A/N: Sorry this chapter is so late. I got caught up in playing a game that's been on my list for a while.
It took all night to get close to the Southern Air Temple, so we made camp. My sleeping roll is near Appa and Aang, but Sokka's is further away from me. I guess he still doesn't trust me yet. I wake up with the sun, and so do Aang and Katara, but Sokka's still asleep. We started packing up out things while waiting for Sokka to wake up.
Aang exclaims, "Wait 'til you see it, Katara! The Air Temple is one of the most beautiful places in the world!"
I add, "Yeah, the Sourthern Temple is one of the most majestic and spiritual places I've ever seen!"
Katara turns to face us, saying, "Guys, I know you're excited, but it's been a hundred years since you've been home."
Aang smiles broadly, saying, "That's why we're so excited! Right, Ryu?"
I nod as Katara says, "It's just that... a lot can change in all that time."
Aang says, "I know, but I need to see it for myself."
I frown, adding, "I need to see what they did to my home."
I see Katara avoiding my gaze, so Aang and I head over to a snoring Sokka. It's mid-morning now, and we've been awake for a few hours now.
Aang cheerfully says, "Wake up, Sokka! Air Temple, here we come!"
Sokka opens his eyes for a second, then closes them.
He grunts sleepily, "Ugh. Sleep now. Temple later."
Sokka turns around, lays on his stomach, and falls back asleep. Aang's eyes blink in surprise, then he smiles mischievously. He grabs a small, thin stick, and looks at me. I smile mischievously back, and Aang drags the stick across Sokka's back.
I say in a fake alarmed voice, "Sokka! Wake up!"
As I stifle a giggle, Aang adds, "There's a prickle snake in your sleeping bag!"
Sokka screams out in horror, "Ahh! Get it off! Get it off! Ahh!"
I burst out in laughter as he hops out of his sleeping bag, and he glares angrily at me, realizing it was a prank.
Aang says happily, "Great, you're awake! Let's go!"
Sokka mutters something under his breath, and we soon fly toward the Temple on Appa. As we reach the Potola Mountain range, Sokka's stomach growls loudly.
He clutches his stomach, saying, "Hey stomach, be quiet, alright? I'm trying to find us some food."
He starts going through his bag and grabs a small pouch. He tries to dump its contents in his mouth, but it's empty. He dumps it into his hand, and a few crumbs fall out.
He exclaims, "Hey! Who ate my blubbering seal jerky?! Ryuza, what did you do with my food?!"
I scoff, replying, "First, how could I open a small draw-string bag with one arm? Second, I'm allergic to seafood. Lastly, I thought we were on good terms after yesterday!"
Sokka huffs, crossing his arms, saying, "Whatever."
Aang says, "Wait, that was food? I used it to start the campfire last night. Sorry."
I huff, "See? It wasn't me!"
Sokka ignores me, exclaiming, "You what?! Aw, no wonder the flames smelled so good."
Appa ascends the mountains, and Aang exclaims, "The Potola Mountain range! We're almost there!"
Katara says, "Aang, Ryuza, before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the airbenders."
Aang asks, "What about 'em?"
I frown as she says, "Well, I just want you two to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother, and they could've done the same to your people."
I stay silent as Aang says, "Just because no one has seen an airbender doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped!"
While I want to believe him, I know that Katara's probably right. I've seen first-hand how my Nation has fallen, and they've most likely just gotten worse with time.
Katara puts a hand on my shoulder, and one on Aang's, saying, "I know it's hard to accept."
Aang says, "You don't understand, Katara. The only way to get to an airbender Temple is on a flying bison, and I doubt the Fire Nation has any flying bison! Right, Ryu?"
I sigh, responding, "No, they didn't have bison, but many firebenders had dragons."
Aang shrugs, saying to Appa, "Yip yip!"
Appa rapidly ascends the tall mountains, going at a steep incline. Katara had tears in her eyes, and her and Sokka held onto Appa's saddle tightly. Aang and I were used to this, so we didn't have to hold on. It wasn't a steep enough incline for anyone to fall off, anyway.
Aang says, "There it is. The Southern Air Temple."
Katara exclaims, "Aang, it's amazing!"
Aang and I smile, and he says, "We're home, Ryu."
I add, "Yeah. We're home."
Appa lands at the edge of the cliff, and we start walking up the mountain trail.
Sokka clutches his stomach again as we walk, asking, "So, where do I get something to eat?"
Katara asks, "You're lucky enough to be one of the first outsiders to ever visit an airbemder temple, and all you can think about is food?"
Sokka responds, "I'm just a simple guy with simple needs."
I mutter, "And a bottomless pit of a stomach."
Apparently they heard me, because Sokka glares at me, and Katara giggles. I zone out as Aang brought us around the temple, remembering how lush and beautiful this place used to be.
I zone back in as Katara asks, "What's wrong?"
Aang responds, "This place used to be full of monks and lemurs and bison. Now there's just a bunch of weeds."
I add, "It's just another grim reminder of where I came from."
Aang said, "I can't believe how much things have changed."
I pulled Aang into a hug and saw Sokka and Katara's sympathetic expressions.
Sokka says, "So uh, this airball game. How do you play?"
Aang cheers up, explaining the rules.
After a few rounds, Katara asks me, "Why don't you play?"
I respond, "It's a game for airbenders to teach them how to dodge and redirect blasts. I doubt Sokka wants a ball of fire launched at him when he can't even dodge airballs. I play with Aang all the time, though."
Katara nods, and Sokka is flung from the arena again.
Aang jumps in joy, exclaiming, "Aang: seven, Sokka: zero!"
I look at Sokka lying in the dirt, a miserable look on his face.
He says, "Making him feel better is putting me in a world of hurt."
I smile, saying, "Don't worry, I'll play a few rounds with Aang."
I head into the arena, and Aang smugly asks, "You ready to lose again?"
I stretch my arm over my head, replying, "It's been a hundred years and three months since you lost. I'm ready to break that streak." Aang and I giggle at each other's small talk, and I ask, "Ready?"
Aang asks, "Set?"
We both shout in unison, "Go!"
He moves his hands around, forming a giant airball as I launch a big fireball at him. He moves the airball to hit the surrounding poles, and he launches a blast of air at my fireball, dissipating it. I learned from last time, so I sent a second fireball that forced him to dodge. He moved around the arena, dodging my fireblasts and sending airblasts at me. I dodged his airblast, hopping to the side. We were now both away from our goals.
We took a moment to watch each other, preparing for the other to attack, when Katara yells, "Aang! Ryuza! There's something you need to see!"
Aang looked at her, giving me the distraction I was looking for, and I blasted a fireball at Aang's goal, winning the game.
Aang groans, "Oh, come on. Really?!"
As we head back over to Sokka and Katara, I exclaims, "Yeah! I finally beat you! I broke your winning streak! Woohoo!"
As we get closer to Katara, she waterbends the snow to cover Sokka.
Aang asks, "Okay, what is it?"
Sokka brushes the snow off, glaring at his sister as she responds, "Uh... Just a new waterbending move I learned."
Aang says, "Nice one! But enough practicing, we have a whole temple to see!"
I high-five Katara, saying, "Thanks for distracting him. I finally beat his winning streak!"
I smile wide, chasing after Aang as he ran off through the temple. Sokka and Katara finally caught up with us as we walked through the courtyard. They stayed near the entrance whispering to each other as Aang and I explored it.
We finally made it to Monk Gyatso's statue, and Aang exclaims, "Hey, guys! I want you to meet somebody!"
The siblings headed over to us, and Sokka asks, "Who's that?"
Aang responds, "Monk Gyatso! The greatest airbender in the world. He taught me everything I know."
I add, "He was our guardian. Air Nomads don't really have family structures, so they're basically raised as a community. Gyatso was Aang's airbending master and he even taught me."
Katara asks me, "How did he know firebending stances?"
I respond, "Well, as a nomadic society, they regularly traveled the world. They learned how to apply other Nation's bending stances to airbending. Like this."
I closed my eyes and held my hand out, palm up. A small fire was resting on my palm. I took in a slow breath, and the fire shrank. I let out a deep breath, and it grew. I peeked an eye open, disappating the fire as I saw Sokka and Katara's shocked expressions.
Katara asked, "How did you do that?!"
I smiled, responding, "Gyatso taught me that firebending comes from the breath, not the muscles. That was one of my first lessons with him."
Aang smiles, adding, "Gyatso was the best."
We both bow to the statue of our master.
I whisper to Katara, "Plus, he helped us play pranks on the monks. Airbenders had a great sense of humor."
Katara smiles, then says, "You guys must miss him."
I sadly nod, and Aang responds, "Yeah."
He started walking away toward the sanctuary, and Katara asked, "Where are you going?"
Aang responds, "The Air Temple Sanctuary. There's someone I'm ready to meet."
We walk through a long, tall hallway, reaching the giant door.
Katara says, "But Aang, no one could have survived in there for a hundred years."
Aang says in a hopeful tone, "It's not impossible. Ryuza and I survived in the iceberg for that long."
Katara thinks for a second, then says, "Good point."
Aang excitedly says, "Katara, whoever's in there might help figure out this Avatar thing!"
Sokka started drooling as he adds, "And whoever's in there might have a medley of delicious cured meats!"
I say, "Not likely. All Air Nomads were vegetarian, and believed that all life is sacred."
Sokka rolls his eyes, then charges at the door, smacking head first into it. He tries to push it with his back, then slides down to the floor, disappointed.
He asks, "I don't suppose you have a key?"
Aang responds, "The key, Sokka, is airbending."
Aang takes a deep breath, then sends a controlled air current into the tube on the door. The wind blows out of the tube like a horn, flipping it and in turn flipping the other tubes as well. When they're all flipped, the door slowly starts to open, revealing a dark room that brightens slightly as the door fully opens, revealing hundred of statues in a spiral, even going around the walls high up.
Aang asks, "Hello? Anyone home?"
Sokka asks, "Statues? That's it? Where's the meat?"
Katara asks, "Who are all these people?"
Aang responds, "I'm not sure, but it feels like I know them somehow. Look! That one's an airbender!"
Katara adds, "And this one's a waterbender. They're lined up in a pattern. Air, water, earth, and fire."
Aang says, "That's the Avatar Cycle."
Katara says, "Of course. They're Avatars. All these people are your past lives, Aang."
Aang exclaims, "Wow! There are so many!"
We walk to the center of the spiral of statues, and the statue in the center is a familiar face.
Aang keeps staring at him until Katara exclaims, "Aang! Snap out of it!"
He says, "Huh?"
Katara asks, "Who is that?"
Aang responds, "That's Avatar Roku, the Avatar before me."
Sokka asks, "You were a firebender? No wonder I didn't trust you when we first met."
I clear my throat loudly, then say, "That's my father. He died when I was young."
Sokka mutters something under his breath as Katara exclaims, "Your father was an Avatar?!"
I nod, replying, "Yeah. I don't remember him much, though."
Just then, we hear a noise near the entrance of the sanctuary. We hide behind statues, ready to attack. Aang and Katara are hiding behind one statue, and Sokka and I are hiding behind another statue.
Sokka holds his hand to my mouth as he whispers, "Firebender. Nobody make a sound."
Katara whisper-shouts, "You're making a sound!"
Aang and Sokka shush her.
Sokka raises his club, whispering, "That firebender won't know what hit him."
I kick him off of me, finally freeing my mouth as I whisper, "You mean like that?"
He stumbles out of the cover of the statue as we see a small lemur at the entrance of the sanctuary.
Aang exclaims, "Lemur!"
Sokka exclaims, "Dinner!"
Aang gets closer to the lemur, saying, "Don't listen to him. You're going to be my new pet."
Sokka exclaims, "Not if I get him first!"
He lunges for the lemur, and it flies away. The boys run off through the hallway after the lemur, and I run after them, keeping pace with Sokka and behind Aang. He uses an air-scooter to go faster.
I say to Sokka, "You're not going to get him! I'm not gonna let you eat an endangered animal!"
I shove him, and he falls behind me, then runs again. We chase the lemur all through the temple, and it finally lands just outside a tent.
Aang says, "Hey! Come back! Come on out, little lemur! That hungry guy won't bother you anymore."
I add, "You're safe with us, little guy."
Aang and I follow the lemur inside the tent, seeing a pile of skeletons in Fire Nation armor.
Aang asks, "Firebenders? They were here?"
It's one thing to hear about it, and another to actually see it. At the end of the pile, Aang and I see a skeleton wearing Air Nomads clothes and Gyatso's necklace.
I stutter out, "G- Gyatso?"
We look at each other with tears in our eyes, silently confirming with each other what we already know. Gyatso fended off the soldiers just long enough to take them out, and died with them. We both drop to our knees, and I bring Aang into a hug to help soothe him. He knew Gyatso better than I did, but it still hurt to see him like this.
Sokka walks into the tent, happily asking, "Hey guys, you find my dinner yet?"
I glare at him, thankful that Aang has his back to Sokka.
He notices the tears in my eyes, and says, "Relax. I wasn't really going to eat the lemur, okay?"
I exclaim, "You really think this is about the lemur? Look around you, numbskull!"
He looked confused, then I saw his eyes widen as he peered past us.
He muttered, "Oh, man. Come on, guys. Everything will be alright. Let's get out of here."
I wiped a stray tear from my eye and got up, reaching my hand out for Aang. Suddenly, his eyes and tattoos started glowing white. Sokka and I gasp as a whirlwind starts forming around Aang, blowing the skeletons away.
Sokka exclaims, "Aang! Come on, snap out of it!"
The whirlwind formed a giant airball around Aang, and the force of the wind blew Sokka and I back, forcing us to take cover behind rubble. The air sphere soon turned into a tornado with Aang at the center.
Katara rushes over to us, shouting, "What happened?!"
I shouted back, "We found Gyatso's body surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers!"
Katara raises her hand to protect herself against the wind and flying debris.
She shouts, "Oh, no! It's his Avatar Spirit! He must have triggered it! I'm going to try and calm him down!"
I shout, "I'm coming with you!"
Sokka yells, "Well, do it! Before he blows us all off the mountain!"
Katara and I fight against the storm to get to Aang, and I have to strike a piece of wood in half with my firebending so it doesn't hit us.
Katara clings to my sleeve as I shout, "Aang! I know you're upset, and I know how hard it is to lose the people you love! My entire family is gone because of the Fire Nation. I don't want to lose you, too! You've been like a little brother to me!"
Katara shouts, "I went through the same thing when I lost my mom! Monk Gyatso and the other airbenders may be gone, but you still have a family. Sokka, Ryuza, and I! We're your family now!"
Sokka runs over to us as Aang starts lowering himself to the ground, the winds dying down, and the air sphere disappates. I run over and hug him as tightly as I can, watching his eyes stop glowing as I tear up.
As Aang starts hugging me back, Sokka gently says, "Katara and I aren't going to let anything happen to either of you. Promise."
I pull away from our hug, and see Aang tearing up.
He sadly says, "I'm sorry."
Katara gently says, "It's okay. It wasn't your fault."
Aang sadly says, "But you were right. And if the firebenders found this temple, that means they found the other ones, too. I really am the last airbender."
I hug Aang tightly again, and Katara joins in this time, and Sokka puts a hand on Aang's shoulder. After a moment, we break the hug, and I wipe a stray tear from Aang's cheek. He smiles at me, and he and I walk back to the temple's sanctuary as Sokka and Katara pack up.
After a short while, Katara walked into the room, saying, "Everything's packed. You guys ready to go?"
Aang asks, "How is Roku supposed to help me if I can't talk to him?"
Katara responds, "Maybe you'll find a way."
We hear a chattering sound behind us, and we turn to see the lemur from earlier. The lemur carries fruits over to Sokka, dumping them on the ground in front of him. The lemur dashes away as Sokka starts devouring the fruits, stuffing his face. I'm pretty hungry too, so I grab an apple while Sokka is distracted. He notices immediately, but not fast enough. I take a bite as he glares at me, and I just shrug.
Aang says, "Looks like you made a new friend, Sokka!"
Sokka continued stuffing his face as he says, "Can't talk. Must eat!"
The lemur climbs onto Aang and hides behind his head, his tail curled around Aang's neck.
I coo, "Hey, little guy! Aww, you're so cute and fluffy!"
I finish my apple, then pet his head, and he slowly starts crawling onto my shoulder.
Aang says to the lemur, "You, me, and Appa, we're all that's left of this place. We have to stick together."
He says to our friends, "Katara, Sokka, say hello to the newest member of our family."
Katara asks, "What are you going to name him?"
I grab a peach from Sokka's fruit pile and give it to the lemur as Aang responds, "Momo."
I smile, saying, "Sounds perfect." Sokka glares at me again as I laugh, "You've gotta learn to share, Sokka. Otherwise, I'll just keep stealing from you."
He rolls his eyes, and stuffs the rest of his fruit into either his bag or his mouth. We take off on Appa, our new companion curled into my lap as I pet him.
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