Birthrights and Bastards (ZukoXOC)

Book 1 Chapter 7: The Winter Solstice Part 1, Spirit World Shenanigans

Traveling for several hours, they passed alongside mountains and over forests. The trio lounged lazily in the saddle.

"Those clouds look so soft, don't they? Like you could just jump down and you'd land in a big, soft, cottony heap?" Katara said dreamily.

"Maybe you should give it a try," Sokka suggested while he was whittling a small branch.

"You're hilarious," she responded​​ sarcastically.

"I'll try it!" Aang shouted, excitingly jumping off of Appa, aiming for the cloud.

Don't bother, they're made of water, Ash thought to herself miserably as Aang's woops cut through the clouds.

He suddenly flew back up on the other side of the saddle, landing on his bottom. Dripping water, he laughed, and said, "Turns out, clouds are made of water."

Taking a deep breath, he slammed his hands together, creating a ball of air that dried his clothes.

"Hey, what is that?" Katara asked, concerned, gesturing to an area in front of the saddle.

"It's like a scar..." Sokka said in a hushed voice. Appa flew down closer, letting them hop off and onto the burned grass.

Ash was silent. The landscape was dead. No surviving grass or trees, just charred lumps.

"Listen. It's so quiet. There's no life anywhere," Sokka said sadly, inspecting the ash covering the ground.

"Aang? Are you okay?" Katara asked softly, as Sokka stood up angrily.

"Fire Nation! Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for—"

"Shhh!" Katara hissed at him.

"What? I'm not allowed to be angry?" Sokka whispered back heatedly.

Katara pointed to Aang, who was kneeling in the ash.

"Why would anyone do this? How could I let this happen?" he asked, sifting the soot through his fingers.

"Aang, you didn't let this happen. It has nothing to do with you," Katara said, walking over to where he sat.

"Yes, it does. It's the Avatar's job to protect nature. But I don't know how to do my job," he whispered sadly.

"That's why we're going to the North Pole. To find you a teacher," Katara said, smiling at the possibilities.

"Yeah. A waterbending teacher. But there's no one who can teach me how to be the Avatar. Monk Gyatso said that Avatar Roku would help me," he said.

"The Avatar before you? He died over a hundred years ago; how are you supposed to talk to him?" Sokka asked, walking closer.

"I don't know," Aang responded quietly.

Ash sighed. As destitute as she was, Aang needed help. She dug in her namesake until she uncovered a group of acorns. Picking up a few, she walked over to where Aang was sulking.

"Are you ready to be cheered up?" she asked.

"No."

She threw an acorn at his head. "Ow! Hey, how is that cheering me up?"

"Cheered me up," Sokka snickered as Ash threw one at his head too. "Ow! Yeah, I probably deserved that."

"These acorns are everywhere. That means the forest will grow back. Every one of these will be a tall oak tree someday, and all the birds and animals that lived here will come back," she said, placing an acorn in his outstretched hand.

"Thanks Ash," he said, smiling for the first time since they had arrived.

Smiling back, she was surprised by the appearance of a newcomer. Whirling around, she held a protective arm in front of the others. He was an old man, using a cane to walk.