- Third POV -
Zuko and Iroh are at a harbor, where several Fire Nation ships are lined up next to each other. There's a smaller ship docked between all the others, identical mastodons.
"Uncle, I want the repairs made as quickly as possible. I don't want to stay too long and risk losing their trail" Says Zuko, Iroh looks at him for a second.
"You mean the Avatar or Mizuki?" Zuko's heart skipped a beat. He was right, Mizuki was still alive. He immediately turns around to face Iroh and glares at him.
"Don't mention their names on these docks!" He yelled in anger. Iroh looked surprised at his nephew, was he imagining things or did Zuko seem upset, rather than angry.
"Once word gets out that they're both alive, every firebender will be out looking for them, and I don't want anyone getting in the way!" Before Iroh can say anything someone cuts him off.
"Getting in the way of what, Prince Zuko?" Iroh and Zuko turn around with shocked expressions on their faces. Zhao walks over to the duo with his hands held behind his back. Zuko awaits him with his arms crossed with contempt, while Iroh just stares at him.
"Captain Zhao" Says Zuko with disgust in his voice.
"It's commander now. And General Iroh. Great hero of our nation" Smirks Zhao, he bows slightly in Iroh's direction.
"Retired General" Answers Iroh while he bows back.
"The Fire Lord's brother and son are welcome guests anytime. What brings you to my harbor?" Asks Zhao.
"Our ship is being repaired" Replies Iroh, he points at the severely damaged ship.
"That's quite a bit of damage" States Zhao.
"Yes. You wouldn't believe what happened. Uncle! Tell Commander Zhao what happened" Zuko glances at his uncle, and angrily commands him as he gestures at Zhao. Iroh's eyes open wide in surprise, as he is addressed by Zuko.
"Yes. I will do that" Replies Iroh awkwardly.
"It was incredible!" Beams Iroh before whispering to Zuko.
"What? Did we crash or something?" Asks Iroh confused. Zuko looks at his uncle uncomfortably.
"Yes! Right into...an Earth Kingdom ship!" Replies Zuko, Zhao looks at him in disbelief.
"Really? You must regale me with all of the thrilling details. Join me for a drink?" Smirks Zhao while he gets into Zuko's face.
"Sorry, but we have to go" Zuko averts his gaze and begins to walk away. Zhao smiles evilly at him as he starts to walk away, but after a few steps, Iroh place his hand on his shoulder to hold Zuko back.
"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect" Iroh removes his hand from Zuko's shoulder as he faces Zhao while Zuko just slants his eyes.
"We would be honored to join you. Do you have any ginseng tea? It's my favorite" Says Iroh. Iroh and Zhao walk away from the ship. Zuko grunts in anger upon hearing Iroh's tea comment. He growls angrily and firebends a small arc out of annoyance as he turns around to walk after them. He starts thinking about Mizuki, was she now friends with the avatar? What is he supposed to do? Capture her aswell? No...there's no way he could do that to her.
❀❀❀
Appa's flying above the clouds in the Patola Mountain range. Aang and Katara sitting atop Appa's head, and Sokka is sitting back in the saddle with Mizuki. Suddenly Sokka's stomach starts to growl.
"Hey, stomach? Be quiet, all right? I'm trying to find us some food" Sokka starts to go through the luggage and gets out a bag. He looks at it for a moment while it sways in the wind. With his tongue out of his mouth full anticipation, he sticks his hand in the bag and starts to go through it. He looks surprised for a moment, but quickly and with anticipation turns the bag upside down to pour the contents into his hand. Only a few crumbs of blubbered seal jerky fall into it.
"Hey! Who ate all of my blubbered seal jerky?!" Shouts Sokka, Mizuki looked confused at him.
"Oh. That was food? I used it to start the campfire last night. Sorry" Responds Aang.
"You what?! No wonder the flames smelled so good" Sokka looks up before slanting his eyes and groans. Mizuki pats his shoulder showing him empathy.
"The Patola Mountain range! We're almost there!" Exclaims Aang. Mizuki looked down at the Patola Moutain's recognizing the place, it looked quite beautiful. Suddenly Mizuki gets elbowed by Katara.
"Hey-!" Mizuki gets cut off by Katara, she leans towards Mizuki and starts whispering.
"We have to tell him what happened to the airbenders Mizuki. He's gonna find out" Mizuki hestitated for a second but then nodded her head in agreement. Katara turned around to face Aang.
"Aang, before we get to the temple, I want to talk to you about the airbenders" She said.
"What about 'em?" Asked Aang curiously, Mizuki gulped nervously.
"Well, I just want you to be prepared for what you might see. The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother, and they could have done the same to your people" Stated Katara, Mizuki looked at her with empathy, knowing what's it like to lose a loved one.
"Just because no one has seen an airbender, doesn't mean the Fire Nation killed them all. They probably escaped! Just like Mizuki-" Before Aang can finish his sentence Mizuki cuts him off.
"Just be prepared, okay? We'll be here for you" Comforted Mizuki as Katara put her hand on Aang's shoulder.
"You don't understand. 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, Appa?" Replies Aang cheerfully, Mizuki looks away trying to hold back her tears. Appa grunts back in response.
"Yip-yip" Appa flies up the mountain and through the clouds. He turns out of sight behind the flank of a mountain. Appa is emerging from behind that flank and turns further upward. Aang holds onto the reins tightly as Appa rapidly ascends while Katara and Mizuki, whose eyes are closed, hold on tight to Sokka. Aang looks back for a moment to his passengers. Then Appa flies over the rocks and into the sky again. He flies over a last ridge that is covered with trees, that's where the Southern Air Temple is.
"There it is. The Southern Air Temple" Says Aang as he looks at the Air Temple.
"Aang, it's amazing!" Exclaims Katara. Aang is visibly excited, his eyes widen upon the sight of the temple.
"We're home, buddy! We're home" He says while looking at Appa. His eyes squint in happiness.
To be continued
Word count: 1102
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The dualbender (atla) book 1
Fantasy[completed] [currently under editing] Mizuki is a girl who lost her parents to the Fire Nation when she was twelve. After two years of hiding, escaping and trying to survive she found the Avatar with some help of the two Water Tribe siblings. She de...
