silver soul | avatar, the last air bender

chapter thirty six

After searching the entire perimeter of Ember Island, the group concluded that Aang and Momo were nowhere to be found. Naia couldn't help but feel anxious. The comet was in two days and Aang was missing. She paced back and forth by the stairs.

"Who was the last person to see him?" Sokka asked.

"Naia," Katara answered.

"Naia, what did you tell him?" Zuko asked in an impatient tone.

"I told him to meditate, not to run away!" She snapped. Naia stopped pacing. "Look, there has to be some way we can find him. Aang wouldn't just run away, especially without his staff or any of his other belongings."

"Actually...I think I have an idea," Zuko said. "It was one I used to track down Aang originally."

The group traveled on Appa back to the Earth Kingdom. They were tracking down a bounty hunter that had an animal called a Shirshu. Apparently this animal could track down any person in the world just as long as they smelled their scent on an object. However, it remained inconclusive because the bounty hunter claimed that Aang "didn't exist". Since the group couldn't find any other ways to find Aang at the moment, it was onto plan B, which was finding Iroh. Zuko somehow saved his uncle's sweaty sandal and gave it to the Shirshu.

By the next morning, they reached a small town outside of Ba Sing Se. "It's been a long day, let's camp and start our search again at dawn," Zuko said.

Naia laid on Appa's tail with Sokka. She started to worry about Aang. The comet was tomorrow, and Aang was still missing. She felt lost. Without Aang, she didn't know how they would defeat the Firelord. So, she did what she always did when she felt lost: Naia looked up to the moon.

The crescent moon necklace Yue gave Naia on their birthday dances between her fingers as she played around with it. Naia realized that it's been a little while since she's grabbed onto the necklace. It was like a support system. No matter where she was in the world, she knew she could always stare at the moon and find some solace. She used to do it all the time, especially after Yue first passed away. But now...she noticed she did it less. Naia didn't know whether to feel guilty, as she was much less sad than she was months ago, or whether to feel relieved that she was starting to heal. However, Naia thought about this quite often, she would not mind jointing Yue in the spirit world if it was her time.

Before she drifted off to sleep, Naia felt a tear roll down her cheek. She missed Yue's pretty laugh or her contagious smile. To have her stare into Naia's eyes and not have to say a word, for she knew all of Naia's struggles. To sit in comforting silence. Naia looked up to the moon again. "Yue, if you're near, send a butterfly or anything. A sign, to know you're listening, and that we'll be okay," Naia whispered softly. With that, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, drifting off to sleep.

After an hour or so they were startled by Toph suddenly earth bending. Suddenly, a ring of fire surrounded their small campsite. Naia immediately jumped up and screwed open her water skin. From the high ground, she saw about six older gentleman. Naia couldn't recognize any of them.

"Well, look who's here," The oldest one started to snort.

Naia was confused but the group looked and smiled at one another. "What's going on? We're surrounded by old people," Toph stated bluntly. Suddenly, one of the men (who most likely set the fire) put it out. They were approached with more men in the background. They all wore the same dark colored robes.

"Not just any old people, these are great masters and friends of ours," Katara beamed. "Jeong Jeong was the first master to teach Aang fire bending. King Bumi was Aang's old friend and an earth bending master. Master Piandao taught Sokka sword fighting."