When All Hope Is Lost

Winter Solstice Part 1 (1)

The gaang was now back in the sky, and it was beautiful. Everyone was just relaxing in their own way. Aang was leaning back as he sat on Appa's head, Sokka was carving something with Auretta sitting next to him, reading one of the books Haru's mom, Kumi, had given her before they left; and Katara was laying on her stomach, looking down at everything below them.

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

"Maybe you should give it a try." Sokka suggested. Auretta hit him in the arm.

"You're hilarious." Katara spoke sarcastically.

"I'll try it!" Aang said as he suddenly popped up.

Auretta smiled and closed her book. "I'm right with you!" Aang jumped off, spread out like a starfish, and Auretta stood on the side of the saddle. She turned to face the others, and winked before jumping off and falling into a backflip before disappearing in the clouds.

The two watertribe siblings quickly looked over the edge to see what had happened to the two airbenders, only for the two to fly back up on the other side with Aang using his glider while Auretta hung onto him. They landed on the saddle soaking wet. The two siblings held sheepish smiles as Aang explained. "Turns out, clouds are made of water." He then took a deep breath before releasing a ball of air around them, drying him and his sister off. Auretta looked up to see her hair practically straightened upwards from the strong wind, and hastily brushed it back down with a laugh.

"Hey, what is that?" Katara questioned, looking at something up ahead. The four looked out to see a large area of trees that were burnt down in the middle of a vast forest.

"It's like a scar." Sokka commented. Auretta got a heavy feeling in her stomach, and wasn't looking forward for the unknown evening to come.

When they landed and Auretta's feet touched the ground, she felt a strong dizziness pass through and her body warmed up. The others didn't notice, and just continued to walk forward, so while her dizzy spell passed, Auretta just put a hand on Appa to keep herself upright. Momo looked down at her and chirped in concern, causing the young girl to send a smile his way for reassurance. "I'm alright, Momo. I'm fine."

"Listen." Sokka instructed. "It's so quiet. There's no life anywhere."

"Aang, are you ok?" Katara asked as Aang just stood, looking out over at the burnt down trees.

"Fire nation! Those evil savages make me sick! They have no respect for-"

"Shh!" Katara quieted her brother.

"What, I'm not allowed to be angry?"

Katara pointed to Aang as he sighed and sank to his knees. Auretta wanted to comfort him, but the longer she stood there, the hotter she felt. Her chest felt like it was full of smoke, and she had to hold back from coughing so she didn't worry the others.

"Why would anyone do this? How could I let this happen?" Aang spoke dejectedly.

"Aang, you didn't let this happen. It has nothing to do with you." Katara assured.

"Yes, it does." Aang sat down completely. "It's the Avatar's job to protect nature, but I don't know how to do my job."

"That's why we're going to the North Pole- to find you a teacher."

"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." Aang looked down at the mention of Gyatso, and Auretta frowned as well.