"It says," Sokka continued, slowly, "Hey Percy, thank you for talking to us and helping out below Ba Sing Se and even before that. Team Save Azula hasn't been progressing that much after leaving the Earth Kingdom, but we're going to keep trying. She is… well, I don't know how to describe it. Anyway, I miss you, we miss you."

He stopped reading as it was slightly interrupted.

"Some of this is smudged, but then it says, From your Ty Lee. Oh, and Mai also says hi."

Sokka looked up to see a soft smile on Percy's face, although there was a complex depth that he didn't understand. What he did understand, was that there was clearly something Percy wasn't telling everyone about. He opened his mouth to talk about it, but the waterbender interjected.

"Thank you for that. I appreciate you reading it out for me. And don't worry, it isn't something you'll have to worry about."

Sokka remembered his time on the Serpent's Pass with Percy.

"Girl trouble?" He asked, to alleviate some of the tension.

He was grateful that the boy in front of him chuckled.

"You could call it that."

After a prolonged silence, the Water Tribe boy sensed Percy was trying to evade the subject, so he brought up the other thing he'd wanted to talk about.

"I don't know if I can do it."

"Do what?"

"Fight today, with the intent to kill people." He continued. "I trained with the sword, but any fighting after that, I've found myself seeing the face of that man."

Percy was quite for a while.

"I've been there, but I can't tell you if you're able to fight. That's something only you can know and find out. But I will tell you this, self-defence and war are always followed by loss. So you can focus on disarming your enemy, which is always my first choice, but you can only do that for so long. In times like these… that's often not possible."

The waterbender put his hand on Sokka's shoulder.

"The thing you have to remind yourself of is who you're fighting for, what you're fighting for. It'll be the thing that pulls your through."

They both looked out at the bay, where everyone was prepared for the invasion speech. The waters of an oncoming war lit by a rising sun that was soon to disappear.

A/N: So, this chapter, while not being very actiony, is definitely a lot more than filler. We're setting up for many things (including the invasion which is coming quite soon) and a lot of character arc importance happening. Some of my favourite parts of both atla and pjo are when they allow the characters to just exist with each other to create certain dynamics that influence the plot with their specific arcs. I hope you enjoyed and there is more to come.
This was also on the fence to just be one big chapter with the last one, but I don't particularly like chapters longer than 7000 words, but that's just a writing & reading preference of mine.

Some review replies:

VincentFS: I thought I'd start with yours because it is...confusing and borderline illogical. Just because it's in past tense does not mean its a journal. As to who decided it would be a good writing format to summarise events in the past tense...idk who started it but...Rick Riordan. This writing style was basically a merging of my own with Rick's, adding in third person POV to be able to see multiple perspectives within chapters in a way that was completely an utterly confusing. I also hate when people put the name of the character above whoever's POV it is, as it completely breaks the reading flow for me.
As to showing and not telling...I do do that. Just not in regards to location and events. Which is exactly how both PJO and ATLA universes operate. All of their actions are not explained to you why they're important, but that they happen. The character development happens either subtextually or with more complicated meaning than what's stated. If my writing style isn't for you, then that's fair, but your criticisms seem to be down to personal preference when you're stating them as though they're just a fact. If you want to see why it's written in past tense, I'd suggest you (re)read Percy Jackson.

Artorias78: Me too. He's a very interesting study in abusive parents in media, but I absolutely despise him. And definitely no need to apologise for not reviewing a chapter! I appreciate the ones that you can and do write! Also... those Percy choices would be quite fun.

preitar: I'd love to see it. Percy does have a history with knowing how to handle situations like this though. I shall cite Smelly Gabe as my source

HaywireEagle: Completely unintentionally haha I hope its not to the detriment of the story. It's just how I write and also me actively trying to be reminiscent of Rick's writing style, and we know what kind of cliffhangers he leaves chapters and books on.

Iamironman15/Jctherebel/Death Fury/HellRaiderS: Thank you all! I appreciate the support and hope you continue to like it!

iii: That is a reaction! I hope it wasn't too bad, but I like that I have you very invested in the characters! That's awesome and I agree about where Ozai needs to end up.

Anvith Mithra: Yeah, it has been tough but I appreciate that and I'm pulling through. I've definitely not stopped writing, though the motivation has decreased drastically. But I'm slowly working my way back into it so it should be all good soon.

Guest: I'm glad! That's freaking awesome and I hope that continues! I've done a lot of study on both worlds and their individual ways to tell stories so I'm super happy that's coming across!

Callum Runchman: This chapter even more so than the last is setup, rather than filler. Neither of them are filler as they are important to the story. I'm glad you're enjoying it, but definitely not filler. You'll just have to wait to see their true importance until later down the line :) I hope you do continue to read it and enjoy

MysticBoywastaken: I did again! I'm glad you're enjoying it, but you don't really have to worry for Katara's life in regards to Percy. It was much more a worry over if she's lost herself in the tragedy of using such power :) I hope you continue to read and enjoy!

tysonhousemovers: All good! I completely get that. It's a huge compliment you think my story is excellent, so thank you! You're completely correct in the carrot and stick analogy. The hair symbolism is exactly what you said it is, nice catch. I'm glad you're waiting for the next chapter!

CRUDEN: Little sister Toph is one of my favourite dynamics to write. She's just so freaking awesome and complex, especially in regards to Percy's history and his potential subconscious want to find a replacement for Estelle.

The Dark Sapphire: He absolutely did become a therapist for teenage girls, and I think it's one of the most Percy things.
I'm definitely not nerfing Percy, and he is overpowered in this world, but its more just when he wants to unleash all of it. He only ever does once in each book series really, mainly because he doesn't enjoy the power he does have. So Percy is almost always holding back, and that's very consistent with his character. But he will unleash himself...
It's not that the normal mortals are too weak, but the connection to the spirits. The same goes for the rules in Percy's world, only those with a connection to the gods can be affected by the godly material. I really like that parallel.
The romantic development isn't necessarily my main focus, though it will be consistently there. And also, it started a loooong time ago, just slowly. Also, not cliched, just location dependent. Can't really develop without adjacency. Fire Loser is accurate

Ni****y puff: That's very fair. I've been getting a lot from both camps, but I've remained impartial in my discussion on the topic of ships. I do have a plan.

Wildman98: Yeah, I agree. I try to make character reactions as consistent as possible with their canon counterparts. Thank you! Hope you enjoy!

wolfwind42: Absolutely. I mean, it's not about personal beliefs when writing characters. It's making them believe in their morals and understanding their motivations over making them align with your own. Percy has only experienced one true moment of espionage like this in canon and that ended with Beckendorf dead along with a whole bunch of demigods that Percy absolutely sympathised with. That's the context for him making those calls. He doesn't know the Fire Nation, he could absolutely believe that they have very young soldiers on that boat, because he hasn't been shown anything different. It's character consistent for him. Also, there are consequences to it, mainly the implications on Sokka's character that open Percy's eyes again to being a part of a war like that.

Crazzytony: That's awesome! I'm glad you're enjoying it and I hope that continues!

Aurumeda: That's freaking awesome! I'm glad I could invoke that reaction from you! Azula's character could potentially regress, though it'll never be wholly to what she was. If you notice, I'm paralleling Azula's arc to Zuko's, with Percy being a conglomeration of the Iroh and Aang figures in her life. To be at once the foil to her and also the one who incites the most change in her, that holds her to a higher standard. All of your ideas are awesome! And I'll tell you, I do have a plan :) I hope you continue to enjoy reading it!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviews it! Your support is immensely appreciated and also...it motivates me to write more, so that's a bonus for all of us! See you next time.

-PS