Hii! Thank You So Much For Your Hiccup Stories. Your Ideas Are So Unique & Lovely To Read! It's So Nice

hii! thank you so much for your hiccup stories. Your ideas are so unique & lovely to read! It's so nice to see someone else doesn't quite fall for the hiccstrid trope, I mean they work, but do they really? Lol I have so many thoughts they might erupt into a fanfic. Been taking a long break but maybeeee....👀🤣 heeh I'd love to see your take on Hiccup falling for someone else tho. Thank you again for your writings💙 let me know if you need to brainstorm ideas for anything httyd! My head is full of them rn. OH and I haven't watched 3 yet (so I might not be amaaaazing help) but I've watched httyd, rtte & httyd2!

Thank you for your kind words ^^

Well, Leandra was my OC for Hiccup but she clearly showed me that she was done with him.

Everyone who says OCs don't have their own will is lying XD

So I don't think I will write a new love interest for Hic ^^u

I'm currently on Hiatus, lost my passion for writing, I did try to come back with a new story, but it seems like no one likes my well thought stories and only stupid ideas I had at 3 a.m. *side eyes Iseakai'd as Chloe hard*

So it's nice to see that a few people like the story I worked hard for, like you with To Belong ^^

Maybe I will re-post Together, we map the world, an AU of To Belong if Hiccup left with Leandra Berk. There is where they both would become canon ^^

We will see :)

Have a nice day :D

Yin and Yang: Book 1.10

Balance is a key aspect in the world, so why shouldn’t the Avatar have an opposite?

In a world where Raava and Vaatu merge with humans, the Avatar and the Daimon try to keep the peace between the four nations.

Aang and Hua are the current incarnations, but wake up 100 years in the future.

How will these two learn all four elements in one year and defeat the Fire Lord?

Who is Veda? You can read the story, and you will know if you want to see her look at my Deviantart Account. ^^

Book 1.10: Jet and Veda

Water. 

Earth. 

Fire. 

Air. 

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. 

Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. 

Only the Avatar and Daimon, masters of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed them most, they vanished. 

A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar and Daimon, an airbender named Aang and an earthbender named Hua. 

And although his airbending and her earthbending skills are great they have a lot to learn before they’re ready to save anyone. 

But I believe Aang and Hua can save the world.

After a nice breakfast, it was time for team Avatar-Daimon to hit the road again.

Only someone was missing…

“Where's Momo?”, asked Aang his friends, hoping they had seen where the lemur had flown off.

It was like he heard them since Momo’s screeches echoed through the forest.

“Jaiyi, girl, find Momo!”, command Hua her ninetails.

Not wasting time Jaiyi did as she was told, finding Momo's smell and leading the humans.

They found the poor lemur and two hog monkeys in cage traps hanging by rope on tree limbs.

Aang uses his airbending to fly to the top of the tree, jumping from trunk to trunk to get higher. He finds the traps' mechanisms, undoes them, and carefully lowers Momo to the ground where Hua, Katara and Sokka are waiting. They open the trap together and the lemur runs out with one of the lychee nuts in his mouth. 

The watertribe siblings and the Daimon look on as Momo gets on his hind legs and eats it as though nothing has happened. 

Jaiyi sist down beside him and licks his head, which makes Momo purr.

Sokka grunts in frustration and facepalms. 

When Aang lands, he looks up to see the other two animals seemingly crying out to him for help.

So he jumps up to them, but Sokka say how this will take forever and just uses his boomerang to cut the hog monkey free.

While the free animals run off into the forest, Team Avatar-Daimon study the trap together.

“These are Fire Nation traps.”, concludes Sokka. “You can tell from the metalwork. We'd better pack up camp and get moving.”

They return to their camp. Gathering their things they begin to pack them onto Appa's saddle.

Suddenly Sokka proclaims: “Uh-uh! No flying this time.”

The others are confused.

“What? Why wouldn't we fly?”, wonders Aang.

“Think about it: Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It's because they spot Appa, he's just too noticeable.”

“What? Appa's not too noticeable!”, comes Katara to the bison defense.

“He's a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head! It's kinda hard to miss him!”

Appa seems offended, which makes Aang coo at him how Sokka was just jealous he doesn’t have an arrow.

“Well, then we can all ride on Jaiyi. Four humans and our supplies are nothing for her.”, offers Hua, as her Kyuubi yips in agreement.

But Sokka shakes his head.

“No, same problem with Appa. When Jaiyi is in her big form you can’t miss her, when she is little you could confuse her for a normal fox cub…I mean till you see the tails.”

This makes everyone deadpan at Sokka. He really doesn’t want to make their journey comfortable for them.

“I know you all wanna fly or ride, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk.”, explains Sokka.

“Instincts?”, mumbles Hua confused, while Katara leans forward to her brother: “Who made you the boss?”

“I'm not the boss, I'm the leader.”

“Since when and where was I when this was decided?”, questions Hua, getting more confused by the second.

What’s up with Sokka all of a sudden?

“I agree with Hua, you're the leader? But your voice still cracks!”, sass Katara her brother.

“I'm the oldest, and I'm a warrior!”, retorts Sokka. “So I'm the leader!”

“If anyone's are our leaders, it's Aang and Hua. I mean, he is the Avatar and she is the Daimon.”

“Are you kidding? He's just a goofy kid! And she is just a little girl.”

“I’m not that little!”, mumbles Hua angrily, while Aang proves Sokka's point hanging upside-down from Appa's right horn with feet sticking out in the air and agreeing.

“Why do boys always think someone has to be the leader?”, ponders Katara. “I bet you wouldn't be so bossy if you kissed a girl.”

This makes Hua snort, which in turn makes Sokka blush embarrassed.

Great, even the youngest laughs at him!

“I've kissed a girl, you just haven't met her.”, defends the water tribe boy his manly honour.

“Who? Gran-Gran? I've met Gran-Gran.”, roasts his sister further.

Now Hua has picked up Jaiyi and hides her laughing face in the pelt of her ninetails.

She can’t!

Katara was just too good at dishing out!

Angry Sokka throws his arms into the air. Katara's sass and Hua's laughter go on his nerves and hurt his manly ego.

“No! Besides Gran-Gran. Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot, and a leader has to trust his instincts.”

“Okay, we'll try it your way, oh wise leader.”, says Katara sarcastically.

“Oh guide us, wise leader.”, can’t Hua help herself to add.

The girls laugh together, as Sokka sends them an offended look.

Why were girls such smart-asses?

Now Aang steps over, wearing a backpack. Momo is sitting on the top.

Always the optimist he says that walking might be fun.

Words he would soon regret.

“Walking stinks!”, decides the Avatar. “How do people go anywhere without a flying bison or a kyuubi?”

“Well I don't know, Aang.”, answer him Katara “Why don't you ask Sokka's instincts? They seem to know everything.”

“Yes, our wise leader will lead us to the holy land of the Nothern Water Tribe on foot.”, adds Hua cheeky.

Jaiyi, who walks beside her, laughs her fox laugh.

“Ha ha, very funny, guys.”, deadpans Sokka.

Ungrateful brats! He was just looking out for them and this was the thanks?!

“I'm tired of carrying this pack.”, complains the Avatar.

“You know who you should ask to carry it for a while?”, begins Katara.

“Oh, oh, let me guess!”, calls Hua, raising her hand like in school. “Sokka’s instincts?”

“Right on, Hua!”

“That's a great idea.”, agrees Aang. “Hey, Sokka's instincts, would you mind–”

Annoyed Sokka calls out: “Okay, okay, I get it! Look, guys, I'm tired too. But the important thing is that we're safe from the Fire ... Nation.”

He trails off because they stepped right into a big camp of Fire Nations Soldiers.

“Sokka, your instincts, suck!”, hisses Hua.

The oldest tells them all to run, but a Fire Nation soldier blocks them off by setting the bushes behind them on fire.

The four go into battle positions.

Seems like the only way to get out of this mess was by fighting.

“If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you.”, tells Sokka the soldiers with fake bravado.

His sister asked what he was doing and admitted he was just bluffing. 

A Firebender with an eyepatch laughs at them.

“You, promise not to hurt us?”

A whooshing sound was heard and the soldier was knocked out by an unseen tranquillizer dart on his back.

“Nice work, Sokka!”, praises Aang. “How'd you do that?”

“Uh, instinct?”

That’s when Katara draws their attention to a nearby tree. On it, a young man tosses his blowpipe and unsheathes two hook swords. He jumps and takes down two soldiers on landing. He runs forward and takes down two more using his hook swords.

“Down you go.”

Katara looks amazed, Hua admiring, Aang shocked, and Sokka confused.

Another soldier charges at Jet, but he is defeated. Then a soldier points out how more people are in the tree, but it’s too late.

A young boy lands on top of the soldier and turns his helmet around to blind him, before riding him around while laughing. Another boy launches arrows at the soldiers while more boys and girls come out of the trees. 

Hua, Aang and Katara aid them in fighting the soldiers with their primary bendings. 

Sokka holds up his boomerang and yells as one approaches him, but stops when the young man with the hook swords takes him down first.

The watertribe boy bemoans that he was his, but the young man just says he has to be faster next time.

Sokka looks dismayed and a huge boy falls out of the trees and easily takes down two soldiers as the hook sword boy skilfully takes down one more, causing this soldier's spear to hit another soldier, who was going to battle Sokka, in the head, making that soldier also fall down.

Again no points for Sokka.

Currently, Hua was launching rocks at two soldiers, as she felt that someone was approaching.

Another Soldier!

Before she can react, a pretty girl, not older than herself, attacks the soldier with her whip. She bonds him in it and throws him against a tree, knocking him out cold.

The Daimon's mouth claps open and a hot blush forms on her cheeks.

This was one of the hottest things she had ever seen!

She feels all tingly inside, it only gets worse as the pretty girls walk over to her.

“Hi.”, the pretty girl greets. She has beautiful grey eyes, and mid-length black hair and wears a green kimono-styled top with bandages, brown pants and black boots. 

“Hello.”, croaks Hua nervous out.

“Your earthbending is amazing.”, praises her pretty girl. “I’m Veda and who are you cutie?”

Being called cutie by this beautiful Veda makes Hua's brain short-circuit.

The last time she felt this way was 100 years ago when she had a crush on her neighbor Ai. The one who had also stolen her first kiss.

So she does something, which will make her wish to die on the spot.

Babbling nonsense.

“Me, me, Hua, I mean-I’m Hua. Hua, like, like flower. Only flower, just flower not any specific kind of flower, I don’t know why my parents didn’t specify. Sakura or Sayuri would have been nice, they are specify flowers. You know? Sakura is cherry blossom and Sayuri Lily. But, but, I think you know that…”

Amused Veda wipes away some ash from her cheek and Hua swerves she will melt.

“You are a cutie pie, Hua. Don’t be nervous, I don’t bite…unless you want me to.”

Then Veda winks.

And Hua makes a sound like a dying whale.

Oh Spirits, kill her now!

“Veda, are you done flirting?”, calls over the hook sword boy, who was standing beside an equally besotted Katara. 

“Sure, Jet.”, calls Veda back, but stays beside Hua, winking at her again.

The now-known Jet shakes bemused his head and then starts to introduce himself and his friends: “My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters. Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, Veda, The Duke, and Pipsqueak.”

The Daimon has trouble following along with how Aang tells Pipsqueak how his name is funny, only to be revealed that the biggest boy was named so and not the little one. It seems like Aang will get hit, but Pipssqueak laughs and pats him friendly on the back though the hit is hard enough to knock Aang flat on the ground. 

The Duke stops laughing and looks down at Aang sprawled on the ground before his feet, face flat in the dirt, though when Aang raises his head and continues laughing, so does The Duke.

The Freedom Fighters ransack the camp, while Sokka looks on a little uncomfortable.

Katara thanks Jet for his help and Hua and Veda are talking with each other.

Well, Veda talks and Hua babbles nonsense, however, the other girl doesn’t seem to mind.

Aang watches how both his female friends seem cosy with their new friends and…well…he feels strangely strange.

Does it make sense?

Seeing Katara with Jet was not making him feel funny, but Hua and Veda made his stomach twist.

He didn’t get it.

What was up with him?

Why was there a voice in his head, who practically growled mine, stay away.

Aang doesn’t have this kind of feeling for Hua, they were friends, also he liked Katara.

But this strange voice in him or let’s say a thousand voices in him hissed and snarled.

Mine!

Soulmate!

My Yang!

Stay away from them!

To think he shakes fast his head. This was all so confusing.

Were these voices of his past lives, where he and Hua were couples?

It made the most sense.

Nonetheless, he never reacted like that…

Maybe because someone was showing interest in Hua and he saw it?

And his past lives didn’t like that?

Well, he would ignore it!

He liked Katara, he knew she was his forever girl, and his past lives should get used to the Daimon having another partner.

There!

That’s when Aang hears how The Duke tells Jet how they will bring the things from the ransacked camp to their hide-out.

So his little episode was forgotten as he asked excitedly if they had a hideout.

Jet offers them to show it and both Katara and Hua yell how they want to see it.

So they follow the Freedom Fighter for a while through the forest, till they stop.

“We're here.”, proclaims Jet.

Confused Sokka says that nothing is there, so Jet gives him a rope and the watertribe boy pulled up into the branches.

Jet offers one to Aang, but he uses his airbending to climb the tree.

“Now you Hua.”, calls her Jet.

A bit nervous the Daimon steps forward, as she feels a hand on her shoulder.

Veda.

“The first time can be a bit wild, want to travel with me?”, she asked with a pretty smile.

Not trusting her voice, Hua nods.

So Veda wraps an arm around her hips, while Hua wraps her arms around the other girl's shoulder, as the Freedom Fighter girl grips the rope.

They get pulled up and all seems to go in slow motion.

Romantic light shines down on them, making Veda look like a goddess, which turns Hua into a pepperoni.

When she feels Veda's hand and where she is holding on, Hua swerves it burning her.

She never wants to let go of the other girl.

Sadly they land on a wooden platform.

For a second Hua admired the awesome hideout of the Freedom Fighter, which was a couple of treehouses, connected with zip lines as Veda whispered in her air: “Hey, you wanna ditch the other till dinner? I want to show you my favourite place.”

Butterflies are in Hua's stomach and she nods in agreement.

Giving her a pretty smile Veda takes her hand, Hua may or not may make again a dying whale sound, and leads her to her favourite place.

On the way there they talk.

Veda tells her how she came to the Freedom Fighter. She and Jet were neighbour, as one day the Fire Nation burned down the village, killing their parents. She would be dead too, if Jet hadn’t saved her that night.

He was eight and she was six.

“I’m so sorry, Veda.”, tells her Hua, squeezing her hand. “I wish I could do more to help you with your pain.”

“It’s okay Hua. Even if I miss my family I have a new family in Jet and the Freedom Fighter. Jet is like my big brother, I would do anything for him.”

Suddenly Hua Daimon-Radar goes off. How Veda said she would do anything for Jet…it has a dark note in it.

Hua can’t think anymore as Veda leads her to a platform, from where you can see all the forest.

“It’s so beautiful!”, shouts Hua.

“I love it here.”, confesses Veda, sitting down. “You can see anything from her and when the stars are out it's quite romantic.”

This makes Hua blush again, as she sits down beside Veda. The other girl grips her hand caressing it.

“It’s even better when you share it with someone.”, whispered the Freedom Fighter in her ear, making Hua shiver.

Then she feels a little kiss on her cheek.

Surprised she gasp and looks with wide eyes at Veda.

The other girl has a cheeky smile, which makes Hua's stomach do somersaults.

“I know we just met, but you are so sweet Hua, I could eat you up.”

“Then do it.”, whispers Hua back, she feels the attraction too and wants to bathe in it.

With another grin, Veda kisses her on the mouth.

And for a long time, both girls don’t say anything, getting lost in each other.

***

It’s now dinner time in the Freedom Fighter hide-out. 

Hua sits beside Veda and Katara as she enjoys her meal with her friends, new friends and…girlfriend?

She and Veda didn’t really specify what they were after their romantic escape, they just enjoyed each other.

Maybe they didn’t need a label.

Just being together was nice.

For however long it may be.

Jet stands on the table raising his glass and starts his speech: “Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine.”

Everyone cheers. 

Katara, Hua and Aang smile while Sokka cops an attitude and a scowling face.

“I got a special joy from the look on one soldier's face when The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey.”

The Duke, without his helmet, climbs up the table. He marches on the table with his arms in the air.

“Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right.”

A very loud and long boo is heard all around. 

“Or maybe ... they're dead wrong.”

Loud and long cheering happens.

“Hey, Jet, nice speech.”, praise Katara with twinkling eyes.

“Thanks.”, says Jet as he sits down beside her. “By the way, I was really impressed with you, Hua and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today.”

“Well, they are great. He's the Avatar and she’s the Daimon. I could use some more training.”, admins Katara blushing.

“Avatar, Daimon huh? Very nice.”

“Thanks, Jet.”, chorus Aang and Hua together.

“So I might know a way that you, Hua and Aang can help in our struggle.”

That’s when Sokka states: “Unfortunately, we have to leave tonight.”

Both Katara and Hua looked devastated, they didn’t want to leave Jet and Veda already and Aang pounts, he liked it here!

Fortunately for them, Jet has a mission for Sokka, which makes him curious.

They will stay another day.

Puh, thank the spirits.

After dinner and dishes were finished, Veda showed the girls of Team Avatar-Daimon where they could get cleaned up.

With a blown kiss to Hua the Freedom Fighter girl left them.

Like a besotted fool, Hua waved at her till she was away.

“Ah is someone in love?”, cooed Katara at her best friend, as she started to undress.

Hua follows her and blushes to her breast.

“Not love, but hard crushing. I love girls who can kick my ass.”, she confesses. “Also what is with you and Jet?”

With a washcloth, Katara starts to clean herself and starts blushing too.

“I like him, alright, but we only talked. That hickey on your breast tells me another story.”, says Katara with a grin.

Shocked Hua looked down and there it was.

A hickey.

Okay, she and Veda got a bit wild.

“We may have gotten carried away.”, she admins to her best friend and starts to clean herself too.

This makes Katara frown a bit.

“Hua, please don’t take this bad, but aren’t you both only twelve? I don’t think you should be doing that already.”

It takes the Daimon a second before she understands what Katara is implying. She turns crimson red.

“No, no, Katara, we didn’t do anything like that, we are just a bit handsy, Nothing more.”

“Oh.”, makes Katara the sound long and then grins cheeky. “So like did you touch her breasts or something?!”

For that Hua throws a towel at her face.

“None of your business.”

“So you did cup a feel!”

“I never knew you could be this pervy!”

“I’m not pervy, just couriers and worried for my best friend.”

Together the girls laugh and change the subject.

After they were done washing, it was time for bed.

***

The next day Katara and Hua made presents for their crushes, while they waited for them to return with Sokka from their mission.

Katara made Jet a hat and Hua made for Veda a necklace.

Aang was somewhere goofing off with The Duke if they understood correctly.

They hear how Aang talks to Sokka and little explosion.

Ah, so they probably returned.

The girls walk up to Sokka and Aang.

“Hey, Sokka.”, greets Katara. “Are Jet and Veda back?”

Her brother was sitting with his back to the trunk and staring at the ground, glaring.

Whatever happened now?

“Yeah, they’re back. But we're leaving.”, decides Sokka.

“What?”, shouts Aang disappointed.

The girls are right with him.

“But I made him this hat.”, whines Katara.

Hua whines too: “I made Veda this necklace.”

“Your boyfriend Jet and your girlfriend Veda are thugs.”, makes Sokka clear.

Of course, Katara and Hua are shocked and won’t believe it.

Sokka insists that the Freedom Fighters are messed up, while Aang takes partei for them and says to Sokka they just have a different kind of life.

“They beat and robbed a harmless old man!”, shouts Sokka angrily.

Why won’t they understand?

Stupid Jet and stupid Veda with their stupid charming personalities.

Katara and Hua felt for it, hook, line and sinker!

His sister crosses her arms and demands that they talk with Jet and Veda about it, she wants to hear their side of the story.

Meanwhile, Hua’s bad feelings about Veda from yesterday's return.

Could she really misunderstand Veda's true self?

Her Daimon-Radar had tried to warn her…but she couldn’t believe how the girl who was so sweet to her, had such a side on her.

Her stomach in a twist she followed the other to Jet cabin.

To their luck, Veda was there too.

Both seemed to talk in secret.

This didn’t help the doubt which was forming in Hua.

Not wasting time Katara asked them about the mission they had with Sokka and what happened. Did they really beat up and robbed an old man?

“Sokka, you told them what happened, but you didn't mention that the guy was Fire Nation?”, asked Jet back.

Veda stood beside him, emotionless, even as Hua tried to look into her grey eyes.

It was like the other girl closed her off.

The Daimon didn’t like it.

“No, he conveniently left that part out.”, huffed Katara at her brother.

He groaned. “Fine! But even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian!”

“He was an assassin, Sokka.”, corrected him Jet.

The leader of the Freedom Fighter pulls out a knife and thrusts it into a nearby stump. It is a sinister-looking curved blade. There are four spikes evenly spaced along the grip, with enough space for fingers to go between them. There is a ring on the butt of the knife.

“See? There's a compartment for poison in the knife.”

He pulls on the ring and removes a small glass tube filled with red liquid.

“He was sent to eliminate me. You helped save my life, Sokka.”

Relieved Katara says she knows there was an explanation, but Sokka insists that he didn’t see a knife.

Jet rebukes that the man hid it and Katara agrees.

The watertribe boy makes clear how he was sure there was no knife and they would go now!

Dramatically he leaves Jet cabin.

“Tell me you guys aren't leaving yet.”, turns Jet to the remaining three. “I really need your help.”

Aang asks what they can do.

Jet explains how the Fire Nation plans to burn down the whole forest and them with it, however, if the three use their waterbending to fill the reservoir they could put the fire out.

“Please, you would do us a great favour.”, begs them Veda and bows.

Still, she won’t look at Hua.

She doesn’t like it.

“We will talk with Sokka and then tell you what we decide.”, the Daimon tells Jet and Veda.

She takes Katara and Aang by the hands and walks with them to their cabin.

Sokka was already packing their things.

“We can't leave now with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!”, was the first thing Katara said to her brother.

“I'm sorry, Katara. Jet's very smooth and his lackey like Veda do anything for him, we can't trust them.”, answered Sokka calmly.

“You know what I think? You're jealous that he's a better warrior and a better leader!”, accuses him Katara.

“Katara, I'm not jealous of Jet. It's just that my instinct–”

“Well, my instincts tell me we need to stay here a little longer and help Jet. Come on, Aang and Hua.”

The Avatar say sorry and leaves with Katara.

Hua stays a moment longer, unsure and then tells Sokka: “Find evidence.”

Surprised Sokka looks up.

“I don’t want to believe that Veda is so heartless, but my instincts, my Daimon ones are haywire, but without proof, it’s only a feeling. So look for one. I hope you are wrong though, I really like Veda.”

With that, she follows after Katara and Aang.

***

The next day Jet leads the three benders to the damn upriver along its west bank. Geysires are everywhere.

“Jet, I'm sorry about how Sokka's been acting.”, apologies Katara.

“No worries, he already apologized.”, says Jet.

This shocks the other three and they look at each other.

Sokka?

Apologizing?

“Yeah, I was surprised too.”, admins the Freedom Fighter. “I got the sense that maybe you talked to him or something.”

“Yeah, I did.”, confirms the watertribe girl.

“I guess something you said got through to him. Anyhow, he went out on a scouting mission with Pipsqueak, Veda and Smellerbee.”

“I'm glad he cooled off. He's so stubborn sometimes.”

Meanwhile, Hua can’t help but bite her lips nervous. Her Daimon-Radar was going crazy, something was wrong, but she couldn’t pinpoint what.

Also, she said to Sokka he should look for proof, maybe he found nothing and that’s why he said sorry.

Or…she doesn’t want to think about the other possibility.

They are now walking in the gully, beside the 'river'. Aang pauses after noticing something strange and is launched into the air by a blast from the geyser he is standing on.

“All right, we're here. Underground water's trying to escape through these vents. I need you guys to help it along.”, explains Jet.

Unsure Katara tells him she never benden water she can’t see and doesn’t know if she can do it. 

However Jet was right behind her putting his hands on her shoulder and encouraging her.

A bit sad he was left out Aang asks what about him.

“I know the Avatar can do this, just like the Daimon.”

Jet sends Hua a smile and she has trouble copying him.

Her brain tells her to listen to her instincts, but her heart wants to believe that Jet and mostly of course Veda are good people.

With a heavy heart, she joins Aang and Katara at one of many Geysir in the gully. While Jet looks on, they bend the water up. After a few minutes, a stream of water emerges from the hole. They pull it to their height and send it toward the river where it continues to flow like a waterfall. The water quickly joins the river.

Jet congratulated them on a job well done and informed them with another few more Geysir the reservoir would be full.

Excited Aang points at the next Geysier.

The benders walk up to it, as Jet tells them he has some business to attend to and will see them later.

Katara says they would join in at the reservoir, but Jet says it’s better to meet up in the hide-out.

So he leaves them at their bending.

Since they are three waterbenders they finish pretty soon.

“I bet that's enough, and I'm not just saying that to be lazy.”, states Aang, as the three look at all the streaming water fountains.

“Let's catch up with Jet at the reservoir.”, announced Katara.

“Didn’t he say we should meet at the hide-out?”, points Hua out.

“Well, we finished early. I'm sure he'll be happy to see us.”

Well, nothing to say against it.

So they make their way over.

They reach the edge of the cliff. 

At the base of the dam, they see, four of Jet's people unloading barrels from the wagon and arranging them.

“What are they doing?”, wonders Katara.

Surprised Aang notes that these are the blasting jelly barrels the Freedom Fighter got from the Fire Nation.

Before Katara can say anything Hua lets out such a dirty curse, that both she and Aang gasp surprised.

They didn’t know Hua could curse like that.

“They gonna blow up the dam!”, screams Hua, tears springing into her eyes. “Oh, why didn’t I listen to my Daimon Instincts? I felt the darkness in both Jet and Veda, I’m the worst Daimon ever!”

“No, Jet wouldn’t do it, calm down Hua.”, said Katara, wrapping an arm around the distressed girl.

“He would and he is! Katara stop lying to yourself.”

“I've gotta stop him.”, tells them Aang.

The Avatar opens his glider but before he can reach the edge, Jet crosses his path from behind and snatches the glider. Aang is left wobbling precariously on the edge and uses airbending to get himself back on stable footing.

“Yes, I would.”, confessed Jet the true.

Now Hua has to hold Katara by her shoulders.

“Jet, why?”

“Katara, you would too if you just stopped to think. Think about what the Fire Nation did to your mother. We can't let them do that to anyone else ever again.”

“This isn't the answer!”

“I want you to understand me, Katara. I thought your brother would understand, but–”

“Where's Sokka?”

Tears fall from her eyes, as Jet reaches out and touches her face.

“Katara.”

She lowers her head, and with an angry shout, sends Jet flying with the water from her waterskin. She draws it back into the skin when she's done.

Faster then he can react, Jet gets enclosed into a coffin of stone plates, only his face free.

Hua looks at him in anger, her eyes switch from her natural green to her bright orange ones in Daimon State.

“You disgust me!”, she shouts with a thousand voices. “You and Veda are terrible people who act like heroes! You would-be murderers!”

A birdcall is heard. 

Katara and Aang are startled, Hua gets out of Daimon State and looks to the valley beyond where it's coming from. 

Jet gives an answering birdcall.

“What are you doing?”, demands Katara to know.

“You're too late.”, the leader of the Freedom Fighter simply states.

Horrified Katara and Hua shout No.

The centre of the dam explodes in a cloud of smoke and fire. 

Katara, Hua and Aang watch a massive wall of water go to the town the water rushes through the open gate, as a cresting wave dwarfs it. The wall and gate are swallowed as the wave strikes the town.

“All those people …”, cries Katara and turns full hatred towards Jet. “Jet, you monster!”

“This was a victory, Katara. Remember that. The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe.”

“It will be safe, without you.”, they hear suddenly Sokka's voice.

He appears on Appa, with Jaiyi and Momo on the saddle.

His sister and friends are so glad to see him.

Sokka explains how he managed to warn the village in time, so no one died.

Of course, Jet was angry.

This was his chance to ride and free the valley from the Fire Nation and Sokka thwarted him.

Hua shakes her head in disgust at Jet's madness and earthbends herself on Appa's saddle. Jaiyi jumps in her arms, licking her cheeks. She hugs her ninetails tight.

“Who would be free?”, asked Sokka rhetoric “Everyone would be dead.”

“You traitor!”

“No, Jet. You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people.”

Jet begs Katara to help him, but she just says goodbye to him.

Hua earthbends her best friend into the saddle and Jaiyi gives now Katara licks.

Both girls smile at the ninetails in thanks.

With a Yip-Yip from Sokka, Appa flies away from Jet.

They are soaring through the sky for a while till Aang says to Sokka: “We hoped you were going to the dam. How come you went to the town instead?”

“Let me guess, your instincts told you.”, speculated Katara.

“Hey, sometimes they're right.”, says Sokka with a shoulder shrug.

“Mmh, you do know we are flying in the wrong direction?”, asks Hua with a little smile.

“And sometimes they're wrong.”, admits Sokka and stears them back on the right course.

***

Late at night while anyone was sleeping Hua looked at the moon and cried silent tears.

She didn’t see Veda, so she couldn’t tell her how disgusted and disappointed she was in her.

Veda seemed so good, so perfect…in the future Hua decided to listen to her instincts more.

For Sokka, it worked as it showed.

That’s when she hears how someone stands up and walks over to her.

Without a word a warm hand grips her and she squeezes back.

The black-haired girl lays her head on Katara's shoulder and the older girl her over the younger.

The two don’t need words to understand each other.

They have both crushed on people who in the end were terrible.

In the future, they will be more careful with their hearts.

But for now, they were happy they had each other.

And this was enough.

Previous

Next

Yin and Yang: Book 1.08

Balance is a key aspect in the world, so why shouldn’t the Avatar have an opposite?

In a world where Raava and Vaatu merge with humans, the Avatar and the Daimon try to keep the peace between the four nations.

Aang and Hua are the current incarnations, but wake up 100 years in the future.

How will these two learn all four elements in one year and defeat the Fire Lord?

I couldn’t wait to post Part 2 of Winter Solstice so here you go!

Enjoy and please comment, please, please, please!

Book 1.08: Winter Solstice, Part 2

Water. 

Earth. 

Fire. 

Air. 

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. 

Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. 

Only the Avatar and Daimon, masters of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed them most, they vanished. 

A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar and Daimon, an airbender named Aang and an earthbender named Hua. 

And although his airbending and her earthbending skills are great they have a lot to learn before they’re ready to save anyone. 

But I believe Aang and Hua can save the world.

In the early morning hours in Senlin Village, you could see four figures trying to leave the village.

Well, it was two humans, Aang and Hua with Appa, the flying bison and Jaiyi, the kyuubi, trying their best to get their animal companions moving.

“Let's go, Appa! Come on, boy!”, whisper-shouted Aang, pulling the reins.

“Jaiyi, be a good girl, shrink!”, begged Hua, trying to get her ninetails to turn into her fox cub form and not stay in her big fighting form. Like this, she couldn’t fit on Appa’s saddle.

Nonetheless, none of the two animals listen to their masters. 

They refused to obey since they didn’t like to leave people behind.

This realized the two children at the same time.

“Look, I'm sorry, but Katara and Sokka aren't coming to the Fire Nation with us.”, told Aang sadly.

Hua frowned, giving Appa and Jaiyi a pet.

“We don’t like it either, but if anything happened to them, we would never forgive ourselves.”

“So get your big butt off the ground, Appa!”

“And you Jaiyi shrink!”

“And then let’s go!”, chorused the Avatar and Daimon together.

This earned them unimpressed looks from Appa and Jaiyi. Both sit down on their butts, refusing to move.

“Thanks for nothing your useless fluff balls.”, groaned Hua.

Why did they have to be so stubborn?!

Suddenly Sokka called out to them, his voice full of sass: “I think the useless fluff balls are trying to tell ya something.”

Surprised and startled Hua and Aang turned towards the right to reveal a collection of Senlin villagers, with Katara and Sokka standing in the front.

“Please don't go, Hua and Aang. The world can't afford to lose you two to the Fire Nation. Neither can I.”, plead Katara desperate to them.

These two were her rays of hope. 

Hope was the only thing which had kept Katara going on for years in the cold lonely nights when she missed her mother and worried for her father.

Now the world had a chance for peace if Hua and Aang ended the war and the waterbender would be damned if she let anything happen to them!

Guilty Hua and Aang look at Katara before they look at each other. 

They see the vision of the comet Fang and Qinyan showed them clearly before their eyes.

Neither of them wanted to hurt their precious people, especially Katara, however…

“But we have to talk to Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue to find out what our vision means!”, argued Aang back.

“We need to get to the Fire Temple before the sun sets on the solstice. That's today!”, added Hua.

Aang airbends himself atop Appa's head, while Hua earthbend herself on the saddle.

If Jaiyi wouldn’t come, she wouldn’t force her anymore, but she needed to go.

As Appa stands up, Jaiyi, Katara and Sokka run to stand before the bison, preventing him from moving any further.

“We're not letting you two go into the Fire Nation, Hua and Aang.”, scolded Katara.

“At least, not without your friends.”, told them Sokka grinning. “We got your back.”

Jaiyi yips in agreement.

Aang and Hua can clearly see how their friends won’t take no for an answer, that’s why they tried to leave in secret in the first place.

“This will probably be the most dangerous thing we ever did!”, reminded them Hua.

However, the water tribe siblings just grinned, saying danger was their second name.

This made the Avatar and Daimon laugh.

Well, if their friends were so stubborn, they would probably follow them somehow.

Better they stayed together then.

So Hua earthbended the water tribe siblings and Jaiyi, who finally was in her fox cub form, to Appa's saddle, while Momo made himself cosy on Aang's shoulder.

The Senlin Village leader hands Aang some supplies reminding them how long their trip to Crescent Island was and wishes them good luck in their quest.

Aang wants to thank him for their hospitality and help, but the man just yells for them to go, go, go!

And that’s what they do.

Appa soars up into the sky, next destination: Crescent Island!

***

Daylight has come. 

The flying bison flies over the ocean, while his passengers all watch the ocean fearfully.

“Come on, boy, we've got a long way to go. Faster!”, encourages Aang his bison.

Appa lets out a growl and does as Aang said.

Katara, Hua and Jaiyi huddle together, to comfort each other, but Hua can’t stop herself from letting out her thoughts: “Oh spirits, this is so bad. If a Fire Nations ship sees us we will get roasted nicely!”

“Hey, I’m the pessimist here.”, says Sokka, petting her head to calm her down. “Don’t steal my job.”

A nervous laugh escapes Hua.

Katara kisses her cheek, normally Hua would blush up a storm, but her nerves prevent her from doing so.

“It will be okay. We will manage.”, reassured Katara.

It’s like the universe wants to prove her wrong since Hua sees how a Fire Nation ship is now on their tail.

“What about that?!”, she shouts.

“Aang. We've got trouble!”, calls Katara back to him.

She tried her hardest not to freak out since Hua needed her, yet it was difficult.

“Yeah! And it's gaining, fast!”, adds Sokka.

The next minutes in their lifes were nerve-wracking for Team Avatar-Daimon.

Not only did Prince Zuko shoot stinky fireballs at them, also a barricade was before them and attacking them too.

Aang had trouble manoeuvre Appa around all the flying fireballs.

At one point the passengers had to put out small embers from Appa fur.

It was pure and utter chaos!

Their wild ride ends finally when Aang airbends forward off of Appa's head. He uses a powerful airbending kick, and the flaming boulder, which was coming towards them, explodes in a large smoky blast. 

The Avatar falls back to Appa's head, Katara, Hua and Sokka grabbing him. 

Now Appa soars safely over the blockade, passing them.

“We made it!”, celebrates Aang.

Meanwhile, the Daimon and water tribe siblings look onward in horror.

They were really in the Fire Nation.

Oh Spirits!

At least the rest of their flight was calm.

And boring.

For hours and hours, they flow over the ocean.

Hua was sure if people could die of boredom, they all would be dead right now.

She lays like a starfish on the saddle, Sokka and Katara copy her, while Jaiyi has fallen asleep on her stomach.

Aang and Momo were slouched on Appa's head and the poor bison seemed to get more tired every second.

“Aang, are we there yet?”, calls Hua out to him.

“No, not now.”

A few seconds pass.

“How about now?”

“No, still no Crescent Island in sight.”

Again a few seconds pass.

“Now?”

“No, Hua.”

She lets out a huff and dramatically drapes an arm over her eyes.

“That’s how I’m going to die….from utter boredom. What a way to go.”, mumbled Hua, but everyone heard her. Agreeing groans from all around. That’s when she realizes something important. “Wait if I die now I get reincarnated into the Fire Nation!”

“Yeah, don’t do that.”, deadpans Sokka at her.

“You got it boss.”, she answered jokily back.

At least it made Katara and Aang snort.

Silence again comes over the group.

Somehow she must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew it was sunset and Aang shouted: “There it is! The island where Roku's dragon took me.”

Finally!

Appa lands at the base of a stone bridge leading up to the island's mountain. 

The bridge ends at an elegant, multi-story Fire Temple mixed with Water Tribe decorations. 

Lava is flowing beneath the bridge and the air is thick with steam. 

Aang stands by Appa's head, and Katara and Hua stand at the bison's side. 

Sokka is stretching further away.

Aang praises Appa for getting them all safely there, while Katara and Hua rub his belly.

Katara cooes at Appa how he must be tired, strangely Sokka thinks she was talking to him and tells her he was ready to beat up some firebenders.

When her realizes with whom his sister was talking, Sokka lies and says he was talking to Momo.

The lemur critters in confusion.

Since the temple was way too small for Appa, he would wait for them and Team Avatar-Daimon with Momo and Jaiyi made their way over to it.

Soon they stand before the temple and hide behind a wall. You could never be too careful.

Better look for hostile firebenders.

“I don't see any guards.”, whispered Sokka.

“The Fire Nation must have abandoned the temple when Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue died.”, was Katara's guess.

“Let’s get inside, it’s almost sundown.”, murmured Hua.

Aang nodded.

“Yes, we better hurry!”

The group leaps over the wall and charges for the front door. After they are inside the temple they tip-toed through an enormous chamber with fire and water-decor columns.

“Wait.”, stops Sokka the group. “I think I heard something.”

Turning around, they see five men standing in the hallway dressed in red, with a blue sash around their waists and tall hats.

“We are the Fire Sages.”, announced the Sage in the middle, the Great Fire Sage. “Guardians of the temple of the Avatar and Daimon.”

“Great! I am the Avatar and she here is the Daimon!”

“We know.”

Without a warning, the sages attack them with fire blasts!

What?!

What was going on?!

Thankful Aang can reflect the fiery attack with his airbending. He yells at his friends to run, he would hold them off.

They didn’t need to be told twice.

So they run around the temple hallways in the hope of losing the Fire Sages, Aang joins back up with them and then they reach a dead-end.

Awesome!

A Fire Sage was coming towards them.

Even better.

“I don't want to fight you! I am a friend.”, promised the Fire Sage.

Angry Sokka tells him that firebenders aren’t their friends.

Jaiyi jumps forward to protect them, growing into an adult fox. Her hackles are raised and her nine tails wander around aggressively.

Aang and Hua stand beside her, getting into bending stances.

The Fire Sages wanted them, not Katara and Sokka, they would protect their friends!

This Fire Sage steps toward the Avatar and Daimon, before dropping to his knees and pressing his palms to the floor in submission. 

This startles the children and Jaiyi.

“I know why you're here, Avatar and Daimon.”

“You do?”, chorus Aang and Hua together in disbelief.

“Yes.” The Fire Sage rises from the floor to stand again. “You wish to speak to Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue. I can take you to them.”

Sceptically Aang asks how.

In answer, the Fire Sage slides back a lamplight on the wall. He places his palm on the wall and focuses firebending into this location to open a secret passage.

“This way.”

That’s when they hear the Great Fire Sage hollering to the others to find them and their ally Fire Sage begs them to hurry inside the secret passage.

Hua and Aang exchange a look with one another, asserting each other's belief to trust this firebender.

Well, they don’t have really a choice, do they?

They enter first, Jaiyi and Momo right behind them, then Katara and Sokka and lastly the Fire Sage who closes the secret passage.

They are now in a cave, lava flowing down under them and follow the Fire Sage who tells him his name, Shyu.

“Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue once called this temple their home. Together they formed these secret passages out of the magma.”, explained Shyu to the group as they made their way through the caverns.

“Did you know them?”, asks Aang curious.

“No. But my grandfather knew them. Many generations of Fire Sages guarded this temple long before me. We all have a strong spiritual connection to this place.”

“Is that how you knew we were coming?”

“A few weeks ago, an amazing thing occurred. The statue of Avatar Roku; its eyes began to glow! Then moments later the eyes of Daimon Lixue.”

Katara reminds them how Roku's eyes had glowed too, when they were in the Southern Air Temple as Aang had entered Avatar State. Then Hua got into Daimon State to calm him down, it was only logical that the Daimon Statues light up just like the Avatar’s.

Shyu agreed and said that’s how they knew how Aang and Hua had returned.

“I just don’t get it.”, began Hua. “If you Sages are devoted to this temple and to the Avatar and Daimon, then why did the others attack us?”

“Things have changed. In the past, the sages were loyal only to the Avatar and Daimon. When Roku and Lixue died, the sages eagerly awaited for the next Avatar and Daimon to return. But they never came.”

Immediately the old feelings of guilt arose in Aang and Hua.

They had let down people again.

Sokka mocked them humorously that they only were 100 years too late.

For that, he got twin scowls and Jaiyi who growled at him.

Shyu continues to explain how the Sage lost hope that the Avatar and Daimon would return. Then when Fire Lord Sozin began the war, they were forced to follow him.

“I never wanted to serve the Fire Lord.”, confessed Shyu. “When I learned you two were coming, I knew I would have to betray the other sages.”

“Thank you for helping us.”, chirps Aang happily, while Hua bows in gratitude. “We won’t forget this.”

The Fire Sage smiles at them, leading the group to a set of stairs. Following them they would reach the sanctuary and when the light reached the statues of Roku and Lixue they could talk to them.

Shyu slides back a secret tile and they climb into the outer sanctuary. 

Massive columns with dragon and phoenix statues atop them line the room. 

An immense door is before them with a device holding five open-mouthed dragons, over them a phoenix with spread wings and waves artfully encircled them.

“No!”, gasped Shyu.

“Shyu, what's wrong?”, asks Aang.

“The sanctuary doors, they're closed!”

“Can't you just open them with firebending?”, wonders Katara. “Like you opened that other door?”

“No. Only a fully realized Avatar or Daimon is powerful enough to open this door alone. Otherwise, the sages must open this door together, with five simultaneous fire blasts.”

Unsure what to do now, they all looked around.

There had to be another way!

That’s when Sokka had an idea.

It’s a trick he had learned from his dad.

They need to seal the lamp oil inside five animal skin casings, Shyu lights the oil-soaked twine and ta-da! 

Fake firebending!

Katara and Hua are impressed with Sokka and Shyu agrees that it might actually work.

The children, Sokka with Jaiyi and Katara with Momo, hide behind the columns, as Shyu gets ready to light the twine.

He reminds the Avatar and Daimon how the other Sage would hear the explosion, so they had to hurry and enter the sanctuary.

“It's almost sunset.”, notes Katara. “Are you two ready?”

“Definitely.”, reassured Aang.

“Ready as I ever will be!”, vowed Hua.

Shyu thrusts his finger forward, sending a small flare racing across the door to light all five bags at once. 

He hurries to take cover. 

There is an intense explosion, producing a lot of smoke. Aang and Hua burst forward and ran for the door. 

The Avatar and Daimon strain to open the door, which has not budged by an inch.

“They're still locked!”, they shout disappointed.

The water tribe teen was right with them, as all stepped from their columns.

Pissed off Aang airbends currents at the door, hollering: “Why, won't, it, open?!”

“Aang, calm down!”, demanded Hua, holding his shoulders. “Airbending at it won’t work. Seems like we came here for nothing.”

A groan leaves the Avatar’s mouth.

“I don't get it. That firebending looked as strong as any firebending I've seen.”, thought Sokka aloud.

Suddenly Katara declared him a genius.

All were more than confused.

Smiling Katara told them it didn’t work but it looked like it!

Now she had a plan.

A few minutes later the other Fire Sages reached the sanctuary where Shyu was waiting for them.

He tells them that somehow the Avatar and Daimon entered it, pointing even at two shadows you can see from the crack in the door.

Immediately the Great Fire Sage commands his fellow Sages to open the door, they couldn’t risk the current Avatar and Daimon contacting Roku and Lixue.

Hua and Aang slide into position behind nearby columns as the five sages firebend the door locks open. 

As the door opens, a sooty Momo and Jaiyi are revealed sitting on the floor. 

Jaiyi shakes herself free from the soot, while Momo sneezes, blowing the soot off himself.

“It's the Avatar's lemur and the Daimon’s Kyuubi. They must have crawled through the pipes! We've been tricked!”, shouts the Great Fire Sage, but too late.

The kyuubi turns big enough to sit on him and Momo leaps atop the Great Fire Sage's head and clings to his hat. Katara charged forward, pulling a nearby sage's tunic over his head to blind him. 

Sokka grabs the lower skirt of a sage's outfit, lifting it completely over his body to cover his face.

Shyu grabs the last free sage and hauls him into his grip, pinning him.

“Now, Aang! Hua!”, shouted Shyu.

A moment of silence.

Now Katara calls for them to hurry.

But to the shook of Aang and Hua's friends and allies, Prince Zuko comes forth from behind a column.

He somehow manages to pin with one arm each of Hua and Aang's arms behind their backs.

“The Avatar and Daimon are coming with me!”

More he can’t say, because Jaiyi turns into her fighting Kyuubi form and knocks with all her tails the enemy sages down.

Then she tackles Zuko to the ground, growling in his face.

So she freed Hua and Aang, who didn’t waste time and raced into the sanctuary.

Everyone looks away as the door seals with a blinding flash of white and orange light. 

Inside, Aang and Hua stand around and look up at the tall statues of Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue. 

A beam of red sunlight enters the room and strikes a glistening red jewel held by the statues.

Both children look confused around.

“And now?”, asked Hua.

“I don’t know.”, admins Aang. “The light hits the statues and we talk to Roku and Lixue.”

“But nothing is happening!”

“Please Avatar Roku and Diamon Lixue talk to us!”, beg Aang and Hua together.

Roku's statue turns red and Lixue’s blue as sunlight engulfs them. 

His eyes glow white and hers orange.

Smoke fills the room. 

When the white smoke dissipated Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue walked up to them arm in arm.

They aren’t any more in the sanctuary but on a mountaintop with clouds around them.

“Welcome Hua and Aang.”, greets them Lixue with a kind smile. “It’s wonderful to meet you finally.”

She is a beautiful aged lady and looks younger than Roku, even if they are the same age. Her clothes are in the classic blue of the Water Tribe with some red accents for the Fire Nation.

“What took you so long?”, adds Roku also with a smile.

He wears typical Fire Nation clothes, but a necklace made out of a shark tooth, clearly Water Tribe, hangs from his throat.

It was nice to see how this married couple integrated the nation of their spouse in their clothing.

Respectfully the current Avatar and Daimon place a fist into a palm, bowing their head to the Avatar and Daimon before them.

“We have something very important to tell you, Aang and Hua.”, begins Roku. “That is why, when you were in the Spirit World, we sent my dragon and Lixue phoenix to find you.”

“Is it about that vision we had? The one of the comet?”, guesses Aang.

“Yes indeed, young Avatar.”, confirmed Lixue.

“What does it mean?”, wanted Hua to know.

Roku explains to the young ones: “One hundred years ago, Fire Lord Sozin used that comet to begin the War. He and his firebending army harnessed its incredible power and dealt a deadly first strike against the other nations.”

“The Air Nomads.”, mumbled Hua and Daimon Lixue nodded.

“So the comet made them stronger?”, summarized Aang.

Avatar Roku confirmed it, even saying it made them stronger than they could imagine.

“But that happened a hundred years ago. What does the comet have to do with the War now?”

Now Lixue took over to explain: “Listen carefully, young ones. Sozin's Comet will return by the end of this summer, and Fire Lord Ozai will use its power to finish the War, once and for all. If he succeeds, even the Avatar and Daimon won't be able to restore balance to the world. Hua and Aang. You must defeat the Fire Lord before the comet arrives.”

That they were shocked was the understatement of the century.

They panic!

“But, but, Lixue I may have started learning airbending, but I don’t make the progress I should, because I should learn fire first! How should I get down water too like this?!”

“Yeah, and I haven't even started learning waterbending! Not to mention earth and fire!”

“Mastering the elements takes years of discipline and practice.”, told them Roku calmly. “But if the world is to survive, you two must do it by summer's end.”

“What if we can't master all the elements in time? What if we fail?”, argues Aang back with Hua rapidly nodding along.

“We have faith in you Hua and Aang because you two mastered it already once and you can do it again.”, reassured Lixue.

This makes the children smile.

“The solstice is ending.”, declares Roku. “We must go our separate ways, for now.”

“But we won't be able to come back to the temple. What if we have questions? How will we talk to you two?”, asked Aang and Hua as one.

Roku and Lixue answer them together: “We are a part of you. When you need to talk to us again, you will find a way.”

The late Avatar and Daimon closed their eyes, showing the current ones what was going on outside the sanctuary.

Firebender, ready to burn them to crisp.

“A great danger awaits you two at the temple. We can help you face the threat. But only if you are ready.”

Hua and Aang who had also closed their eyes open them together.

His a brightly white and his arrows in the same light and hers in a burning orange.

“We are ready!”

The people outside saw how the door glowed bright white-orange once again. 

Smoke streams come through into the room. 

The door unlocks itself, beginning to open. 

As it opens, a blinding white and orange light forces all present to look away.

Admiral Zhao commands his man to attack, while Katara cries out to her friends terrified.

The wall of fire amasses, circling its new hosts as Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue, eyes aglow, are revealed behind the flames, untouched.

In perfect harmony, Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue draw the circling fire together in one motion. 

They send it forward in one powerful wave that sears the room, blasting the offenders off their feet and melting the chains binding Katara, Sokka, Shyu, Jaiyi and Zuko with precision. 

Daimon Lixue and Avatar Roku, turn their glowing glare upon the offending sages. 

The sages panic, all turning to run from their wrath.

“Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue are going to destroy the temple! We have to get out of here!”, implores Shyu the water tribe siblings.

“Not without Hua and Aang!”, countered Katara.

Never would she leave her friends!

Roku and Lixue kneel into a forward strike, melting the floor with a molten firebending trail. 

They steadily lift a hand each, causing the stream of lava below to erupt into maddened explosions. 

The lava soars through the temple, tearing it apart. 

Katara and Sokka huddle together, arm-in-arm, behind a column. 

The destruction ceases momentarily as Roku and Lixue lower their hands, exhaling soundly. 

The solstice's beam of sunlight leaves their statues; their eyes no longer glow. 

As this happens all smoke in the room draws in upon Avatar Roku and Daimon Lixue, their forms disappearing to leaving behind a weary Aang and Hua.

Both fall to their knee, however, Katara catches Aang and Sokka catches Hua before their faces meet the floor.

“We got your backs.”, tells them Sokka.

“Thanks. Where's Shyu?”, wonder the Avatar and Daimon together.

“I don't know.”, admins Katara.

Jaiyi licks Hua's cheek and then Aang’’s before she yips urgently.

They need to leave!

Hua, Aang, Katara and Sokka stare in horror upon seeing the stairwell leading to the exit filled with lava. 

They quickly turn to the only exit; the hole in the wall Roku and Lixue had created. 

There is no escaping, as they are on the top level of the temple.

All four humans gasp and the Kyuubi yips in surprise as they notice Appa and Momo swiftly closing in. 

They run out of the temple, leaping into Appa's saddle.

Time to leave the Fire Nation!

***

The full moon shines down on them, as Aang and Hua, who are sitting side by side on Appa's saddle, look both in desperation at nothing in particular.

What Roku and Lixue told them…

How could they do it?

They were just two dumb kids. 

Two dumb kids who had to save the world before the end of the summer.

At least…they wouldn’t have to do it alone.

Like if they agreed on, their hands find the one of the other and they squeeze.

They needed some reassurance.

That they really weren’t alone in this whole mess.

That their other half would walk the same path as them.

For the first time, both were thankful that they had each other.

How the burden of saving the world in less than a year could change your perspective on things.

Katara and Sokka looked at each other worried for their young friends.

They kneel down behind them and Katara puts a hand on a shoulder each.

Whatever the young Avatar and Daimon had learned, which troubled them so much, the water tribe siblings would support and help them.

Previous

Next

!!ON INFINITY HIATUS!!

Yin and Yang: Book 1.05

Balance is a key aspect in the world, so why shouldn’t the Avatar have an opposite?

In a world where Raava and Vaatu merge with humans, the Avatar and the Daimon try to keep the peace between the four nations.

Aang and Hua are the current incarnations, but wake up 100 years in the future.

How will these two learn all four elements in one year and defeat the Fire Lord?

Book 1.05: The King of Omashu

Water. 

Earth. 

Fire. 

Air. 

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. 

Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar and Daimon, masters of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed them most, they vanished. 

A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar and Daimon, an airbender named Aang and an earthbender named Hua. 

And although his airbending and her earthbending skills are great they have a lot to learn before they’re ready to save anyone. 

But I believe Aang and Hua can save the world.

Hua felt her heart fill with joy, as she saw the familiar pyramide-like city of Omashu!

Oh, how she had longed to visit it again and see Bumi!

Sadly, she was 100 years too late.

Who knows what had happened to her, and Aang's, dear friend?

Of course, Jaiyi noted the solemn aura around her girl, so the nine-tailed fox snuggled against her legs, like a cat.

Thankful Hua reached down to give her trusty kyuubi a good rub between her ears.

Meanwhile, Aang presented the other Omashu in all her glory.

The Watertribe siblings were in awe since they had nothing similar in the South Pole.

"Wait, Aang!", calls Katara out to him, who was ready to just run into the city. "It could be dangerous if people find out you're the Avatar."

"You need a disguise.", added Sokka seriously.

"Why does Hua not need one?", the Avatar wondered.

"Maybe because I'm clearly Earth Kingdom and not an air nomad?", said Hua with a raised eyebrow. "No one would look at me and go: Aah, it's the legendary Daimon!"

Aang raised his finger as if he wanted to argue, then he frowned and put it down.

"Okay I see your point, but what I'm supposed to do? Grow a moustache?"

Oh, this gives Sokka an idea!

A few moments later Aang stands before them, wearing a wig and a large moustache made out of Appa fur.

Irretaited the last airbender scratches his head under the wig.

"Ugh. This is so itchy. How do you live in this stuff?", asked Aang his flying bison.

Appa slowly turns his head toward Aang and snorts at him as if he were scoffing.

"Great! Now you look just like my grandfather.", praises Sokka, happy how his idea worked.

"Technically, Aang is 112 years old.", reminds Katara.

"Just like me.", nods Hua in agreement and fixes her low-side ponytail. "I'm just glad I still look young. Would be really traumatic to wake up one day and be turned into an old lady."

Nimbly Aang kicks up his staff and spins it rapidly around before placing it upright on the ground to be used as a walking stick. 

He hunches his back and leans heavily on his staff like an old person.

"Now let's get to skippin', young whipper-snappers.", he says to them in his best grandfather voice. "The big city awaits!"

The Avatar shuffles towards Omashu, while the others stare at him.

At least he played his role.

So they followed behind him.

Appa and Jaiyi stayed behind. 

Since kyuubi’s seemed to be extinct and people know the Daimon had one, it was for now better to leave her with Appa.

As they are nearly at the gates of Omashu Aang tells the new visitors: "You guys are going to love Omashu. The people here are the friendliest in the world."

It's like the universe wants to prove him wrong because a guard doesn't let a cabbage saler into the city, telling the poor man, how his products are rotten and earthbends the cart off the bridge.

Team Avatar-Daimon just looks on in shock.

Exspecially Aang and Hua.

They didn't remember Omashu being so strict!

"Just keep smiling.", advises Aang his friends nervously.

"Smile and wave, guys, smile and wave!", mubles Hua, as they walk towards the entrance.

The earthbender guard steps to the front and raises a boulder out of the ground before Aang and levitates it above his head.

"State your business!", he growls aggressively.

Quickly the disguised Avatar runs from underneath the boulder and toward the guard; he halts right in front of the surprised man.

"My business is my business, young man!", scolds Aang the earthbender in his grandfather voice, poking his chest. "And none of yours!"

This surprises the guard so much, that he lets the boulder drop beside the water tribe siblings and Hua, who just look on in total disbelief at what Aang is doing.

He is either really brave or utterly stupid!

"I've got half a mind to bend you over my knee and paddle your backside!", continues Aang his spiel.

Strangely it works on the guard, who pleads the fake old man to calm down and just tell him who he is.

"Name's Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis, the Third, and these are my grandkids."

Smiling and waving, Katara and Hua step beside their "grandfather".

"Hi. June Pippinpaddleopsicopolis.", introduces Katara herself.

"And I'm April Pippinpaddleopsicopolis.", says Hua.

"Nice to meet you.", choruse the girls together.

Pensively rubbing his beard, the guard eyed the two children and one old man before him, before he pointed at Katara and Hua.

Or June and April apparently.

"You seem like responsible young ladies. See that your grandfather stays out of trouble. Enjoy Omashu!"

The guard steps aside and motions at the city's entrance.

"We will!", promises Katara, while Hua nods.

"Of course, sir."

Team Avatar-Daimon starts to pass the gate to Omashu, before nearly having a heart attack because the guard seems mistrusting of Sokka, only to reveal that he thinks Sokka should show his "grandfather" some respect and carry his bag.

Bonzu aka. Aang doesn't waste a moment and throws his bag at Sokka. The bag bounces off his head to drop into his arms. 

Sokka shoots Aang an annoyed glare over his shoulder.

The quartet stands before a big Earth Kingdom emblem on the wall before them. 

Then the giant earthen wall splits open in the middle of the emblem, opening up to let any passengers through. 

The guard opens up the gate walls. 

As the first wall slides open, a second and third are bent aside as well. 

Katara and Sokka watch in awe at the spectacle while Aang and Hua are smiling behind them. 

They walk through as the walls already start to move again to close right after them. 

100 years may have passed, but Omashu was still as beautiful as Hua remembers.

It was comforting.

"This is the Omashu delivery system.", explains Aang in his normal voice to Sokka and Katara the intricate system of chutes. "Miles and miles of tubes and chutes."

They watch as four earthbenders stand beside a platform where one earthen cart slides out and another one filled with vegetables comes into view. 

As the cart passes one earthbender, he uses his bending to change the cart's direction and pushes it to the front, where another earthbender bends it up a tube to two other earthbenders standing at the ready to receive it. 

One earthbender quickly bends stone lintels underneath the cart so it would not fall down again, while the other one thrusts it off the platform, where it slides down a chute at high speed.

"Earthbending brings the packages up, and gravity brings them down."

Unimpressed Sokka states: "Great, so they get their mail on time."

"They do get their mail on time, but my friend Bumi found a better use for these chutes.", tells them Aang with mischief in his eyes.

Hua can't help but laugh as she remembers.

"Oh, this was an adventure."

***

Hua was so glad that the monks allowed them to leave the Southern Air Temple for a while to visit Aang's friend Bumi in Omashu.

It was her first time in Omashu and the Daimon was enthralled by the beauty of the city.

She loved Ba Sing Se, it was her home, but Omashu had something special about her.

So while Monk Gyatsu enjoyed some tea with Bumi's parents, the three kids were walking around the city.

Since it was Hua's first time here, Bumi wanted to give her a sightseeing tour.

The young girl had to admit, that even if Bumi had a crazy look in his eyes, he was super nice to her and threatened her like she was an old friend.

Their friendly earthbending spare had helped also. 

Bumi had shown her some new cool bending moves, which she was thankful for.

Currently, they were on one of the many panoramic views points of Omashu, looking down at the city and her mail system.

"Look around you! What do you see?", asked Bumi with excitement in his voice.

"Um ... The mail system?", answered Aang unsure.

"Instead of seeing what they want you to see, you got to open your brain to the possibilities.", lectured the redhead.

 "A package-sending system?", tried Hua her luck.

What was Bumi getting at?

"The world's greatest superslide!", revealed Bumi cheerfully.

For a few seconds, Hua and Aang stared at their friend, before realizing, he was indeed right!

"Bumi, you're a mad genius!", declared Aang.

Bumi made his odd snort-laugh and the three friends rode the mail system like a crazy rollercoaster.

It was one of the funniest afternoons Hua had in her entire life!

***

Now, 100 years back in the present, find Aang and Hua with the water tribe siblings sitting in a mail cart, ready to again enjoy the wild ride the mail system has to offer.

The Avatar and Daimon are full-out excited, while the siblings look around them, unsure and slightly frightened.

"One ride. Then we're off to the North Pole. Airbender's honor."

"And earthbender's honour.", adds Hua.

Katara is telling them their second thoughts about all this, but it's already too late as Aang and Hua lean forward, making the mailcart race down the slope at a tremendous speed!

Momo, who has been hiding in Aang's wig the entire time, hold on tight to his master's head, chittering away.

Aang and Hua shout happily, Hua even raises her arms up in the air!

Sokka and Katara just pray that this ride is over soon, both are seeing their life pass before their eyes!

The chute they are riding pulls up next to a parallel one, where a cart with a rack of six spears is racing down. 

They pull up next to the cart with the spears and they all stare at it, no one making a sound. 

They race past it and both tracks join together. 

Sokka and Katara scream as the two chutes merge into one chute with the spear-cart behind them, but quickly gaining. 

Sokka hears it coming and turns around. He gasps and ducks just in time to avoid being skewered by the spears. 

Katara turns around and screams in fear as she sees the weapons so close. 

Aang, smiling excitedly, and Hua turns as well to see what the commotion is all about.

"I'm on it!", yells Aang.

The Avatar begins to rock the cart. 

Hitting each side once, the cart flies out of the chute and onto a roof, where it continues its descent.

They smash into what seems to be the middle of soldiers and warriors going off to war, which shocked the Omashu forces before they descended down further.

The cart with the quartet and one lemure breaks through the railing closing off the other chute and crosses the track, knocking over one of the supply carts, spilling a load of pumpkins all over the ground. 

The knocked-over cart lies on the track, where another incoming cart crashes into it.

The waterbender yells at Aang to use his airbending to avoid a crash, however, he thinks it's about to make the cart faster.

Whatever, he uses his airbending and they pass by a restaurant, where a couple is eating together. 

The couple looks up in surprise at the kids flashing by while the waiter dashes over to see what is going on. 

An earthbender soldier is waiting for the arrival of the next cart. As a cart of scrolls stops in front of him, the cart with the Team Avatar-Daimon flies down an incredibly steep slope. 

As the slope flattens out, the kids cry out in alarm as they are moments from colliding with the motionless cart in front of the bender. 

The earthbender on duty at that station sends it on its way, briefly relieving the quartet of the speeding cart. 

Much to the riders' horror, another cart instantly pops up from the tube below the bender. 

Before it can be moved, the kids' cart crashes into it, catapulting them and their cart into the air, high above a lower level of the city. 

Aang airbends the cart in front of them as they fall, making them drop back into the cart. 

The kids ride down several roofs, leaving damaged tiles in their wake. The cart flies through one window, ricochets off of the floor where a big vase is, smashing it and making the riders grunt, and flying out the window opposite. 

The craftsman peers out the ruined window as a dust cloud emerges, revealing that the cart has crashed against something else.

They land on a balcony and slide through another house. 

Emerging on the other side, a bearded cat chases Momo around Aang's wig until the lemur pushes it off. 

The cart smashes through a parapet and drops vertically out of sight. 

Their ride ends drastically as they smash against a cabbage cart.

Aang, Hua, Katara, and Sokka are in a tangled heap by the remains, while Momo elegantly floats down.

"My cabbages!", screams the cabbage merchant in outrage. "You're gonna pay for this!"

Guards walk up, surrounding the still-dazed kids. 

Aang is the first to sit up, his disguise pretty much gone, revealing his youthful face and airbending arrow.

"Two cabbages please.", says Aang sheepish, to make light of the situation.

Yeah, it doesn't help at all.

They get dragged to the ruler/king of Omashu, to be the judge about their property destruction.

The cabbage merchant demands that they get beheaded for his precious cabbages!

If Hua did not try her hardest to look apologetic and sweet to the king, she would ask the cabbage merchant if he was right in the head.

No cabbages destruction justifies a beheading.

The king of Omashu stares at them, he has a kind of crazy aura around him before he declares that they should throw a feast for Team Avatar-Daimon.

Not only are the kids shocked, but everyone from the guard to the cabbage merchant is.

This is how Team Avatar-Daimon finds themselves sitting on a rich table, filled with a lot of tasty food and the king of Omashu as their host.

It was so crazy, that Hua thought, she hit her head during their impro rollercoaster ride and was dreaming this all up.

But pinching herself didn't wake her up, so it was all real.

"The people in my city have gotten fat from too many feasts.", tells the King, leaning over Aang's chair, grabbing the chicken leg that is on his plate, holding it in front of him. "So I hope you like your chicken with no skin."

"Thanks, but I don't eat meat.", explains Aang.

 "How about you? I bet you like meat.", asks the king, who stuffs the chicken into Sokka's mouth, who eats it appreciatively and walks over to his own seat.

"Is it just me, or is this guy's crown a little crooked?", whisper-shouts Katara to Hua and Aang.

"No I'm with you.", agrees Hua. "I noted it too."

"So tell me, young bald one, where are you from?", wants the king to know.

"I'm from ... Kangaroo Island!"

"Oh, Kangaroo Island, eh? I hear that place is really hopping!"

A moment of silence occurs, and someone coughs. 

The four children looked straight at the king with blank faces.

Suddenly Sokka bursts out laughing. 

Katara, Hua and Aang look at him, still with a blank expression.

"What? It was pretty funny.", mumbles Sokka defensively.

"Well, all these good jokes are making me tired. Guess it's time to hit the hay.", yawns the king tired.

The king eyes them with a weird expression as he leans to the left on his chair. 

Out of nowhere, he hurls a chicken leg at them. 

The meat flies through the air as Aang nearly tumbles off his chair in reflex of catching the chicken leg in a small airball. 

The guards gasped in surprise. 

Uh-Oh!

"There's an airbender in our presence, and not just any airbender. The Avatar! And the Earth Kingdom girl is surely the Daimon!", announced the King in triumph.

Oh spirits!

"Now, what do you have to say for yourself, Mr. and Miss Pippinpaddleopsicopolis?"

What should they do now?

Aang and Hua looked at each other, hoping the other had an idea of what to do.

The Avatar mouthed: Follow my lead, before he stood up from his chair, raising his hands into the air.

Hua mimics him.

She hoped he knew what to do.

"Okay, you caught me.", said Aang. " I'm the Avatar and she is the Daimon."

If they had discussed this spiel before Hau continued: "Yeah, you know Doing our Daimon/Avatar thing, keeping the world safe. Everything checks out."

"No firebenders here."

"None there."

"So, good work, everybody!", chorused the Avatar-Daimon due together.

Each wrapped an arm around one of the water tribe siblings, Aang with Sokka and Hue with Katara.

Slowly they all walked backwards, in hopes they could just leave.

"Love each other.", told Hua.

"Respect all life.", advised Aang.

"And don't run with your spears. We'll see you next time!", they said as one again.

As they near the guards at the exit door, the two men cross their spears, effectively blocking their paths.

Of course, it wouldn't be that easy!

Damn it!

"You can't keep us here!", shouted Katara. "Let us leave!"

Unimpressed the king waved around with a lettuce leaf.

"Lettuce leaf?"

Then he took a bite out of it.

"We're in serious trouble. This guy is nuts.", whisper-shouted Sokka to the others.

"Tomorrow, the Avatar and Daimon will each face a deadly challenge and then together a final one.", decided the king for them. "But for now, the guards will show you to your chamber."

One of his guards leaned towards the mad king and asked him in which chamber they should put Team Avatar-Daimon.

They got a bit back in forth because the bad chamber was newly renovated before it was made clear that the king wanted them there.

Not having a choice the kids followed the guards and were brought into the chapter.

It was a nice room, with four comfy-looking beds, only no windows and doors.

"This is a prison cell? But it's so nice.", said Katara astonished.

Momo was the first to jump in one of the beds before the others each chose one to sit down.

"He did say it was newly refurbished.", reminds Aang.

"Nice or not, we're prisoners!", pointed Sokka out.

"I wonder what these challenges are going to be.", though Hua out loud worried. "That guy is so crooked, it could be anything."

Katara stated that they shouldn't stay put to wait it out. 

She asked Hua if she just could earthbend them out of the room, but the Daimon was pretty sure there were guards around them. Even if they got out, they would sure get apprehended.

Aang had then the idea of using the air vents, showing Momo into it and asking him to get Appa and Jaiyi.

Sokka wondered what this should bring them, as Aang explained how Appa was ten-ton flying bison and Jaiyi could turn into a big, fighting Kyuubi, they surely would break them out somehow.

Sadly Momo seems stuck.

Well, so much for that.

The waterbender advises all to go to sleep, especially Aang and Hua since they have to face these challenges of the king.

It's not like they had another choice.

So all called it a night and got to sleep.

***

The next morning Hua gets woken up, by Aang who is shaking her awake.

"Huh, what? What's up?", mumbles the Daimon sleepy, rubbing her eyes.

"Hua, wake up! Katara and Sokka are gone!", shouts Aang worried.

This wakes Hua up fully.

Frantically she scans the room.

Indeed!

Their friends are gone!

"What's going on?", she aks Aang.

He shrugs his shoulder, being lost too.

"I don't know."

"If you two are ready now.", calls a guard over from a created passage. "The king will free your friends if you complete your challenges."

Together Aang and Hua face the guard.

Rightfully Aang ask what happens if they fail. The guard has no idea and asks in turn for Aang staff.

Reluctantly the Avatar hands it over.

With a tiny escort of guards Hua and Aang are brought into the throne room, where the mad king is already waiting for them.

"First, Avatar and Daimon, what do you think of my new outfit? I want your honest opinions.", this is the first thing the kings say to them.

Erm, what?

Hua blinks blankly, while Aang just stares blankly.

Someone coughs again.

"I'm waiting."

"I ... guess it's fine.", tells him Aang, scratching his head.

"It's a nice colour.", adds Hua, crossing her arms.

"Excellent! You passed your first tests."

"Really?", choruse the Avatar and Daimon together.

"Well, not one of the deadly tests.", the mad king waves his finger from side to side, emphasizing his words. "The real challenges are much more, uh, challenging."

Having enough of this crazy king's mind games Aang and Hua run up to him, demanding that he hand over Katara and Sokka since they are leaving.

To the misfortune of Team Avatar-Daimon, the king is much more cunning. He expected that they wouldn't cooperate, so he "gifted" the water tribe siblings each with a jennamite ring, also known as creeping crystal. 

It's a crystal that grows remarkably fast.

By nightfall, their friends will be completely covered in it.

The king could stop it, but would only do so if Aang and Hua played his games.

Left with no choice, they agreed.

All to save their friends.

So they followed the king to Aang's first task, a cave filled with stalagmites and stalactites and a waterfall.

A key hangs from the ceiling and a ladder is also there.

Aang's task seems simple, fetch the king the key to his lunchbox, however, the waterfall is so strong that he doesn't have a chance to grab it just.

After he cut with his airbending a stalactite and used it as a spear to fetch the key, he can give it to the king.

Now it's Hua's turn.

They are now a large sunken enclosure in a new room.

The kings ask Hua to fetch him his pet Flopsie.

So Hua looks around and finds a cute lop-eared bunny.

"I found him.", she calls over to the king.

"Bring him to me. Daddy wants a kiss from Flopsie!"

Slowly to not startle the bunny Hua walks towards him, when suddenly something lands behind her, scaring the bunny away.

"Flopsie, wait!", she calls to the bunny, as she hears the loud huff of an animal.

She turns around and sees a huge goat gorilla.

"Oh spirits!"

Goat Gorilla chases now her, while she tries to get Flopsie.

After a few minutes of running around, the Daimon notes, how the goat gorilla seems always to stop when she calls for Flopsie.

Could it be...?

Testing her theory she turns to the goat gorilla addressing him with Flopsie.

It seems she was indeed right.

Flopsie turns out to be the goat gorilla, who picks her up and licks her cheek, before running to the mad king, getting a belly rub.

So she passed her test also and now it's the final one, Aang and her have to take it together.

They are now in an earthbending arena on a balcony, while the nearly fully enclosed water tribe siblings are on another with a guard.

"Your final test is a duel. You fight together as a team. And as a special treat, you may choose your opponent.", explains the mad king.

Two tough-looking men come out, standing next to the king. Aang and Hua look at them uncertainly.

"Point and choose."

"So ... you're saying whoever we point to, that's the person we get to fight?", wants Aang to make sure.

"Choose wisely!"

Hua and Aang look for a second and each other before they point at the mad king.

"We choose you!"

This makes the mad king cackel.

"Wrong choice!"

The king straightens up and removes his outer robe, proving himself to be a powerfully built old man!

Oh no, this was just their luck!

He earthbends Aang and Hua off of the balcony, making them fly into the arena. 

The king jumps down right in front of them and still laughing.

"You thought I was a frail old man, but I'm the most powerful earthbender you'll ever see."

"Can we fight the guy with the axe instead?", pleads Aang with Hua rapidly nodding in agreement.

"There are no take-backsies in my kingdom.", makes the king clear, before telling the guard, who has Aang staff, to throw it to the Avatar.

The fight is on!

Hua bends a stone wall before her, while Aang avoids the rocks the king launches at them.

"Typical airbender tactic: avoid and evade. And typical earthbender: endure and not back down.", musses the king. "I hoped the Avatar and Daimon would be less predictable."

He keeps attacking them with flying rocks, as the two young benders stay with their tactics.

It was going nowhere like this.

"Aang!", calls Hua over. "Let's try to attack together, we can't just avoid."

"Finally trying something new, he?", musses the mad king, still happily throwing big boulders at them.

Hua bends a huge earth avalanche and surfs on top of it towards Aang.

"What is your idea?", shouts Aang, jumping away from a boulder, that would have knocked him down.

"I will attack with my earthbending when you see an opening strike!"

"At least you kids seem to work together.", chuckles the king.

He sends a huge earth plate towards Hua, who counters with her own, then she twirls around like she had Katara see with water and sends a stream of rocks towards him.

A bit surprised the king stops the rocks, while Aang jumps over Hua and his head to be behind him.

The Avatar raises his staff and air blasts him towards Hua.

She sends a huge boulder towards the king.

He can break it, but now is surrendered by Hua and Aang. 

The avatar holding his staff against the back of the neck, while the Daimon is ready to smack his face in with a boulder.

This makes the king chuckle again, but this time it's quite friendly.

"Nice teamwork, like an Avatar and Daimon should have."

He bends up to the balcony where the two water tribe siblings are almost completely encased. 

Aang and Hua join him.

"You've passed all my tests. Now, you must answer one question.", says the king.

The Avatar and Daimon protest, reminding him that he promised to release Katara and Sokka when they passed their test.

He just tells them what are tests if they don't learn anything.

So he asks them a simple question.

What is his name?

Leaving the Avatar and Daimon with their friends, the mad king would wait for them in the throne room, when they had the answer.

Frantically Team Avatar-Daimon brainstorms his name.

Sokka bets his name is Rocky, because earthbender=rocks.

Katara says they will keep it in mind and ask Aang and Hua what they learned during their task.

The answer was there.

Both admin how it wasn't what it seemed at first and they had to think differently than normal.

Like lightning struck them, they have the answer!

***

They are all back in the Throne Room, as Hua begins: "We solved the question the same way we solved the challenges."

"As you said a long time ago, we had to open our brains to the possibilities.", continues Aang.

The king lets out a familiar weird snort-laugh, which brings happy tears to Aang and Hua's eyes.

"Bumi, you're a mad genius.", choruse the Avatar and Daimon together.

With tears and happy shouts, they ran up to their old dear friend, who was now an old man.

The three hug each other tightly.

Happy to be finally reunited.

"Oh Aang, Hua, it's good to see you two. You haven't changed a bit. Literally.", states Bumi and you hear the emotions in his voice.

He had thought long ago, that he had lost both his dearest friends at the same time.

Never in his long life, he guessed he would see them again.

Their happy reunion has to stop because Katara and Sokka are nearly engulfed by the crystal. Bumi breaks the crystals using earthbending, making pieces fly everywhere. 

He catches one of them.

"Jennamite is made of rock candy. Delicious!"

"So this crazy king is your old friend Bumi?", ask Katara to be sure.

This guy had a weird way to welcome back his old friends in his life.

"Who are you calling old?", grumbles Bumi. All just stare at him. "Okay, I'm old."

"Why did you do all of this instead of just telling Aang and Hua who you were?", wonders Sokka.

"First of all, it's pretty fun messing with people.", snorts Bumi before he turns serious to Aang and Hua. "But I do have a reason. Aang and Hua, you have a difficult task ahead. The world has changed in the hundred years that you've been gone. It's the Avatar and Daimon's duty to restore balance to the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai. You have much to learn. You must master the four elements and confront the Fire Lord. And when you do, I hope you will think like a mad genius. And it looks like you're in good hands. You'll need your friends to help you defeat the Fire Nation."

Momo joins them, by climbing Aang's shoulder.

Bumi laughs.

"And you'll need Momo, too."

"Thank you for your wisdom.", exclaim Aang and Hua together.

"But before we leave, I have a challenge for you."

"I think, I know what Aang is getting at and I'm fully supporting it."

The king blinks.

Sometime later the habitats of Omashu see their beloved and crazy king Bumi ride the mail system with the Avatar and Daimon.

The three having fun, just like old times.

Time may have passed, but the three would always be friends.

They knew it in their hearts.

Previous

Next

Yin and Yang: Book 1.02

Balance is a key aspect in the world, so why shouldn’t the Avatar have an opposite?

In a world where Raava and Vaatu merge with humans, the Avatar and the Daimon try to keep the peace between the four nations.

Aang and Hua are the current incarnations, but wake up 100 years in the future.

How will these two learn all four elements in one year and defeat the Fire Lord?

Book 1.02: The Avatar and Daimon return

Water. 

Earth. 

Fire. 

Air. 

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. 

Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar and Daimon, masters of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed them most, they vanished. 

A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar and Daimon, an airbender named Aang and an earthbender named Hua. 

And although his airbending and her earthbending skills are great they have a lot to learn before they’re ready to save anyone. 

But I believe Aang and Hua can save the world.

***

Jaiyi made a yipping sound as she entered the village of the Southern Water Tribe with her passengers.

Already the members of it were waiting for the return of Hua, Aang and Katara.

“Yay! Aang's back!”

The children ran up overjoyed to them as they all climbed down from the nine-tailed fox back, however, the adults wore more stern and offended expressions.

What Katara had told Hua on their way back to the village seemed to ring true. 

How the waterbender and Aang had entered the forbidden Fire Nation ship and set off some flare.

It was still lighting up the sky behind them.

Angry Sokka made his way over to them.

“I knew it!”, he shouts pointing an accusing finger at Aang. “You signalled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us, aren't you?”

“Aang didn't do anything! It was an accident.”, protested Katara just as angry on behalf of her new friend.

“Yeah. We were on the ship and there was this booby trap, and, well we booby-ed right into it.”, admitted the airbender sheepish.

Now Sokka turns his anger to Hua and Jaiyi.

“What have you to say to your defence?! Weren’t you with them?! As someone from the Earth Kingdom, you should have stopped them!”

“Jaiyi and I just picked them up after the mess was done.”, explained Hua, raising her hands in defence, while her Kyuubi growled in warning. “We couldn’t do anything anymore.”

The watertribe boy just huffs, seemingly not caring how she wasn’t even on the ship to stop the mess.

Kanna aka. Gran-Gran joins them with a disappointed look in her granddaughter's direction: “Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship! Now we could all be in danger!”

“Don't blame Katara.”, begs Aang sorrowfully. “I brought her there. It's my fault.”

“Aha! The traitor confesses! Warriors, away from the enemy.”, commands Sokka and the children walk away sad.

“The foreigners are banished from our village.”

Hua blinks, then makes an offended face. “What did I do?!”

Jaiyi growls in agreement.

“You came with him and didn’t keep an eye on him, you are at fault here too.”, explains Sokka simply.

“I’m NOT his babysitter! We aren’t even friends just…traveling companions!”

Irritably, Katara clenched her fists. “Sokka, you're making a mistake.”

“No, I'm keeping my promise to Dad.”, rebucks Sokka, pointing at Aang and Hua. “I’m protecting you, from threats like them!”

“Aang and Hua are not our enemies! Don't you see? Aang's brought us something we haven't had in a long time: fun. And Hua didn’t even do anything. She was on a stroll with Jaiyi when Aang and me were on the ship.”

“Fun?!”, gasp Sokka offended. “We can't fight firebenders with fun!”

“You should try it sometime.” chimes in Aang optimistically.

For that Hua hits with her elbow the side of his stomach and Jaiyi hits him over the head with one of her tails.

“Not making the situation better!”, hisses the earthbender quietly, as Aang looks offended from her to Jaiyi.

“Get out of our village! Now!”, orders them Sokka.

“Grandmother, please.”, pleads Katara. “Don't let Sokka do this!”

“Katara, you knew going on that ship was forbidden. Sokka is right. I think it best if the airbender and earthbender leave.”

“Fine! Then I'm banished, too!”, proclaims Katara, she takes Hua and Aang's arms and drags them with her towards Appa. Jaiyi follows behind them. “Come on Aang, Hua let's go.”

Naturally, Sokka wants to know where Katara thinks she is going with them. The waterbender tells him how Aang will take her to a waterbender master, to the North Pole. 

Aang seems happy about it, while Hua mumbles: “Okay, no one asked my opinion, but whatever. Having another girl with us sounds good.”

Rightfully the water tribe boy asks his sister if she really would choose two strangers over them, over their tribe.

This makes Katara stop in her steps, unsure.

“Katara, I don't want to come between you and your family.”, tells her Aang.

“Stay with them, if you came with us, you only would get headaches from stopping Aang and me from strangling each other.”, adds Hua in an attempt to make the choice lighter for Katara. “If I could…I would still choose my family over anything. Don’t waste your time with them for us.”

The brunette girl looks with tears in her eyes in the equal tear-filled eyes of Hua.

How can she be so dismissive of her family, when Hua just realized how she never again would see her own? 

Katara bet Hua would give anything to be together with her family one last time.

“So, you're leaving the South Pole?”, sniffs Katara. “This is goodbye?”

Hua embraces Katara tightly and Jaiyi noses the waterbender cheek.

“Thanks for comforting me about my family. It meant a lot to me. You will always be my friend, Katara.”

Katara hugs her back just as tightly, and then the girls step away from each other, as Jaiyi joins her human side.

“Thanks for penguin sledding with me.”, thanks also Aang.

“Where will you go?”, ask Katara her two friends.

At the same time, Aang and Hua look at each other, seeming to talk wordlessly through their eyes. As much as they butt heads, no one can dismiss the fact of how attuned they are to the other.

It’s kinda funny in a sad way.

“I would join Aang and go back to the Southern Airtemple, I had people that I loved there too, then I will go to Ba Sing Se…looking if something remained from my family. Even just finding their graves.”

“You don’t have to do this alone.”, tells her Aang in compassion. “I will go with you to Ba Sing Se after we are at the Southern Airtemple.”

“Careful, people will think we are friends.”, jokes Hua halfheartedly.

Aang shakes his head and adminds. “I liked your parents, they were nice and Bai was a sweet little boy. It was fun to play with him.”

That’s when Hua realizes how Aang grieves for her parents, how she grieves for Monk Gyatsu. 

They may not like each other but have liked the family/guardian of the other just fine.

It was their right to grieve them too.

So she just nods in agreement.

Katara looks sadly on, how Jaiyi shrinks down to her fox cube size and gets picked up by Hua. She earthbends them up to Appa's saddle, while Aang jumps on his bison's head.

“Wait, I haven't cleaned my room in a hundred years. Not looking forward to that.”, remembers Aang suddenly which makes Hua snort.

“I think we have bigger problems.”, she reminds him and then turns to the people of the Southern Water Tribe. “Thanks for your hospitality, I’m sorry we caused such problems for you.”

“It was nice meeting everyone.”, adds Aang defeated.

With a smug look, Sokka crosses his arms mocking: “Let's see your bison fly now, air boy.”

“Come on Appa, you can do it. Yip-yip!”

Aang flicks the reins, but Appa merely rises and growls.

“Yeah, I thought so!”

A little girl runs up to them telling Aang how she will miss him, Aang admins he will miss them too and as if they agreed on Aang and Hua look sadly back at Katara, who looks just as devastated at them, her hair loopies swaying in the wind.

Appa turns and plods away, disappearing over the hill.

Hua waits a few minutes before she begins: “Aang, we need to talk.”

“About what?”, asks the airbender solemnly.

“After we go to the Southern Air Temple and Ba Sing Se, we need to go to the North Pole. It’s time we start learning waterbending.”

Surprised Aang turned around, seeing how determined Hua looked.

“What? Why should we do that, we agreed to not be them.”

The girl snorts and tears start to fall from her eyes, which makes Aang's chest squeeze uncomfortable.

Hua wasn’t a crier, but today she cried more than he had ever seen her do.

It felt wrong.

“Aang, we were selfish brats, who ran away from their responsibility .”, states Hua, while Jaiyi licks her tears away in comfort. “And look what happened. The airbenders are gone!-”

“-Just because they haven’t seen an airbender in 100, doesn’t mean that my people are gone-!”

“-Aang that’s a possibility we have to face. If there are still airbenders left, then none will be people, we know. Gyatsu is for sure death!”

This made Aang twitch like he was hit and rubbed his wet eyes.

“I know, you don’t need to tell me!”, he cried out. “I ran away because the elders wanted to take me away from Gyatsu and now I will never see him again.”

“And I will never see my parents and Bai again, because we didn’t want to accept our destinies!”, shouts Hua. “Look what mess we caused, the world is at war, and innocent people die! Maybe a whole Nation died because we didn’t want to be the Avatar and Daimon and be dumb kids! The least we can do is to fix this mess, meaning we need to learn all elements and then deal with the Fire Nation!”

Aang sniffles loudly, rubbing his eyes harder.

“I know, I know you are right, this is our fault, isn’t it…but do you think it will be that easy? We learn the elements and then ask the Fire Lord to stop the war?”

“We have to accept the possibility that we may have to end the war more drastically.”, started Hua slowly.

She knows how Aang, who grew up with the airbender philosophy about how all life is sacred will react to this possibility.

“What do you mean, Hua?”

“I mean…it’s possible we need to kill the Fire Lord, if he doesn’t see reason.”

As she expected, Aang gasped in outrage and angrily waved his hand around.

“This goes against all the teaching of the air nomads, all life is sacred! I won’t kill someone only because he disagrees with me!”

“Some people can’t be reason with and we have to think about this possibility.”, she argues back. “If you can’t do it, I will kill him. That’s why there are two of us in the world…so someone can make the hard decisions.”

It’s still between them for a few seconds, grey frustrated eyes look into green determined eyes.

Then Aang said quietly: “You really would do it, wouldn’t you? You would take a human life to end this war.”

“I would take 1000 lives if this is the price for peace.”

“What kind of peace is that, what about your soul?!”

Now a bitter little smirk formed on Hua rose lips.

“You forget, Avatar, light and order, I’m the Daimon, I’m darkness and chaos, it’s in my nature. Also…I can’t kill the Fire Lord responsible for this war, so I will take it up with the current one if he doesn’t see reason.”

“So that’s it!”, points Aang an accusing finger at her. “You want revenge! You want to feel better about that we left the world alone when it needed us!”

“So what if I want revenge too?! Monk Gyatso was dear to me and I’m technically a quarter Airbender, I was airbenders in my past lives, and I want some kind of retribution for the killing of the Air Nomads.”, shouts Hua back.

Couldn’t Aang not understand her point? Didn’t he feel the same?!

“Hua we can’t just kill people because we are the Avatar and Daimon! We can’t abuse this positions.”, reminds her Aang frustrated.

He doesn’t get why Hua was now on such a warpath. She must feel so guilty to have run away and then be frozen in the iceberg.

“Spirits, you are so ensnared in your air nomad philosophy, that you can’t even see that there might be not a peaceful ending to this war. It’s going on for 100 years. A 100 YEARS! There is a lot of hate on all sides, people want retribution for the pain the Fire Nation caused. I don’t see a way how we can fix this mess without some bloodshed.”

“There is ALWAYS another way, we just have to find it!”, rebukes Aang back. “We should calm down and look at what we can do right now. As you said we have to learn the elements, but Hua your next element is fire, where do we find a fire bender for you?”

The Daimon takes a deep breath to calm down. For now, she would let it be, but she knows Aang and her have to revisit this discussion again.

“We will skip fire for now.”, tells Hua. “After fire, air is my next element, so while we travel to the North Pole you teach my air bending and then there we learn together waterbending. Then I teach you what I know of earthbending and find a master who will teach us both. And then we pray to the spirits that there is somewhere a nice firebender, who will help us.”

Aang is quiet for a second before he says: “Is this really wise to just skip an element? The monks told us that we need to follow the Avatar and Diamon cycles.”

“You forget that I’m natural chaos, the monks themselves said the Daimon should follow their cycle, but they aren’t as bonded to it as the Avatar. I think the universe will forgive me if we skip fire and learn the elements where we surely find teachers. When it’s your turn to learn fire, we can go crazy.”

“It’s not like we have a choice.”, agrees Aang. They just have to hope for the best, that Hua's plan works. “So Southern Air Temple, then Ba Sing Se and then the North Pole?”

“You got it.”

“Can’t wait, how the whole world will react when we announce we are back.”, mubles Aang looking at the horizon, like it has the answer he seeks.

“I hope there will be cake.”, jokes Hua half-heartily.

This makes Aang's smile bittersweet. “Remember how Bumi always said the cake is a lie?”

“Of course. I wonder what happened to him and to Kuzon. Do you think Kuzon participated in the Fire Nation War?”

“Kuzon wouldn’t betray us…hey maybe he rebelled, hid somewhere, had kids and this are good firebenders who could teach us!”

“One can only hope.”

After that, they both fall silent. Each lost in their thoughts.

Appa grumbles gently like he wants to comfort both humans, as Jaiyi starts to growl.

“Huh, girl, what is it?”, ask Hua confused.

It’s Aang who answers her. “Look, Hua! A Fire Nation Ship! It goin' to the village!”

“We need to help them!”

The Avatar and Daimon tell their animal companions to wait for them and make fast their way back to the village.

***

Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation ignores the pathetic state of the Southern Water Tribe, as he ignores and defeats the Buffon water peasant who tried to attack him and looks at the blue-clothed people.

“Where are you hiding them?”, he growls angrily.

He surveys the crowd of villagers, who fall completely silent. 

Without warning, he extends his arm out into the crowd and grabs Kanna, holding her by the hood of her parka.

“They'll be about this age, masters of all elements?”

Forcefully he shoves Kanna back into the crowd. 

The elderly woman shudders in fear and embraces Katara, while Katara shoots an angry glare at Zuko. 

Receiving no response, the banished prince swings his arm out and releases an arc of fire that passes just over the heads of the people, causing them to cover their heads and cry out in fear.

“I know you're hiding them!”

Seeing that the firebender is not paying attention Sokka grabs his club again and lets out a battle cry as he charges towards him. 

However, Zuko swiftly turns around just as Sokka approaches. 

He ducks under Sokka's wide swing and hurls the warrior forward. 

Sokka lands on his rear in the snow and is quickly forced to dart from his spot when Zuko fires a blast at him. 

He spins to the side and tosses his boomerang at the enemy who barely manages to miss getting hit by the weapon. 

The banished prince growls and glares at Sokka in anger at the near hit; he follows the course of the weapon until it vanishes before looking back at Sokka in anger. 

One of the village boys tosses Sokka a spear.

“Show no fear!”

Sokka handily catches the weapon and charges at Zuko once more. Sadly Zuko breaks of pieces of the spear with his forearms, pulls the remains of the weapon out of Sokka's hands and pokes him thrice in the head with the blunt end. The water tribe boy falls to the ground as Zuko snaps the spear in two and tosses the pieces to the ground on both of his sides. 

Unnoticed by Zuko, Sokka's boomerang is spinning towards him. 

The weapon strikes Zuko on the back of his helmet with a loud cling; he is momentarily pushed forward by the unexpected blow. 

Pissed off Zuko rearranges his helmet and growls at Sokka. The boomerang has plummeted into the ground in front of Sokka's feet. 

Two fire daggers form from Zuko's hands, ready to teach the water peasant a lesson.

That’s when Aang and Hua, on the backs of penguins, slide back into the village.

They aim for the Fire Nation prince's legs and Aang takes his feet out from underneath him, tossing Zuko off his feet; speeding past, Aang and Hua soar into the air as the prince lands on his face, his legs in the air. 

Zuko spins around a few times before coming to a halt in front of his men, his helmet landing on his rear as they watch.

The villagers cheer, as Aang and Hua ride speedily toward them, still mounted on the penguins. 

They are showered in snow as Aang and Hua ride past, however, after giving each other silent, unamused looks for a few seconds, they begin cheering once again, shaking the snow off. 

Aang and Hua come to a halt before Katara, Kanna and Sokka. 

The penguin crawls out from under him, tossing him off. 

He falls on his rear, blinking stupidly, then smiles at the penguin when the animal quacks at him before waddling away.

Hua gently gets up from her penguin, who follows his friend, while the girl waves them goodbye.

“Thanks for the ride guys.”

“Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka.”, greets Aang.

“Hi, Aang. Hi Hua. Thanks for coming.”, greets Sokka back moodily.

The Avatar and Daimon look back at the Fire Nation soldiers, where Zuko just got back on his feet again. 

Upon his signal, his men spread out, surrounding Aang and Hua while Zuko assumes a fighting stance. 

They follow suit, Aang holding his staff firmly in front of him as Hua get into her preferred bending stance.

Aang sweeps the ground side-to-side with his staff, showering the men with snow, and then Hua makes a punching forward move. Little earth columns appear under the feet of the firebender and make them all fall on the ground. 

Prince Zuko is the first who regains his footing and looks angrily at these two kids.

“Looking for us?”, asks Aang rhetorically.

“Sorry for being late, if we had known you needed a beating, we would have been here sooner.”, sasses Hua with a smirk.

“You're the airbender? You're the Avatar? And you are the Daimon?”, exclaims Zuko shocked.

Not only he is shocked, but the whole village is and the Avatar-Daimon duo can hear how in disbelief Katara and Sokka are.

Slowly Aang, Hua and Zuko move in a circle motion around, ready for their enemy's attack.

“I've spent years preparing for this encounter. Training, meditating. You're just children!”, growls Zuko offended. 

Now it’s Aang who sasses back: “Well, you're just a teenager.”

Hua nods in agreement.

Zuko launches a series of fire blasts at Aang in anger at the remark, who defends himself by twirling his staff, dissipating the flames. 

The Daimon raises her hands and makes the ground shake. Anyone has trouble staying on their feet, but Zuko is determined and just sends a huge fire blast in her direction, Aang can twirl it back with his staff again, however, both Avatar and Daimon see how the attack nearly reached the villager.

No, they can’t fight like that with civilians near them.

They could get hurt.

So Hua raises her hands in peace, while Aang holds his staff in front of him as an offer, making sure Zuko understands that they do not wish to continue fighting. 

“If we go with you will you promise to leave everyone alone?”, offers Aang the Fire Nation prince this deal.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Zuko nods in agreement. 

Hua and Aang are apprehended by Zuko's men, who take his staff. 

Katara runs forward as they lead the two kids away.

“No! Aang, Hua, don't do this!”

“Don't worry, Katara. It'll be okay.”, reassures Hua calmly, as she and Aang get shoved into the ship. “Please take care of Jaiyi and Appa, till we return.”

“Head a course for the Fire Nation. I'm going home.”, proclaims Zuko as the bow rises and closes.

A while later Hua and Aang have their hands bonded behind their backs, as they stand with Zuko and his man on deck.

“This staff will make an excellent gift for my father.”, musses Zuko, inspecting Aang staff. “I suppose you wouldn't know of fathers, being raised by monks. Maybe the Daimon knows. Some said you had a family, before living with the monks.”

The blackhaired girl just gives him an icy glare.

Zuko commands his man to bring the Avatar and Daimon to their prison cell, then turns to his uncle giving him the staff, and asking him to bring it into his quarters.

Slyl Iroh hands the staff to another firebender, who accepts the request.

The Avatar and Daimon get roughly shoved down into the ship, while Aang tries to see in which direction they take his staff.

As they reach the prison cells Aang casually says to their guards: “So, I guess you've never fought an airbender before. I bet I can take you both with my hands tied behind my back.”

Hua makes herself ready to give Aang space to get them a chance to escape.

As the guard in front of them begins to unlock the cell,  Hua turns fast her back to Aang and they grip each other hands tightly.

Then Aang inhales deeply and unleashes a powerful breath, stunning all of them. 

The firebender before Aang slams into the door subsequently knocked out from the impact. Hua and Aang are sent several feet back, the girl slamming with her feet to the guard behind them.

They all fly back even further, where they crash into the stairs. 

This soldier is also knocked out by the impact, while Hua lifts her legs up as Aang propels them onto the deck and then kicks open a door using airbending. 

They let go of each other and quickly ran down the hallway, panting heavily. He tosses a frightened look over his shoulder, afraid that they are being followed. 

“Aang stop for a second we need to get this bonds of us.”, reminds him, Hua.

“Do you have a knife with you or what?”

“...”

“You really have a knife? Why?!”

“No time for explanation, it’s in my left boot, can you reach it?”

Of course, this is not a problem for a nimble Airbender and soon they are free from their bonds.

“Okay, now let’s get my staff!”

They start running again and encounter several firebenders, however, Aang easily airbends them away now that his hands are free.

Soon they reach a hallway with doors and each of them opens one.

“No glider here Aang.”

Surprisingly she hears him whispering a sorry.

Confused Hua titles her head, but Aang already opens the next door.

“My glider!”, he exclaims happily and enters.

Before Hua can follow him, the door closes and she hears Zuko.

Uh-Oh.

Aang is now trapped with Zuko in the room!

She needs to help, but how without earth around her?!

“Hua!”, yells Aang from inside the room. “Get on deck, I will find a way!”

Realizing that she probably would be a hindrance for Aang she yells back. “You better! See you on the other side!”

Fast Hua runs hallways and stair up till she reaches the deck.

Dumbfounded a few firebenders stare at her in confusion and she back.

“He, he, aren’t the Souther Lights lovely?”, she blabs nervous.

You can practically her crickets chirp, before the firebenders attack her.

Since there is still no earth around her, Hua can only run away and dodge and pray Aang will turn up soon to help her.

Her prayers are answered as Aang crashes with Zuko as a passenger on her deck.

This makes all halt.

Aang and Zuko slowly get up, ready to fight each other, however, they don’t have to as a loud growl catches their attention.

“What is that?”, ask Zuko shocked seeing the flying bison.

Even more when suddenly a Kyuubi jumps from the saddle to the deck and swishes with his nine-tails his man over the deck.

“Awesome Jaiyi!”, cheers Hua for her beloved nine-tails and runs up to her.

Jaiyi grips Hua by her collar and with strength and precise hurls her to Appa's saddle.

The girl lands with a thud beside Sokka.

“Welcome back, I hope you enjoyed your flight.”, jokes Sokka.

“It was something.”, she laughs nervously and leans over the saddle. “Jaiyi, get Aang!”

The Kyuubi doesn’t need to be told twice and wants to reach the boy as more firebenders burst from the lower deck, attacking the mythical being.

Now she has to defeat herself, while Aang faces off with Zuko.

Aang turns around to  Zuko and manages to deflect a firebending attack by spinning his glider around like a baton. However, he propels himself by accident into the air and lands on the ledge of the deck. He leans precariously over the side, unsteadily balancing himself, but manages to regain his balance only for Zuko to fire another blast at him. 

The Avatar twirls his glider again to deflect the attack. Two more blasts are fired his way before he loses his grip on his glider and the object spins away. 

The staff falls several feet away. 

Aang ducks, spins and leaps out of the way of blasts and lands on the very ledge, struggling to keep his balance. 

Zuko hurls more fire blasts his way. 

Aang holds up his hands in defence, but the last blast seemingly knocks him out cold and he falls backwards off the ship into the water, where he slowly sinks. 

Katara screams for him and Hua is right with her, while poor Jaiyi whines as she avoids more fire blasts her way.

Suddenly the ship is being overshadowed by a waterspout. Riding it is Aang, his eyes in a white glow as his tattoos.

Aang lands on the deck beside Jaiyi, summoning the water behind him as he brings his hands around behind his head. 

The water swirls around them, forming a protective circle, before spreading outward, knocking Zuko and several soldiers off their feet.

“Did you see what he just did?!”, shouts Katara shocked.

“Now that was some waterbending!”, confirms Sokka.

“That’s the Avatar State for you, guys.”, adds Hua impressed.

The Airbender collapses onto the ground from exhaustion, his eyes and tattoos ceasing to glow. 

Jaiyi whines and licks his cheek to wake him up as Appa growls and lands on the deck. 

Katara, Hua and Sokka slide down and quickly run toward the unconscious Avatar and Kyuubi.

“Aang! Are you okay?”, asked him Katara worried.

Hua embraces her Kyuubi, which shifts back into her fox cub form, letting out a cute yawn.

“You did good, girl.”, praises Hua, giving her head a kiss. “Now relax.”

“Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Thanks for coming.”, mumbles Aang outpowerd to them.

“Well, I couldn't let you have all the glory.”, musses Sokka.

“I dropped my staff.”

“Got it!”

Sokka runs over, grabs a hold of the glider and lifts it only to see Zuko's hand firmly gripping the other end. 

The water tribe boy appears horrified as Zuko attempts to pull himself upward onto the deck. 

The two struggle for a bit before Sokka pokes Zuko repeatedly in the head with the end of the staff the way Zuko did earlier with him. 

Zuko grunts and falls backwards as he lets go of the staff. He falls off the side of the ship, but manages to grasp the anchor chain.

“Ha! That's from the Water Tribe!”, shouts Sokka in triumph.

Katara and Hua got Aang on Appa's head and Jaiyi on the saddle.

Right, as Hua climbs the Bison they get approached by fire benders.

She may freeze Sokka's legs on her first try, but Katara manages to stop the incoming firebenders.

Hua helps her up into the saddle, as the girls yell for Sokka to hurry up.

He is chipping away the ice with his boomerang and retorts that he is just a guy with a boomerang and didn’t ask for flying and magic.  He manages to break free and races up Appa's tail.

“Yip-yip! Yip-yip!”

Sokka mounts Appa, who grunts and takes flight, flying past the cabin of the ship. 

Iroh emerges on deck, having just woken up from a nap. He looks very confused after them.

As they try to flee Zuko, who was brought back by his uncle on deck, commands his men to shoot them down.

Together, they synchronize a firebending move and fire a powerful blast at the bison. 

Hua, Sokka and Katara stare at the incoming attack in horror, Jaiyi yips in fright, while Aang leaps onto the saddle. 

He opens the small tail wing of his staff and swings his glider around, using a powerful swipe of air to redirect the fireball into a nearby cliffside. 

The impact causes an avalanche of snow and ice to begin falling. The front of the ship becomes buried in a mass of snow and ice, while Appa climbs higher and higher. 

The quartet and the Kyuubi all laugh as they escape successfully. 

Aang even waves goodbye as Appa disappears around the cliff.

For now, they are safe from the firebender.

***

The sun is beginning to set as Appa soars lazily in the sky. Aang is perched on the rim of the saddle, while Sokka, Katara and Hua sit at the back of it. Jaiyi is in her favourite spot, Hua lap.

“How did you do that?! With the water? It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!”, ask Katara Aang bewildered.

“I don't know. I just sort of ... did it.”

“Why didn't any one of you tell us you were the Avatar and the Daimon?”, wants Katara to know.

She gives Hua and Aang a serious look.

The blackhaired girl signs, answering for them. “Neither Aang nor I wanted this destiny, this duty. We just wanted to be stupid kids. We didn’t realise, that it would have such an impact on the world. We were selfish brats.”

Hua frowns, while Aang nods in agreement.

“But Hua, Aang, the world's been waiting for the Avatar and the Daimon to return and finally put an end to this war.”, explains Katara.

“We talked about this earlier.”, tells Aang. “We were planning on going to the North Pole to find a master to teach us.”

“Isn’t the next element fire in the Daimon Cyle?”

“Yeah I don’t think we will find that fast a nice firebender who will teach me.”, reminds Hua. “The monks told me the Daimon is chaotic in nature, so we just hope I can skip this element for now and learn airbending from Aang, till we reach the North Pole for water. We will follow the Avatar Cycle.”

“So first master water, then earth, then fire, right?”

“Right on Katara.”

“Since we are going to the North Pole, you can learn with us Katara!”, uttered Aang happily.

That would be sure fun!

Katara smiles brightly, which makes both Aang and Hua blush, as she turns to her brother cheekily: “And Sokka, I'm sure you'll get to knock some firebender heads on the way.”

“I'd like that.”, mussed the older boy contends. “I'd really like that.”

“Then we're in this together!”

“All for one, and one for all!”, cheers Hua jokigly, while Jaiyi yips happy.

Smiling Aang sits down on the saddle and gets a map out.

“All right, but before we learn waterbending, we have some serious business to attend to. Here, here and here. ”

Curious Katara points at one location on the map: “What's there?”

“Here, we'll ride the hopping llamas.”, informs Aang, while the other three humans get surprised looks on their faces as he continues. “Then waaay over here, we'll surf on the backs of giant koi fish. Then back over here, we'll ride the hog monkeys. They don't like people riding them, but that's what makes it fun!”

For that Hua drills her pointer finger in his side and sneers: “Hey, don’t forget you have to start to teach me airbending with all these activities you have planned. I was so useless on the ship if I could airbend I would be a better help. Air is everywhere.”

“I will, I will, don’t worry.”, moans Aang, shoving her hand away. “Way to ruin someone's fun, Hua.”

“With fun, we won’t win this war Mr. Avatar.”

“Geez, you sound like Sokka, Miss Diamon.”

“Because I don’t forget that we have a big world problem to solve?! You need to take things more seriously.”

“And you need to light up more!”

The Avatar and Daimon start to bicker with each other, which just earns them unamused looks from the water tribe siblings and Jaiyi.

“Now I get what Hua meant, that if I go with them I would get headaches.”, mumbles Katara with a deadpan to her brother.

“Man, they are worse than a married couple.”, mumbles Sokka back to her.

“Don’t you know? The Avatar and the Daimon are Yin and Yang personified. Two halves of the same coin. They are soul mates and were in many of their lives a couple.”

“This two, a couple?”, says Sokka, pointing at the two kids who are arguing now about what food they should eat (how did they get there?). “Yeah, right, and the moon is in reality a beautiful and gentle lady.”

The boy laughs at his own joke, while his sister rolls her eyes.

This is going to be a loooonnnnnggggg journey with these three.

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