Fight 08: Rebellion - Courage comes from Caring
Under the canopy of an Earth Kingdom forest, Aang and Katara were sitting on a natural stone patio. A noisy little stream exited the ground from underneath the stone ledge. Katara was folding her sleeping bag while Aang was lying in the exposed roots of an overturned tree when Sokka walked up to them, holding a bag. It was meal time and they were discussion the options. They could choose between round nuts and some kind of oval shaped nuts, and some rock shaped nuts that might just be rocks. Unfortunately, it was not a joke: that was all he had found. He threw a nut that might be a rock over his shoulder. Momo cautiously examined it and picked it up before lightly tapping it against a rock, to no effect. Then he hit it hard. The shock coursed through the lemur's body instead of breaking the nut that was certainly a rock. At the same moment, a huge, startling noise disrupted the forest's calm. Everyone looked up in surprise. Momo blinked and this time carefully dropped the stone. Once more, the earth and forest shook and rumbled. Scared, the lemur ran away while Aang and Katara, curious, went to investigate the source of the noise... to Sokka's damn who believed people should run away from huge booms, not toward them.
They stumbled upon a young earthbender – about their age – who was practicing his art in the almost dried up river bed. The two benders wanted to go meet him, but again Sokka was for a more wary approach. His sister completely ignored him and cheerfully introduced herself. However, before she could finish, the young man ran away with a fearful expression on his handsome face. Aang suggested going after him as there was probably a village nearby, with a market in that village which – Katara understood immediately – meant no nuts for dinner. They ran excitedly after the earthbender, followed by Momo, and then Sokka after a little complaining about the time and work he had wasted. Food first, pride after.
They arrived in a medium-sized settlement nestled in a steep valley where Aang traded nuts for a hat. The waterbender saw the young man from earlier enter a store. Inside, the boy, Haru, apologised to his mother for being late, his green eyes downcast, his long brown bangs slightly covering the sides of his face. As his mother was telling him to start on his chores, Katara came in, recognized him, and asked why he had run away. He tried to tell her it must have been a mistake but Aang came to his friend's help, they had seen him earthbend. Both the mother and young man gasped and quickly shut the door and window. The old woman berated him: he knew that was dangerous and what would happen if they caught him earthbending.
Suddenly, a heavy knock was heard on the door. It was Fire Nation soldiers. Haru's mother opened the door and a soldier entered and looked around the youngsters in the shop caught freeze-frame in the midst of some very unconvincing normal poses. The top of the barrel that Aang was leaning upon shifted and his hand plunged into the water up to his shoulder. The soldier stared at him blankly. Such stupidity was below his concern.
"What do you want? I've already paid you this week." The woman said defiantly.
"The tax just doubled." The Fire Nation footman explained. "Wouldn't want an accident, would we?" He taunted with a smile, producing a fireball in his hands. Everyone took a step back from him. "Fire is sometimes so hard to control..." He trailed off meaningfully. The mother's expression melted from defiance to fear and resignation. She placed a small chest on a table and opened it to reveal a few miserable coins. She gave most of them to the soldier who disdainfully dumped some on the ground saying she could keep the copper ones. The soldier left. The young ones were visibly upset. Haru's parent picked up the copper pieces, explaining that the Fire Nation had been there for five years, using this town's coal mines to fuel the Fire Lord's ships.
"They're thugs; they steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it." Haru interjected resentfully, leaning against the counter. His mother chided him again for speaking like that. Katara objected that Haru was an earthbender, he could help. The older woman informed them (her tone slightly harsh) that earthbending was forbidden and had brought nothing but misery. He must never use his abilities. The girl tried to reason again: Haru had a gift, asking him not to earthbend was like asking her not to waterbend. But she did not really understand. What could they do to her that they had not done already?
"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father." The woman retorted vehemently. She could endure pain, poverty or humiliation but not having her loved ones taken away. Katara stared back, wide-eyed. Haru averted his face, hanging his head and closing his eyes. Both the water- and earthbender had pained expressions.
He took them to the outbuildings of a farm in the surrounding hillside. They entered a barn-like structure. It was late afternoon. The woman had allowed them to stay there for the night, but they would have to leave the next morning.
"Thanks. I'll make sure Appa doesn't eat all your hay." Aang said happily. Appa was already there, his mouth stuffed with hay. He looked over at Aang, stopped chewing for a few seconds, and then started chewing again. Once they had settled, Haru and Katara went for a walk. The girl apologised for earlier as she did not know about his father.
"That's ok. It's funny, the way you were talking back in the store, it reminded me of him." The young man replied. He told her how courageous his father was: when the Fire Nation had invaded, he and the other earthbenders were being outnumbered ten to one, but had fought back anyway. After the attack, the enemy had rounded up his father and every other earthbender and taken them away. He had not seen them since. That was why he would hide his earthbending. The problem was that the only way he could feel close to his father now was when he would practice his bending. He had taught him everything he knew.
Katara and Haru had walked up onto the crest of a small hill that overlooked the surrounding countryside. The boy had knelt down and begun twirling some small stones while speaking about his father. When he was done, he turned the stones to sand in his fist, which fell through his fingers and was blown by the wind. Katara came up and sat at his side. She pointed to her necklace.
"See this necklace? My mother gave it to me."
"It's beautiful."
"I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. This necklace is all I have left of her."
"It's not enough, is it?"
"No."
Katara and Haru sat on the hill for some time, simply feeling how alike they were, the bond they shared of having lost a parent to the Fire Nation, the sadness, loneliness, emptiness they had in common, and how close that made them. The fading glory of the setting sun was visible in the space between them. Then they walked down a path towards an open mine entrance some way ahead. A boom was heard and rocks and dust came out of the mine entrance. The sound of an old man crying for help and probably hurt could be heard. They rushed to the mine. The man had been half buried by the cave in. They tried to help but could not do anything and they had no time to call for someone. Katara urged him to use his earthbending, which he did, no matter how reluctantly. It was to save a man.
It was night. Momo was sitting in the window of the outbuilding on Haru's farm before jumping on Aang's back who was lying belly down on Appa's head, looking at Katara.
"It was so brave of Haru to use his earthbending to help that old man." The waterbender said, touched and impressed. He was really a kind youth who cared about his countrymen.
"You must have really inspired him." Aang voiced his opinion.
"I guess so."
"Everyone should get some sleep. We're leaving at dawn." Sokka told them firmly. He was lying on piled bales of hay.
"Dawn? Can't we sleep in for once?" His sister complained.
"Absolutely not! This village is crawling with Fire Nation troops. If they discover you're here, Aang, we'll be eating fireballs for breakfast. Good night."
"I'd rather eat fireballs than nuts." Katara taunted with a sly grin.
"Good night." Sokka repeated in a final tone. The two benders laughed, and Katara blew out the lamp.
A few hours later, Fire Nation troops were walking along a path leading to Haru's farm, lamps on polls swinging back and forth as they marched. The soldier (extortionist) from the previous day was leading the column. He knocked and the door opened to reveal Haru who gasped in surprise. The old man who he had saved was there too, pointing an accusatory finger at him, saying that he was the earthbender. The soldier pushed the old man out of the way and grabbed Haru.
The next morning at dawn, Katara went to the water pump, put down her pot, and instead of working the pump, bended its water into her jar. Satisfied, she picked up the recipient but as she turned to go back to her friends, she noticed Haru's mother looking out over the farm. She turned and tears fell. Her eyes wide, realizing instantly the meaning of those tears, Katara dropped her water pot which shattered on the ground. She ran inside where the others were packing their gear. She was tearing at her hair in guilt and anguish.
"They took him! They took Haru away!"
"What?"
"The old man turned him in to the Fire Nation. It's all my fault, I forced him into earthbending!" She was panicking. Her brother told her to slow down and asked her when that happened while putting his arm around her shoulder and holding her hand in genuine concern. "Haru's mother said they came for him at midnight."
"Then it's too late to track him, he's long gone." Her brother dropped his hand.
"We don't need to track him. The Fire Nation is going to take me right to Haru."
"And why would they do that?" Clueless as to what his kind friend could have in her head.
"Because they're going to arrest me for earthbending." The waterbender replied, more determined than ever. It was her fault Haru had been arrested, it was her responsibility to save him.
Some time later, the siblings could be seen rolling a boulder onto an air grate as part of their plan to fake earthbending. There were ventilation shafts throughout the mines, all Aang had to do was send an air current from the vent in front of him to this one right here below the boulder which would levitate, creating the illusion that it was an earthbender's doing. They confirmed the strategy with Aang who was hiding behind a rock and absentmindedly playing with a butterfly under Momo's careful watch and telling them to relax as they were taking all the fun out it (yes, he actually thought it was fun to intentionally get captured by an army of ruthless firebenders). When Fire Nation soldiers arrived, Katara and Sokka faked an argument before saying they would solve this 'earthbending style'. She assumed a mock earthbending stance. There was a moment of embarrassed silence. The boulder she was supposed to bend was still sitting on its grate.
"I said, earthbending style!" She repeated angrily. Aang finally reacted and bended air into the grate, making the boulder levitate and revealing Momo behind it in a position resembling a real earthbender's stance.
"That lemur! It's earthbending!" A soldier exclaimed, incredulous, and pointing at Momo.
"No, you idiot! It's the girl!" Sokka yelled back.
"Oh, of course." The soldier replied, embarrassed. And so, Katara was captured and taken to the port where she boarded a ship and the ship transported her and other earthbenders to a prison rig far off-shore, a brown sackcloth over her blue robe. The two guys followed her on Appa until they saw the rig before returning to the village. She had twelve hours to find Haru. Then, they would come back to fetch her.
On the same day, a few hours earlier, Chenlian had landed on another island. Piandao had given her money and food but she preferred saving them. She fished a little in the sea, dug out some clams on the beach and barbecued the whole, savouring a raw tomato while it was cooking with an apple and some berries she had found for dessert.
The Jang Hui river was once a beautiful and mighty river. However, a smelting factory was built upon it. The cooling system provided by the river water helped in the production of a tough new metal. And as a result, tons of pollutants were dumped each day in the river, ravaging or mutating the wildlife and riddling the locals with illnesses... or so the girl learned and devised when she arrived at the Jang Hui village, built on stilts in the middle of the river. Luckily she had eaten already, having caught her fish in the sea on the other side from where the polluted river was flowing into the sea. But she would have liked to buy some proper food in this town. She did not want to eat such things, but the only place where there was proper food was that factory. She looked around. Those were Fire Nation people. But they were also victims of the war. Not only the people but the whole eco-system. Wherever she looked there was pollution, extreme poverty, and resigned faces. And looking at the factory, an idea formed in her mind. She shouldn't be doing something like that, she shouldn't be wasting time helping people who did nothing to help themselves, and she shouldn't be doing something that could reveal her identity to the Fire Army and yet she could not help it. That might have been the best option but she just was not the type to do nothing and leave. She just could not ignore people in such need. What else, there would be food for her and the village, there would be medicine, and she would slow down the progress of the war, even just a tiny little bit. However, they would certainly blame the villagers and destroy their homes. Unless... no, there was a way! It might only be temporary measure, it might be dangerous, but it was better than doing nothing. And she had a way to keep her identity hidden.
On the rig, the earthbenders were warmly and courteously welcomed by their warden's over-the-top sarcasm and hypocrisy.
"Earthbenders, it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard my modest shipyard. I am your warden. I prefer to think of you not as prisoners, but as honored guests, and I hope you come to think of me as your humble and caring host. You will succeed here if you simply abide." He began with a malicious smile, an affected tone, and a self-important look, obviously considering the prisoners as nothing more than dirt for him to trample on. The briefing was interrupted by a guest's cough. The Warden's look hardened instantly and he leaped away from them and fired a plume of flame at the coughing prisoner's feet. The targeted man jumped backwards. "What kind of guest dishonors his host by interrupting him!? Take him below!" The guardian bellowed, infuriated, before continuing quietly. "One week in solitary will improve his manners." He put his face up to Katara's, but he was still speaking to the group. "Simply treat me with the courtesy I give you and we'll get along famously. You will notice, earthbenders, that this rig is made entirely of metal. You are miles away from any rock or earth, so if you have any illusions about employing that brutish savagery that passes for bending among you people, forget them. It is impossible. Good day." When the warden was finished, the prisoners were led to an open area where hopeless and forlorn prisoners were roaming around.
There, Haru and Katara met again. The young man was quite surprised to see her here and impressed that she had the guts to get herself arrested so she could find him and rescue him. Yet, he was smiling. He introduced her to his father Tyro who offered her a meal – as bad as it was. Another prisoner came to consult with him about the lack of blankets and Tyro recommended him to make sure the elderly were taken care of while the rest would have to wait for warmer weather. Tyro was obviously some kind of leader among the prisoners. And so Katara asked about his escape plan to get everyone out the rig. But there was nothing like that. The only plan was to survive. Do nothing and wait out this war, merely hoping that someday, someone will save them, so they could forget this had ever happened. As the girl pointed out, it sounded like they had already given up. The old envied her courage and youth, but there were people's lives at stake. The warden was ruthless and did not take kindly to rebellion. They could not do anything. They were powerless.
With grim determination, Katara stood up and walked on a little platform. Once she had everyone's attention, she started talking. She had grown up hearing tales of the brave Earth Kingdom and its courageous earthbenders. The Fire Nation might have taken away their bender, making them think they were powerless, but they couldn't have taken away their courage that should run deeper than any mine they had been forced to dig or the ocean that kept them away from home. It was the strength of their hearts that made them who they were, hearts that would remain unbroken when all rock and stone had eroded away. She called them to remember their courage and fight for their freedom. The Avatar had returned.
However her expression soon faded from strength and determination to sadness and despair. The prisoners had turned away from her and were ignoring her. Even Haru had hung his head in shame and desperation. Their pride and hearts had been utterly crushed. The warden who had come to see what was happening left with a smile. He knew it was useless no matter what that girl would do or say. And night fell on that place of desolation.
In the middle of the night, Chenlian's body was concealed in a maroon outfit, her mahogany hair hidden by a hood held in place by the half mask of the Dragon Empress, a character of a nostalgic play. She had won that mask in the Fire Fountain City permanent fair with a bunch of other stuff. It was a game where you had to throw knives to cut strings holding bags with unknown prizes. She snuck into the factory, and in several times, stole all the food and medicine she could and hid them away before doing her sabotage work, using her sword and firebending to destroy strategic pipes and taps that would cause explosions. Once she was finished, she took part of the food for herself and gave the rest to the villagers before going back to her camp. Then, she changed again and put her mask back on. A number of disguises were a necessity for people on the run. She was going to play an interesting game. And her form erect, her arms crossed, firmly waited for the angry and vengeance-driven Fire Army to come.
Little before dawn, Aang infiltrated the prison rig to fetch Katara. They joined Sokka, Momo, and Appa at the edge of the rig's main platform. It was time to get out of here but the waterbender was refusing to go. She was not giving up on those people. There had to be a way to help them. Sokka insisted but his sister was unyielding and he had to give in. While they went back inside the rig to hide, Appa flew off and was seen by soldiers who warned the warden. The chief official of the prison asked them what exactly they had seen. The captain answered a flying bison, the other guard a giant flying buffalo with an empty saddle. Their superior demanded which it was, a bison or a buffalo. The captain was not sure of the difference and thought that was not really the point.
"I'll decide what the point is, fool!" The warden bellowed, throwing the captain over the railing into the sea far below. He ordered the remaining guard to wake up the captain and search the entire rig. The soldier reminded him uneasily that it was the captain he had thrown overboard. "Then wake up someone I haven't thrown overboard and search the rig! There's somethi0ng going on here and I don't like it."
Aang, Katara and Sokka were hiding, crouching among boxes on a loading dock. Momo was there too. The airbender thought about making a hurricane so the warden would run away and they'd steal his keys. Idea that was crushed by Sokka: he'd just run away with his keys. Katara wanted a way to help the earthbenders help themselves. For that they would need earth or rocks to bend, but the entire rig was made of metal. It was then that Aang noticed the smoke rising from the smokestacks. They were burning coal, in other words, earth.
Katara and Sokka returned to the prisoner deck area where they were looking down into an enormous ventilation shaft capped by a grate similar to the ones seen earlier near the mine. It was nearly dawn. The girl doubted this mission would be successful but her brother reassured her. They were going to use the same trick from back at the village, just on a much larger scale: there was a huge deposit of coal at the base of the silo, and the whole system was ventilated. If Aang closed off all the vents except one, the airbended coal would have only one place to go: right back here.
Suddenly they were surrounded by six Fire Nation soldiers pointing their spears at them and prisoners, including Haru and his father who distressfully urged Katara to stop as she could not win this fight. Haru was shocked and distraught, but in the same time conflicted, pleading and hopeful. The girl had the same expression. Both reaching at the other with their heart and eyes but unable to take a step or make the other take a step. The warden advised her to listen to him well: she was one mistake away from dying where she stood. The soldiers were closing in when air rushed out of the grate, followed by black pebbles and a living river of coal erupted from the grate and shot high into the air over the deck, blasting the grate away. The warden and his soldiers were clearly shocked. The coal landed in a massive pile between the earthbenders and the firebenders, followed by Aang who landed on the black rocks, covered in coal dust. He coughed it off as Katara ran up to the top of the coal.
"Here's your chance, earthbenders!" She grabbed a lump of coal and raised it high. "Take it! Your fate is in your own hands!" She offered. Haru moved forward, but Tyro stopped him. The prisoners were shrinking backward, fearing conflict. Katara was still holding her stone. The warden's contemptuous laugh echoed.
"Foolish girl! You thought a few inspirational words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless faces..." He taunted, his arms crossed. The imprisoned hung their heads in shame and submission. "Their spirits were broken a long time ago. Oh? But you still believe in them?" He continued disdainfully. Katara lowered the coal, her expression once more turning into despair. "How sweet. They're a waste of your energy, little girl. You've failed."
As expected, the Fire Army came to blame the villagers for the destruction of the factory and stealing of food. Everyone had been gathered when thick clouds of mist hid a part of the village and a form walked out of it. Chenlian had heated the surface enough to cause evaporation. The villagers split in the middle and stepped backward ceremoniously as a single female in flowing and richly decorated golden cloths with the mask of the Dragon Empress, starkly contrasting with the poverty of this village, stepped forward. There was so much pride and dignity, so much charisma and authority to her, like a queen revealed in all her wrath and majesty that the soldiers stood in awe for a moment before recovering and demanding who she was. Warriors pointed their weapons at her but she ignored them. She raised her hand and pointed an accusatory finger at them.
"Murderers... assassins... who are willing to slay innocent people, fellow countrymen, fellow humans... you who mindlessly come and destroy your own nation, you who go and destroy the world... you who are too blind to see that walking this path will only lead you to your own destruction... what will you do when nothing is left to destroy? Stop this folly now and begone! If you don't leave now..." The female spoke with both imperiousness and imperiality. She was radiating nobility. She unsheathed her sword and sharply swung it horizontally and the boat at her right exploded along with the few sea scooter/jet ski that were near it. Although melted in a line, the machine appeared to have been cut. The superheated air and fuel inside had instantly expanded in volume, blowing their containers. Then she pointed her sword at the soldiers. Some fearfully ran away but their commander's voice made most stay.
"Don't falter! Keh, I don't know what parlor tricks you're using but that'll be over soon. Attack!" He barked. Some courageous soldiers rushed at her.
"Fools." The masked lady was using her long sleeves and the panel of her flowing robes to hide part of her movements to quickly disable and throw her opponents into the river. The officer cursed the incompetence of his subordinates and decided to put an end to the enemy himself. He tried to firebend at her but she dissipated the flames with another movement of her arm. To keep her identity a secret, she would utilize her firebending skills to condense and manipulate heat without making flames. That was something she had picked up in the Earth Kingdom so she could defend herself and not be immediately chased out by Earth Kingdom villagers as soon as the fight was over. Although because of the concentration and effort required, it was not a skill she could use carelessly. And in close combat, they would feel the heat. She lunged, evaded his attacks, and in a second, had the tip of her blade against his neck.
"Those who use their powers to destroy are bound to be destroyed by a higher power. I shall not kill you, but give you another chance. Use this chance that is given you to learn humility and compassion. Now leave this place, and never come back." The female quickly and graceful twirled around, cutting the lower part of the man's cloth right below his belt and with another twirl backed from him but kept her sword pointed at him. Panels of red cloth fell, revealing his underwear. Humiliated, the officer ran, jumped on a machine and left without questions. There were rounds of applause and praise and thanks until she stopped them. This was only a temporary measure. In days, weeks, or months to come, the Fire Army would come back to cause more destruction. And she could not stay. They might be weak individually, that was why they had to stay united and fight together. She was not asking them to stand on their own against the army but to fight for the improvement of their own lives. Focusing on what they could do instead of lamenting about what they could not. This world was not sweet enough that people would help others who did not even try to help themselves. They had to take their fate into their own hands. People had to protect their land. If they lived on and from the river, they had to take care of it and keep it clean. Then the animals and everyone's health would come back, and maybe the Painted Lady too. They saw her red lips curved into a genuine smile. The old man who worked at the docks and the only shop asked her who she was.
"Just someone who wishes to uphold righteousness in any way she can." With that the girl stepped back until she reached the end of the pier, heated the river enough to make the water evaporate but not enough to make it boil, causing fog to hide the pier again and once nobody could see her, leapt and used her firebending to return to the cliffs. There, Chenlian changed into more casual clothing and decided to rest for now and leave during the night again.
Katara was standing on the coal, her shoulders slumped, defeated and lonely. The Warden turned to walk back into the rig but as he did a lump of coal hit him in the back of the head. He turned in anger. It was Haru, who had stepped forward and was twirling lumps of coal above his raised left hand, his expression severe and defiant. The Warden launched a blast of fire at the boy who braced for death, when the flames were blocked by a wall of coal. It was Tyro, in an earthbending stance, who had in turn clearly stepped forward to protect his son. The warden yelled at his men who were now in a firing line to show no mercy. And the deck soon became a battlefield. The Fire Nation line charged forward, unleashing a wall of flame. Tyro and the three nearest earthbenders, including Haru, blocked it with a huge wall of coal, absorbing the flames.
"For the Earth Kingdom, attack!" Tyro roared as he slammed the palms of his large hands on the deck along with his son and the other earthdenber, throwing the wall of coal forward towards the Fire Nation line. The soldiers deflected some of the rocks with flame. As more and more prisoners joined the rebellion, a melee ensued. The earthbenders would block fire attacks with coal shields and knock out firebenders by striking them with lumps of black rocks thrown at high speed. Heaps of burning coal was now littering the deck. In the middle of this destruction, Aang, Katara and Sokka were rushing forward with Sokka ahead cutting off the spear heads of every fire soldier blocking their path with his boomerang and throwing them upward to Momo who caught them as he flew by over them. Tyro and Haru raised a huge amount of coal from a heap and condensed it between them to create an incredibly solid and compact boulder they threw at the door of the rig, blasting a large hole into it. The impact shook the whole wall and made guards lose their footing and fall.
"Get to the ship! We'll hold them off!" Tyro yelled.
"Do not let them escape!" The warden bellowed back, rallying a few his troops and starting to barrage the exit with flames. Aang, Katara and Sokka stopped and the monk airbended a small whirlwind, the end of which was aimed at the firebenders.
"Guys, throw me some coal!"
Sokka and Katara started dropping chunks of coal into the top small vortex, which accelerated down the wind tube and were shot at high speed towards the Warden and his men who all got knocked down. Tyro and two other rebels earthbended the entire coal dump, with the Warden and all his men on it, out of the rig and over the open water.
"No, please! I can't swim!" The proud warden begged.
"Don't worry, I hear cowards float." Tyro said without a shred of mercy before dropping them all into the ocean below.
Some time later, several Fire Nation ships, now under the command of the former prisoners, were steaming away from the rig. Appa was swimming next to the point ship, Sokka and Aang on his saddle. Katara was standing with Tyro and Haru on the deck of the point ship. Looking back at the prison behind, the girl was beaming.
"I want to thank you for saving me, for saving us." Haru said softly and sincerely.
"All it took was a little coal." The waterbender denied, embarrassed.
"It wasn't the coal, Katara, it was you." The handsome boy corrected her. She looked down, touched, her cheeks red. "Thank you for helping me find my courage, Katara, of the water tribe. My family and everyone here owe you much." The father placed a strong grateful hand on her shoulder.
"So, I guess you're going home now?"
"Yes, to take back my village." Tyro raised his voice and left fist, just as Katara had done, and looked back over the ship to address the former prisoners. "To take back ALL of our villages! The Fire Nation will regret the day they set foot on our land!" He declared. All the freed earthbenders cheered.
"Come with us." Haru requested with a pleading edge to his tone.
"I can't. Your mission is to take back your home. Ours is to get Aang to the North Pole." She turned to look at Aang sitting atop Appa and playing with Momo and a little chunk of coal he would airbend around. She had a smile on her face.
"That's him, isn't it? The Avatar. Katara, thank you for bringing my father back to me. I never thought I'd see him again. I only wish there was some way..."
"I know..." With a wistful expression, she reached for her necklace and started in surprise. I was no longer around her neck. "My mother's necklace! It's gone!" She panicked.
Back on the devastated prison rig, someone in a Fire Nation uniform picked up something that should not have been here: a necklace torn from the neck of its wearer, a Water Tribe necklace. Zuko, was standing there alone, wreathed in the fiery hues of the sunset. He grimly stared at the necklace in his fist before glaring at dying sun sinking down in the red sea. It had been twenty one days since he saw that pillar of light in the South Pole...
Author's note: okay, I don't know if you've noticed but on my profile I made a little progress report thingy on my stories that'll be updated whenever there's something new. Also, Chenlian will meet up with the gang in chapter 10. stay tuned :)