Fight 34: Oasis
Aang was sitting cross legged in a practically barren prairie. The ground in front of him was littered with holes while behind him stood his travelling companions. He played a note on a flute and a prairie dog emerged from a hole and sang the same note. It descended back as Aang laughed. Like this, he kept playing with the animals and joked he was putting an orchestra together. Momo started to want to play too and tried the catch the surfacing prairie dogs, in vain, though he nicely succeeded in making Katara laugh. Sokka however, was clearly uninterested, besides they had more important things to worry about . They should be making plans. There was no time for vacations.
"I'm learning the elements as fast as I can. I practice hard everyday with Toph and Katara. I've been training my arrow off." The Avatar looked up at his friend. Katara agreed. What was wrong with having a little fun in their downtime ?
"Even if you do master all of the elements, then what? It's not like we have a map of the fire nation. Should we just head west until we reach the Fire Lord's house ?" He acted out his 'suggestion'. "Knock knock! Hello, Fire Lord Anybody home ? I don't think so. Also, we'll need to find Chenlian, or at least a way to contact her, so when it's time, she can teach you firebending."
"Well, if it's Chenlian, she certainly won't teach me until I get more proficient at earthbending. And I'm sure she can find us even if we can't find her. Besides..." Aang looked down in apprehension. When he'd remembered his disastrous and traumatizing first experience with firebending he was no longer so eager to learn...
"Anyway, we need some intelligence if we're gonna win this war." Sokka insisted. The Avatar played a little more and stood up.
"Alright, we'll finish our vacations, and then we'll look for Sokka's intelligence." The waterbender cracked, raising an eyebrow. The monk laughed. Since it was Katara's turn to choose the location of their next mini-vacation , she looked at Aang's map and decided on the Misty Palms Oasis . It sounded refreshing. The boy rejoiced as he had been there before. It was a pristine natural ice spring, and he usually didn't use the word pristine. It was one of nature's wonders.
Chenlian's spirit returned to her body. She had taken advantage of the quick break she, Iroh and Zuko had made to explore the surroundings. Strangely though, the eel hound had disappeared one day and never came back. She couldn't explain why. Well, they still had the ostrich horse so it was alright, but that eel hound had been rather convenient. She regretted the loss, but the circumstances of its acquisition had been quite odd too, so she decided not to think too much about it. Anyway, she had found a really good place to rest. She led them to a hidden paradise, nestled in a canyon. There was a tall waterfall tumbling down in a large pool of turquoise water before gently cascading down small rocky formations. They settled in another abandonned house. It appeared this place used to be a small farm from the trough taken over by lotus and the vegetables now growing wildly in the patch. They could also see the footprints of many animals drawn by the water. After a meal, the teens trained again under Iroh's watch, Zuko in firebending and lightning redirection, Chenlian in lightning generation, redirection, and healing. That ability of hers, coupled with her knowledge of medicine, had really helped the old man whose wound was healing nicely.
The girl finished earlier and left. She entered the basin and swam a little before lazily drifting around and staring at the sky. She couldn't hear anything but the water and her own heart. It felt like it had been years since she had last been able to relax like this even though it had only been a few months... since the North Pole. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes. But Zuko had assumed she had gone into the woods to look for things to eat and did the same. He spotted some fruit trees but that's all. How did Chenlian do it? All she did was pick some weeds and flowers and dig up some roots! How could she turn them into food? How did she know where, when, and what to pick?! How did she catch animals? How did she know where to find eggs? And that poultice... where did she get that medical knowledge? In his search, he stumbled and saw Chenlian floating in the pool, her eyes closed. Reminded of his uncle's fallen form, he suddenly got very and unreasonably scared and ran inside the water. Alerted by the racket, Chenlian stood up and looked around. She had water at chest level. She noticed Zuko, apparently frozen in mid step. His flustered expression was rather cute and comical but there were also traces of fear.
"What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?" She questioned.
"It's nothing." He averted his eyes, looking a bit sullen. The young woman smiled tenderly.
The Avatar's group arrived at the village, which had become somewhat derelict. Appa was left to wait outside while the children entered the village. The actual Misty Palms Oasis was much, much smaller than hoped, imagined, or remembered. All the buildings were made of mud. Aang, Katara and Toph went in an eatery but then one of the men loitering by the doorway and dressed in light brown clothing and rags spat at the ground right at Sokka's feet before he could enter. The toothless man grinned, obviously picking a fight. Sokka glared at him and balled his fists, clearly in the mood to answer the provocation. But before the situation could degenerate, Katara pulled her brother inside.
The patrons were very few, no more than five. Some were sleeping. A man at the counter asked for one mango. The bartender nodded and pulled both swords from their crossed sheaths on his back. On his left was a block of ice where bowls had been chiselled. He swung at one of the bowls, cutting it from the stack, then picked it up with both swords and placed it on a cutting board. He then cut down four fruits that were hanging overhead and rapidly diced the fruit into pulp that he picked with the blades and dumped in the bowl. He seized the pitcher with the swords too and poured water into the bowl to complete the drink. He added a bamboo straw and a small, green umbrella as the finishing touch. The customer took the drink and payed. From the doorway, Aang and Katara smiled at the bartender's skill while Sokka stared thoughtfully. He didn't see anything wrong with having one of those fruity beverages while they planned their strategy. The warrior shoved Aang and Toph and went to the bar to order a drink. The others walked in too. Just as the man turned around and took a step, he bumped into the monk. The liquid spilled it onto the airbender's outfit. Aang reassured him, he'd clean up easy. He bended a gust around him that dried his clothes... and caused everyone else's clothes to be blown back. The man in white gasped in amazement.
"You're a living relic!" He exclaimed in awe.
"Thanks. I try."
"An Air Nomad, right in front of me." Then as the water siblings and Toph ordered their drinks, the man bowed and introduced himself. "Professor Zei, head of anthropology at Ba Sing Se University." He grabbed the boy's hand and examined it. As he wanted to know which of the Air temples the child hailed from, Aang answered he came from the southern temple. The scholar started measuring Aang's skull with a pair of calipers and speaking excitedly. "Oh splendid! Now tell me, what was the primary agricultural product of your people ?"
"Uh, are fruit pies an agricultural product ?" The Avatar replied. The professor commented it was truly fascinating and wrote in his journal. And since he appeared to be a
well traveled guy (from all stuff he was carrying) Sokka asked if he had a more current map as theirs seemed to be a little dated. Zei agreed. Now that everyone had a drink of their own, Sokka unrolled the map on a table before examining it. But to his great disappointment, it didn't have the Fire Nation. Actually, it showed only a portion of the Earth Kingdom, with the Si Wong Desert at the center. Katara noted the professor had made a lot of trips into the desert. According to him though they were all in vain as despite having found lost civilizations all over the Earth Kingdom, he had yet to discover the 'crown jewel'... Wan Shi Tong's Library. Toph couldn't believe one would spend years walking through the desert to find some guy's library. However, this library was more valuable than gold. It was said to contain a vast collection of knowledge, and knowledge... was priceless. According to legend, it was built by the great knowledge spirit, Wan Shi Tong, with the help of his foxy knowledge seekers. Sokka imagined attractive (human female) assistants and was shoved by his sister for his impure thoughts. Surely the professor meant those seekers looked like actual foxes. Zei explained that they collected books from all over the world, and put them on display for mankind to read, so that humans might better themselves. He took another parchment from his pouch and showed them an architectural drawing of a building with many domes and spires.
"If this place has books from all over the world, do you think they've got info on the Fire Nation , a map maybe ?" The warrior was not about to get captivated by the idea of obtaining the wisdom of this world in his hands and lose sight of his goal. The learned man didn't know, but if such a thing existed, it was in Wan Shi Tong's Library. However, both were so fixated on their goal that they lost sight of the closest things. Such maps could be brought in any normal shop. And the others were so preoccupied by their vacation that they failed to remember it too. "Aang, I do believe it's my turn. I'd like to spend my vacation AT THE LIBRARY!" He ended yelling and pointing his finger at the ceiling for a dramatic effect. And so it was settled. Toph protested. When would she get to pick? Well, she gotta work here a little longer before she qualified for vacation time. The earthbender angrily slammed her bowl on the table before crossing her arms and pouting. Now the problem would be to find that library. The professor had made several trips into the desert and nearly died each time. Surely, it was impossible. So Sokka offered to introduce their sky bison to him, causing him to once more voice his amazement. After finishing their bowls, they left the village to see four men in rags menacingly approaching Appa who was growling and scooting away from them.
"Sandbenders! Shoo! Away from the bison!" Professor Zei commanded as he ran to them. The sandbenders walked away and climbed onto sand gliders. One of them created a whirlwind of sand underneath the sail, causing the glider to move forward.
"Zuko, you wouldn't rush here and make all this racket for nothing. What is it?" Chenlian questioned as she approached Zuko. He poutily and sarcastically excused himself for the racket. She ignored his mood and studied his expression. "Did you think that something had happened to me and made me unconscious, causing you to worriedly run here to make sure I was alright?" She ventured. Seeing his scowl deepen, her smile broadened. "I see. Thank you, and sorry to have worried you."
"I thought you were in the woods." He said, still a bit sulky.
"Oh, is that what you were doing there, looking for me?" She inquired, smiling, as she took a tiny twig with a leaf from his hair and twirled it between her fingers. "Or was there another reason?" She tested him.
"I was just exploring and looking for food. I wasn't looking for you." Her knowing and teasing tone were somewhat vexing. He couldn't so easily admit that he was actually looking for her and that the food was secondary.
"Even though you can't recognize ingredients when you see them?" She bluntly pointed out with a taunting edge. The exiled prince kept quiet. She might be right but she really had a knack for twisting knives in wounds. "Well, you still try even if you're not good. That's one of your best qualities." She placed the twig on the surface and let the current carry it away to die or take root somewhere. "Never stop thinking, making efforts, trying to improve yourself, learn as much as you can. That's what draw others and make them want to help." Her teasing smile turned so warm and sincere, her expression so tender, even though he had tried to upset her. Seeing her be so honest with her feelings, so forgiving, made him feel as if he was behaving like a child and his heart would twinge as if pricked by a thorn. It was like she was saying: 'why don't you try being honest too?'
He looked up and stared. They were knee-deep in the water. She was in underwear. And while he naturally found her a dazzling beauty, the water dripping down that slender body that glistened under the sun and moved with grace, those firm yet supple muscles, the alluring curves, the long hair, the charming face... and more than anything those eyes that looked straight at him as if nothing else existed. But now, what stirred him were the countless scars on that body. He had always thought of her as a genius. That everything came easy to her. But then what were all those scars? Some were so old, and others seemed really recent. She never complained, never said a word. She was always so casual, so confident.
And now, for the first time, he saw her true strength. She had worked harder than anyone else. She too, had kept tripping, getting hurt, standing back up and walking forward. They were actually the same. No. Looking at her body, it was obvious she had suffered much more. No wonder she sometimes talked to him like he was some half-assed pampered brat. Really, he had much more efforts to do if he wanted to call himself her equal in strength and endurance. And he was also one who had deeply hurt her. How much he regretted it. The guilt seemed to squeeze his heart like a clamp. Why? Even though he had always wanted to be one to protect her? He embraced her, like he never wanted to let go, like he was afraid of breaking her, like tightly holding a treasure close to his heart. He simply wanted to comfort her, to love her.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the hurtful things I said and did to you. I was the one who kept talking even though I didn't know, wasn't I?"
"What's with you all of a sudden?" Chenlian wondered awkwardly. She wasn't used to such earnest meekness or apologies from him and didn't know how to react. But she nonetheless wrapped her arms around him too. He held her face in both hands, gazing straight at her with passion and sincerity.
"I love you. I want to be with you. I want to know more about you. What exactly happened to you during those years? What made you suffer? How did you get those scars? What have you learned? And... will you teach me about plants?" He inquired.
"Of course." The girl answered after a time. Her smile was so radiant. "And I love you too." She added. Zuko leant in and pressed his lips against hers. After a few seconds, the kiss grew more intense, impassioned as his hands moved down and around her to pull her to him and their tongues entwined. She was like the sun, but also like an oasis. She had thorns and traps of course but being like this made him realize again... even if he was alone, she'd still be there for him, embrace him gently and heal him and his wounded heart. In fact she was still there like this despite how much he had hurt her, how many times he had pushed her away and left her, she still smiled at him like this, held him, loved him.
Appa was flying over the seemingly endless sea of sand. Sokka had taken his shirt off and tied it onto his head to protect himself from the sun. He started looking around with his spyglass. Aang and Zei were sitting on Appa's head. The man leant forward to speak to the flying bison. He asked the animal if he was the last of his breed . Appa responded with a low roar.
"Oh, delightful! I only wish I spoke his tongue." The scholar exclaimed. He ran his fingers through the bison's fur. "Oh the stories this beast could tell." He said wistfully. Jealous, Momo came to sit next to Zei and began chattering. The man turned and placed a finger to his lips. "Shush, chatty monkey." And the lemur shut up. They all believed they could easily find a place as big as this building. However, they couldn't see a trace of it even after flying for long. Frustrated, Toph voiced her doubts concerning the existence of that library. Smiling, Zei admitted that some said it didn't exist.
"Shouldn't you have mentioned that before?" The little girl groaned and fell on her side. Appa kept flying and flying. Suddenly, Toph sat up and pointed out into the desert. "There it is!" She screamed excitedly. Everyone looked in the direction, but no, it had just been a joke. Well, of course since she couldn't see, and she couldn't feel anything from up there. They glared at her for tricking them. Aside from this, the flight continued uneventfully. Aang was starting to look fatigued, and Momo had fallen asleep on top of his head. But really, it shouldn't be this hard to spot a giant ornate building from the air. And indeed, Sokka soon spotted a spire sticking out of the sand with his spyglass. They descended. Katara was disappointed. It couldn't be what they were looking for. The building in the drawing was enormous. But then they saw a fox climbing over a dune, a scroll in its mouth. It paused and turned to look at the humans before running to the spire. The water tribe boy wondered what animal that was. They were surprised to see it running up the spire at a ninety degree angle and enter it by one of the windows. The professor assumed it was one of the knowledge seekers. They must be close to the library! But that spire in front of them was actually the very top part of that library! The building was buried in the sand!
The Professor Zei fell to his hands and knees and cried in despair. But a few seconds later he smiled and started scooping out the sand with a tiny shovel. Well, time to start excavating. He was incredibly optimistic to the point of stupidity. Toph placed a hand on the structure and reassured him. The inside was completely intact... and huge. They thought about going through the window the same way the fox had done. The blind girl decided to stay here. It was not like she had something against books but they weren't exactly done for her. Of course, Appa would stay with her. Sokka's boomerang, with a rope tied to it, was thrown through the window. Sokka, Zei, Katara and Aang climbed it and then descended it. They landed on a wide, cross shaped bridge that connected to each side of the room. Past the archways were long rows of bookshelves. The area was dimly lit by green lamps hanging from the walls. The anthopologist pushed his hat back and gazed in awe at the humongous room. And the building went down in that fashion for many floors. There was a mosaic depicting an owl on an archway and the face of an owl was carved atop every pillar.
The group turned at the sound of feathers rustling. They ran to hide by pair behind a pillar (with Aang dragging the professor). An enormous black owl with a white face came walking onto the bridge. The Avatar peeked to see it examine the rope. It looked up then turned its head to the left and kept rotating around three hundred and sixty degrees.
"I know you're back there." The spirit said. The airbender gasped and fearfully hid back behind the pillar. Zei smiled and came out of hiding. He approached the owl and excitedly greeted it and introduced himself. The large spirit advised him to leave if he didn't want to become a stuffed head of anthropology. They looked at a pillar from which three stuffed animal heads were hanging. The erudite man rubbed his neck and groaned nervously. The three teens gained courage and walked over to them. Sokka inquired if he was the spirit who brought this library to the physical world . "Indeed, I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows 10,000 things. And you are obviously humans, which by the way are no longer permitted in my study." That made Aang curious to know what he had against humans. "Hmm, humans only bother learning things to get the edge on other humans, like that firebender who came to this place a few years ago, looking to destroy his enemy." It was here that Zhao had learned about Tui and La, the Ocean and Moon Spirits. "So, who are you trying to destroy ?" He quickly brought his face closer to Sokka's, startling him.
"What? Oh, no, no, no destroying, we're not into that." The boy smiled nervously and waved his hand in protest. Wan Shi Tong asked why they had come here then. "Um... knowledge, for, knowledge's sake." He (too obviously) lied. The owl told him put some effort into it if he was going to lie to an all-knowing spirit being. "I'm not lying. I'm here with the Avatar." He pointed at the airbender with his thumb. "And he's the bridge between our worlds, he'll vouch for me." He brought Aang and patted him before nudging him in the back.
"Ow. Uh, yeah, I'll vouch. We will not abuse the knowledge in your library, good spirit. You have my word." He swore and everyone bowed. The spirit agreed to let them peruse his vast collection on the condition that they contributed some worthwhile knowledge to prove your worth as scholars. Zei stepped forward, knelt and presented a thick tome. Wan Shi Tong accepted the donation. He appreciated the fact it was a first edition. He passed his wing over the tome, causing it to vanish. Katara offered her waterbending scroll. Its stylish illustration pleased the owner of the library who took the scroll too. Aang thought hard and produced a Fire Nation wanted poster of himself. The knowledge spirit hesitated but consented to it. Since Sokka didn't have any scripture, he quickly tied a string into a butterfly shaped knot and held it out. It was a special knot! That counted as knowledge. Wan Shi Tong stared in silence.
"You're not very bright, are you ?" The owl noted after a pause. The water tribe warrior frowned and groaned at the comment. The knot was snatched too. "Enjoy the library." And the spirit flew down to the building's lower levels.
"Bright enough to fool you." Sokka said in a low voice as he stares after Wan Shi Tong with contempt.
Meanwhile, outside, Toph was trying to strike a conversion with Appa who would answer to the best of his ability. Well, he liked flying, but she was more comfortable on the ground, where she could see. Not like she saw the way he did, she felt the vibration in the ground with her feet, but this sand was so loose and shifty it made everything look fuzzy. Not that there was anything wrong with fuzzy.
Chenlian told Zuko about all the wounds she had received, the scars from arrows belonging to the Yu Yan Archers, from blades wielded by bandits or villagers, from fire during her training with Guang, or when she had saved children from their burning house set ablaze by Fire Nation soldiers because their parents could no longer pay the heavy taxes, the bones she had broken while escaping from earthbenders... the times when she had suffered food poisoning after starvation, when she had learned the hard way about snakes, spiders, and other insects and plants. She had also caught various illnesses due to her occasionally rather poor living conditions. Many times, she had narrowly escaped death. But she had been saved. The people taught her how to survive on her own. They taught her about the plants and animals. She sometimes helped in clinics and dispensaries, and restaurants, resorts... Because she met really good people, she tried to trust them, most of the time, once they learned the truth about her, they would try to kill her, drive her out, or sell her to the Fire Nation... she would face fear, hatred, rejection, regardless of everything they had shared or how much those people initially liked her. There had been exceptions though.
The young woman was speaking like it was a thing from the past that no longer mattered now that she had overcome it and risen above the bog. She was smiling, and often laughing things off. But how many tears had she cried then? He had her and his uncle. But she had been suffering alone all this time. He really couldn't complain. He ought to shape up. He hugged her and nuzzled her neck.
"I promise I'll grow stronger, I won't let you suffer like that again..."
"Zuko..." The girl whispered, touched. "Why don't you say that phrase when you can make yourself useful by cooking or earning money... or when you can beat me..." She teased. On instinct, he forcefully pinned her down but then he was reminded of a scene when after a promise she had teased him, he had pounced on her in retaliation and they had ended in that same position... And from the smile on her face, it had been done on purpose. He couldn't help but smile too. Like then, he gazed at her, and he did what he didn't do at that time. He closed the distance and kissed her with all his love.
Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zei had started looking for what they wanted. They were in large hall of bookshelves that stretched up to the tall ceiling over a dozen yards above them. The Avatar flipped a book and was attracted by the illustration of a giant turtle with the face of a lion looming over a man wearing a long robe. He called the others so they'd look at those weird things but Sokka claimed having seen weirder. Katara, who had apparently found a document about a previous Avatar, informed Aang he had been left handed in a past life. He smiled and scratched the back of his head. He'd always known he was special. Sokka slipped a book in his bag, then a scroll. He walked to a pedestal displaying a piece of paper with burnt edges and covered in glass. It had clearly escaped a fire, giving it value. He read the inscription 'The darkest day in Fire Nation history.' It had a date at the top, but it didn't say anything else. He lifted the glass with his machete and stole that paper too before dashing away. He wanted to know what had happened to the Fire Nation on their darkest day. This could be promising. He ran to the wing dedicated to the Fire Nation. Above its doorway was a large red tapestry with the symbol of fire on it. However, there were only burnt debris of books and bookshelves in the room. A firebender had destroyed everything having to do with the Fire Nation.
"That's so unfair!" He screamed out in frustration, placing his hands against his head. "Just when I think I'm one step ahead of the Fire Nation, it turns out they beat us here a long time ago." He fell to his knees. However, this setback wasn't enough to dampen his determination. "I need to know what happened on the darkest day." But then he heard a fox whimper behind him and turned his head. It was standing on its hind legs. "Hello, little weird fox guy." He greeted. The knowledge seeker turned around, pointing its nose down the hall and stayed motionless, with a leg up. The anthropologist believed it was trying to assist Sokka who hesitatingly agreed to follow.
The fox guided the group through the library to a wall with a huge sun symbol on it before running off to the right and crawling though a hole. The center of the symbol slowly rolled to the side, creating an opening and revealing the fox sitting behind it. The humans entered. The room was under a dome and on the walls were painted mountains, clouds and the sky. There was a large round stone pedestal at the center. The fox pushed a lever next to it that triggered a mechanism and filled the false sky with revolving stars. They all look up with wonder. A moon symbol was attached to a mechanical device moving across the sky. Aang handed it to his friend for having picked the best mini-vacation.
"This room is a true marvel. A mechanical wonder! It's a planetarium that shows the heavens moving." The professor exclaimed.
"Uh, this is beautiful, but, how is it helpful ?" Sokka questioned, again, not losing sight of the goal. It was just as the night turned to day and the moon was replaced by the sun. Katara suggested that the dials on the pedestal represented dates and times, and that Sokka try entering that date from the parchment he had taken. "Shh! Katara! Not in front of the fox, he's with the owl." He whispered, his hand before his mouth as he warily eyed the animal that whimpered dejectedly as it lowered its head and put its ears back. Sokka made a guilty expression and slightly raised the burned parchment, examined it and turned the rings to adjust the dials. He pushed the lever forward and the machine operated. But when it stopped, everyone got dimmer. The 'scenery' was that of the day but it was so dark, and what had happened to the sun? The airbended thought he had broken the mechanism but no. The sun was behind the moon, it was a solar eclipse! It was literally the darkest day in Fire Nation history. Sokka grabbed Aang by the shoulders and turned him. Something awful must have happened on that day. He didn't know what, but now he did know why. Firebenders lost their bending during a solar eclipse!
His sister was of the same mind. That made sense, given what the lunar eclipse at the North Pole had done to the waterbenders. This was huge. The fox whimpered again and raised its front paws, clearly (cutely) begging for its reward. The boy smiled good-heartedly and gave it food. He had earned it. The knowledge seek caught it and ran away. Now they had to deliver this information to the Earth King at Ba Sing Se. Then they could invade the Fire Nation during the next eclipse when those firebenders would be totally helpless. The Fire Lord was going down! But as Sokka raised his fist in triumph and grinned, his smile quickly turned into a frown when he was overshadowed and felt and ominous presence behind him, looming over him.
"Mortals are so predictable... and such terrible liars." Wan Shi Tong approached. Sokka gulped when he turned. Everyone stared with fright. "You betrayed my trust. From the beginning you intended to misuse this knowledge for evil purposes."
"You don't understand. If anyone's evil, it's the Fire Nation. You saw what they did to your library. They're destructive and dangerous. We need this information." The Water Tribe warrior raised his fist.
"You think you're the first person to believe their war was justified ? Countless others before you have come here, seeking weapons or weaknesses or battle strategies."
"We had no choice. Please, we're just desperate to protect the people we love." Aang pleased.
"And now I'm going to protect what I love." The knowledge spirit flapped its wings, causing a strong gust throughout the planetarium. The humans braced themselves against the wind. The airbender asked what he was doing. "I'm taking my knowledge back. No one will ever abuse it again." Wan Shi Tong declared. The group looked up. Sand was seeping through the walls and ceiling. He was sinking the building! They had to get out of here!
"I'm afraid I can't allow that. You already know too much." The owl's neck grew several feet longer before the spirit screeched and suddenly lunged forward. Eveyone jumped out of the way. The beak hit the floor, cracking it. Wan Shi Tong chased after his now undesirable guests as they fled the planetarium, screaming with fright. Zei still had his arms full of books.
Outside, Appa was lying down and Toph was sitting against him. The animal lifted his head, roared loudly and stood up, causing her to fall back. She got up. The ground was shaking and... the library was sinking! She jabbed her hands into the spire and grunted as she attempted to hold the library up, her feet sinking into the sand. She could barely slow it down. The problem was this sand, the footing wasn't stable enough. She hardened a portion of it and thrust her hands in the spire again. Inside, the group ran down the long hallways. Streams of sand were pouring from the ceiling and forming small pools. Wan Shi Tong pursued them, rubble flying in his wake. Momo, Sokka and Aang ran across a bridge but Zei stopped and turned around, yelping and gasping for breath... and still holding a large stack of books. Frightened, he nonetheless begged the great knowledge spirit not to destroy his vast collection of priceless tomes. It seemed his plea fell on deaf ears though, and noticing that, the Avatar forcefully pulled the professor back by bending a vacuum between his hands... just as Wan Shi Tong attacked the spot where he had been standing. Then he bended a strong gust that collided with the spirit, knocking it over the bridge. They had to get back to the surface!
They started running again (the scholar had dropped his books in the fall), except Sokka. They still didn't know the date of the next eclipse. Katara said they'd find out later. They needed to leave now! He disagreed. This was their only chance to get that information. And he needed Aang to provide him cover. The girl tried to protest but was cut off by Wan Shi Tong emerging in a crash between her and her brother. He ordered her to go, and she told him to hurry up. The owl went after Katara, Momo, and Zei. They dashed. The academician ran to the right and dived to the ground between two bookshelves. The owl ran past. Now safe, the man opened his eyes. He noticed a book of interest, took it, and grinned widely. Katara kept running.
Chenlian taught Zuko about the aloe vera used as moisturizer and to treat burns, rashes and insect bites, the plantain whose leaves could be eaten when young or used to treat sore feet, and muscles, cuts, and also rashes, burns, insect and snake bites. The honey was a known antiseptic and anti-inflammatory good against colds, coughs, sore throats, cuts, burns, and skin irritation. She told him about the vegetables, herbs, and fruits in this oasis, as well as the animals, a number were farm animals that had grown wild, like the plants. The cattail's rhizome was edible and you could use the leaves to weave mats, hats, nets, or make a fishing line. Anyway, time to prepare the meal. This time they'd use a duck, vegetables from the garden and... lotus! It was another of those invaluable plants. The roots, the shoots, the stems, the petals, the seeds... all those could be eaten, either raw (like the petals, in place of lettuce, the shoots or the young seeds) or cooked in many different ways. Leaves were usually used as wrappers to give rice a tea-like fragrance.
"I know that the lotus rises from the dark mud, overcoming evil and suffering to bloom clean and beautiful. It symbolises purity, enlightenment, and faithfulness. And like all its parts are usable, you grew up to help others. Are those the reasons you were named after that flower?" The prince questioned.
"Oh my, I didn't know you had any interest in flower language and symbolism." The woman grinned. He averted his eyes with a sour expression. He'd never tell her that he really didn't care about flowers, but only the lotus felt special to him, because it was in her name. But doing something as girly as looking things up just because it had a remote link to the person he liked... if that was known, he'd die of embarrassment! "Well, does it really matter to know why I got this name? I'm just happy that plant can serve to make such a variety of food on our table. But... I guess there's one other thing an uprooted person like me likes about this plant..." She took a lotus stalk, split it, gave one half to Zuko before standing up and slowly walking backwards for several yards. But the fibers of the plant did not break and kept stretching and linking them. "Just like its stalk is easy to bend in two but very difficult to break because of its strong sinuous fibers that keep connecting the two parts even if they're far away, I want to believe that the bonds I have with those I love shall never break. Zuko, surely it is like that between us too... even if we're apart, we're still connected and bound to each other, always..." She smiled. And the young man's heart stirred. Even if there was no place for him in this world, he would always have one in her heart. Even if he was lost, and confused, no matter what would happen in the future, as long as he was connected to her and that part of him was in her heart, he would be fine.
Toph was struggling to hold up the library. Appa turned his head when he noticed something approaching. Three sand gliders were driving towards them. A bender imprisoned the bison within a whirlwind of sand. The child asked who was there. The vessels glided in a circle around Appa.
Sokka and Aang returned to the planetarium. If this calendar could tell about eclipses in the past, surely it could project one from the future. He started turning the dial. Aang remarked they couldn't possibly check every single date. They didn't have to though. They just had to check the ones before Sozin's comet, it was better not to think about what would happen after that. And then, after many failures, they finally found the day of the solar eclipse. And it was just a few months away. Sokka noted it down. Now they had to go to Ba Sing Se. But first, leave this library. They exit the planetarium.
But meantime, sandbenders had surrounded Appa. Using a series of ropes weighed down with bags of sand, the sandbenders systematically pinned the bison down despite the resistance he was putting. Toph let go of the spire and turned around to attack. But it missed, and the second she let go, the spire had started sinking at high speed. She stabbed her hands back into the building, slowing it down. When she felt the gliders dragging away a bound Appa, she let go once more and attacked... and failed. She thrust her palms against the spire.
"No! I'm sorry Appa." The girl shut her eyes and whispered sadly.
In the library, Katara was getting tired. She avoided Wan Shi Tong's attacks a few times until she managed to hide against the side of a bookshelf, frightened, panting. She and Momo were hugging each other. The owl stuck his neck between the bookshelves and looked around. He quickly spied Momo's tail.
"At least I'll have one specimen to add to my collection." Wan Shi Tong lunged after Katara and Momo, who yelled in fear and ran away. The spirit chased after her. She reached the rope on which she had come down and turned to face her opponent. "Your waterbending won't do you much good here. I've studied Northern Water Style, Southern Water Style, even Foggy Swamp Style." He raised his wing and prepared to attack.
Aang flew above them on his glider. Sokka let go of the glider and dropped on on the gigantic bird, slamming a thick book on his head and knocking him out. The owl collapsed at Katara's feet.
"That's called 'Sokka style'! Learn it!" The water tribe siblings climbed on the defeated spirit and then on the rope. They had gone up midway when they noticed the professor sitting between shelves, surrounded by books, reading a scroll. They called out to him.
"I'm not leaving. I can't. I've spent too long trying to find this place. There's not another collection of knowledge like this on Earth. I could spend an eternity in here." He smiled after his wistful declaration. However, Wan Shi Tong had woken while they were talking. He shrieked and swung the rope with his beak, trying to throw them off. The two lost their grip and fell but Aang swooped down and Katara grabbed the tail of the glider. Her brother wrapped his arms around her waist. They all flew up, followed by Momo, and then the owl. The Avatar barely managed to pull his friends out of the window of the spire. They fell in the sand. Sokka had also recuperated his boomerang and rope. As soon as they were out, Toph let go and the spire sank to the gound in an instant, causing a dust cloud. The earthbender fell backwards. The cloud dissipated, revealing a large crater in place of the spire.
"We got it! There's a solar eclipse coming! The Fire Nation's in trouble, now!" Sokka cheered as he and his sister hugged each other. Aang stood up and looked around before walking towards Toph.
"Where's Appa?" He asked fearfully, worriedly. She shook her head sadly. The boy gasped and his eyes, wide with horror, started watering. They had lost a precious friend, but also their only means of transport in this sweltering desert.
Senya was petting the eel hound at his feet. He was standing on a cliff. Behind him stood a man near a carriage, as well as six mounted guards.
"I follow them with this guy. You head to Ba Sing Se and prepare for everything. The guards will stay with you to protect you. We'll keep in contact by hawk." He ordered.
"But Sir! Even if it's you, the wilderness is dangerous and-" The attendant tried to protest and was cut off.
"Who do you think I am?" The young master looked at his aide whose blood froze in his veins, his breath caught in his throat. He was literally paralyzed with fear... so much that he couldn't move or even breathe. Cold sweat was running down his back. Suddenly, his lord smiled inocently again. "I must exercise and keep in shape for Chenlian. If I'm too lazy, she might start to dislike me. I like when she scolds me with that cute angry face but I want her to smile and praise me too." He said. His frightened subordinated left in a hurry. However, it wasn't too long before the young master found himself surrounded by a band of thieves. There were over two dozens of them, weapons in hands. He sighed. He did say he wanted to keep in shape but he had hoped to stay and leisurely watch this beautiful scenery a while longer. However he couldn't enjoy it because of their stinking blood nor could he let them gutter rats get any closer to that person. Their eyes did not deserve her view. They all snapped and attacked at the same time. A few minutes later, he sheathed his sword and walked away without a scratch. The area he left was littered with bodies.
Author's note: hum... I was so engrossed in thinking about and writing my current chapter (crossroads of destiny) that requires a significant amount of work. It's a crucial turning point after all and I'd like to avoid doing a shoddy job. I was stumped for a time too :( Anyway I completely forgot about updating this story and I just noticed I was one chapter late. So here is chapter 34. Things really start looking good for Zuko and Chenlian, huh ^^ ? Also, there won't be a 'Appa's lost days' chapter. I broke it up and tried to divide it according to the timeline among the chapters between the one you've just read and 'Tales of Ba Sing Se'.