99 A.G
Aang led them through the temple trying to remember the way. For him it hadn't been long ago when he had been there, walking through these corridors, yet now each wall and passage felt so alien to him.
The stone had been cleaned, the walls had no dust in some places and a few of the broken decorations had been placed together again, but they still seemed to be arranged in a way it wasn't before, and he could still see some scorched stains here and there.
It made him feel like a stranger. He wanted to hate the Fire Nation for being here, for walking through the halls where the monks had lived, for touching everything that belonged to his people. But the place didn't look destroyed. It looked quiet and lonely, and that just made Aang feel sadness instead.
Katara and Sokka followed behind him, both of them trying to stay quiet. Sokka kept looking around corners with his club raised while Katara had one hand close to her waterskin. Aang appreciated it, even if he didn't think he would be able to fight anyone here.
The thought of fighting against people who had tried to preserve the memories of this place felt wrong, and pointless.
They only saw one soldier on their way. He had been carrying a box filled with old scrolls and almost dropped it when he saw them. For a moment Aang froze, expecting shouting, flames, or someone calling for help. Instead, the man looked at him, then at Katara and Sokka, then turned around and walked the other way without saying a word.
Sokka blinked. "Ah, right, he must have already been told to leave us alone."
"Maybe Iroh isn't so bad, right?" Aang said, unsure.
"Or maybe this is all part of their very strange plan to make us lower our guard." Sokka whispered.
Katara frowned. "You already did that while eating their food."
"That was just tactical to see what they did." Sokka replied. "They could have poisoned Aang."
Aang almost laughed, but he thought better of it, even if the situation was funny. It would be better if they didn't get attention from the Fire Nation soldiers. He kept walking, following the path toward the sanctuary. The closer they got, the more he remembered.
Gyatso had been the one who told him that he would have someone to guide him through his Avatar journey. Aang had voiced his worries to him and he was reassured that someone would be there at the beginning.
Now he wasn't sure there would be someone waiting for him there at all. He had never imagined that everyone would be gone. Aang had run away when he overheard that he would have to be separated from Gyatso, and the guilt of never seeing anyone ever again was eating at him.
He focused instead on at least checking the sanctuary and being here in the present instead of the past.
The sanctuary doors came into view at the end of the corridor, tall and round, marked with curling patterns that moved in circles around each other. Aang stopped in front of them and felt his throat tighten. They were still closed and they had not been broken down at least.
Sokka quickly walked past him and began looking around the corridor, checking behind a pillar, then another, then leaning halfway around the corner with exaggerated caution.
"What are you doing?" Katara whispered.
"Making sure nobody is waiting to jump at us the moment we open the mysterious ancient door." Sokka replied. He checked behind a small statue, then nodded to himself.
"Alright, coast is clear. Let's get inside before the old tea guy changes his mind." He grabbed the door and pulled, then pushed when that didn't work.
Sokka planted both feet on the ground, pulled harder, then placed his shoulder against it and pushed with a grunt. The door didn't move at all. He stopped after a few seconds, breathing through his nose in exhaustion.
"Okay, great. Very secure. Aang, your people were good at doors."
Aang chuckled lightly. "Only airbending can open it."
Sokka slowly looked at him. "You waited until after I fought the door to say that?"
"I thought you were still checking something out." Aang said.
Katara covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Sokka pointed at both of them, clearly insulted, but Aang could see relief in his eyes too. They both understood that no Fire Nation awaited them inside.
Aang stepped forward and took a breath. He moved his arms in the pattern Gyatso had shown him, guiding the air into the carved grooves around the door. The stone circles began to turn, slowly at first, then faster, grinding against each other with a sound that echoed through the corridor far louder than Aang expected.
"That was not subtle." Sokka muttered, sharing a worried look with Katara.
Aang winced as the door continued to move, the stone rumbling through the floor and up his legs. When it finally opened, the noise faded into the sanctuary, and they all waited for someone to come running. No one did.
"Inside, quickly." Katara said.
They entered together hurriedly into the dark room. The sanctuary was colder than the rest of the temple. There was little light compared to the corridor and they had to wait until their eyes adjusted to see further in.
Aang stepped forward slowly, looking at the rows of statues arranged in circles around the room. There were so many of them, each one carved with care, each one sitting with calm dignity. Some wore robes he recognized as Air Nomad clothing. Others wore Water Tribe furs, Earth Kingdom armor, and Fire Nation garments. At first he only stared, confused by the feeling that he knew them somehow.
Katara noticed it first. "Aang… these people are from every nation."
Sokka moved closer to one of the statues. "And they're arranged in a pattern. Air, water, earth, fire."
Aang's eyes widened as the realization reached him. "The Avatar Cycle."
He walked deeper into the room, passing face after face. These were not only statues. These were his past lives. Hundreds of them. People he had been and somehow still was, even if he didn't know how to reach them. The thought made him feel smaller and heavier at the same time. He stopped before a Fire Nation statue, an old man with a stern face and robes carved like flame.
"Avatar Roku." Aang whispered.
"You were a firebender? No wonder I don't trust you." Sokka said, jokingly.
For a brief moment, he thought the statue's eyes shone. Aang took a step closer, breath catching in his throat, but before he could say anything, a blur of wings and fur shot through the open doorway.
A flying lemur swooped into the sanctuary, carrying a scroll almost as big as its body, chittering loudly as it circled above the statues.
"Hey!" Sokka shouted. "What is that thing?"
The lemur landed on one of the statues and hugged the scroll to its chest. A second voice echoed from the corridor, angry and young.
"Get back here flying rat!"
A Fire Nation teenager stormed into the sanctuary, fists clenched and face twisted in frustration. He stopped the moment he saw them. His eyes moved from Sokka, to Katara, then to Aang's arrow.
For a second no one said anything as they stared at one another. Aang analyzed his face more carefully, his face had a nasty burn scar on his left eye, and he was clearly surprised at first then angry.
"Wait a minute…How did you open this room?!" he yelled at them.
"We found it like that?" Aang replied unsure, already preparing an attack in case they needed to run out of there.
"Don't lie to me! You think I wasn't here before? You think I don't know what this place is? The Fire Nation has sanctuaries like this on their temples as well. Those can only be opened using firebending. This one can only be opened using airbending!" he said while getting into a fighting stance.
"So, who among you is the Avatar?" he asked threateningly.
----0000----
His uncle was really losing it if he hadn't realized that the Water Tribes rarely stepped out of their own territory without a reason, much less kids like these, not to mention he didn't demand they surrender their weapons. The oldest looking had a club, and the youngest a long wooden staff.
For Zuko it was clear that the Avatar had reincarnated again, following the cycle. The logical explanation was that the airbender had hidden in the Water Tribes then left instructions for the next Avatar born to the water peasants, who had helped a new Avatar get the basics of airbending to open the sanctuary.
The southern raiders clearly missed a waterbender on their campaign and now he finally had the chance to regain his honor and go back home. After so many years of pain and overseas travel, suffering through his guilt and sorrow, his mission finally didn't feel impossible to complete.
The prince got into stance, ready to attack them should they try to escape. "So, who among you is the Avatar?" he asked, ready to force the answer out of them.
The youngest of the trio stepped forward and took a huge breath in and Zuko was confused. Was he going to scream for help or something? Then he got his answer as he was blown away all of a sudden. He easily lost his footing and was sent flying backwards, hitting a wall in the corridor.
In daze and hurt, Zuko called for his crew. "Help! The Avatar is here!" he yelled as he saw the trio run away from him. With difficulty he got up and ran after them.
"Hunt them down!" he yelled at the first soldiers to approach. He saw the kid again attack two of his men ahead, using airbending to push them out of the way.
'How is he so skilled in airbending when there are no airbenders alive to teach him.' he thought. His mind was still trying to make sense of what he was seeing while still in pursuit of his target.
Zuko quickly caught up to them using the same technique he learned to steer himself in the parachute, to navigate through the temple and obstacles. He didn't waste any time and attacked him, but he dodged his fireballs with ease and they continued fleeing down the temple.
As other soldiers joined Zuko believed he could take him prisoner. If they continued that path only a cliff was waiting for them and he would have them. But all of a sudden the young Avatar did something to his staff and from it sprang wings in action. He took flight while the other two grabbed onto him as they jumped off one side of a cliff.
For a moment they plunged downwards and Zuko held his breath. 'Had they killed themselves instead of risking getting caught?!' he thought. His thought was interrupted by the flying rat passing by him toward their direction as well.
Then they emerged from a giant flying beast that took to the skies too quickly for something of its size. Zuko threw a powerful fireball their way but again the Avatar used his staff to redirect it upwards harmlessly.
"No!" he screamed, frustrated. "Lieutenant, get word to the ship quickly, we must follow them somehow as quickly as possible."
"My prince, I will send word at once… but getting the entire crew to the ship will take its time, we only have one glider." Jee said.
"No, get the parachutes, we will use them to glide to the coast ourselves, forget the provisions we have here, we still can get more on the way if we head to Chin Village. Hurry!" Zuko said.
"Right away!"
"And where is my uncle?!" Zuko asked another soldier, exasperated.
"I believe he said he was going to take a nap, sir." he answered.
Zuko's only response was to throw fire around him, absolutely furious.
----0000----
Lin was in a good mood. They had gotten a railway track all the way to New Ozai in almost record time and assimilated their delivery system with the help of earthbenders to feed supplies to great effect.
It was a great test and she was hopeful that they wouldn't run out of supplies in the future campaign. A few days back, she had received the official orders. She would march to Ba Sing Se with a convoy of armored trains and railway guns, while the army moved alongside them as they built the tracks that would give them the reach they needed to attack the outer walls.
Lin wanted the navy to also help her land troops on the other side to bait them and split their forces but with the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe capital no ships would be spared for her. She would have to come up with a strategy to storm the walls when they launch their attack.
At least the admiral in charge of the invasion had not deemed the gliders to be really an important asset and she would have all of the ones available for her campaign. Truly an oversight on his part whoever that was. They did not understand the power of an airforce.
With their full power she could attack earthbenders from above that would surely try to repair the wall, even while they were hammering with shells. She had equipped the gliders with more bombs, altering a bit the design of the artillery shells. They could offer close air support effectively, although they were lacking a machine gun of any type.
They still hadn't been able to replicate a rapid repeating rifle although the research for it was underway according to her father. Equipping the gliders with machine guns and then maybe engines would be the way to go in the future.
Although if they could win now, the war would be over and the need to develop more weapons would go down. Maybe she could introduce the idea of commercial planes and help her already rich family get even more rich.
As Lin arrived at New Ozai with the test train, Azula rushed to meet her in the station they had quickly built.
"Lin! You are back, and great timing. I have a present for you." Azula said smugly, handing her a scroll.
As she read the scroll, Lin couldn't help but smile. It is a report of how many people took the bait of rebellion; some were eliminated and others imprisoned. And there were even footnotes of the families threatened as well. A very successful mission again.
"Good job, my princess. This is a great gift." Lin said, smiling at her.
"Of course it is, it's me. Now, what is my reward?" she asked, expectantly.
"Well, I was going to suggest we take a small vacation actually, would that be a good enough reward?" Lin asked. "We still have to wait for the weapons to be built and assembled, and although I have some paperwork to do here and there, I should be able to manage that from Chin Village."
"Vacations sound nice. There is a beach close by. Or we could bring Toph and terrorize the Kyoshi islands again." Azula wondered aloud.
Lin chuckled. "I think I harassed them enough, we are trading with them already so let's not antagonize them further. Their wood is actually quite better than the one we can get ourselves in the region. Although the beach sounds nice."
"My family used to go to Ember island when I was a child. But I didn't bring swimming wear here. Maybe we can order one to be tailored for us, I hear Toph's family has nice fabrics and quality linen clothing."
"I suppose we can ask her then to get a few pieces ordered through her father for us. We could visit Gaoling ourselves to go buy them too. The trains are faster than expected after all, it would be a nice girl plan." Lin said, absentmindedly.
"Oh, great, I should get my things ready to depart then." Azula said, but she remained still. After a second of silence she seemed to hesitate, but then spoke clearly. "I missed you."
"Aw, I missed you as well, Azula." Lin said, hugging the young girl. It's true that in this life she had few friends, but she was glad that at least the ones she did have were loyal, competent and comfortable people to have around.
True, the princess could be too much at times and her humour was usually a bit sadistic or dark, but it was understandable for someone who grew up in the middle of a war. Back in her own world, people around her used to have similar humor as well.
There was a possibility that the young royal was not used to hugging though, she was too stiff and Azula didn't seem comfortable much. That obviously didn't mean that she couldn't get used to it so Lin assumed that was her royal upbringing and didn't think much of it and kept hugging her for a bit. She moved away as Captain Zhou coughed to get her attention.
"General, it's good to have you back." he said, fondly.
"Captain, get your things prepared, we are moving out, only the garrison and the administrative team will remain behind. New Ozai is to be managed by the Ukano family so they are to arrive soon." Lin informed him.
"Wait, Mai is coming here?" Azula asked, finally snapping out of it.
"Yes, she should arrive in the city with her family in a few days. Do you want us to wait for her before departing?"
"I would like to see Mai but we can visit her after our vacation, we have to go through this city anyway."
"As you say, Princess." Lin bowed. "Then I say we let Toph know about our plans, if we leave her behind she will be insufferable for a long time." Lin said, vehemently.
Azula rolled her eyes. "I don't know if she will like the beach that much, but yes, let's not leave her behind." Azula said.
"Wait, you are finally getting a vacation, General?!" asked Captain Zhou, surprised.
"Well… yes, I don't have much to do other than light paperwork before the next campaign so a few days of rest will be nice." Lin replied.
"Uhm, are we getting vacations as well?" Zhou asked, unsure.
"Yes, Captain, most of the officers are required to be on standby just in case but your next duties will be quite light. You better let everyone know." Lin said, seeing Zhou's face lit like a set of candles around an angry firebender.
"I thought I would never see the day." he said, happily. Lin scoffed.
----0000----
Aang kept looking ahead to the skies. Part of him expected to see the Fire Nation following them already, the angry teenager shouting from the back of one of those flying machines, or soldiers riding something else impossible that Aang had never seen before.
Another part of him wanted to forget the problem altogether. He never asked to be the Avatar and it was obvious that no statue would give him answers, even if it was a previous reincarnation depicted.
His hope for his people had been crushed, and he wanted to leave the temple behind with the ashes of his people. He held Appa's reins a little tighter.
"Where do we go next, Aang?" Katara asked from behind him.
Aang nodded without turning around. "We will head east then north through the continent."
"Good…" Sokka said. "Because after that very peaceful visit to the Fire Nation's secret mountain vacation home, I think we should keep moving before scarface finds a way to follow us."
"I agree, and we need to be careful, they might have alerted other Fire Nation soldiers. You remember the ship stranded in our village, Aang? They have thousands of them." Katara said.
"Yes, we should keep moving, they could have more of those flying machines as well." Sokka said worried.
"Appa is faster than them though."
Aang tried to smile, but the expression didn't stay for long. There were too many things to worry about and not many answers yet.
"It's good that we packed plenty of supplies, I think it should last long, maybe we can gather more later in the journey, there must be Earth Kingdom cities that the Fire Nation couldn't touch." Katara said, gently bringing the conversation back to something practical.
"Actually, now that you say that, I visited a friend of mine in Omashu. It was a great fortress in the mountains, if anyone was able to repel the Fire Nation it would be them, they are hardworking people and very pragmatic. They have this very complex delivery system with carts that would go mighty quick. I used to ride them with my friend Bumi."
"How far away is Omashu?" Sokka asked.
"Well… I'm not sure but I will know once I see some of the landmarks I know from my time."
"Well, alright then. As long as you don't burn more of our food we won't need to stop that much." Sokka said, wounded all over again. "Just don't feed it to a campfire."
Aang lowered his shoulders. "I thought it was for starting a fire."
"It was seasoned just the right way." Sokka lamented.
"It is not that great, Sokka." Katara admitted.
"How can you say that?" Sokka said, pointing at her as if she had committed treason. "It is one of the best foods we have in the South Pole. No one respects tragedy here."
Appa gave a low groan beneath them, and Aang patted the top of his head. "Appa needs to rest too. He hasn't flown this much in a long time, and he needs food as well, so we might stop more than you think."
"How much food exactly?" Sokka asked suspiciously.
Aang hesitated. "A lot. He is a vegetarian though, he can eat hay, fruits and vegetables, and sometimes even a few types of grass."
Sokka stared at the back of Appa's head. "Of course. Why would the giant flying bison not also be a giant eating bison?"
Katara gave him a tired look, but Aang felt a little grateful they didn't complain too much. In reality, Appa was trained to fly for a long period of time, he just didn't want to keep thinking about how everything was wrong with the world he used to know.
So now he was looking to distract himself a little and live life while still journeying to their destination. There was an island somewhere in the east that he wanted to visit again. He remembered the sunlight on the water, and Elephant Koi so large you could actually ride them as they surface constantly.
He remembered laughing and having a great time, even if he was scolded afterwards by his mentor. He remembered it fondly and it was a nice escape from the worries that didn't have an immediate solution either way.
He thought for a second if he should tell them where they were trying to go, but he was scared they might find it childish. If he told them, Sokka would probably say they didn't have time for riding fish while the Fire Nation was chasing them.
Katara might understand, but she would look at him with that worried softness that made him feel guilty. He didn't want either of those things. He just wanted one familiar place and a good enough time to forget for a bit what he just discovered.
"So, how far east are we going here before heading to the continent?" Katara said after a while.
Aang glanced back at her, then quickly looked ahead again. "I'm sure we will start seeing a set of islands, I don't remember which one it was that I have in my memory but the coast shouldn't change, right?"
Sokka narrowed his eyes. "You don't know where we are going?"
"Well… not exactly, but I will surely know when I see it." Aang said.
"That sounded like guessing."
"It was confident guessing."
Sokka groaned and leaned back against the saddle. "I hate confident guessing."
They followed the ocean for a while, passing coastlines, more mountains, and rocky islands that looked nothing like the place in Aang's memory. Each time he saw land ahead, he would stop to see if that was the one.
"Let's camp for the night and carry on tomorrow." Aang said, after a few hours of flying in different directions searching for it.
'When will my luck turn right?' Aang wondered, guiding Appa to land.
----0000----
Enjoy a meme Aurora, one of my readers, made:
https://i.imgur.com/8jHqhAJ.png