Chapter Text
The icy wind whipped against the face of a young airbender perched atop his flying bison, soaring above the frozen sea below. He frowned; he didn't like leaving the temple children alone for long.
He was on one of his little expeditions (well, that's what he told the temple children. In reality, he was more of a routine patrol to make sure the Fire Nation wasn't nearby), and Appa was exhausted. They were still a long way from the Southern Air Temple.
Before Aang could stop it, the flying bison began its descent and crashed straight into an ice floe. They sank into the water for a few moments, but managed to surface a few seconds later. Aang dried them both off with a blast of air.
“I think you should have slept a little longer instead of playing with the kids, buddy,” Aang said to his flying bison, stroking its fur with a small smile. Appa just snorted; the water had fully awakened him, and he was already preparing to take flight again and continue his journey home.
But what happened next stopped them both in their tracks.
Several small bubbles appeared on the surface of the water right in front of them, and a small patch of water began to glow with an intense blue hue. Appa moved away slightly just as a large, almost spherical iceberg appeared on the surface, swaying a little and creating small waves that didn't manage to move the flying bison.
Aang stared at the iceberg, confused by what had just happened. Finally, he realized that inside that giant block of ice were two people: a boy and a girl.
Suddenly, the girl's eyes opened, glowing bright white.
She was alive! That was all he could think, completely ignoring the fact that those eyes were glowing. He had to help her. He quickly turned to Appa's mount, searching for anything that could help him free them. He grabbed his glider and his gaze returned to the iceberg. Maybe he could use airbending to try and free them.
He wasn't very good at it; he'd barely learned a few moves before... He shook his head. He didn't want to think about it again. He had to focus on helping those two people. That's what Gyatso would have wanted.
He carefully dismounted the flying bison, standing on a piece of ice that had surely been part of the ice floe they had crashed into earlier. He took a deep breath and carefully lifted his body for a moment. Then, with a swift motion, he struck the ground with his glider, unleashing a powerful blast of air at the iceberg.
He managed to create a small crack in the ice. The boy repeated the movement about four more times until he finally broke through the surface. A powerful gust of wind escaped from the iceberg's interior, and in a massive explosion, the top of the orb shattered.
Aang watched in awe as a beam of light shot from the iceberg's core into the sky. It hadn't been completely blown away thanks to Appa, who had positioned himself behind his owner to protect him. He thanked him silently, absentmindedly stroking his white fur.
From a distance, a Fire Nation ship sailed across the icy waters. A boy stood on the deck, gazing at the sky in awe.
"Finally!" He turned to look at the other person with him, an older man seated at a small table with a board game and a teapot on it. "Uncle Iroh, do you realize what this means?"
"That I won't be able to finish my game?" the man replied calmly, his gaze still fixed on the game piece he was playing.
His nephew turned away again, his back to his uncle. He stared intently at the light once more. "It means my quest is about to end."
Iroh sighed, uninterested in where the conversation had gone.
"That light came from an incredibly powerful source!" the teenager said, pointing at the light, which disappeared after a few seconds, the sky returning to normal. "It has to be him!"
“Or it’s just the celestial lights. We’ve been through this before, Prince Zuko,” she replied, glancing at the small piece of wood in her hand, carved with the water symbol. “I don’t want you to get too excited about anything.”
He placed the tile on top of another tile carved with the fire symbol. After placing it there, he smiled and pointed to the empty space across the table. “Please, sit down. Why not enjoy a cup of jasmine tea to relax?”
The prince glared at his uncle. “I don’t need calming tea! I need to capture the Avatar!”
“Helmsman, set course for the light!” Zuko ordered, his hand pointing in the direction of the light. Iroh calmly continued his game, placing another water tile on top of the previous one.
Aang continued to look around in amazement. Light still enveloped the remains of the ancient ice block, now reduced to a hollow crater.
Instinctively, he raised his glider, its tip pointed at the crater. But he lowered it slowly as one of the figures emerged from the iceberg.
"Stop!" the boy ordered, but his voice lacked conviction. His hands trembled slightly, but he still gripped his glider tightly. Appa growled behind him, the animal preparing to defend its owner if necessary.
The figure, now standing on the ice, looked down at them with those bright eyes. Aang realized it was the girl and returned her gaze, filled with astonishment and fear, but above all, bewilderment.
Her eyes ceased to shine and her eyelids closed. She let out a whimper as her weak body fell toward the ground. The airbender reacted swiftly, dropping his glider and running toward her, managing to catch her just in time. Carefully, he gently laid the girl against the base of the crater and couldn't help but admire her.
Her skin was tan, and her wavy brown hair swayed in the wind. And when she opened her eyes, they weren't the same bright eyes as before; they were eyes of a beautiful, deep blue.
He couldn't help but stare at her in wonder; he'd never seen anyone like her in his entire life.
"I need to ask you something..." were the words that came from the mysterious girl's mouth.
"What?"
"What's that behind you?" she murmured, her eyes now fixed on the flying bison, which was still keeping a respectful distance.
"That's Appa, my flying bison," he replied.
She looked at the animal for a few more seconds and then her gaze returned to the boy in front of her. "Can I ask you something else?"
"...Yes?"
"Can we go for a ride with Appa?" she asked suddenly, her tone cheerful and hopeful.
Aang blinked, visibly confused. "Uh, sure... I guess..."
The girl stood up, looking around. “What’s going on here?”
“I think you’re the one who should answer that question,” Aang told her. He went over to where his glider lay and picked it up. He turned to her, ready to start questioning her.
Why were you inside that iceberg? Why aren’t you frozen? Are you from the Fire Nation?
These were the main questions on Aang’s mind. But he couldn’t get a word out when he heard a gasp coming from inside the iceberg’s crater. He finally remembered that there had actually been two people inside the ice.
The girl’s eyes widened, as if she recognized who the gasp was coming from. Quickly, she climbed up the ice ridge and slid down. Aang followed her, doing the same.
“Spirits!” She murmured, the boy who had been beside her on the iceberg now lying on the ground, covered in snow. The snow melted at an abnormal rate, and a few seconds later, water from the melted snow was floating over him.
Aang's gaze turned to the girl, who, with a simple flick of her wrists, directed the water toward the ocean.
"You're... you're a waterbender," the words escaped his lips as he processed everything.
She nodded, crouching down to help the boy on the ground. He was identical to her, also dark-skinned with brown hair. His eyes opened, the same blue as hers. He looked at her for a few seconds before speaking, "Ugh, everything hurts. Thanks, Katara."
"You're welcome, Sokka," she replied as Aang approached them.
Katara gently helped him to his feet. Finally, Sokka noticed the other boy, pulling a club from its sheath on his back and quickly going on the defensive. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
“I’m Aang, and I think you’re the one who should answer the last question,” the airbender repeated.
“Put your club down, Sokka,” Katara scolded him, then turned to Aang with an embarrassed smile. “Nice to meet you, I’m Katara, and as you can see, this is Sokka. He’s my twin.”
Aang smiled back, giving a small bow. “The pleasure is all mine.”
“Are you from around here?” she asked.
“You could say that, I’m from the Southern Air Temple.” The twins’ eyes widened at his answer.
“An airbender! No wonder you have a flying bison!” Katara exclaimed excitedly.
“I thought airbenders had… you know… tattoos,” Sokka said, pointing at Aang’s bald head.
"You get the tattoos by mastering the 36 basic airbending techniques. Normally, you get them between the ages of 18 and 20. But I'm only 14," he explained.
"And are you two travelers? There are never any people around here, you know, it's just ice," he asked them.
The brothers looked at each other for a few seconds, and very awkwardly answered at the same time. "Yes! We're travelers."
"Actually," Sokka began, closing his eyes for a moment. "I think we should continue our journey. Thank you so much for getting us out of there, Aang!"
"And how are you going to get out of here?" Aang asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"With our canoe, obviously!"
"Which canoe?"
"It's there!" the boy exclaimed proudly, turning around to point at their supposed canoe, but there were only broken pieces of wood on the ice. His blue eyes widened, his legs gave way, and his knees hit the ice. "NOOO!"
Katara could only stare in disgust at her brother's pathetic scream; he was acting as if he were being burned alive.
"Well, if you're stuck, Appa and I can take you to the Southern Air Temple. You can spend the night, and tomorrow morning I can drop you off on the Earth Kingdom shores," Aang offered. It would only be a couple of days' journey; the children would be fine.
"Really? We'd love that!" she smiled enthusiastically. They both started moving across the ice to head back to Appa.
“Katara, we can’t just go off with a stranger!” Sokka jumped up from the ground, chasing after the other two. When he saw the flying bison, his voice grew more desperate. “Oh no! I’m not getting on that hairy monster!”
Aang leaped onto Appa’s mount and offered Katara his hand, helping her up. “Are you waiting for some other monster to show up and take you? You know, before you freeze to death?”
Sokka opened his mouth, pointing at his sister, ready to retort. But nothing came to mind. He sighed in defeat and, with the airbender's help, climbed onto the bison's saddle. He sat with his arms crossed, his expression clearly angry.
A stark contrast to Katara's, who wore a wide, excited, and eager smile.
"Alright, first-time passengers, hold on tight! Appa, yip-yip!" Aang whipped Appa's reins, and the animal growled in response. Its tail twitched up and down, and it leaped high into the air. The bison soared for a few seconds, looking as if it might fly, before crashing heavily into the water with a loud splash. The flying bison began to move slowly across the surface.
Katara crawled to the front of the saddle as Aang whipped the reins again, but Appa didn't take off. "Wow, that was really amazing..." Sokka huffed, his sister glaring at him.
"He must still be tired. That's why we found you," Aang apologized, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. "It's still better if we go like this, so he saves his energy for when we go up to the temple."
"Don't worry, Aang," Katara said, smiling at him. He smiled back, and as he turned to lead Appa, he realized she was still smiling at him.
"Why are you smiling at me like that?" Aang asked shyly.
"Oh, was I smiling?" she murmured, her face turning red.
Sokka threw his head back, sticking his tongue out in disgust and groaning loudly. His sister glared at him, completely mortified.
Appa continued on through the icy ocean, wagging his tail in the water.
Prince Zuko stood at the helm of his ship, his gaze distant.
His uncle approached him. “I’m going to bed,” he yawned, stretching his arms. “Yes, a man needs rest.”
After a brief pause, Iroh abandoned his attempt at a subtle suggestion and stated his request more clearly, in a weary tone. “Prince Zuko, you need to sleep. Even if you’re right and the Avatar is alive, you won’t find him. Your father, your grandfather, and your great-grandfather all tried and failed.”
“Because their honor didn’t depend on capturing the Avatar. Mine does. This coward’s hundred years in hiding are over.”
Aang lay on his back, his arms tucked under his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. Katara slid forward in the saddle to get a better look at him. She leaned back on the front of the saddle and rested her head on her arm. It was getting dark, and her brother was fast asleep.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" she whispered, trying not to wake Sokka
"I guess I was wondering, since you're a waterbender, do you have any idea what happened to the Avatar?" he asked.
Katara froze.
"Oh, no. I didn't know the Avatar. I mean, Sokka and I knew people who knew him, but I didn't. Sorry." She gave him a weak, suddenly nervous smile.
"It's okay. I was just curious." Aang looked visibly disappointed for a few seconds, but he smiled back at her. “You should try to get some sleep. You’ll need to save your energy for when we’re about to reach the temple.”
Katara nodded, murmuring a goodnight as she turned away uncomfortably. Her expression was guilty.
Did news of our disappearance spread that quickly?
She shook her head. She would try to ask Aang discreetly when she could. He was right; it was best to sleep. She settled back in the saddle and closed her eyes. Everything was going to be alright.
"Sokka, Katara, wake up." Aang's voice woke them both. Well, only Sokka. Katara wasn't able to sleep; she simply pretended to.
When she got up, she noticed it was still night, and they were surrounded by mountains.
Aang was sitting on Appa's head, smiling at them. "Now then, let's fly. Appa, yip yip!"
The bison let out a roar, startling the novice passengers. Appa slapped the water with his tail and began to move faster and faster until he finally took flight and soared into the air.
The siblings held onto the saddle, completely amazed and excited. "He's flying! He's flying! Katara, he's flying!"
Katara could easily have mocked her brother's enthusiasm, who had seemed completely indifferent just hours before. But she was just as excited as he was. "Yes, he's flying!"
Aang watched them and chuckled. He'd been surprised to see people's reactions to something that seemed so ordinary to him. "Well, now hold on tight. The climb to the temple isn't very friendly."
"Why? I don't think it'll be that bad—" Sokka began, but was interrupted by Aang, who said "Yip yip" once more. The bison began its final ascent of the day, its body twisting upwards. The brothers gripped the saddle tightly, closing their eyes.
Appa followed the flight up the mountain, through the clouds. It soared over a final tree-covered ridge, finally revealing the temple.
The temple wasn't very visible due to the darkness of the night. But what little they saw, thanks to the moonlight, completely amazed them both.
Aang glanced over his shoulder to make sure his passengers hadn't fallen in on the way up. Seeing that they hadn't, he sighed and smiled, turning his gaze back to the front. "The view of the temple is beautiful during the day."
The siblings nodded, still unable to form a single word, much less a sentence.
Katara didn't remember much of what happened next: sleep was about to completely overtake her as Aang led them to some rooms so they could rest.
The last thing she saw before falling asleep was the view of the sky through the bedroom window.
She had a plan, a good plan. But her brother ruined it. He caught her trying to sneak out of the house and decided he would go with her.
So together they managed to steal their father's canoe. The strong wind whipped against their faces: a storm was approaching, and they had no time to turn back. The rain began, and soon the first flash of lightning arrived, its thunder making them both shudder.
They tried to keep the canoe steady, but the powerful waves tossed them around, throwing them into the water. It all happened so fast, their bodies sinking beneath the surface, her brother shouting her name only to have his cries drowned out.
It all ended with a flash of white light.
Katara wakes with a start, her breathing ragged. She looks around and realizes she's no longer in Appa's saddle. She's sitting on a bed, in a room that isn't hers. At some point the day before, they had landed at the Southern Air Temple; that airbender must have brought them to these rooms.
"Good morning," Aang greeted cheerfully, suddenly appearing in the doorway, startling her. "Did you sleep well?"
The waterbender nods distractedly, getting out of bed as she surveys the room more thoroughly. She doesn't notice the boy staring at her intently before he composes himself and approaches her, gently taking her arm. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the temple. Sokka is waiting for us."
Aang drags Katara through the temple corridors. She notices that it's visibly empty. She frowns slightly. She'd heard that air temples were known for being full of life and joy, but this one was completely silent except for the sound of their footsteps.
Sokka appears in a corner, complaining that the beds are too hard and his back hurts. The airbender completely ignores him, grabbing his arm and pulling him along to the temple courtyard.
A group of children are there, all staring at the sky, as if waiting for something. When they hear footsteps, they turn around and immediately rush to Aang, who by this point has already let go of the twins and opened his arms to welcome the children, some of whom are crying.
"Aang! We thought something had happened to you!" said one of them, clutching the fabric of his clothes, which Katara noticed were far too big to have originally belonged to him.
"We were so worried when you didn't come back," sobbed another child.
Aang crouched down and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, guys, I got home really late last night and didn't mean to wake you." He quickly remembers the reason for his lateness and stands up.
"Katara, Sokka, these are all the inhabitants of the Southern Air Temple. Kids, these are Katara and Sokka."
The children separated from Aang and bowed respectfully to the teenagers before them, who looked clearly bewildered. "Did you just say they're all the inhabitants of this temple?" Katara murmured.
"They're all kids!" exclaimed her brother, gesturing uselessly with his hands.
The airbender kept his face neutral, but his gaze darkened slightly. He was about to speak when another curious child asked Katara, "What's that you have tied around your waist?"
"Oh, this? It's a canteen. I use it to store water for emergencies."
"Like when you're thirsty?"
The girl laughed and shook her head, opening the canteen. "I guess so. But I could also use it for this."
Her hand moved gracefully, the water flowing from the canteen and following her movements. The children gasped in amazement; even Aang seemed still surprised by her ability to control water.
"You're a waterbender," said one of the children, his eyes sparkling, having finally recovered from his shock. Katara nodded and looked at Sokka; they both smiled at each other. But those smiles quickly faded when a child spoke. "We thought they were extinct!"
The water she had been controlling almost fell into the water at those words, but she quickly regained control and returned it to her canteen with trembling hands. "Extinct...?"
One of the children, who seemed to be close in age to Aang (who appeared to be the oldest there), stepped forward. "No one has seen a waterbender in 100 years."
The airbender approached quickly. "This is Kelsang."
"You can call me Kel," the boy said.
Katara and Sokka remained with worried expressions, the weight of extinct still on their minds. The children continued to bombard the twins with questions until Aang decided that enough was enough.
"Okay, okay, give them a break!" the airbender said. The children tried to protest, but Aang was already leading Katara and Sokka away.
"Sorry, we haven't had visitors in a long time," the boy apologized.
Katara smiled; she was several steps ahead of them. "Don't worry, it was fun talking to them."
The warrior nodded, his hand resting on the temple walls. "That said... what did you mean by 'waterbenders are extinct'? Or why aren't there any adults in this temple?"
Aang looked down at the ground, his steps halting. "The war has caused all this."
Sokka stopped abruptly. "War?" He sounded confused, he looked confused.
But before either of them could say anything, Katara, who had been distracted from the conversation, started running with a smile on her face. "Spirits, that's a lemur!"
Sokka sighed, ready to go after his sister, but Aang placed his hand on his shoulder. "I'll go get her. Recharge your energy for when we begin our journey to the shores of the Earth Kingdom."
The airbender quickly reached Katara, who was standing in front of a tree with her hands outstretched in the air. "Come on, come here! I promise I'm friendly."
On one of the tree's branches was a lemur, climbing higher and higher, surely frightened by the waterbender's presence. "If you keep shouting, it's clear it won't come down."
Katara jumped at the boy's voice, turning her head sharply toward him as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Right, I think I got a little carried away."
The airbender approached her and, with a smile, proposed the following: "I'll help you with the lemur if you teach me airbending."
"Deal!" she said immediately. She soon realized it was impossible. "But there's a problem, I'm a waterbender, not an airbender. Is there really no monk in this temple who could teach you?"
Aang tensed visibly, pain flashing briefly in his stormy eyes. "You're speaking to the person who's closest to being an airbending master in the entire Southern Air Temple."
"But... why? This doesn't make sense. An airbender needs to master the air. This temple can't be inhabited only by children, Aang..." He turned completely to face him. "What happened to the adults?"
"Sokka and I were just about to talk about it, but you ran off to chase that lemur," Aang said, with what he wanted to be a smile, but it was weak and fake.
Katara shrank back, embarrassed. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. It doesn't matter. We can talk about this when we're with Sokka, maybe when we're traveling? It's going to be a long trip, and we'll need something to keep us from getting bored." He was avoiding the topic; it was so obvious that Katara noticed it immediately.
"Why don't you go to one of the other Air Temples? Surely there's someone there who could teach you. Sokka and I can go with you!"
"Maybe, but we haven't had any contact with the other temples in years."
"And I can't abandon the children," Aang whispered.
"I'm sure they'll be fine. In fact, I think they'd support you!" The airbender simply nodded at what she said. So, she decided to change the subject. "Well... then, will you help me catch that lemur?"
Cheerfulness returned to the boy. "Good, listen carefully, young student. Lemurs are very intelligent animals. What I'm about to show you is an ancient and sacred art." His hand pulled a moon peach from his robes; they were so large that he apparently used them to store things. "Watch!"
Aang made a noise very similar to the ones she had heard from the lemur. The animal turned toward him, and the airbender took the opportunity to throw the fruit. With airbending, he made the moon peach continue circling the lemur, which grabbed the fruit with its tail, sniffed it, and ate it in seconds. The boy took out another moon peach and offered it to him with a smile.
The animal flew toward him, landing on his shoulder and looking at him with those big green eyes. It tried to snatch the moon peach, but Aang threw it to the waterbender, who barely managed to catch it. The lemur flew quickly to Katara's shoulder, who laughed at the animal's restless tail movement. "Do you have a name, little friend?"
She offered him the fruit, and he quickly took it with his small hands to eat it. She gently stroked his head. "I think I'll call you Momo."
"That name suits him perfectly," Aang commented. He was looking at her with such a warm smile that it made her blush, so she focused all her attention on the sensation of the fur beneath her skin.
They stayed like that for a few moments. Tranquility, something she hadn't felt in a long time, not since the revelation of her true nature. Being treated like one of them was the best thing that had happened to her in a long time. "Aang."
"Hmm?"
"Can we visit more parts of the temple?" Excitement filtered through the girl's voice.
"Of course! There are plenty of places I'm sure you'll love."
He was absolutely right. She loved all the places he showed her. She was entertained watching Aang demonstrate how to play airball, and he showed her the kitchen and the gardens. Finally, they arrived at a courtyard with a fountain in the center.
Katara noticed the water was frozen, and with her bending, she returned it to its liquid state. She realized the airbender wasn't beside her and looked around, confused.
She saw him; at some point, he must have climbed the steps ahead. "Aang?"
The boy turned toward her, revealing a statue of a monk. "I'd like to introduce you to someone."
Katara carefully stepped onto the worn stones beneath her feet. She remained silent, waiting for him to speak. She could see the sadness in his gray eyes. "This is Monk Gyatso; he was one of the head monks of this temple."
"When he baked fruit cakes, he always had an extra one for the two of us," he smiled, remembering. Aang clenched his jaw, his head bowed, and a tear escaped his eye before he could stop it. "G-Gyatso… Gyatso died protecting us when the firebenders attacked our temple."
The girl's eyes widened. "Firebenders attacked this place? Why would they? Is it because of that supposed war you mentioned? Because I've never seen one."
"Katara," the airbender turned to her. "How long were you and your brother on the iceberg?"
"I don't know... Maybe a day or three days?" she murmured.
Aang shook his head. "I think it was more like a hundred years."
The waterbender's eyes widened in disbelief. "What?! That's impossible! Do I look like a 116-year-old girl to you?!"
"Think about it! The war is a century old. You don't know because, somehow, you were there the whole time," he could see Katara's expression shift to one of understanding as he spoke. "It's the only explanation."
She took a few steps back, looking like she might collapse at any moment from the revelation, from all that it implied. So, just as she seemed about to fall, the airbender moved nimbly forward, pulling her into his arms.
"A hundred years," she murmured sadly against his shoulder. "I can't believe it."
"I'm sorry, Katara. Maybe there's something good in all this..." He gently pulls her close. But she shifts so they're face to face.
"That I got to know you," the waterbender says with an infectious smile, making him smile so warmly his heart skips a beat.
Aang takes her hand, making her blush. "Come on, didn't you want me to take you for a ride with Appa?"
"Wow, the view is beautiful from up here!" Katara exclaims, her hands gripping the saddle of the flying bison as she leans forward. Her hair billows in the wind.
"Yeah," the boy whispers, stunned by her beauty, the wind carrying his words. "It really is."
He signals to Appa to continue flying without him, and the animal gruns in agreement. The airbender moves away from his friend's head and jumps onto the saddle, sitting beside Katara.
They sit there, taking in the landscape the spirits have blessed them with. Minutes pass like this, in complete silence, with only each other for company.
Until the waterbender notices something in the distance. "Hey, isn't that a boat?"
Aang tenses completely, his gaze immediately shifting to where Katara's hand is pointing in the middle of the sea.
A Fire Army ship.
"No…" This can't be happening. Why did they have to show up right now? "We have to leave before they see us."
"Aang," Katara calls, But he's already in Appa's head in record time. Her blue eyes return to where the ship was. "I think they did it!"