The Journey Continues

Start from the beginning
                                    

The universe, as always, seemed eager to prove him wrong. From the depths of the sea, a monstrous shape emerged, scales glinting in the firelight. A familiar sea serpent reared its head, its massive body coiling around their ship.

Sokka’s face fell into a deadpan expression. “The universe just loves to mess with me, doesn’t it?”

Before anyone could respond, a stray firebomb struck the serpent’s head, enraging the beast. It turned its attention to the enemy ship with a deafening roar, its serpentine body smashing into the vessel with ferocious power. The crew watched in awe as the sea serpent tore the Fire Nation ship apart, its fury unstoppable, this made Sokka threw his arms into the air as he shouted.

“Thank you, Universe!”

With the enemy ship destroyed, the crew breathed a collective sigh of relief, later that night as hours passed as they sailed away after the wreckage, the night calm and gentle. Sakura and Zuko decided to take a stroll below deck, both talking of random things, until they saw Katara rushing toward them, her face pale with panic.

“Guys! Aang is gone!”

Sakura and Zuko froze, their hearts sinking, and they began to Katara up to the deck, where Akoda was standing. Katara immediately called out to her dad and explained to her father that Aand was gone. But her panic soon turned to anger as she began to lash out.

“How could he just leave us? Doesn’t he care about the people he’s leaving behind?”

Katara went on and on how selfish Aang had acted, but Akoda’s expression softened, and he looked at her sadly as he spoke gently at her, but what he said had caused Katara's anger turn into grief.

“You're talking about me, are you?” he said gently.

“ How could you do this to us!? You left us too! You abandoned Sokka and me when we needed you the most!”

Tears welled in her eyes as she turned on Akoda, and Sakura and Zuko only stood there silently, unsure of how to intervene as Katara’s emotions poured out. Sakura was about to place a hand on Katara's shoulder to try and calm her down, but Zuko stopped her, only shaking his head that said that they shouldn't interfere, and those two need to talk things out. Akoda stepped closer, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder as he spoke quietly but gently to his weeping daughter.

“Katara, I know I hurt you, but I left because I thought I could do something about this war. But, seeing how strong you and Sokka have become... I’ve never been more proud. You’ve both grown into incredible warriors, and I’m honored to call you my children.”

Katara’s sobs quieted as she listened. Slowly, she leaned into Akoda’s embrace, her anger giving way to reconciliation. Sakura was touched by the scene, but Zuko looked at them with envy, but they said nothing. After Katara calmed down, and Akoda told them that they must go find Aang, and will meet in a few weeks, the search for Sokka and Toph. The crew gathered their belongings and boarded Appa, saying their goodbyes to the ship that had carried them this far. With heavy hearts, they set off in search of Aang, but it wasn’t long before they reached the Fire Nation. The volcano’s glow guided them to a secluded temple surrounded by molten lava. There, lying unconscious on a boulder, was Aang. They landed and rushed to his side, and Sakura knelt beside him, shaking his shoulder gently.

“Aang, wake up."

When his eyes fluttered open, everyone immediately began to scold him, especially Katara and Sakura, he was not even getting a chance at all.

“Do you have any idea how worried we were?”

“You can’t just leave us like that!”

Sakura demanded, her voice sharp with both anger and relief, and Katara scolded equally stern. But when Aang began to protest back, Sakura slap him across the face, hard, leaving a red handprint on his face. Everyone looked at her in shock, even Appa and Momo that flinced at the sound, and Aang, he only brought his hand to his face where he was slapped, still processing what had just happened. Katara looked at Sakura in bewildered, Zuko did not know how to react, Sokka gave her a look that said "what that really necessary", and Toph only began to crack a smirk, knowing what her big sister was going to do now.

"Aang! Right now you are acting like a selfish jerk! Who the fuck cares about honor right now!? What the fuck were you even planning doing!? Just look at you! You can barely stand on your own! You got shot by Azula just a few weeks ago and just woken up! Not to mention we found you passed out here from the pain and heat! And look at your glider, it's broken!"

As Sakura began to yell at him back and forth, and Aang could only look away as guilt began to etched on his face. Everyone could only watch as the Avatar was scolded by a very angry Sakura, none of them dared to make a sound. After a long moment, he finally nodded in agreement, his resolve strengthening. Without a word, he took his broken glider from Sakura, who had picked it up and used it to lecture him about it, and drove it into the ground, the action symbolic of a decision that weighed heavily on them all, the Avatar, for now, was no more.

...

And I am done, hope you all had enjoyed it!

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