(1) Augmentum | Zuko

Chapter Fifty-Three

It is not surprising to Rana that before the two tribes have made it out of the canyon, they turn on one another. She crouches on the top of the cliff edge at the end. Noivern and Appa behind her, play fighting with one another. It's a stark contrast to the actual fight happening at the bottom of the cliff face. Rana sighs, resting her elbows on her knees. She wants to get involved. To snap them out of it. But Katara is right about Aang practising his diplomatic mind. Aang needs to see that he can do this. To believe in himself. She wants to see how he copes with this. If he can do it, then maybe she can take off for a few days to sort through her abilities. Get a better handle on them. If he can't, then he needs her here with him. A test. A minor one. Aang can do this. She knows he can. And she's right. Not fifteen minutes later, Aang has orchestrated their escape from the canyon, by riding on the monster crawlers that dwell there. No one is bickering when they have a common enemy in the crawlers. They climb up the side of the cliff together. Soon Aang and his new crawler mount the cliff. He dismounts and turns to everyone else as they join him. Rana leans up from her crouch to watch them. Standing between the crawlers and the sick and elderly. Just in case this turns nasty.

"Everyone! Get off!" Aang shouts. Katara, Sokka, and the two tribe leaders dismount followed by the rest of the tribe members.

"We made it!" The Zhang leader tells the Gan Jin leader. The Canyon Guide falls off his mount. Aang then throws a bag of food over the cliff, dropping food as it falls. The crawlers run after it. "I never thought a Gan Jin could get his hands dirty like that"

"And I never knew you Zhang's were so reliable in a pinch" The Gan Jin leader compliments back.

"Perhaps we're not so different after all"
"Too bad we can't rewrite history" Gan Jin leader draws his sword and points it at the Zhang leader. "You thieves stole our sacred orb from Jin Wei!" The Zhang leader follows his lead and draws her own sword.

"You tyrants unjustly imprisoned We Jin for twenty long years!" She argues. Aang cries out and grabs the side of his face in frustration. Then an idea lights up his face.

"Wait a second! Jin Wei? Wei Jin? I know those guys!" Aang tells them.

"Yes, yes, we're all aware of the story."

"No!" The leaders lower their weapons and turn to Aang. "I mean I really knew them. I may not look it, but I'm 112 years old. I was there a hundred years ago on the day you're talking about...There seems to be a lot of confusion about what happened. First of all, Jin Wei and Wei Jin weren't enemies, they were brothers, twins in fact and they were eight and most importantly, they were just playing a game! The sacred orb from the legend...that was the ball. And the eastern and western gates were the goalposts. Jin Wei had the ball and was running toward the goal when he fell and fumbled it. Win Jei didn't steal the ball, he picked it up and started running it back toward the other goal. But he stepped out of bounds, so the official put him in the penalty box, not for twenty long years, but for two short minutes.....There was no stealing and no putting anyone in prison. Just a game" Aang explains. Rana smirks and looks down, her hair falling over her shoulder. That's pretty smart of him and a lot more than she thought he'd do.

"You're saying the sacred orb was actually a sacred ball?" The Zhang leader asks Aang.

"Nope, just a regular ball"

"What about our tribe's redemption ritual?"

"That's what the game was called, Redemption. As soon as someone got the ball from one goal to the other everyone would yell, 'redemption!'" The leaders look at each other. "Don't get me wrong, Wei Jin was kind of a slob and Jin Wei was a little stuffy, that much is true, but they respected each other's differences enough to share the same playing field"

"I suppose it's time we forget the past..." Zhang offers Gan Jin.

"...and look to the future" Gan Jin finishes. The Zhang Leader bows in turn as Aang, smiling, looks on, he turns and looks at Rana who nods and smirks back at him, holding up her hands to slightly applaud him. He smiles wider at her. Aang then runs up and hugs Appa's face. Sokka, Katara and the Guide are in the background, walking over slower.

"Good to see ya, boy! Did you miss me?" Appa licks Aang as the Gan Jin leaders approach.

"I cannot thank you enough, Avatar" He offers. Aang turns to him, drenched in Appa's saliva.

"Well, you know, I try" The Gan Jin Leader shrinks in horror from the horror of Aang's slimed body before he turns and walks away, joining the Zhang leader.
"Let us travel to the Earth Kingdom capital as one tribe!" The crowd cheers and follows the leaders down the path. The Canyon Guide runs between Sokka and Katara.

"I'm goin' too! I'm sick of this place!" He shouts. Sokka folds his arms over his chest as he looks at Aang.

"That's some luck you knew Jin Wei and Wei Jin" He comments. Aang smiles and nods.

"You could call it luck" He agrees, his smile then turning slightly darker. "Or, you could call it... lying!" Katara is holding Momo in shock and Sokka is angry at this pronouncement.

"What?!"

"I made the whole thing up" Aang admits, he looks around for Rana but she's wandered off towards the cliff edge.

"You did not!" Katara argues slightly. "That is so wrong" She adds, this time in devilish admiration. Aang shrugs a little before he moves off towards Rana. Katara and Sokka share a look before they follow after him.

"Rah?" Aang asks as they approach where Rana stands looking out over the canyon, her arms around herself. She hums in acknowledgement and greeting. "You've been distracted the last few days" Aang points out, staring up at her for answers when she turns to face him. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No" She assures him. "You did nothing wrong" She looks back down the side of the cliff. "I wanted to see how you'd do...to see what I would do next. If you couldn't handle it..." She stops and then looks back at them. "I think I need to be on my own for a while" She whispers and looks down. "Figure some things out"

"You're leaving us?" Sokka asks, Rana looks at him.

"For a while, yes" She answers, adjusting her necklace. "I was supposed to have years of training before I joined the Avatar...I'm learning and travelling at the same time, and I need to focus on learning how to control my abilities...I need to find the rest of the eggs, I need to bond with the pokemon....." She shrugs a little. "I feel like I need to do this...for a few days, a week....I'll head toward the North Pole when I'm ready, catch up with you" Aang nods but looks down at the ground as he scuffs his shoes. He doesn't want her to go, but he knows she's right. "You can keep them alive till I get back, right?" She teases Sokka who nods. The two of them sharing a look before Sokka hugs her, she curls into his chest, his arms tight around her. He's pretty much losing his biggest ally here. His friend too. And he gets it. They are the oldest. But they are still young enough that babysitting shouldn't be their everything. She pulls away from Sokka and clears her throat before she turns and climbs back onto Noivern who looks at Appa before he takes off into the sky, disappearing into the dusk clouds.