Fight10: Winter Solstice at the Fire Temple
It was a little before dawn. In the Senlin village, Aang was frustratingly pulling on Appa's reins, but the animal would grunt disapprovingly and stubbornly refuse to budge an inch unless these two were with them.
"Look, I'm sorry, but Katara and Sokka aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us. If they got hurt, I'd never forgive myself. So get your big butt off the ground and let's go!" The boy apologised before finishing angrily. He kept on pulling the reins to no avail. At one time he pulled so hard that he fell back on his butt.
"I think his big butt is trying to tell you something." He suddenly heard Sokka's voice say. He turned to see the Water Tribe siblings and Earth Kingdom villagers standing behind Appa.
"Please don't go, Aang. The world can't afford to lose you to the Fire Nation. Neither can I." Katara pleaded poignantly.
"But I have to talk to Avatar Roku to find out what my vision means. And I have to meet that girl. She's waiting for me, she can help me. I need to get to the Fire Temple before the sun sets on the Solstice. That's today." Aang jumped up onto Appa's back and looked back hesitatingly at Sokka and Katara who jumped in front of the bison to stop them. They were not letting him go into the Fire Nation, at least not alone. Chittering, Momo landed on the airbender's shoulder while Appa generously licked Sokka's whole front with his big dripping tongue.
"EWWWWW!"
The Chief handed Aang a parcel and wished them luck for their long journey to Crescent Island. They would have to fly fast to be there before sundown. The boy thanked him and they took off.
Not long later, the Chief left his home again, sighing and rubbing his forehead. But just as he passed the door, he walked directly into Prince Zuko who was accompanied by General Iroh, still practically naked on the back of a komodo rhino.
"Having trouble sleeping?" Zuko roughly knocked the Chief back into the building by thrusting his open palms against his chest. "Seen the Avatar lately?"
Aang urged Appa to fly faster as they still had a long way to go, and the animal obeyed while on the ocean below, Zuko's ship was racing not far behind. Concerned and frustrated, Iroh was scolding his nephew.
"Sailing into Fire Nation waters... of all the foolish things you have done in your 16 years, Prince Zuko, this is the most foolish!"
"I have no choice, Uncle." The teen replied, looking at the sky through a spyglass.
"Have you completely forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you?! What if you're caught?!" The retired general retorted with anger, anguish, and worry.
"I'm chasing the Avatar. My father will understand why I'm returning home!" The exiled prince turned back at him, clenching his fist with conviction.
"You give him too much credit. My brother is not the understanding type." Iroh tried again, his arms crossed. Zuko looked into the spyglass again and spotted Appa flying among the clouds.
"There they are! Helmsman, full steam ahead!"
It was then that Sokka and Katara noticed Zuko's ship gaining on them fast. A catapult was raised from below onto the deck and loaded with a boulder. A soldier smeared it with a type of oil. Iroh complained about its stink. The fire teen ignited the rock which was launched on his command toward the flying bison. Thanks to the waterbender's warning, Aang was able to make Appa swerve in time. The smell made the three cover their nose in disgust. They had to get out of Zuko's range. The beast could fly faster but there was another problem ahead: a blockade. Iroh wisely reminded his nephew that technically he was still in Earth Kindgom waters, and thus they could not arrest him as long as he turned back now. The airbender suggested flying north to avoid the blockade but Katara pointed out that they did not have the time.
"This is exactly why I didn't want you to come. It's too dangerous!"
"And that's exactly why we're here." The girl replied strongly.
"Let's run this blockade." Her brother said.
"Appa! Yip yip!" And Appa growled and soared swiftly.
"He's not turning around!" The banished prince noticed, his desire to follow after them obvious on his face and in his tone.
"Please Prince Zuko, if the Fire Nation captures you, there is nothing I can do. Do not follow the Avatar." His uncle attempted to dissuade him again.
"I'm sorry, Uncle." The young man bowed his head before turning to the helmsman. "Run the blockade!"
On a ship of the blockade, Commander Zhao, who had also been looking through a spyglass, was rejoicing at the opportunity he had to capture both the Avatar and the banished Prince at the same time. He ordered to shoot the bison down. That this Fire Navy ship could be hit was of no matter to him: it belonged to a traitor. On his command, the soldiers ignited the boulders and launched the fireballs that soon started pouring down on Appa and Zuko's ship. The bison managed to avoid most of them until one grazed him and Katara, Sokka and Momo hurried to beat out the fire on his back. Appa growled but was otherwise okay and he soared high to disappear in the clouds. The fireballs crashed all around Zuko's ship, narrowly missing it, sometimes making sheets of water crash over the deck. One hit the back of the ship. There was an explosion. It was burning as the black smoke rose to the sky. The engines were damaged, they needed to stop and make repairs but the prince categorically refused. Zhao ordered for the second wave of fireballs to be launched.
Above the clouds, Appa kept on swerving between the blazing projectiles, the young ones screaming at each narrow miss when two fireballs collided and exploded right in front of them. Appa growled and reared up to avoid the combustion and Sokka was thrown off his back. In vain, Katara screamed and reached out for her brother as he fell and disappeared into the sea of clouds below. Aang screamed Sokka's name and pulled hard on Appa's reins. The beast dived at incredible speed before veering and flying parallel to the water. The bison got beneath Sokka. And while he was still falling, the siblings reached out to each other. They clasped hands. She pulled him to her. Appa hit the water, and his six legs using the ocean's surface as a trampoline began his ascent. The teens were safely back on the saddle. A large pink fish was thrown up from the ocean and hit Sokka directly in the face before bouncing off his face to be caught by a chittering and alert Momo who never missed an opportunity to catch food. The burning rocks started raining down again which the bison evaded again. Then Zhao ordered his men to stop. When the animal was close enough, a single fireball was launched at his command. Aang leapt from Appa, spinning to gain momentum. He grunted and kicked a powerful burst of air directly into the center of the approaching fireball. It exploded, the fragments forming a halo of smoke and debris around Appa who flew through the center. The boy lost his balance amidst the flying rubble and was thrown back onto Appa's shoulders where his friends grabbed his arms to steady him. And the flying bison successfully passed the blockade. The Avatar euphorically raised his left fist. They had made it! The Water Tribe siblings's face had frozen in shock and amazement.
"We got into the Fire Nation... Great." Sokka said in utter disbelief and somehow not very convinced.
A soldier asked his Commander where he thought the Avatar was headed.
"I'm not sure..." Zhao trailed off thoughtfully. He turned his head towards Prince Zuko's approaching ship. "But I bet a certain banished prince will know..."
Zuko's small ship was fast approaching the Fire Navy's blockade, but the lines of the blockade, passing each other by, had little space in-between the boats. Iroh warned his nephew they were on a collision course but he would not listen and give up so close to his goal.
"We can make it!"
On Zhao's ship the boarding party was ready to apprehend the exiled prince but Commander surprisingly told them to wait and let them pass. The soldiers did not understand but obeyed nonetheless. The engines were cut and the Prince's ship slid through the blockade, and as it did, Zhao and Zuko glared at each other determinedly. And as the smaller boat sailed away, Iroh gazed back at the Commander pensively and suspiciously, stroking his beard. Time passed, with Appa progressively sagging, and his half-sleeping passengers regularly changing positions... when at last, they reached their destination: the Crescent Island where Chenlian and Roku's dragon had taken Aang.
The large volcano was as active as ever, fire and steam belching forth from its cone. Appa landed in a safe area somewhere below the Temple. Aang patted the animal's face lovingly and praised him. Appa groaned and rolled onto his side in exhaustion and request for attention. Katara rubbed his tummy.
"Oh! You must be tired!" She baby-talked the giant bison.
"No. I'm good!" Sokka stretched and jogged in place, assuming she was talking to him. "Refreshed and ready to fight some firebenders."
"I was talking to Appa." The waterbender turned toward her brother, a wry look on her beautiful face and her fists on her hips. Sokka stopped in mid-jog.
"Well, I was talking to Momo." He gestured toward Momo hanging upside down from a nearby naked tree and also doing stretching exercises. The lemur chattered and looked quizzically at Sokka, cutely tilting its head. The four left Appa and walked up the bridge leading to the Fire Temple. They crouched behind a low wall in front of it and observed, but there were no guards. Katara thought the Fire Nation had abandoned it when Avatar Roku died. However, they had no time to deliberate. It was almost sundown. They ran into the giant pagoda.
The three teens were advancing on tip-toe when suddenly, Sokka heard something. They turned around to see five elderly men in red robes and tall red hats.
"We are the Fire Sages, guardians of the Temple of the Avatar." The leader said.
"Great! I am the Avatar." Aang stepped forward.
"We know." The Fire Sage shot three fireballs at the Avatar who dissipated them with his airbending.
"I'll hold them off. Run!" Aang yelled at his friends who obeyed while be bent low and swiped his leg in an arc sending a burst of air directly at the feet of the Fire Sages, knocking them to the floor, face first. The monk ran after Sokka and Katara. The Fire Sages slowly pick themselves up off the floor.
"If the Avatar contacts Roku, there's no telling how powerful the boy will become. Split up and find him!" The leader ordered.
As Katara, Sokka and Momo were running through the temple Aang appeared from a corridor ahead of them at their right. They stopped abruptly to avoid bumping into the boy who told them to follow him.
"Do you know where you're going?" Sokka asked, following him nonetheless.
"Nope!" The airbender disappeared around the corner, Sokka, Katara and Momo on his trail when suddenly, he came running back around the corner, a Fire Sage hard on his heels. "Wrong way!"
"Come back!" The old man cried. He had spoken loudly but with a surprisingly gentle and deferential tone that seemed to have escaped the young ones' notice as they kept running through the maze-like corridors of the Fire Temple. Finally, they ran into a corridor that turned out to be a dead end. With no escape, they faced the Fire Sage. "I don't want to fight you. I am a friend." The elder man tried to explain.
"Firebenders aren't our friends." Sokka declared strongly. The sage approached Aang, dropped to his knees and bowed.
"I know why you're here, Avatar."
"You do?" The child exclaimed, surprised, and immediately letting his guard down.
"Yes." The man stood up. "You wish to speak to Chenlian and Avatar Roku. I can take you to them."
"You know Chenlian!?" Aang said, even more surprised.
"Yes. She arrived two days ago and is waiting in Avatar Roku's chamber."
"How can you take me to them?"
The Fire Sage reached towards the wall and turned the light fixture, exposing a small hole in which shot fire. The flames framed one of the panels in the wall that slid back and to the right, revealing a secret passage with a long staircase carved into the rock of the mountain.
"This way." He gestured toward the passage. Aang, Katara and Sokka hesitated, still apprehensive and distrustful. Suddenly they heard a voice say "Find them". The old man looked quickly and nervously behind him and turned back to the three youngsters, hurrying them in. Once inside, he pulled a lever and the passage closed.
"What's he up to, Uncle? Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?" Zuko asked, clenching a bar on the desk of his damaged ship. Dark black smoke was still billowing from its back as it sailed through the water.
"Because he wants to follow you. He knows you'll lead him to the prize you're both after, the Avatar."
"If Zhao wants to follow our trail of smoke, then that's exactly what I'll let him do." The teen replied determinedly.
Back into the temple, Shyu, Aang, Katara, Sokka (and Momo) were still walking through the vast and cavernous system of stairs and tunnels. The Sage explained how these tunnels had been created by Avatar Roku out of the magma as well as his connection to Roku and how all Fire Sages have a strong spiritual connection to this place. He also told the Avatar how they he was coming: how a few weeks ago (when Aang and the siblings were in the Air Temple), the eyes of Avatar Roku's statue began to glow. Aang asked why the Saged had attacked him if it was the Avatar's temple.
"Things have changed. In the past, the Sages were loyal only to the Avatar. When Roku died, the Sages eagerly awaited for the next Avatar to return. But he never came."
"They were waiting for me." Aang paused and leaned against the tunnel wall.
"Hey, don't feel bad. You're only a hundred years late." Sokka said sarcastically, putting his arm around his friend's shoulders. The boy glared at him.
"They lost hope the Avatar would ever return. When Fire Lord Sozin began the war, my grandfather and the other Sages were forced to follow him." Shyu continued, shaking his head in dismay. "I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord. When I learned you were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other Sages."
"Thank you for helping me." The young Avatar bowed slightly. The sage smiled warmly at him. Then Shyu proceeded to tell him about how he had already helped Chenlian not long ago and she was waiting in the sanctuary. When they asked who she was, he answered that she was a most reliable and trustworthy ally and they would understand once they saw and talked to her. Then they climbed up the spiral of stairs to the room just outside the sanctuary. The old man explained that once inside it would only be possible to speak to Roku when the light hit the statue. They discovered the doors closed. Shyu informed them about the way to open them. The waterbender asked how Chenlian had managed. Their helper told them that he had heard of an unspeakable act, committed by the Fire Sages from the Capital by order of Fire Lord Ozai, something unforgivable that had allowed a human to gain power beyond the human realm. They had done it to obtain a living weapon that could wipe out their enemies in a large scale, and that would not be submitted to the natural laws of this world. But something went wrong and she escaped and a traitor was executed. He could not say anything beyond that. Then, he had heard of her recapture... but now she had escaped again and was waiting right here. It was then that Sokka had an idea...
Black smoke was still pouring out of the damaged rear engine of Zuko's ship. The exiled prince had instructed the men to open the back hatch of the ship. A smaller vessel was being lowered into the ocean.
"Uncle, keep heading north. Zhao will follow the smoke trail while I use it as a cover." Zuko said.
"Hmmmm..." Iroh grunted, stroking his beard and shaking his head disapprovingly.
The smaller ship landed safely in the water and disappeared into the smoke.
And just as predicted, all Zhao could see from his spyglass was the black smoke from the damaged ship.
Shyu, Aang and Katara were standing in front of the doors to the Fire Temple Sanctuary. Sokka was sitting on the floor, filling small sacks. Momo was at his side, curiously poking a bag.
"This is a little trick I picked up from my father. I seal the lamp oil inside an animal skin casing, Shyu lights the oil-soaked twine and tada! Fake firebending!" The water tribesman presented proudly.
"You've really outdone yourself this time, Sokka." His sister praised him.
"This might actually work." Shyu said hopefully. Sokka stuffed the animal skin sacks into the mouths of the five dragon heads before joins Katara, Aang and Momo already hiding behind the nearest columns. Shyu warned that the Sages were going to hear the explosions and to rush in as soon as they went off. Katara turned toward Aang.
"It's almost sunset. Are you ready?"
"Definitely."
Shyu sent a small stream of fire, igniting the twines, and joined Aang behind a pillar. Sokka crouched and held tightly onto Katara's skirts. The small bombs went off and smoke filled the chamber. Aang ran towards the doors and uselessly pulled on the handles. They were still locked. It didn't work. The boy sank to the floor. The sun was setting.
Cursing, Aang was hurling blades upon blades of wind at the door... to no avail. Katara grabbed his arm and stopped him. The boy apologised for putting them all through this. Sokka approached the doors and ran his finger through the soot produced by the blasts. Momo chattered and jumped over to the dragon face in the middle. The oldest teen could not understand what had been wrong. Those blasts had looked as strong as any firebending he had seen.
"Sokka! You're a genius!" The waterbender exclaimed.
"Wait, how is Sokka genius? His plan didn't even work." The airbender questioned, confused..
"Come on Aang, let her dream." The warrior leaned arrogantly against the door.
"You're right. Sokka's plan didn't work...but it looks like it did." Katara answered mysteriously.
"Did the definition of 'genius' change in the last hundred years?" Aang wondered dubiously. The old man was just as clueless.
Not long later, Shyu was leading the four other Fire Sages to the sanctuary's doors, telling them to hurry as the Avatar had already entered the sanctuary though he did not know how. He showed them the scorch marks and the space between the doors and the floor where a shadow, as if of two feet, was moving back and forth. The leader ordered to open the doors immediately before he could contact Avatar Roku. Perched on the dragon's tail wrapped around the columns, Aang slowly inched his way to the floor, ready to run the minute the Fire Sages opened the doors. They shoot five fire blasts into the heads. As the flames worked their way through the lock, the doors slowly creaked open. The blinding light dissipated and the Fire Sages saw a lone Momo inside the sanctuary who sneezed and looked quizzically at them.
"It's the Avatar's lemur! He must have crawled through the pipes! We've been tricked!" The head sage exclaimed. Momo suddenly leaped at his face, knocking him down. Katara and Sokka jumped from behind two columns and grabbed the two nearest Fire Sages and pulled their clothes over their heads. Shyu caught the last Fire Sage, and all four enemies were subdued.
"Now, Aang!" Shyu yelled.
"Aang! Now's your chance!" Katara added. Prince Zuko and Aang appeared from behind a pillar. Zuko had taken Aang prisone and was holding his arms tightly behind his back.
"The Avatar's coming with me!" The prince said in a final tone. The tables had turned. The lemur flew towards the ceiling taking the headgear with him. Katara, Sokka and Shyu were immobilised and tied with chains to the nearest column. Zuko pushed the struggling boy towards the stairs and ordered to quickly close the doors. As he and Zuko reached the stairs, Aang freed himself with a series of fast moves and knocked the prince off balance before kicking him down the stairs. While Zuko was tumbling down, the Avatar ran towards the doors of the sanctuary which are beginning to close. He jumped into the air to avoid a fire blast and did several turns in mid-air, using the heads of two Fire Sages as stepping stones. He dived through the doors just as they slammed shut and the lock grinded back into place. The siblings were overjoyed. He had made it! A blast of bright white light came from behind the sanctuary doors. Inside, Aang was crouching on the floor in front of Avatar Roku's statue. The setting sunlight was coming through an octagonal window at the top of the sanctuary. The reddish light was moving slowly up the great statue. Aang stood up.
"The light hits the statue and I talk to Roku. So why isn't anything happening?"
"Because the sunlight must hit the statue's eyes." A voice answered behind. He sharply turned around and saw a girl with mahogany hair looking at him with grave amber eyes.
"Chenlian!" The boy exclaimed.
"Avatar Aang, thank you for coming all this way despite the dangers." She bowed slightly with a small smile. It was sincere, but now was not the time when they could fully rejoice. "Avatar Roku is protecting us, now. He won't let anyone enter. You'll be able to speak with him soon. Once we leave, I promise I will do my utmost to help you. I wish to come with you."
Outside the chamber, four of the Fire Sages and Prince Zuko attempted to open the door with their firebending. This time, however, nothing happened.
"Why isn't it working? It's sealed shut!" The prince bellowed, extremely aggravated.
"It must have been the light. Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside." The great sage answered.
"You wish to come with me?!" Aang exclaimed, surprised.
"Yeah, but now we don't have the time to talk about it. Look!" Chenlian pointed at the statue. The boy turned to look at it. The sunlight had moved up to its face, and when it hit its eyes, they began to glow. Suddenly, there was white smoke everywhere. The smoke cleared. Aang was standing face to face with Avatar Roku, and at his side was Chenlian with a golden dragon. They were on the top of a mountain range.
"It's good to see you, Aang. What took you so long?" Roku greeted with a smile. Shocked and amazed, the young airbender respectfully placed a fist into his palm, bowing his head to the Avatar before him.
Behind the door, Shyu was kneeling on the floor in front of Prince Zuko, his hands tied behind his back. The four Fire Sages were standing behind him. Zuko demanded why he helped the Avatar.
"Because it was once the Sages' duty... It is still, our duty." Shyu answered, sad and proud. Suddenly, from behind the prince came the sound of one pair of hands clapping. Commander Zhao approached with Fire Nation troops.
"What a moving and heartfelt performance. I'm certain the Fire Lord will understand when you explain why you betrayed him." The commander mocked. The four Fire Sages bowed to him. "And Prince Zuko, it was a noble effort. But your little smoke screen didn't work. Two traitors, in one day, the Fire Lord will be pleased." He continued disdainfully, like he was humouring a child. A soldier seized Zuko's arms from behind. He scowled and strained against his captor before snapping at Zhao.
"You're too late, Zhao. The Avatar's inside and the doors are sealed."
"No matter. Sooner or later, he has to come out." He grinned confidently while Sokka and Katara exchanged a worried glance.
"And you Chenlian, and you, Guang, it has been a long time too. I am really glad you could break free and make it here."
"Avatar Roku." Chenlian and Guang bowed deeply and respectfully. Then Roku turned back to Aang.
"I have something very important to tell you, Aang. That is why, when you were in the spirit world, I sent Chenlian and my dragon to find you."
"Is it about that vision? The one with the comet?"
"Yes."
"What does it mean?" The little monk questioned. The light of the mountain range faded into a starry night sky. A comet slowly crossed the sky. Roku explained that one hundred years ago, Fire Lord Sozin used that comet to begin the war. He and his firebending army harnessed its incredible power and dealt a deadly first strike against the other nations. The comet made firebenders stronger than the boy could even imagine. But Aang did not understand what a comet that passed a hundred years ago had to do with the war now.
"Listen carefully. Sozin's comet will return by the end of the summer. And Fire Lord Ozai will use its power to finish the war once and for all. If he succeeds, even the Avatar won't be able to restore balance to the world. Aang, you must defeat the Fire Lord before the comet arrives." The previous Avatar said. Aang countered anxiously that he hadn't even started learning waterbending, not to mention earth and fire. "Mastering the elements takes years of discipline and practice. But if the world is to survive, you must do it by summer's end." Roku affirmed. Fear, shock and worry washed across Aang's youthful features.
Outside, Zhao and his firebenders were waiting for Aang to emerge. He commanded the soldiers to unleash all their firebending power when the doors opened. Sokka, Katara and Shyu chained to a pillar and Prince Zuko was chained to another.
"How's Aang going to make it out of this?" Katara asked, worried.
"How're WE going to make it out of this?" Her brother asked back, just as worried and troubled.
"What if I can't master all the elements in time? What if I fail?" Aang asked, terrified.
"I know you can do it Aang, for you have done it before. The solstice is ending. We must go our separate ways... for now."
"But I won't be able to come back to the temple. What if I have questions? How will I talk to you?"
"I am a part of you. When you need to talk to me again, you will find a way. Chenlian will also be there to advise and protect you and help you in any way she can." Roku closed his eyes, providing a vision of the Fire Navy ships waiting in the bay outside the Fire Temple. "A great danger awaits you at the temple. I can help you face the threat. WE can help you." He then showed Commander Zhao and his troops in battle positions outside the sanctuary doors. The arrow on Aang's head began to glow. "But only if you are ready." Aang opened his eyes. They were glowing. He opened his mouth to speak. His mouth was glowing too.
"I'm ready."
Coming from inside the sanctuary, a white light blinded everyone outside. Smoke billowed out from the bottom of the door. The Fire Sages stood there, looking at the floor in shock and fear. The light continued to grow. Shyu Katara and Sokka turned their heads away to shield their eyes but Zhao and his troops stood firmly in front of the door that was slowly beginning to open. The light became too strong for Prince Zuko who also averted his eyes.
"Ready..."
The light faded and the doors now almost fully open revealed two large eyes glowing in the dark of the sanctuary. Smoke was still emanating from the sanctuary. Sokka and Katara were struggling against their chains.
"No! Aang!" Katara cried terrified. Another pair of eyes glowed gold behind the Avatar.
"Fire!" Zhao commanded. He and his firebenders shot fire blasts at the Avatar. However, all that fire power was held at the door and manipulated into a gigantic ball of swirling flames that slowly started to open. At the heart of the circling fire was Avatar Roku, his eyes glowing. Zhao could only look with horror as the previous Avatar was revealed in his wrath.
"Avatar Roku!" Shyu whispered in awe. Avatar Roku drew the circling fire together in one motion before sending it forward in one powerful wave that seared the room, blasting the offenders off their feet and precisely melting the chains binding Katara, Sokka, Shyu and Zuko. The prince, now free, did not lose one second to run. From behind the Avatar, a girl leapt and with another blast, destroyed part of the wall. Avatar Roku, turned his glowing glare upon the offending sages who panicked and all turned to run for their lives.
"Avatar Roku's going to destroy the temple! We have to get out of here!" Shyu warned them his tone urgent and imploring.
"Not without Aang!" Katara replied. Avatar Roku raised his arm and brought it down, rending and melting the floor, leaving a molten firebending trail. He steadily raised his arm again causing the stream of lava below to erupt in maddened explosion. He pulled the magma from deep within the volcano and it soared up through the temple, tearing it apart. The lava exploded out of the very top of the temple. Zhao and his men raced down the stairs in fear. But Sokka and Katara were still there huddled together, crouched behind a column for protection the older brother over his little sister. Avatar Roku lowered his hands and exhaled. Inside the sanctuary, the sunlight had moved up the statue's face. The eyes of the statue were no longer illuminated by the setting sun of the solstice. All smoke drew back toward Roku, completely shrouding him. The smoke swirled and dissipated, revealing an extremely weary Aang. The boy groaned and sank to the floor. Katara and Sokka ran to his side.
"We got your back." Sokka said comfortingly.
"Thanks. Where's Shyu?" The child asked. But they did not know.
"They took him." A voice answered. It was that girl. She was standing there, in front of the stairs and the hole she had blown. "You should hurry if you don't want to die." And indeed, the temple was starting to lean and sink.
"And you! Why are you not-" Sokka began but stopped dead. He, Katara and Aang looked with horror at the lava that had filled the stairs. One of the columns crashed on the floor behind them. But the girl was impervious to it all.
"Don't worry, everything will be alright. Your friends are coming for us." She smiled. For some reason, there was not an ounce of fear or doubt to her. The siblings thought she was crazy but Aang seemed strangely taken by her and did not doubt her words. None of them were aware of it yet, but she was not the type to speak foolishly nor was it simple optimism. She was just speaking her feelings. There was a quiet, serene strength and confidence that emanated from her, a comforting, reassuring presence that would make people believe her, trust her, rely on her, and feel that she would make everything alright. Suddenly, they gasped. Momo and Appa were flying full speed towards the temple. The four slid down one of the peaks of the temple and leaped onto Appa's back. The bison zoomed away just as the temple sank further. They were all on the saddle. Momo hopped onto his lap, chattering, the hat of one of the Fire Sages on his head. Behind them, the temple exploded.
"No prince. No Avatar. Apparently the only thing I do have is five traitors." Zhao spat venomously.
"But Commander, only Shyu helped the Avatar." The great sage interjected.
"Save your stories for the Fire Lord. As far as I'm concerned, you're all guilty! Take them to the prison hold!"
Zuko's ship was sailing away from the ruined Fire Temple. The teen watched the bison fly away and slowly lowered his spy glass, pensively staring in the direction with an indescribable expression on his face. When he had looked back for a second at the top of the stairs, he thought he had seen a familiar profile. But it couldn't be. She couldn't be here. It was impossible. And so he would do his best to try to ignore the contradictory hopes tugging at his heart; hope she had actually been there, hope she had not. He wanted to see her again, he wanted to talk to her, and yet was scared of all the implications of such a meeting.
On Appa, now that things had finally settled down, Aang, Katara and Sokka turned toward the girl. Sokka asked who she was.
"Who I am? Well, I am a firebender..." Chenlian produced a flame that hovered over her open right palm. The siblings stared at her in shock.