Book Four: Air - Chapter Two

by *Capt-BA

"Why am I not surprised to find you here?"

Startled, the young man jumped and went for his weapon, but an iron grip on his wrist stopped him short.  Face to face in the light of the moon, the two men appraised each other coolly.

"Oh, it's you."  The young man sneered and pulled his wrist free, rubbing it.  "Last I heard Ba Sing Se was a free city.  I can come and go as I please."

"If the earthbender was home she would have seen you skulking out here."

"You said she was blind?"

"I also said she uses earthbending to read her surroundings and everything and anyone in them."  He paused.  "Let me put it simply; if you're standing on the earth or anything connected to it, she can probably see you."

The younger man glanced down at his feet, lifting one to inspect the stonework.  "That seems like an unfair advantage."

"Many have tried and failed to get close to the Avatar because of her unique skills.  You need to have patience.  We've been demoralizing key members of their group and soon enough that strain will show."

"And then what happens?"

"And then you get what you're after."

The young man placed his hand on the hilt of his weapon and stared across the street at the softly glowing window.  The light flickered as a shadow moved past and the young man tightened his grip, anger and jealousy flaring.

"I'd better."

                                                     Chapter Two:
                                               The Winds of Change

The morning after the festival began like every other morning in Ba Sing Se.  The sun rose, followed shortly by Aang.  He sat up from the random spot on the floor of the living room where he'd fallen asleep the night before and rubbed the stickiness from his eyes.  He had a bedroom, but it was a bit too lavish for his tastes and reminded him of everything he disliked about the big city.

He airbended himself to his feet and stretched, scratching his chest as he wandered out to Appa's stables to feed and water the sky bison.  It had taken a lot of explaining to convince the Earth Kingdom that he liked to do his own chores but Appa didn't seem to mind the extra attention when the groomers arrived to brush out his fur and clean between his toes.

By the time Aang returned, Katara was sitting at the breakfast table, drinking a cup of tea and scanning the morning paper.

Aang washed his hands and joined her, glancing toward the bedroom hall.  Momo made his appearance and Aang smiled as the lemur started working his way through the breakfast foods that Katara had prepared.  "Morning Momo."  He turned to Katara but she didn't look up from the paper.  "Morning Katara.  Where's everybody else?"

"Toph spent the night with her parents, I think, and Suki and Sokka are still asleep."  Katara sipped her tea and flipped to the last page of the Ba Sing Se Daily News before setting it aside.  "They didn't mention anything about your stunt last night."

It was a conversation Aang had hoped to avoid.  He sighed and lowered his head into his arms.  "It wasn't a stunt.  Zuko deserved to be there."

"I agree with you, Aang," Katara said with a patient smile, "but you know how they like to turn things around.  I'm just glad that they didn't make a big deal out of it."

He sighed again and watched Momo ravage the fruit bowl.

"You should eat something," she said, her expression warming.

"I think Momo's got enough appetite for the both of us."

Katara placed her hand on his shoulder and held out a moon peach, smiling encouragingly.

Aang sat up, grinning as he accepted the fruit.  "Well, I guess I am kinda hungry."  Their fingers brushed and for a long moment, neither of them let go as light blushes crept across their cheeks.

The door slammed open, rattling the very foundations of the house, and one very angry young earthbender stomped by them leaving small craters in the stone floor.

Fruit and blushing forgotten, they watched Toph go, sitting rigidly at attention until she passed into the hallway and slammed her bedroom door.

"Yikes."  Was all Aang could think to say and Katara's expression seemed to mirror the thought.

"I wonder what happened with her parents."

"Something bad," Aang guessed and got to his feet to close what was left of the front door.  "She'll tell us when she's ready."

Katara frowned uncertainly and went through the rest of the day's mail.  As usual, there were a lot of letters of request and general well wishing.  Katara had made it one of her daily chores to go through the pile and try and sort out and reply to the important letters, but it was a never ending battle.

Aang was apologizing to their curious neighbors for the noise when he noticed a package on their doorstep.  It was long and thin and he would have mistaken it for a broom if not for a black silk ribbon tied around it in a bow.  It felt strangely comfortable in his hand.  He came back inside and showed it to Katara.  "Any idea what this is?"

"I'm not sure, but you've got a letter here, too."  She held up a scroll　with a matching black ribbon.

Curiosity piqued, Aang set the package on the table and took the letter, reading it out loud.  "To Avatar Aang:  Consider this gift a late birthday present and a reminder of your past."

Katara blinked in surprise.  "Birthday?"

"Present!"  Aang dropped the note and tore into the wrapping.

"Aang, you didn't tell me it was your birthday..."  She picked up the note.  "Who's this from, anyway?"

"It didn't say."  Aang shredded the last of the paper and stood, holding the gift before him in awe.

It took Katara a moment to realize what it was.  "Is that... an air glider?"

"Not just any air glider!"  He tapped the stick on the ground and familiar reddish-orange wings sprang to the sides.  Katara stared in amazement as Aang flipped it around, admiring it from every possible angle.

"This is incredible!"  He declared finally.  "It's like it was handcrafted by the monks!"

"It must be from the Mechanist," Katara mused.  "But how'd he know it was your birthday when I didn't even know?"

"Sorry, Katara."  He turned to her grinning.  "I won't forget next year."

Katara sighed teasingly.  "We had to twist Zuko's arm to get him to celebrate his birthday, you kept yours a secret, and Sokka has expressly forbidden me from throwing him a big party.  What is it with boys and birthdays?

Aang shrugged and closed his new glider, spinning it through the air in a complicated series of maneuvers.  "I didn't really celebrate them growing up and everything's been so hectic lately, it just slipped my mind."

"Well, I'm not letting you off the hook just yet.  Maybe Sokka doesn't want a big party, but if we throw one for the both of you he'll have less to complain about."

Aang snickered and finished off the warm-up kata with a downward thrust that sliced through the air.  "I'm just a simple one hundred and thirteen year old monk.  I don't need a party."  He looked up and realized that Katara was staring at him.

They both blushed and Katara smiled shyly, clearing her throat.  "You're looking pretty good for a hundred and thirteen year old."

He grinned from ear to ear, ignoring the heat creeping down his neck.  "Tell me that again on my two hundred and thirteenth birthday!"

Katara opened her mouth to reply but a loud crash followed by a pained grunt and a general clattering ruined the moment.  Katara and Aang looked toward the bedroom hall where Sokka was sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by what must have been two very full armloads of parchments, scrolls, drawing utensils, maps, and other random paraphernalia.

Momo chased a rolling ink bottle while Sokka pushed himself up on his hands, looking for something to blame.  "Who put holes here!?  In the... solid stone..."

Toph's footprints were unmistakable.

Aang and Katara tried not to giggle as Sokka got to his knees and discovered he'd gotten ink all over his favorite blue tunic.  He took it in with a surprising lack of overreaction.  That alone would have told Katara and Aang that something was up with him, but the shadows under his eyes and the fact that he hadn't shaved were dead giveaways.

He scowled at the mess he'd made and then scowled up at the two of them, holding his arms to his sides so he didn't smear any more ink.  "That's ok.  I don't need any help or anything.  But thanks for offering."

Katara snorted lightly and rolled her eyes as she and Aang went to her brother's side.  Most of the ink came out with a little bit of fancy waterbending.  "Are you ok?"

"Never better.  You?"  He rubbed the top of his left knee, looking sour.    

Aang grabbed the nearest parchment and started gathering the rest.  "What is all this stuff, Sokka?"

"Just some plans I made," he explained while Katara pulled him to his feet.  He put his hand on the wall for balance and didn't make a move to help Aang.  "I stayed up all night working on them."

Katara raised a suspicious eyebrow.  "What kind of plans?"

He smiled, somehow looking smug and unsure at the same time.  "The kind that'll show the Peace Council they can't push us around."

                                                               ------

"I'm not sure about this, Sokka."

"Aang, it's harmless.  Believe me; they deserve much worse for the way we've been treated lately.  You're the Avatar!  Zuko's the Fire Lord!  And we all totally saved the world!"  He grumbled under his breath, "And they go and try and treat us like a bunch of kids..." He muttered unintelligibly as he glanced over his plans.  "Call me simple... show them..."  He trailed off, locking his jaw in stubborn determination as the girls finally filed into the room.

Katara came in first with Momo on her shoulder, followed by a groggy looking Suki and an irritated Toph.  Suki knelt next to the writing table Sokka was sitting on, holding a cup of green tea in both hands and trying to keep herself from yawning.

"Ok team!"  Sokka began with far too much enthusiasm for the early morning.  "Yesterday was an embarrassment and today we're going to do something about it."

"But I already did something about it," Aang pointed out from his seat on the floor.

"You did, Aang.  And you did a good job.  But there's room for improvement and the rest of us deserve a chance to show what we're made of."

"Hey," Toph interrupted, "I've got nothing to prove."

"Does the word team mean anything to you?"  He gave her a look that might have had more effect on the visually unimpaired.  "There's no 'I' or 'Toph' in team."

"Great," she joked and turned to go.

"You know what I mean!"

Toph snorted and sat down heavily, crossing her arms and legs.

"So what exactly are we doing?"  Katara asked, humoring her brother.

"Here we go," Suki whispered before putting the tea to her lips, drinking calmly as Sokka pulled a drawing board from the desk and displayed it proudly.

"Ta da!!  I call it, Operation Statuebending!"

A long moment of silence passed and Sokka's grin slowly slipped from his face as he waited for words of praise that were never coming.  Aang cocked his head to the side, trying in vain to comprehend the painting, but Katara had seen enough.

"Nice, Sokka."  Her tone suggested otherwise.  "It's good to see your art lessons with Piandao have only been a complete waste of time."

Toph put her hands behind her head and flopped back onto the floor while Aang straightened up, scratching his arrow.  Suki casually lowered her tea.

"I noticed last night that Sokka usually draws with his right hand but sometimes, for no apparent reason, he switches to his left," Suki said, sharing her latest discovery of her boyfriend's habits and peculiarities.

"Yeah," Katara replied wryly, "I used to think he was ambidextrous..."

She snickered, and Aang and Suki joined her before noticing the exaggerated look of misery on Sokka's face.  Suki smiled reassuringly and patted his good leg.  "It's fine," she comforted.  "We can all see what you're getting at."

Toph snorted.  "We sure can."

"Oops."  Suki winced apologetically.  "Sorry..."

"Well, it kinda looks like..." Katara searched for the right words.  "I mean, that's definitely us, right?  Probably?"

"I think that's you, Katara."  Aang pointed and traced his finger through the air in a crazy looping pattern.  "With the giant floating noodle monster."

"Waterbending!" Sokka snapped and lifted the drawing board straight up into the air so nobody could see his painting.

"Oh," Aang said sheepishly.  "That makes a lot more sense."

There was a knock at the front door and Aang jumped to his feet.  "I'll get it!"  He was out of the room before Sokka could object.

Aang skidded to a halt when he noticed a mysterious hooded figure standing in their entryway, inspecting the cracked doorframe.

"Hello?  Can I help you?"

"It's me."  The figure turned and lowered his hood.

"Zuko!"

The young Fire Lord flinched and tried to shut the broken door.  "Keep it down, would you?  Nobody knows I'm here."

"Oh, ok," Aang whispered, not fully understanding.  "Wait, why is it a secret?"

Zuko gave up on the door and stared at Aang for a long moment before marching deeper into the main room to get away from windows and doors.  Sokka's voice and girlish laughter carried from the study and Zuko turned back to Aang, looking serious.

"Glad some people are enjoying themselves this morning."

"You don't sound glad," Aang pointed out and then hurried on.  "And we're not really, either.  How could we be after what happened yesterday...?"

"Aang!"  Sokka hopped into the main room on one leg, clutching the drawing board to his chest.  "I need you in here," he whined before realizing they had company.  His demeanor instantly changed and he dropped his leg, straightening up.  "Zuko...!"

Zuko narrowed his eyes.  "Where's your crutch?"

Sokka looked down as if noticing for the first time he didn't have it and then smiled guiltily.  The young Fire Lord sighed and scanned the semi-cluttered room, spotting the discarded crutch.  He went over to it, picked it up, and brought it back to the young injured warrior, but when he tried to trade the crutch for the drawing board, Sokka held it possessively out of his reach.

"These are secret plans!"

Zuko's shoulders fell ever so slightly and Sokka realized his words had come out wrong.  "I didn't mean that!  I just meant, these are secret plans for you, see, so you can't see them yet.  But you can see them later, in person!"

Sokka tried to laugh away the tension.

"It's bad enough with the Peace Council," Zuko said, his voice low and gravelly.  He slid into a nearby chair, setting Sokka's crutch over his knees and staring at the floor.  "I don't think I could handle it right now if you guys were keeping secrets from me, too."    

"It's just not right," Sokka said.  "What they did.  Cutting you guys out of the festival on top of everything else..."

"We were going to leave today," Aang began.  "But now I think we need to stay and try and smooth things over."

Sokka nodded.  "We're here for ya, buddy.  Whatever we can do to help."

Zuko looked up, trying out a smile.  "Thanks."

"Zuko!"

Katara had come to check on the boys and when she spotted Zuko she flew into his arms like she hadn't seen him in years.  He patted her on the back, surprised by her enthusiasm.  "Why does everybody keep doing that?"

Sokka shot a look at Aang and then back at Zuko, holding up a hand in denial.  "I didn't hug anybody."

Zuko scowled.  "I meant, why do you all have to shout my name when you see me?"

Suki and Toph wandered into the room and Suki stopped when she realized who Katara was hugging.  Sokka shook his head and held up a hand in warning before she had a chance to open her mouth.

Katara pulled back from the embrace, searching Zuko's face.  "How are you all holding up?  Are Mai and Ty Lee angry?"

"I don't think Ty Lee knows how to be angry," Zuko replied but when his answer didn't seem to satisfy the waterbender he continued, "We're fine.  Uncle is going to go talk to the Peace Council today and be very diplomatic.  If we don't do something, we'll be seen as weak, but if we overreact, it'll come back and haunt us later."

Sokka held his chin, nodding.  "It is a difficult situation."

Zuko sighed and looked up at Sokka.  "We were supposed to meet the delegates from the Northern Water Tribe today."

"Oh yeah... that's right."

"I need to thank them for releasing the war prisoners from the Siege, but now I can't even do that because I have to keep a low profile until the festival issue blows over."  He ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up before letting his hand fall limply into his lap.  "Things were so much simpler before."

"Yeah."  Aang grinned at his friends.  "Real simple."

"Nothing simpler than betraying your whole nation to come train a kid you spent half a year trying to capture," Sokka joked.

Zuko folded his arms.  "I'm a complex guy."

Sokka looked at his drawing board, calculating.  "Well, Complex Guy, why don't you bring your people down to the new Peace Memorial at noon today?"

Zuko raised his eyebrow.  "Why?"

"Because we've got just what the Fire Nation needs to cheer up!"

                                                        ------

Appa flew lazy circles around the Peace Memorial courtyard as the five friends gathered around Sokka's temporary workstation.  Katara had packed some breakfast and Sokka tossed aside the core of a moon peach, licking his fingers before grabbing the last one out from under Momo's nose.  He sat on his desk, dangling his legs in contentment.

"So this is how the Earth Kingdom honors heroes from the Four Nations."  He gestured toward the monument with the moon peach as Momo eyed the fruit greedily.  "At least they got a little water," he said, pointing to the large but shallow pool circling the stone pedestal.  "But look at the giant us's!"  He waved his hand at their statues, disapprovingly.  "We're solid stone, evenly spaced apart, and completely lacking personality."

"You're not wrong, Sokka," Aang agreed.  "If this is supposed to be a monument to the four elements, where's the other elements?"

"Exactly!  It's too earthy!" Sokka declared and took a hearty bite of his moon peach.  He didn't bother swallowing before he continued.  "I mean, c'mon, Katara doesn't stand like that!"

Katara unconsciously fixed her posture and shot her brother a dirty look.   

"That was a compliment," he lied and waved the peach around some more, unintentionally taunting Momo.  "Whoever designed these statues obviously didn't get very accurate reference material.  I mean, look at Toph!"

Suki, Katara, and Aang all glanced from the diminutive earthbender to her larger than life replica.  Toph glowered.  "What's wrong with me?"

"You're huge!  And impressive!"

Toph narrowed her eyes, turning slightly toward the warrior.  "Why is that a problem?"

"It's obvious favoritism from the Earth Kingdom because you're an earthbender!  We can't let that kind of thing go."  He jotted down a note on one of his diagrams.  "We're trying to prove a point here, and show them that the four elements and the Four Nations are equal."

"Except they're not equal," Toph said, folding her arms stubbornly.  Everybody stared at her and she shrugged.  "Don't kid yourselves.  The Earth Kingdom spans most of the world and has the biggest economy and the most people and the most benders.  The Fire Nation is a military powerhouse.  They've got the best technology and probably the highest percentage of benders.  No offense to you southern folk, but there's a reason the Fire Nation never bothered wiping you out."

"Actually Toph," Sokka said dryly, "that was pretty offensive."

"Don't take it personal, Water Boy.  I'm just telling it like it is."

"And what about me?"    

Everybody looked at Aang and Toph dropped her arms to her side guiltily.  "Your situation pretty much stinks, Twinkle Toes.  Sorry."

"It's ok," he replied, his smile only slightly forced.  He fingered his new air glider and stared up at their statues.  "I know the world might seem unbalanced right now, but that's why we need to do everything in our power to set things right."

"Starting with this monument!"  Sokka agreed, clapping his hand on Aang's shoulder.

The young monk tilted his head to the side, thoughtfully.  "If we're changing how our statues look," he said, brightening up, "I think I should be a little taller!"

Katara held her hand at Aang's height and traced it back to herself, beaming.  "You have grown!"

"Thanks!  If I keep this up, I'll be taller than Sokka."

Sokka froze with the moon peach halfway to his mouth and the moment's distraction was all Momo needed to swoop in and steal the fruit.  Sokka flailed and nearly fell off his desk trying to catch the flying lemur, but Momo was far too quick.

"Momo!"  He shook his fist in the air before letting it fall to his side in defeat.  "My moon peach..."

Katara folded her arms.  "You say that like you didn't just eat half a dozen of them."

Sokka didn't see her point.  "I saved the best for last..."

Aang ignored the peach conversation in favor of making some height adjustments to his statue.  "Hey, Katara!"  When she turned to look he used his earthbending to slide her statue closer to his.  A few moves later and the stone waterbender actually looked like Katara in one of her stances.

"That's it, Aang!"  Sokka cheered and moved his arms in a comical but fairly accurate impression of waterbending.  "It's all about relaxed and fluid motions for waterbenders."

Katara gave him a look.  "And you're the waterbending expert since when?"

"I'm just saying."  He shrugged and started going through the plans spread out behind him on his desk.  He found his notes and read through them quickly.  "Ok, so Toph's pose is ok but she needs to be more Toph-sized and see if you can't make Suki's statue a little more dynamic."

Suki shook her head in embarrassment.  "It's fine, Sokka."

He looked up, raising his eyebrows.  "But you said last night you thought yours looked boring."

"We were just talking.  That was before you hatched this whole scheme."

Aang grinned.  "I can fix it, Suki.  I've got an eye for these kinds of things."  He squinted, stuck out his tongue, and pounded the earth.  Stone Suki shifted one foot in front of the other and raised a war fan.

"Not bad!" Sokka praised.  "You really do have a talent for this stuff."

Toph snorted.  "Please.  Anybody could have done that."

"I couldn't have," Sokka replied.  "And no offense, Toph, but you're not exactly known for your artistic skills."

Toph lifted her hands toward the statues and the whole monument seemed to vibrate.  She punched the air and made a cutting motion with her hand and Sokka's statue lost his weapons and armor, becoming a giant replica of Sokka relaxing on his drawing desk.

His jaw dropped and Toph guessed at his reaction, earthbending the statue to match.  Everybody else laughed and Sokka folded his arms, scowling.  Toph grinned and changed his statue again.

"Perfect, Toph!"  Katara held her hands to her stomach, laughing.  "Oh that's too good."

"Ha ha, very funny."

"Lighten up, Sokka," Katara said.  "It's just a joke."

"Well, fun's over.  C'mon, we've got a lot of changes to make."  He started rifling through his drawings and looked up when he realized Toph was earthbending the statue in perfect imitation of him.  "Ok, seriously.  Stop it.  And change me back."

Katara rolled her eyes as Toph shifted her stance, turning the giant Sokka into his warrior self.  The tiny earthbender planted her heels into the ground and reached out, posing the giant stone warrior in one of Sokka's best sword stances.

He grinned.  "Now that's more like it!"  He crossed his arms over his chest proudly, pushing his muscles from the back and inspecting them with satisfaction.  He glanced up at his statue.  "But, y'know, I think I'm a little bigger."

"You are," Toph agreed and Sokka was about to thank her when she snickered.  "But that's not muscle."

"Especially right here," Katara teased and poked him in the gut.

Sokka jumped off the desk and nearly fell over, trying to get out of his sister's reach.  Once he regained his balance, he sucked in a breath and tightened his belt as far as it would go, glaring at anyone who even thought about laughing.

"You're just filling out a bit," Suki maintained, keeping a straight face.

"Three solid meals a day will do that to a guy," Aang commented as though he knew what he was talking about.

Sokka huffed.  "You're all eating the same food I am!"

"Sure," Katara joked, "just not constantly every chance we get."

"And the rest of us aren't sitting around on our butts all day," Toph added.  "Just because the war is over doesn't mean it's ok to get soft."

"Hey, I've been training!"

"Playing pai sho with old people doesn't count."

Sokka straightened with all the dignity he could muster.  "Well, in case you hadn't noticed, it's a little hard for me to practice right now."

"Just because you lost your weapons doesn't mean you have to give up your warrior pride and become some kind of fancy pants diplomat."

His eyebrows shot up his forehead before settling down heavily.  "I was talking about my broken leg..."

Toph stuck her finger in her ear, playing with some ear wax.  "You know, that excuse got old after the first week."

He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally finding words.  "Bones take time to heal!  A lot of time!  And just for the record, I don't even like the whole diplomacy thing.  You think I enjoy sitting through boring Peace Council meetings all day?"

Toph flicked the ear wax off her pinky.  "I dunno.  Isn't talking all you're good for these days?"

"I'm good for a lot of things!"  Sokka looked around at his friends and when he realized nobody was going to jump to his defense, he grabbed one of his diagrams off the desk and shoved it into Aang's hand forcefully.  "Go start making some of these changes!"

"Yessir!"  Aang snapped his new glider open and saluted before launching himself into the sky.

"Katara!  Go find us a water supply!  We're gonna need a lot."

Katara sighed and headed off while Sokka turned to Toph.  "There's some heavy supplies waiting back at our house - Fire Nation pumps, a bunch of piping, and some oil vats – and you're the only one besides Appa who can get them."

"Fine."  She stomped her foot and shot into the air, landing on the other side of the courtyard.

"What can I do?"  Suki asked.

He scratched his chin.  "We need to liven this place up a bit.  Take Appa and see if we can't get some musicians down here or something.  And maybe..." His stomach gurgled and he pressed his hand against it looking embarrassed.  "Some food?"

Suki laughed softly, kissed him on the cheek, and headed for the sky bison.  As soon as she was out of sight he loosened his belt, exhaling the breath he'd been holding.

Momo jumped up on the desk and dropped the half eaten remains of the stolen moon peach, pushing it toward him like a peace offering.  He glowered and poked the lemur in the gut, accusingly.  "Momo!  You've put on some weight!"